A short bibliography of Early Music

This is a short annotated bibliography of books and other materials that I have found useful for my interest in music and performance arts from before 1600. I hope that you find it interesting. Contributions are very welcome; please mail them to lindahl@pbm.com. Most of the contributions below come from the Usenet newsgroups rec.music.early, rec.org.sca, and the SCA "minstrel" mailing list. A list of contributors is at the bottom.

The Early Music Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) has a good discography.



The Bibliography

Adam de la Halle (1965). Oeuvres completes du trouvere Adam de la Halle, poesies et musique, edited by C.E.H. de Coussemaker. Gregg Press.

TC: Entirely in French, but it contains all Adam's work, in both original and modern notation. Out of print, of course.

Adam de la Halle (1928): The Play of Robin and Marion. Schirmer, New York. 36 pages.

TC: An English translation of one of the first French comic operas, by the 13th century trouvere Adam de la Halle. The songs have been provided with a piano score, reduced from an orchestral score for period instruments, which supposedly follows the principles of 13th century polyphony. Out of print.

Akehurst, F. R. P., and Davis, Judith M. A Handbook of the Troubadours. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1995. ISBN 0-520-07976-0. Easily bought used for around $15.

GL: A survey of academic literature on the troubadours. Contains numerous articles written by scholars, and an extensive bibliography.

Andrews, Hilda (Ed.), My Ladye Nevellls Booke of Virginal Music (by William Byrd). Dover, 1969 (but is in print). ISBN 0-486-22246-2.

Angles, Higinio. La musica de las Cantigas de Santa Maria. 1934-64, 3 volumes.

JH: I believe the ms. facsimile is vol. 2, with 1 and 3 being commentary and (an understandibly dated) transcription, respectively.

GL: The Cantigas are a set of short pieces praising the Virgin Mary. 13th century Spanish music with moorish influences. There are many other studies of this music; this is just one example source.

Aubrey, Elizabeth (1996): Music of the Troubadours. Indiana University Press, Bloomington. 326 pages.

TC: Scholarly analysis of the music of troubadour song, with many transcriptions in arythmic notation. Excellent discussion of the process of composition as the troubadours themselves seem to have conceptualized it.

Austern, Linda Phyllis. "Thomas Ravenscroft: Musical chronicler of an Elizabethan theater company." Journal of the American Musicological Society Vol. XXXVIII/2 (summer 1985) 238-63.

GL: Argues that Ravenscroft wrote his theater songs based on his experience between ages 6 and 12 (1598 - 1604) as a choir boy. Also gives a few additional literary references to Ravenscroft's lyrics in plays.

Baltimore Consort. On the Banks of Helicon; early music of Scotland. 1990 Dorian Recordings. [recording]

EM: This is an excellent recording of Scottish music dating from the 16th and early 17th centuries, right at the end of our period. CD includes a list of sources and words to all the songs.

Bantock, G, Anderton, H. Orsmond, eds. The Melvill Book of Roundels. London 1916 and New York 1972.

GL: Modern edition of 152 page manuscript containing 90 rounds/catches and 8 part songs, apparently written in 1612. Considerable overlap in content with Ranvenscroft. The manuscript is in the Library of Congress MS M1490 .M535A5.

Baskervill, Charles Read. The Elizabethan Jig and Related Song Drama, Chicago: 1929 (reprinted 1965).

GL: A study of the stage jig, which were short dramas involving several actors performing a song and dance. In addition to relating the jig to ballads (similar music was used for both), there's a large discussion of dance of the era. Unfortunately, his conclusion is that there is not enough information to reconstruct the stage jig.

Bellizzi, Jamey (1994): Music of the Royal Courts of Europe for Acoustic Guitar. Mel Bay, Pacific, MO. 107 pages. ISBN 0-7866-0084-5

TC: Twenty-six pieces, half from the Middle Ages (13th-15th c.), half from the Renaissance, arranged for modern acoustic guitar. Standard notation and tablature. The arrangements of medieval tunes are not authentic, since they use fingerpicking techniques, but they are harmonized on period principles and would probably work quite well as duets.

Bidgood, Z. "The significance of Thomas Ravenscroft." Folk Music Journal Vol. IV/1 (1980) 24-34.

GL: Unfortunately this author doesn't seem to be aware of Lant or Melvill, so this article is basically useless.

Binkley, Thomas and Frenk, Margrit. Spanish Romances of the Sixteenth Century. Indiana University Press, 1995, ISBN 0-2532-0964-1.

PH:The Spanish romances are an important genre of Renaissance song that had strong ties to both medieval and Renaissance performance practices. This book presents all 35 of the extant romances preserved as solo songs, transcribed in modern notation with accompaniement for the vihuela da mano.

In addition to the music and the text underlay, T.B. and M.F. provide the complete narratives on which the songs are based, as well as commentaries on the songs drawn from the tablatures by eight contemporaneous scholars. Alll texts and commentaries are given in the original Spanish and in English translation. 78 pp of music, 192 pp total. $16.00

This book is available directly from Indiana University press, 1-800-842-6796.

Bowles, Edmund A. La Pratique Musicale au Moyen Age / Musical Performance in the Late Middle Ages. Minkoff & Lattes, 1983, ISBN 2-8266-0811-8.

