Music in the Seventeenth Century - Softcover

Bianconi, Lorenzo

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521269156 ISBN 13: 9780521269155

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1987

Synopsis

The seventeenth century was a period of profound change in the history of music. In this volume Lorenzo Bianconi considers the radical developments of the century as long-lived musical traditions died out and others were created in response to new social functions. This period saw, for example, the flowering of the polyphonic madrigal and its subsequent decline in favour of a new concertato style, the rise of the basso continuo and the growth of purely instrumental composition. Most importantly it saw the rapid rise and persistent growth of a new genre of immeasurable significance: opera. In examining the plurality of coexistent musical styles Lorenzo Bianconi also discusses the socio-historical and cultural aspects of seventeenth-century music history: the opening out towards rational modes of scientific enquiry and theoretical speculation; the social position of the musician in the age of the first theatrical and musical entrepreneurs; the decline of Italian music publishing and the spread of the market to northern Europe. In considering these problems Lorenzo Bianconi presents a fresh picture of musical life in the seventeenth century, taking, like other books from the Italian series Storia della Musica, a broadly contextual approach.

About this title

Book Description

Music history was radically influenced by the rapid rise of opera in the 17th century--an era when many musical traditions died and others were created in response to new social functions.

Language Notes

Text: English, Italian (translation)

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1987
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521269156
• ISBN 13: 9780521269155
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 360