Music of the Renaissance

Abstract

T HE writings about music and musicians of the Renaissance in The New Grove are uncompromising studies prepared by scholars for the use of scholars. Together they comprise the most current, comprehensive, and accurate scientific reference set available for critical inquiries about Renaissance subjects, and, with few exceptions, the entries supplant even the monumental achievements of Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (final supplement, 1979). The level of scholarship is consistently high; the quality and clarity of expository prose is rewarding. The entries are complete and accurate as measured by the present state of research, and the work lists and bibliographies are unsurpassed in their usefulness. In many instances, they are more ample than those available in published specialized studies (cf. Willaert or Alamire). One marvels at the scope of the task undertaken and, at the same time, gratefully acknowledges the successful achievement of a nearly impossible goal-the compilation and condensation of all important information to date about a major subject area. This corpus of fact and theory has been made available in readily accessible form, and due credit goes first to Stanley Sadie, who, in his own words, attempted to bring together a critically organized repository of historically significant information [about music and musicians], and to the senior consulting editors and advisers who spearheaded the assault on the Renaissance, devised the strategy, marshaled the authors, and often carried the day with major contributions of their own. It is obvious that The New Grove is a monument of musical scholarship in the English language, an encyclopedia rivaling and surpassing the best of its predecessors. I say this partly to advise the reader to accept the criticism which follows as constructive observations and certainly