DS: for iconography dealing with pipe and tabor in dances, [this] is a very nice source. Actually, its a very good source for lots of musical questions, such as "what instruments might be used together," "what instruments were used for dance music," "how many musicians played together," and so on. Not that any of these questions can be resolved solely through the pictures in this book, but there is evidence suggesting answers to all of them, and lots more besides. Well worth hunting up in the library, but might not be worth the US$75 or so for everyone to purchase.

A few plates to look for on pipe and tabor:
Plate 79, a marriage ceremony with trio of pip&tabor, vielle, and harp, French, 15th century
Plate 89, a Moresca, music by pipe & tabor, French, 2nd half 15th C.
Plate 90, a court dance, probably basse danse, music by pipe & tabor, French, after 1450
Plate 92, a court dance, probably basse danse, music by pipe & tabor, French, 15th century

Brown, Howard M. Instrumental Music Printed Before 1600: A Bibliography. Harvard University Press, 1965; reprinted 2000, ISBN 1-58348-525-2.

GL: A chronological bibliography of printed instrumental music. Includes a list of holdings by library, a list of volumes by type of notation, a list of volumes by performing medium, an index of (composer) names, and an index of titles and first lines. Only minor updates made in the 2000 reprint.

Brown, Howard M. and Stanley Sadie, editors. Performance Practice: Music Before 1600. ISBN 0393028070.

EB: This is a good general guide to all kinds of music (instrumental and vocal) in the middle ages and renaissance.

Brown, Howard Mayer. Embellishing Sixteenth-Century Music. ISBN 0193231751.

EB: This is a guide to understanding and applying the rules of embellishment for 16th century music. I wish that this book had been around when I was in grad school and spent an entire semester compiling charts of 16th century ornament symbols and stuff for a class on this subject.

Caldwell, John. The Oxford History of English Music: Volume 1: From the Beginnings to c. 1715. Oxford University Press, 1992. ISBN 0-19-816129-8. $98.

From an ad: This book starts with early monastic institutions, covers the first Golden Age of English music in the mid-fifteenth century, sixteenth-century choral music, and looks at the carol, the madrigal, the seventeenth-century opera, masque, and instrumental music.

Charlton, Andrew. Music in the Plays of Shakespeare: A Practicum. Garland, 1991 ISBN 0-8153-0405-6. 440 pages, $95.

GL: See Ross Duffin's Shakespeare's Songbook for a better source.

GL: This volume is exactly what its title suggests: a practical set of music for performing Shakespeare's plays. The scoring varies; some combination of SATB consort, classical guitar, and piano is provided for every piece. Where melodies are not known, other late 16th/early 17th century melodies have been substituted. Unfortunately, he doesn't give any detailed notes about any of the scholarship, even though the introduction makes it sound like many of these pieces were transcribed from manuscripts. Only a "Selected Bibliography" is given. This is a shame; for example, the catch "Hold thy peace" is listed as being 16th century. The only instance I know of it is Ravenscroft, 1609. So perhaps there is an earlier manuscript of this catch? Ditto for "Of all the birds". [Actually I know a "Hold thy peace" in Lant from 1580, but it's different from the one in Ravenscroft and this book...]

Child, Francis J, ed. The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. Many editions exist, but this is a modern reprint: New York: Folklore Press, 1956.

GL: A somewhat controversial source, but very popular. Livingston has a list of the ones for which pre-1600 manuscripts exist: 22, 23, 111, 115, 116, 117, 119, 121, 161, 162, 178, also Child 168 (Appendix) and 273 (Appendix II). In addition, a half-dozen have ballads with similar names listed in the Stationers' Register as being published before 1600; these are 39, 56, 124, 192, 271, and 273.

Cofone, Charles J.F. (Ed.) Elizabeth Rogers, Hir Virginall Booke -- 112 Choice Pieces For Harpsichord by Byrd, Gibbons, Laws, and Others. Dover, 1975 (revised edition, in print). ISBN 0-486-23138-0

Cofrin, Al (1997): Medieval Songs and Dances of 11th-14th C. Europe. Vol. 1. Published by author; Avatarl@flash.net, Houston. 162 pages. ISBN 0-615-11404-0

TC: Aimed at the SCA market, this is a compilation of nearly 100 medieval tunes, vocal and instrumental. It includes troubadour and trouvere songs, several of the Cantigas di Santa Maria, Latin songs from the Carmina Burana, Minnesang, and a few songs from cultures less often represented in medieval compilations-Jewish, Turkish, and Bulgarian, to name three. In a few cases where I am familiar with the tunes, I have quibbles about Cofrin's interpretation, but it's still an impressive project. English translations of lyrics are included, a couple are even singable. Standard notation with suggestions for accompaniment.

Collinson, Francis, The Traditional and National Music of Scotland. Routledge and Kegan Paul. London. 1966.

EM: It covers Gaelic/Highland song, Lowland Scots/English song, bagpipes and their music, fiddle composers and their music, and examples of "all-but-extinct Scottish harp music." Contains a chapter on Orkney and Shetland music. Contains 150 music examples, a great many of which are "ossianic" or "Heroic" ballads. Although it does not limit its study to music of the Middle Ages, it does contain information on Medieval music, and is a good reference for Scottish music all around.

Collmann, Herbert L., ed. Ballads and Broadsides chiefly Of the Elizabethan Period and Printed in Black-Letter, Most of which were formerly in the Heber Collection and are now in the Library at Britwell Court Buckinghamshire. 1912; reprint New York, 1971.

GL: a large number of transcriptions and a few facsimiles of broadsides and ballads. No music.

