Overview
Following on from James Tyler's The Early Guitar: A History and Handbook(OUP 1980) tthis collaboration with Paul Sparks (their previous book for OUP, The Early Mandolin, appeared in 1989), presents new ideas and research on the history and development of the guitar and its music from the Renaissance to the dawn of the Classical era. Tyler's systematic study of the two main guitar types found between about 1550 and 1750 focuses principally on what the sources of the music (published and manuscript) and the writings of contemporary theorists reveal about the nature of the instruments and their roles in the music making of the period. The annotated lists of primary sources, previously published in The Early Guitar but now revised and expanded, constitute the most comprehensive bibliography of Baroque guitar music to date. His appendices of performance practice information should also prove indispensable to performers and scholars alike. Paul Sparks also breaks new ground, offering an extensive study of a period in the guitar's history--notably c.1759-c.1800--which the standard histories usually dismiss in a few short paragraphs. Far from being a dormant instrument at this time, the guitar is shown to have been central to music-making in France, Italy, the Iberian Peninsula, and South America. Sparks provides a wealth of information about players, composers, instruments, and surviving compositions from this neglected but important period, and he examines how the five-course guitar gradually gave way to the six-string instrument, a process that occurred in very different ways (and at different times) in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and Britain.
Full Product Details
Author: James Tyler (, Professor of Music and Director of Early Music Performance Program, University of Southern California) ,
Paul Sparks (, mandolin player)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 18.90cm
, Height: 1.90cm
, Length: 24.60cm
Weight: 0.664kg
ISBN: 9780199214778
ISBN 10: 0199214778
Pages: 348
Publication Date: 25 January 2007
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.
Reviews
`Review from previous edition Not only does [The Guitar and Its Music] offer a detailed guide to the sources, it integrates recent work from the fields of organology and iconography, archival and patronage studies, performance practice, and the analogous area of lute music, resulting in a coverage that is impressively inclusive in the best sense of the word. . . . with its detailed discussions of the sources, clear explanations of performance issues, and the extension of the coverage into the eighteenth century, all formed upon a solid musicological base, this book will surely be a cornerstone of future research and performance of early guitar repertories. . . . an important and essential study.' Renaissance Quarterly `Books on the history of the guitar are not in short supply but this one is one of the very best . . . Tyler's contribution is excellent . . . The Guitar and Its Music will open the eyes of those who think that the instrument is fit only for rock stars, born-again evangelists - and the occasional Prime Minister.' Anthony Pryer, Times Literary Supplement `This informative book with contributions from two of the most notable scholars in the field of early plucked instruments fills in a far more complete historical account of the guitar than James Tyler's already impressive 1976 OUP volume, A Handbook of the Early Guitar. Much new research figures in the detailed accounts of the guitar covering the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries.' The Lute Society of America Quarterly `In this very important new book, James Tyler and Paul Sparks have managed not only to document the guitar's early history, but also to open a window on the music, survey the various relevant instruments and playing techniques, and set a course for future research. Their work will appeal to a wide range of readers, from historians with little interest in the guitar for its own sake, to performers with little interest in history for its own sake.' Charles Youmans, Notes, December 2003 `... exquisitely researched tome ... fascinating as a tool for frequent reference and a good read too.' Classical Guitar `Not only does [The Guitar and Its Music] offer a detailed guide to the sources, it integrates recent work from the fields of organology and iconography, archival and patronage studies, performance practice, and the analogous area of lute music, resulting in a coverage that is impressively inclusive in the best sense of the word.' Renaissance Quarterly `... with its detailed discussions of the sources, clear explanations of performance issues, and the extension of the coverage into the eighteenth century, all formed upon a solid musicological base, this book will surely be a cornerstone of future research and performance of early guitar repertories ... an important and essential study.' Renaissance Quarterly `This informative book with contributions from two of the most notable scholars in the field of early plucked instruments fills in a far more complete historical account of the guitar than James Tyler's already impressive 1976 OUP volume, A Handbook of the Early Guitar. Much new research figures in the detailed accounts of the guitar covering the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries.' The Lute Society of America Quarterly `In this very important new book, James Tyler and Paul Sparks have managed not only to document the guitar's early history, but also to open a window on the music, survey the various relevant instruments and playing techniques, and set a course for future research. Their work will appeal to a wide range of readers, from historians with little interest in the guitar for its own sake, to performers with little interest in history for its own sake.' Charles Youmans, Notes `Books on the history of the guitar are not in short supply but this one is one of the very best ... Tyler's contribution is excellent ... The Guitar and Its Music will open the eyes of those who think that the instrument is fit only for rock stars, born-again evangelists - and the occasional Prime Minister.' Anthony Pryer, Times Literary Supplement
