Motet cycles between devotion and liturgy

Abstract

This collection of essays thoughtfully and comprehensively approaches questions surrounding how and why European musicians began to string together short pieces of Latin-texted polyphony into longer motet cycles at the end of the 15th century. Rather than simply narrowing in on the relatively small number of confirmable motetti missales that were copied by Franchinus Gaffurius into a set of choirbooks in Milan, this volume broadens our perspective on this music, examining the ways that this somewhat insular repertory is aligned with and indicative of general musical, devotional and liturgical practices from across Europe in the second half of the 15th century. One of the greatest strengths of this edited collection is the diversity of viewpoints represented. Another strength is the integration of this volume with a number of other resources, both digital research tools and scholarship associated with two multi-year research projects based at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (for details,...