Crane, Fredrick. Extant Medieval Musical Instruments: A Provisional Catalogue by Types. University of Iowa Press, 1972. ISBN 87745-022-6.

A list of pre-1500 musical instruments. Contains 30 line-drawings and an extensive bibliography.

Davidson, Archibald T. & Apel, Willi Apel. Historical Anthology of Music. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1946.

GL: A large collection of music, from 400AD to the late 16th century. This anthology actually went through several editions under the same name.

Davidson, Audrey Ekdahl. Performing Medieval Music Drama. ISBN 1879288966.

Davis, William Stearns. Life on a Medieval Barony. Harper & Row, 1923.

SF: Deals primarily with daily life conditions in a generic Medieval barony in Northern France around 1220. Contains a chapter called "The Jongleurs and Secular Literature and Poetry" which talks about the jongleur's qualities and characteristics Interesting read, but be careful not to use this work as your only source for research. It is helpful, though, to jump-start ideas about the entertainer's role in society. Has index, but unfortunately no bibliography.

Dobson, E. J. and Harrison, F. Ll. Medieval English Songs. London and Boston: Faber and Faber, 1979. ISBN 0 571 09841 X.

GL: A collection of "all the words and music of all songs with English text up to about 1400 which are known to have survived with their music".
Donington, Robert. Baroque Music: Style and Performance, A Handbook. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. Inc., 1982. ISBN 0 393 30052 8

AGO: There is much information on the late Renaissance in this text as when the renaissance of music ends and the Baroque begins is a fuzzy line. It can also help a performer with differentiating musical style between these two times. It has a suggested list of reading, extensive bibliography and numerous musical examples.

Duffin, Ross. Shakespeare's Songbook. W. W. Norton & Co., 2004. ISBN 0393058891.

GL: A practical collection of lyrics and tunes for the songs mentioned and alluded to in Shakespeare's plays. With full details of sources, both primary and secondary, and a CD of performances. Compare prices.

MP3s of all the songs not on the CD are available at http://www.wwnorton.com/nto/noa/audio_shakespeare.htm.

Duffin, Ross W., editor. A Performer's Guide to Medieval Music. ISBN 0253215331.

EB: Like the Performer's Guide to Renaissance Music, this is a collection of essays by recognized expert scholar/musicians on subjects relating to the accurate performance of medieval music. Not a handbook, but a wonderful source.

Ellis, Osian. "Ap Huw: Untying the Knot." Soundings 6 (1977) 67-80.

A detailed and illustrated article on the ap Huw manuscript of harp tablature. See also Polin. Perhaps not nearly as good as Polin.

Emmerson, George S., Rantin' Pipe and Tremblin' String; a history of Scottish dance music. McGill-Queen's University Press. Montreal. 1971.

EM: This one was recommended to me by my Anthropology prof, Dr. Moser. It is mainly about Scottish dance music, but it is a good reference for information about Scottish music in general. It begins its study in pre-Medieval times and works its way up from there. Has a good chapter in the back about what elements of early Celtic music survive in modern Scottish music.

Epstein, Marcia Jenneth. Prions en Chantant: Devotional Songs of the Trouveres. University of Toronto Press, 1997, ISBN 0802078265 paperback, 0802008402 hardback. Compare prices: paperback, hardback.

LJ: It's some 60 songs presented in both square note AND modern notation, with lyrics in the original dialect and modern English.

Fenlon, Iain, ed. Cambridge music manuscripts, 900-1700. Cambridge University Press, 1982. ISBN: 0521244528.

GL: Has images of the first page and notes about many different manuscripts, including one of my favorites, the Lant Ms (KC1).

Flesichm, Aloys et al: Sources of Irish Traditional Music c. 1600-1855: An Annotated Catalogue of Prints and Manuscripts, 1583-1855. Taylor and Francis, June 1998. 1419 pages. ISBN 082406948X. Rather expensive; lists for $295, the street price seems to be about half that.

Flood, W. H. Grattan (1905): The Story of the Harp. Walter Scott/Scribner's, London/New York. 207 pages.

TC: An extensive history of the harp from antiquity to the 19th century, with an emphasis on the medieval period in Ireland and Wales. The scholarship is outdated in many respects, but still a useful work that includes a few examples of early harp tunes. Long out of print.

Friou, Deborah (1988): Early Music for the Harp. Friou Music, Glendale, CA. 78 pages. ISBN 0-9628120-2-1

TC: Forty-four tunes, 12th-16th century, arranged for modern harps. The arrangements aren't authentic, since many of them rely on lever or pedal changes, but neither are they gratuitously modern in their approach to harmony.

Frost, Maurice. English & Scottish Psalm & Hymn Tunes, c. 1543-1677, 1953.

Frost, Maurice, ed. Historical companion to Hymns ancient & modern, 1962.

GL: I haven't looked at these, but hopefully a useful source of tunes for filking. See also Rogers.

Galpin, Francis W. Old English Instruments of Music. Methuen & Co Ltd., London, 1965 (orig. 1910).

EM: It takes the different classes of musical instruments and tells what of that type was available in period. Very good resource for period instuments and well documented. Illustrated.

Gaunt, Simon and Kay, Sarah, ed. The Troubadours - An Introduction. Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Gennrich, Friedrich (1960): Troubadours, Trouveres, Minne- and Meistersinger. Arno Volk Verlag, Koln. 72 pages.

