Liturgical chant bibliography

Extract

The critical study of medieval chant, which began in the mid-nineteenth century, is one of the oldest of the disciplines that coalesced into modern musicology. It is also one of the most international, for liturgical chant traditions represent the earliest preserved musical heritage of a great many different countries that are heirs to the medieval Latin and Byzantine worlds and their satellite cultures, ranging from Finland to Ethiopia, from Iceland all the way to southern India. In more recent times the knowledge of these traditions, particularly Gregorian and Byzantine chant, has spread to every continent as Western religious, musical, and educational traditions have been introduced throughout the world. Chant studies, therefore, are being pursued all over the globe, by hundreds of scholars writing in dozens of languages and utilizing countless different approaches – scholars who also desire the benefits of being in better contact with each other. It is to help keep track of these many independent scholarly efforts that the Liturgical Chant Bibliography is being published here, as the successor to the Liturgical Chant Newsletter. Future instalments will appear each year in the second issue of Plainsong & Medieval Music. All chant publications likely to be of interest to scholars are eligible for inclusion, provided (1) they have actually been published and (2) I have been able to see a copy, or have at least received complete bibliographical information (including author, title, publisher, date, page numbers).