Overview

This is a thorough-going study of Monteverdi's Vespers, the single most significant and most widely known musical print from before the time of J.S. Bach. The author examines Monteverdi's Vespers from multiple perspectives, combining his own research with all that is known and thought of the Vespers by other scholars. The historical origin as well as the musical and liturgical context of the Vespers are surveyed; similarly the controversial historiography of the Vespers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is scrutinized and evaluated. A series of analytical chapters attempt to clarify Monteverdi's compositional process and the relationship between music and text in the light of recent research on modal and tonal aspects of early seventeenth century music. The final section is devoted to thirteen chapters investigating performance practice issues of the early seventeenth century and their application to the Vespers, including general and specific recommendations for performance where appropriate. The book concludes with a series of informational appendices, including the psalm cursus for Vespers of all major feasts in the liturgical calendar, texts, and structural outlines for the Vespers compositions based on a cantus firmus, an analytical discography, and bibliographies of seventeenth-century musical and theoretical sources.

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9780198164098

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... Oxford University Press has produced a book both handsome and well presented ... This monumental volume appears likely to serve for a long time for many purposes: as an invaluable quarry for information on Italian sacred music composed for the office of Vespers in the period c.1580-1625; as a miscellaneous compendium of data concerning the realization in performance of this and much other sacred music of the period; and as a skilful analysis of the constituent movements of Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610. Music & Letters ... concludes with useful appendices, a comprehensive discography, and magnificent bibliographies, including musical sources and theoretical writings of the period. Music & Letters Kurzmann's expertise and encyclopedic knowledge of seventeenth-century sacred music make the book indispensable reading for any performer or scholar of seventeenth-century music as well as for any conductor, producer, or performer of the Vespers. The author's experienced analysis of this complex and confusing period is especially valuable ... excellent and thorough scholarship gives this book an honored place in any music library Sixteenth Century Journal

... Oxford University Press has produced a book both handsome and well presented ... This monumental volume appears likely to serve for a long time for many purposes: as an invaluable quarry for information on Italian sacred music composed for the office of Vespers in the period c.1580-1625; as a miscellaneous compendium of data concerning the realization in performance of this and much other sacred music of the period; and as a skilful analysis of the constituent movements of Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610. Music & Letters ... concludes with useful appendices, a comprehensive discography, and magnificent bibliographies, including musical sources and theoretical writings of the period. Music & Letters Kurzmann's expertise and encyclopedic knowledge of seventeenth-century sacred music make the book indispensable reading for any performer or scholar of seventeenth-century music as well as for any conductor, producer, or performer of the Vespers. The author's experienced analysis of this complex and confusing period is especially valuable ... excellent and thorough scholarship gives this book an honored place in any music library Sixteenth Century Journal

`On all the major editorial principles Kurtzman's instincts are almost always spot-on. The score is clear, well set out and accurate.' John Morehen, Early Music, Nov.2000. `The notation of accidentals is handled especially thoughtfully. The translation on each page will certainly be very helpful to singers.' John Morehen, Early Music, Nov. 2000. `From a scholarly point of view, this edition is undoubtedly first class.' John Morehen, Early Music, Nov.2000. `a mine of information about every aspect of the Vespers' Peter Holman, The Musical Times `So far as I know, this is the first comprehensive survey of the context of Monteverdi's Vespers, and it reveals how startingly original the collection was.' Peter Holman, The Musical Times `Truly a magnum opus, Kurtzman's masterful study provides a detailed examination of Monteverdi's stunning piece. Kurtzman begins with an extraordinarily sensible, nondogmatic introduction (whose balanced tone is echoed throughout).' W. Metcalfe, Choice, Vol.37, No.11/12. `Kurtzman's achievement is, quite frankly, magnificent, as befits his wonderful subject ... this book should be, without question, in all serious musical libraries.' W. Metcalfe, Choice, Vol.37, No.11/12. `No serious student of Monteverdi's work can afford to neglect Kurtzman's edition or the wealth of information in his guide to the Vespers. The book presents a rare example of scholarship sufficient in power and scope to satisfy the needs of historians and performers alike, leaving neither group short-changed or wanting direction for further research' Andrew Stewart, Early Music Today `Although Kurtzman's survey provides arguably the strongest and most searching exploration of the Vespers liturgy and its particular treatment by composers and publishers in the early decades of the 17th century, the book's obvious utilitarian value rests in its fascinating and frequently illuminating discussion of performance practice' Andrew Stewart, Early Music Today `a meaty companion volume' Andrew Stewart, Early Music Today

`On all the major editorial principles Kurtzman's instincts are almost always spot-on. The score is clear, well set out and accurate.' John Morehen, Early Music, Nov.2000. `The notation of accidentals is handled especially thoughtfully. The translation on each page will certainly be very helpful to singers.' John Morehen, Early Music, Nov. 2000. `From a scholarly point of view, this edition is undoubtedly first class.' John Morehen, Early Music, Nov.2000. `a mine of information about every aspect of the Vespers' Peter Holman, The Musical Times `So far as I know, this is the first comprehensive survey of the context of Monteverdi's Vespers, and it reveals how startingly original the collection was.' Peter Holman, The Musical Times `Truly a magnum opus, Kurtzman's masterful study provides a detailed examination of Monteverdi's stunning piece. Kurtzman begins with an extraordinarily sensible, nondogmatic introduction (whose balanced tone is echoed throughout).' W. Metcalfe, Choice, Vol.37, No.11/12. `Kurtzman's achievement is, quite frankly, magnificent, as befits his wonderful subject ... this book should be, without question, in all serious musical libraries.' W. Metcalfe, Choice, Vol.37, No.11/12. `No serious student of Monteverdi's work can afford to neglect Kurtzman's edition or the wealth of information in his guide to the Vespers. The book presents a rare example of scholarship sufficient in power and scope to satisfy the needs of historians and performers alike, leaving neither group short-changed or wanting direction for further research' Andrew Stewart, Early Music Today `Although Kurtzman's survey provides arguably the strongest and most searching exploration of the Vespers liturgy and its particular treatment by composers and publishers in the early decades of the 17th century, the book's obvious utilitarian value rests in its fascinating and frequently illuminating discussion of performance practice' Andrew Stewart, Early Music Today `a meaty companion volume' Andrew Stewart, Early Music Today

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