TC: 78 songs by 59 songwriters from France and Germany, 12th-16th centuries. Modern notation, lyrics in original languages with no translation provided. Brief, opinionated historical/musicological introduction and excellent bibliography of manuscripts and facsimiles. Out of print.

Gleason, Harold (1942); Examples of Music Before 1400. Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY.

TC: Just what the title says: a bunch of medieval tunes in modern transcriptions. Chant, motets, troubadour and trouvere songs, instrumental dances. Probably not to be found outside a library with a good sheet music collection, but worth looking for.

Greene, Richard Leighton, ed. The Early English Carols. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1977. ISBN 0-19-812715-4.

HRJ: [...] a collection of all known English carol lyrics from the 16th century and earlier, arranged generally by topic, and with an excellant introduction on the nature and uses of the carol. Its only major fault is in having no musical notation whatsoever, but in many cases none is known for particular lyrics.

[ SH mentions that the music for 30 early carols is found in Robbins ]

Greenberg, Noah, ed. An Anthology of English Medieval and Renaissance Vocal Music: part songs for one to six voices. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. Inc., 1961. ISBN 0 393 00461 9. Dover reprint ISBN 0486413748.

AGO: This book has a list of suggested reading which focuses on English Music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Each piece is dated along with some information about the style it is written in. If a piece is not in English, a translation is provided. It has both a title index and a vocal part index.

Greenberg, Noah, ed. An Elizabethan Song Book: Lute Songs, Madrigals, and Rounds. Faber and Faber Ltd: London, 1957.

GL: A collection of "lute songs, madrigals, and rounds", arranged for voice and piano. Many are from slightly after 1600.

Greenberg, Noah & Maynard, Paul (Eds.) (1975). An Anthology of Early Renaissance Music. W.W. Norton, New York. 318 pages. ISBN 0-393-02182-3

TC: Selection of pieces sacred and secular, vocal and instrumental, from the early 15th to early 16th centuries. Guillaume Dufay, Johannes Ockeghem, Josquin des Prez Heinrich Isaac, and many others of that era. In modern notation, with historical notes and suggestions for performance.

Heron-Allen, Edward (1976): Violin-Making as it Was and Is: Being a Historical, Theoretical, and Practical Treatise on the Science and Art of Violin Making for the Use of Violin Makers and Players, Amateur and Professional. Ward Lock Limited, London. ISBN 0-7063-1045-4

FR: Extremely hard to find, but worth it. Its historical discussion of the violin includes references and illustrations of numerous sources for the development of the violin, and an in-depth discussion of constructing the instrument It includes a set of patterns for the pieces, and discusses tools and techniques, and their development over time.

Hines, John C (199?): Early Music for the Wire Harp. Melody's Traditional Music; 281-890-4500; www.folkharp.com, Houston, TX. 54 pages. ISBN (none)

TC: Forty-six tunes, 13th-17th century, with a couple of folk songs that may or may not be period. Arrangements are quite simple, mostly monophonic, and I suspect pretty authentic. They sound good on nylon strung harps too.

Hoppin, Richard H., ed. Anthology of Medieval Music. New York: W. W. Norton & Co. Inc., 1978. ISBN 0 393 09080 9

AGO: This contains mainly vocal music with more than half of it being dedicated to sacred vocal music. There is a list of the different manuscripts that the music is taken from. At the beginning page of each piece is a small reference to where the piece was obtained. All the music is in one, two or three parts with the majority being one part pieces.

GL: a few of these pieces look like they'd make quite lovely solo performance pieces, albeit a bit complex. The preface notes that this book is designed to accompany a book titled Medieval Music by the same author.

Johnson, Susan M (1992): The Lyrics of Richard de Semilli: A Critical Edition and Musical Transcription. Medieval & Renaissance Texts and Studies, Binghamton, NY. ISBN 0-86698-092-X

FR: Contains melodies and lyrics of one of the early Old French poets after the Albigensian Crusade. The notation is modern, but without rhythmic markings.

Kames, Kevin C., ed. A Briefe Introduction to the skill of Song: Concerning the practise, set forth by William Bathe Gentleman (1586). 2005. ISBN 0754635449. Limited preview at Google.

Keyte, Hugh and Parrott, Andrew. The New Oxford Book of Carols. Oxford University Press, 1992. ISBN 0-19-353323-5 $125. The Shorter New Oxford Book of Carols. Oxford University Press, 1993. ISBN 0-19-353324-3. $16.95.

GL: Looking at the paperback (ISBN 0193533227), which contains all 201 carols of the non-short edition, there are 233 pages of pre-1700 material.

From an ad: The full book contains 201 carols, many in more than one setting, both composed carols and folk carols. Concise notes on background; bibliography. The shorter book contains 120 carols in 173 different settings, and is much cheaper.

Selections from this book are featured on EMI Classic's "The Carol Album", "The Christmas Album", and "Carol Album 2".

Kite-Powell, Jeffery T., editor. A Performer’s Guide to Renaissance Music. ISBN 0253348668.

EB: This is a collection of essays by recognized expert scholar/performers on various subjects relating to the performance of renaissance music.

Knighton, Tess and David Fallows. Companion to Medieval and Renaissance Music. ISBN 0520210816.

EB: This is really more of a compendium of essays covering various aspects of early music and performance. They essays are grouped around particular issues/music types, and not all essays deal directly with performance practice, but all of them are interesting and good background reading for someone studying period music. This is a book to look at or borrow from the library before you buy it because, in my opinion, quite a lot of the best material in the book may be a bit over the head of someone who is first starting to really study early music - especially since some of the essay authors are, um.... "intellectually verbose". There are some good essays on performance technique though.

