Music and Poetry in the Early Tudor Court

First published in 1962, John Stevens' book examines the complex interplay between lyrical and musical compositions in the courts of Henry VII and VIII. One of the persistent problems for the reader of an English lyric is this: was the poem meant to be sung? and if so, how did music affect the writing, and how should it affect our reading of the poem? Stevens aims to answer these questions by challenging the notion of a traditional union between music and verse. He examines late medieval ideas about music and poetry and the impact of the Reformation on them, and uses the social information about music and musicians to interpret the evidence of the early Tudor songbooks. This book is supplemented by four appendices containing the texts of all the poems in the three main Tudor songbooks together with information about musical settings and related poems, an index of selected songs, a list of sources, and a bibliography of relevant books and articles. It is hoped that this volume will appeal to practising musicians and scholars, as well as anyone for whom music is a continuing intellectual interest and a pleasure.

Reviews & endorsements

'John Stevens has opened up a virtually new field, not simply by his study of the musical and literary texts … but also by his original inquiry into the relationship between their words and music; the social meaning of the courtly lyric; and the state of music and musicians in the society of the period. Enriched with the fullest references and scholarly apparatus, it is a deeply interesting book, lucidly written, on a subject new to nearly all of us.' Musical Times

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Product details

• Date Published: August 1979
• format: Paperback
• isbn: 9780521294171
• length: 496 pages

• dimensions: 229 x 152 x 28 mm
• weight: 0.72kg
• availability: Available