Guillaume de Machaut was the foremost poet-composer of his time. Studies look at all aspects of his prodigious output. Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377) is regarded as the greatest French poet-composer of the middle ages, as he was during his lifetime. A trained secretary, with a passion for collecting, copying and ordering his own work, the numberof surviving notated musical works attributed to him far exceeds that of any of his contemporaries. All the main genres of song - lais, virelais, balades, and rondeaux - together with Machaut's motets, and his famous Masscycle are considered here from a variety of perspectives. These incorporate the latest scholarly understanding of both Machaut's poetry and music, and the material form they take when notated in the surviving manuscripts. The bookthus presents a detailed picture of the current range of interpretative approaches to Machaut's music, focusing variously on counterpoint, musica ficta, text setting, musico-poetic meanings, citation and intertextuality, tonality, and compositional method. Several of Machaut's works are discussed by a pair of contributors, who reach conclusions at times mutually reinforcing or complementary, at times contradictory and mutually exclusive. That Machaut's music thrives on such constructive debate and disagreement is a tribute to his scope as an artist, and his musico-poetic achievement. Contributors: JENNIFER BAIN, MARGARET BENT, CHRISTIAN BERGER, JACQUES BOOGAART,THOMAS BROWN, ALICE V. CLARK, JANE E. FLYNN, JEHOASH HIRSHBERG, KARL KUEGLE, ELIZABETH EVA LEACH, DANIEL LEECH-WILKINSON, ETER M. LEFFERTS, WILLIAM PETER MAHRT, KEVIN N. MOLL, VIRGINIA NEWES, YOLANDA PLUMLEY, OWEN REES, ANNE STONE. ELIZABETH EVA LEACH lectures in music at Royal Holloway, University of London.

About the Author
ELIZABETH EVA LEACH is Professor of Music at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of the British Academy. Her work focuses on song in the medieval West in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. ELIZABETH EVA LEACH is Professor of Music at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of the British Academy. Her work focuses on song in the medieval West in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. KARL KUEGLE is Director of Research in the Faculty of Music, University of Oxford, and a Senior Research Fellow of Wadham College. MARGARET BENT is an Emeritus Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. PETER M. LEFFERTS is Professor of Music at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Reviews
A key study, which will be of value for some years to come. * CLASSICAL NET REVIEW *
A closely argued, stimulating examination of Machaut and his music. * RENAISSANCE QUARTERLY *
A useful collection that gathers current discourses and debates into one convenient volume. * JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY *
Each essay provides a valuable contribution to Machaut scholarship.. A carefully planned collection of essays that serves as a welcome contribution to the current musicological literature. * MUSIC RESEARCH FORUM *
Immensely thought-provoking and should be present on the shelves of any institution teaching and researching the music of the late middle ages. * THE MEDIEVAL REVIEW *
Has much to offer all Machaut scholars. * SPECULUM *



Book Information
ISBN 9781843830160
Author Elizabeth Eva Leach
Format Hardback
Page Count 314
Imprint The Boydell Press
Publisher Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Weight(grams) 632g