Kulp-Hill, Kathleen. Songs of Holy Mary of Alfonso X, the Wise: a translation of the Cantigas de Santa Maria. Tempe, AZ: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2000. (Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, v. 173) ISBN: 0866982132. $56.

GL: A translation of all of the Cantigas, with a minimal editorial apparatus, including a good bibliography, and an index. If you've ever wondered if you're singing one of the anti-Semitic Cantigas, now you'll know. Compare prices.

Lawson, Colin. The Historical Performance of Music: An Introduction. ISBN 0521627389.

EB: This isn't so much a handbook as a book that introduces the concepts and concerns of period performance practice. It's a great way to get started in studying period performance.
Leach, MacEdward. The Ballad Book. New York: A. S. Barnes, 1975, 1955. ISBN 0498060551.

GL: Reputed to be the best book for researching the history of the Child ballads. It's fairly rare; if you ILL it, be sure to get the 842 page book, not 215 page Book of Ballads. I got a look at it and am not that impressed; not much sign of material beyond what Child and Bronson have, and at least one misleading citation: Three Ravens is in Ravenscroft; Leach says Ritson in 1790, but that's a reprint of Ravenscroft.

Hans Lenneberg, Foreword by Ralph P. Locke, Afterword by Lenore Coral. On the Publishing and Dissemination of Music, 1500-1850. Due in Summer-Fall, 2003, $46.00, ISBN 1-57647-078-4.

From the publisher:

Here, published for the first time, is the final book written by the late Hans Lenneberg, respected scholar and longtime head of the music library at the University of Chicago. In it, the author pursues the impact of printing technologies, methods of distribution, government regulations, and evolving business practices as they affect music and musical life. Written with insight and humor, this book surveys a changing industry, century by century, pulling together information from many specialized studies and pointing out previously unnoticed trends and remaining puzzles.

"The book contains a rich treasure-trove of facts and insights, which are presented in an engaging and thoughtful narrative."-from the Afterword by Lenore Coral, Director, Music Library, Cornell University

Harper, Sally. Music in Welsh Culture before 1650: A Study of the Principal Sources. Ashgate Publishing, 2007. 462 pages. ISBN 9780754652632.

Lilly, Joseph, ed. A Collection of Seventy-Nine Black-letter Ballads and Broadsides, printed in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, between the years 1559 and 1597. London, 1867.

GL: a transcription of texts for many broadside ballads discussed in Livingston. This book is apparently not that rare, even though it was published in 1867.

Livingston, Carole Rose. British Broadside Ballads of the Sixteenth Century: A Catalogue of the Extant Sheets and an Essay. Garland Publishing, 1991. ISBN 0-8240-7226-X.

GL: A database of information about all known Broadside Ballads from before 1600. Includes extensive references. Many of the texts are in sources such as Lilly and Collmann, while much of the music (if it's known at all) is in Simpson. This database only covers broadside ballads, so it leaves off ballads published in other media.

Lomax, Alan. Folk Song Style and Culture. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Washington D.C. 1968.

EM: Not limited to Scottish music, or period music, this book is about folk song in general. It includes information on folk songs from several diverse areas, and is a good text to anyone interested in the tradition of folk song in general.

Long, John H., ed. Music in English Renaissance Drama. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1968.

GL: A collection of essays covering non-Shakespearian plays between 1550 and 1660. The most interesting essay to me is the last one, by Vincent Duckles, entitled The Music for the Lyrics in Early Seventeenth-Century English Drama: A Bibliography of The Primary Sources. While this article mostly deals with post-1600 plays, it has quite a few in the 1590-1600 range. From this we can find early references to songs which were published later. I haven't checked the plays, but for the most part would expect that the lyrics are written out in the play, but not the tunes.

The Maid's Metamorphosescite, 1599-1600 (Anonymous). "By the moon we sport and play", printed in Ravenscroft's A Briefe Discourse (1614) as "The Urchin's Dance". "Fortune, my foe", written down in many places later. "Round about a faire ring a", Ravenscroft's A Briefe Discourse as "The Elves Dance".

The Thracian Wonder, 1590-1600 (Anonymous). "Art thou gone in haste". In the NY Public Library, MS Drexel 4257, No. 34, and the British Museum, MS Loan 35, No. 384.

The Weakest Goeth to the Wall, 1599-1600 (Thomas Dekker). "King Richard's gone to Walsingham", fits the tune Walshingham, which was in use at that date, and is written down in several places as an instrumental composition, including Simpson. "John Dory brought him and ambling nag", from Ravenscroft's Deuteromelia (1609), words similar, but different.

Maitland, J.A. Fuller & Squire, W. Barclay (Ed.); The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, Vols. 1&2. ISBN 0-486-21068-5

Map, Walter. Courtier's Trifles. Several editions available: Tupper & Olgle, ed, Macmillian Company, New York, 1924 (translation only), and James, M. R. Clarendon Press, 1983, ISBN 0-19-822236-X (transcription and translation).

HRJ: a large collection of short anecdotes, stories, and jokes, collected (and/or written -- one doesn't always know) by the said Walter during the last couple decades of the 12th century.

Marrocco, W. Thomas & Sandon, Nicolas (Eds.) (1977). The Oxford Anthology of Medieval Music. Oxford University Press, New York.

