Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Fifteenth-Century Music
- Series page
- The Cambridge History of Fifteenth-Century Music
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Music examples
- Notes on contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I Historiography
- Part II Improvisation and composition
- Part III Humanism
- Part IV Music and other arts
- Part V Music in churches, courts, and cities
- Part VI Religious devotion and liturgy
- 27 Music and ritual
- 28 Marian devotion in the fifteenth century
- 29 Affective literature and sacred themes in fifteenth-century music
- Part VII Theory and practice
- Part VIII Sources
- Part IX Genres
- Part X Reception
- Index
27 - Music and ritual
from Part VI - Religious devotion and liturgy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2015
Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Fifteenth-Century Music
- Series page
- The Cambridge History of Fifteenth-Century Music
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Music examples
- Notes on contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I Historiography
- Part II Improvisation and composition
- Part III Humanism
- Part IV Music and other arts
- Part V Music in churches, courts, and cities
- Part VI Religious devotion and liturgy
- 27 Music and ritual
- 28 Marian devotion in the fifteenth century
- 29 Affective literature and sacred themes in fifteenth-century music
- Part VII Theory and practice
- Part VIII Sources
- Part IX Genres
- Part X Reception
- Index
Summary
The topic of music and ritual is fundamentally anthropological, concerned with how people have used music within a ritual context, from prehistory to the present, all across the world. Plainsong was the sonic glue of ritual in the fifteenth century. Most composers of polyphony for ritual use in the fifteenth century were, like Guillaume Du Fay, clerical men immersed from boyhood in the daily performance of plainsong. Even at this late stage in its development, chant remained a vibrant repertory whose melodies, texts, and performance practices varied according to the needs and traditions of the different worship communities it served. Composers' awareness of the ritual context of the music they created played a fundamental role in their compositional decisions. Genres of ritual action proposed by scholars of ritual studies offer more nuanced categories for considering music and ritual than do musical genres.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge History of Fifteenth-Century Music , pp. 511 - 527Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2015