Books on the history of the guitar are not in short supply but this one is one of the very best ... Tyler's contribution is excellent ... The Guitar and Its Music will open the eyes of those who think that the instrument is fit only for rock stars, born-again evangelists - and the occasional Prime Minister. * Anthony Pryer, Times Literary Supplement * In this very important new book, James Tyler and Paul Sparks have managed not only to document the guitar's early history, but also to open a window on the music, survey the various relevant instruments and playing techniques, and set a course for future research. Their work will appeal to a wide range of readers, from historians with little interest in the guitar for its own sake, to performers with little interest in history for its own sake. * Charles Youmans, Notes * This informative book with contributions from two of the most notable scholars in the field of early plucked instruments fills in a far more complete historical account of the guitar than James Tyler's already impressive 1976 OUP volume, A Handbook of the Early Guitar. Much new research figures in the detailed accounts of the guitar covering the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. * The Lute Society of America Quarterly * ... with its detailed discussions of the sources, clear explanations of performance issues, and the extension of the coverage into the eighteenth century, all formed upon a solid musicological base, this book will surely be a cornerstone of future research and performance of early guitar repertories ... an important and essential study. * Renaissance Quarterly * Not only does [The Guitar and Its Music] offer a detailed guide to the sources, it integrates recent work from the fields of organology and iconography, archival and patronage studies, performance practice, and the analogous area of lute music, resulting in a coverage that is impressively inclusive in the best sense of the word. * Renaissance Quarterly * ... exquisitely researched tome ... fascinating as a tool for frequent reference and a good read too. * Classical Guitar * In this very important new book, James Tyler and Paul Sparks have managed not only to document the guitar's early history, but also to open a window on the music, survey the various relevant instruments and playing techniques, and set a course for future research. Their work will appeal to a wide range of readers, from historians with little interest in the guitar for its own sake, to performers with little interest in history for its own sake. * Charles Youmans, Notes, December 2003 * This informative book with contributions from two of the most notable scholars in the field of early plucked instruments fills in a far more complete historical account of the guitar than James Tyler's already impressive 1976 OUP volume, A Handbook of the Early Guitar. Much new research figures in the detailed accounts of the guitar covering the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. * The Lute Society of America Quarterly * Books on the history of the guitar are not in short supply but this one is one of the very best . . . Tyler's contribution is excellent . . . The Guitar and Its Music will open the eyes of those who think that the instrument is fit only for rock stars, born-again evangelists - and the occasional Prime Minister. * Anthony Pryer, Times Literary Supplement * Review from previous edition Not only does [The Guitar and Its Music] offer a detailed guide to the sources, it integrates recent work from the fields of organology and iconography, archival and patronage studies, performance practice, and the analogous area of lute music, resulting in a coverage that is impressively inclusive in the best sense of the word. . . . with its detailed discussions of the sources, clear explanations of performance issues, and the extension of the coverage into the eighteenth century, all formed upon a solid musicological base, this book will surely be a cornerstone of future research and performance of early guitar repertories. . . . an important and essential study. * Renaissance Quarterly *
Books on the history of the guitar are not in short supply but this one is one of the very best...Tyler's contribution is excellent...The Guitar and Its Music will open the eyes of those who think that the instrument is fit only for rock stars, born-again evangelists, and the occasional Prime Minister. --Times Literary Supplement Will appeal to a wide range of readers, from historians with little interest in the guitar for its own sake, to performers with little interest in history for its own sake. --Notes This informative book, with contributions from two of the most notable scholars in the field of early plucked instruments, fills in a far more complete historical account of the guitar than James Tyler's already impressive 1976 OUP volume, A Handbook of the Early Guitar. Much new research figures in the detailed accounts of the guitar covering the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. --The Lute Society of America Quarterly Not only does [The Guitar and