TC: 106 sacred and secular pieces from the 6th to 15th centuries, in modern notation (often non-rhythmic). Translations provided for most pieces; brief notes on style and performance practice. Out of print.

Marvin, Jameson Neil. Perfection and Naturalness: A Practical Guide to the Performance of Renaissance Choral Music. ISBN 0193862972.

McGee, Timothy James. Medieval Instrumental Dances. Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1989. ISBN 0 253 33353 9

GL: A scholarly work, consisting of 45 pages of text and 136 pages of music. Many of the pieces don't have obvious dates, but there are copious notes about individual pieces and the facsimile and transcription sources that they come from. Claims it contains all known instrumental dances from before 1430. Comes spiral-bound [although I hear the latest reprint is perfect bound], and only costs $27 when ordered direct from the publisher. Most of these tunes are appear on the 2 CD set "Istanpitta I" and "Istanpitta II".

McGee, Timothy James. Medieval and Renaissance Music: A Performer's Guide. Toronto: U. of Toronto Press, 1985. ISBN 0-8020-6729-8

AGO: Focuses on interpretation of music as well as performance. Covers music from 400-1400 and the 15th and 16th centuries. It's divided into four major parts: Materials, Repertory, Techniques, and Practical Considerations. The useful thing about this book is that you don't need to read all of it to get useful, applicable information from it. It contains musical examples and an extensive bibliography. It also has a list of musical collections divided by both century and country.

McGee, Timothy James. Singing Early Music: The Pronunciation of European Languages in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance. Indiana University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-253-32961.

http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/product_info.php?products_id=21957

GL: A comprehensive answer to the question, "So how the heck am I supposed to be pronouncing this, anyway?" Includes a CD of examples. Covers: English, Scots, Anglo-Latin, Old French, French Latin, Occitan, Catalan, Spanish, Spanish Latin, Portuguese, Portuguese Latin, Italian, Italian Latin, Middle High German, Late Medieval German and Early New High German, German Latin, Flemish, and Netherlands Latin.

McGee, Timothy J. (1998). The Sound of Medieval Song. Oxford University Press, New York.

TC: Scholarly analysis of the treatises on singing written from the 9th-15th centuries, with a view toward the practical implications for recreating medieval vocal style. Quite technical-if you aren't a classically trained singer with a good grasp of medieval notation, large parts of it will be a bit opaque. Covers vocal quality, ornamentation, and regional differences in style. Worth struggling through if you're serious about authenticity; McGee's major conclusion is that medieval singing didn't sound much like modern classical singing, but more like what we hear in modern Middle Eastern and North African singing.

Mann, Francis Oscar, ed. The Works of Thomas Deloney: Edited from the earliest extant editions & broadsides. Oxford, 1912, reprinted 1967.

GL: A transcription of all of Thomas Deloney's (1543??-1600) ballads and prose, with some other notes. Deloney was one of the most prolific broadside ballad writers. Part of this book is available on the WWW at:

http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/deloney/

Montagu, Jeremy (1976). The World of Medieval and Renaissance Musical Instruments. Overlook Press, Woodstock, NY.

TC: Nicely illustrated history focusing on the construction and the musical and social roles of the instruments. Out of print.

Morley, Thomas. A Plaine and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musicke. 1597; facsimile 1952.

GL: All kinds of interesting music and commentary. Covers music arrangement in great detail.

Morris, Harold (1970). Early Music for the Guitar: Original Pieces from Medieval and Renaissance Sources. G. Schirmer, New York.

TC: Medieval and Renaissance tunes arranged for modern classical guitar. Troubadour songs, cantigas, dance tunes, and quite a bit by Lasso and Machaut. Obviously not authentic arrangements, since they rely on finger-style techniques, but the harmonies are generally in a period style and they work quite well on small harp. Probably long out of print, but certainly worth having if you find a copy.

Muir, Willa, Living With Ballads. Oxford University Press. New York. 1965.

EM: Good reference about ballads, ranging from children's games, to medieval story-songs, to the reformation and after.

Musica Britiannica.

GL: This is a serial which my library doesn't catalog separately, so I won't give proper citations for each volume. The ones I've found interesting are:

vol 4 Medieval Carols

vol 6 Ayres for 4 voices (John Dowland), many suitable for one voice, or one voice and one instrument

vol 9 Jacobean Consort Music, mostly post 1600

vol 15 Music of Scotland 1500-1700, only 2 solos, which are post-period

vol 18 Music at the Court of Henry VIII, all 2, 3, 4, 5+ part pieces

vol 36 Early Tudor Songs and Carols, half-dozen solos, mostly 2-3 voices

vol 53-54 Collected English Lutenist Partsongs

vol 55 Elizabethan Keyboard Music

vol 62 Four-part Fantasias (Alfonso Ferrabosco [the Younger])

Nadal, David (Ed.) (1997): Lute Songs of John Dowland. Dover Publications, Mineola, NY. 112 pages. ISBN 0-486-29935-X

TC: Dowland's First and Second Books of Songs, in standard notation

New London Consort, The Feast of Fools. Philip Pickett. [recording]

EM: I'm not sure who put this out, or when. It contains music that would have been sung during the feast of Fool's celebration (What our Fool's 12th Night tries to emulate). It has a historical note on the feast of fools, words and translations of all the songs, and a list of song sourses and historical sources.

Noad, Frederick, The Renaissance Guitar. 1974 edition: Amsco Publications, New York. 119 pages. ISBN 0825699509. 2001 edition: ISBN 0825699509.

