Title: The Lute in Britain: A History of the Instrument and Its Music (review)
Abstract: Monographs encompassing the history of a given instrument have become something of a rarity in contemporary scholarship. More typical are collections of detailed essays that treat a subject or related subjects from the viewpoints of several different scholars. These collections are of great value for the particular topics discussed, but often lack the overall perspective and sense of continuity of a monograph. In the field of lute music, readers will encounter an enormous body of research on Western European sources in a variety of languages dating back nearly a century and produced by some of the best scholars in the field of music. Yet, for practical purposes, there are no single sources to which one can turn for a thorough overview of the repertory. The specialized notation and technique of the lute has also tended to marginalize its large [End Page 357] and important body of music within general history texts, especially since a great deal of the music is not yet available in modern transcription. Matthew Spring's The Lute in Britain: A History of the Instrument and Its Music will go a long way toward satisfying the need for a thorough survey of lute music in at least one of its more important regional centers.
Publication Year: 2002
Publication Date: 2002-12-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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