TC: 16th and early 17th century music for vihuela, lute, and early guitar, arranged for modern classical guitar. Some have lyrics. Pieces are grouped by degree of difficulty.

Ortiz, Diego (1525-1570), Schneider, Max, ed. Tratado de glosas sobre clausulas y otros generos de puntos en la musica de violones, Roma, 1553. Baerenreiter, 1936.

GL: 8 pages of facsimile, complete? modern transcription. Still in print, apparently; Stanford has 2 differnt copies which are obviously different printings, and the Boulder Early Music Shop says that they have it in print.

Page, Christopher. Voices and instruments of the Middle Ages: instrumental practice and songs in france 1100-1300. Dent, 1987, ISBN 0460046071, also UC Press, 1986, ISBN 0520059328.

In-depth information on early medieval performance practice.

Panum, Hortense (1971): The Stringed Instruments of the Middle Ages: Their Evolution and Development. Da Capo Press, New York. 511 pages. ISBN 306-70039-5

TC: Originally published in 1939, much of the scholarship is outdated (especially regarding the harp and the guitar). Nevertheless, it's the most comprehensive treatment of the subject I've seen, with lots of interesting pictures, and information on instruments that get short shrift in a lot of histories (such as the ancestors of the Appalachian dulcimer).

Parrish, Carl (1958): A Treasury of Early Music: An Anthology of Masterworks of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Baroque Era. W.W. Norton, New York.

FR: A decent first survey of early music, with examples from early forms of plainsong all the way through Vivaldi and Telemann.

Phillips, Elizabeth V. & Jackson, John-Paul Christopher. Performing Medieval and Renaissance Music: An Introductory Guide. New York: Schirmer Books, 1986. ISBN 0 02 871790 2

AGO: Covers practical construction of an early music ensemble for the professional or the serious amateur. It covers such practical concerns as maintenance of instruments as well as suggestions on how to select repertoire. It gives some general guidelines on performance and 35 suggested pieces for performance. It also has appendices on instruments, their ranges, journals about early music and pronunciation guides. The bibliography is 10 pgs long.

Plank, Steven E. Choral Performance: A Guide to Historical Practice. ISBN 0810851415.

EB: If you have a group interested in doing liturgical renaissance choral music, this is a great source! this is a handbook and a pretty good one, but limited in scope to just religious renaissance choral music.

Polin, Claire. The ap Huw Manuscript. The Institute of Mediaeval Music, Ltd., 1982. ISBN 931902-13-4. Institute of Mediaeval Music Ltd., PO Box 295 Henryville PA 18332.

HRJ: The ap Huw manuscript contains late-period Welsh harp music. This book contains "translations of the essential parts of the text" and transcription of the music (according to at least one person's ideas) into modern notation. I skimmed the text and then set out to learn some of the pieces. The majority of them are "theme and variations" type pieces -- which work very nicely for the conditions under which I usually place harp at events (background music). And -- as a side-light on the perennial question of whether 18th century transcriptions of "ancient traditional Celtic harp music" are useful in recreating period styles -- I will point out that the tunes are almost unrecognizably different from the "ancient traditional Welsh harp airs" collected in the 18th century. The question remains whether the ap Huw tunes are "typical" of late-period Welsh harp music, but hey! at least we've _got_ them!

See also Ellis.

Potter, Frank Hunter (ed.) Reliquary of English Song, Volume One: 1250-1700. Copyright 1915, copyright renewed 1945. G. Schirmer, Inc. Distributed by Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation. HL50326140. $11.95 US.

CP: Contains 52 songs (piano accompaniment provided) by various composers. 13 of these songs are pre-1600. Also has a nice introduction and very informative historical notes about each song, along with some prints of period music manuscripts.

Preston, Michael J. A complete concordance to the Songs of the early Tudor Court. Leeds: W. S. Maney, 1972. ISBN: 0901286036

GL: A concordance of the lyrics of songs in 3 early Tudor English music manuscripts, including the "Henry VIII" manuscript. This book is literally only the concordance.

Ravenscroft, Thomas. Pammelia. Mvsicks Miscellanie, London 1609. Facsimile published by Da Capo Press: Amsterdam, 1971. ISBN 90 221 0412 5.

Ravenscroft, Thomas. Deuteromelia, London 1609. Facsimile published by Da Capo Press: Amsterdam, 1971. ISBN 90 221 0410 9.

Ravenscroft, Thomas. Melismata, Mvsicall Phansies, London 1611. Facsimile published by Da Capo Press: Amsterdam, 1971. ISBN 90 221 0411 7.

GL: See also Warlock and Statham for "modern" editions, Lant for a slightly earlier collection of rounds, and Melvill for a 1612 collection which overlaps. These 3 books are also available in facsimile on the WWW, along with a few modern editions, at:

http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/ravenscroft/

Ravenscroft, Thomas. A Briefe Discovrse of the True (but neglected) vse of Charactering the Degrees by their Perfection, Imperfection, and Diminution, in Measurable Musicke, against the Common Practice and Custome of these Times, London 1614. Facsimile published by Da Capo Press: Amsterdam, 1971. ISBN 90 221 0409 5.

GL: Unlike Ravenscroft's earlier collections, this one is half text and half music, with the text discussing music theory. The biggest attraction of the songs is the 3 drinking songs. At least 2 of these songs have their names (and perhaps lyrics?) printed in pre-1600 plays (see Long).

Reese, Gustav. Music In The Middle Ages. W. W. Norton & Company. New York; 1940.

EM: While I have not read the entirety of this text, the part I did read on Welsh, Scottish, and Irish music taught me a few things I did not know, and was well written and well informed. But aside from the main text of the work the author includes a VERY extensive bibliography as well as a list of helpful recordings. While one must remember that this book was published in 1940 and a lot of these recordings would be hard to find, it is nevertheless good to see such a list compiled, and I'm sure it can help someone out there find what they're looking for.

Robbins, Rossell Hope, ed. Early English Christmas Carols. Columbia University Press, 1961.

According to SH, contains music for 30 carols. Also refers to Stephens as "the comparable [standard] work for the music of the carols". This book is actually an 87-page score, with 3 pages of bibliography.

Roche, Jerome and Roche, Elizabeth. A Dictionary of Early Music. Oxford University Press, 1981. ISBN 0-19-520255-4. $30.

From an ad: There are entries for some 700 composers, from the troubadours to Monteverdi, featuring especially those composers whose music is available in modern editions and on recordings. Contains descriptions of every medieval or Renaissance instrument likely to be heard in modern performances. Aimed mainly at those who go to early music concerts and buy early music recordings.

Rogers, Kirby, An index to Maurice Frost's English & Scottish psalm & hymn tunes, 1967.

Rollins, Hyder E., ed. A Handful of Pleasant Delights (1584) by Clement Robinson and Divers Others. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1924.

GL: Transcription of a 1584 book, which consisted mostly of reprints of broadside ballads. Also contains historical notes. Contains no music, only texts.

Rollins, Hyder. Old English Ballads, 1553-1625, Chiefly from Manuscripts, Cambridge: 1920.

GL: Focuses mostly on religious ballads, namely the struggle between Catholics and Protestants. One very interesting ballad is a non-religious ballad in MS Rawlinson Poet 185, fols 9-10. Rollins claims it cannot date later than 1592, and it calls for the tune ``Hobbinoble and Iohn a Side''... ``Jock o the Side'' is a Child (#187) tune. This tune is not mentioned in Simpson's BBB, and according to Bronson the earliest publication is 1818.

Rosenberg, Steve. The Recorder Consort, volumes 1, 2, & 3. Boosey & Hawkes, 1978, 1982, and 1986.

GL: Recorder music for groups from solo to 6 recorders. Approximately half of the music is pre-1600, and sources are given for all. The pieces are meant for beginner recorder players. Many of the pre-1600 one and two-part pieces also appear in McGee's instrumental dance book, and there are some editorial differences.

Rosenberg, Samuel N; Switten, Margaret; Le Vot, Gerard. Songs of the Troubadours and Trouveres: An Anthology of Poems and Melodies. Garland Publishing, New York and London, 1998. 378 pages. ISBN 0-8153-1341-1

TC: This very comprehensive book contains over 100 troubadour and trouvere lyrics, in Occitan or Old French with English translations. Melodies, in modern notation but with no rhythmic indications (i.e., stemless notes and no bar lines or time signatures) are included for most of them. Best of all, a CD with recordings of 13 of the songs (voice and medieval fiddle) is included. There are chapters discussing both poetry and music, and discussing the problems of interpretation in a nicely clear, relatively non-pedantic manner.

Margaret Switten adds:

The compact disc, Songs of the Troubadours and Trouveres: Music and Poetry from Medieval France Bard BDCD 1-9711 is available separately from most music stores (Tower surely) or on the web from the Folger Shakespeare Library: www.folger.edu.

See also the book under Switten.

Rowallan Consort, Notes of Noy, Noes of Joy. Temple records [recording].

From an ad:

This venture into Scottish early music is a first for Temple Records-- the label known mainly for its emphasis on traditional Scottish music. It is also the recording debut for the Rowallan Consort. Formed in 1994 by Robert Phillips and William Taylor, they uniquely combine the sound of the lute and the wire-strung harp (clarsach) to beautiful effect. With guest singers Mhairi Lawson and Paul Rendall, they have researched and perform songs and music dating from 1400-1700.

Sargent, Brian (1974): Minstrels: Medieval Music to Play and Sing. Cambridge University Press, New York. 48 pages. ISBN 0-521-20166-7

TC: More than a dozen songs, including some excerpted from plays, as well as a few instrumental pieces. All in modern notation with singable English lyrics. Out of print.

Sargent, Brian, ed. Minstrels 2: more medieval music to sing and play. Cambridge University Press, 1979. ISBN 0 521 21551 X.

GL: 25 pieces of medieval music, with texts in Latin and English, with references. Several are rounds; many are suitable for solo performance. The most interesting, however, is the 3 part motet... that's a drinking song. Also has a nice one-voice version of L'homme arme, The Man at Arms, whose tune was used for many compositions.

Sargent, Brian (1974): Troubadours: Medieval Music to Play and Sing. Cambridge University Press, New York. 40 pages. ISBN 0-521-20471-2

TC: In spite of the title, few of the songs are actually by troubadours. Some are by trouveres (Adam de la Halle and Colin Muset), minnesingers (Oswald von Wolkenstein and Reinhardt von Neuenthal), and others, including one by Machaut. Modern notation, singable translations. Out of print.

Seagrave, Barbara Garvey and Thomas, Wesley. Song of the Minnesingers. Univ. of Illinois Press 1966, lib of Congress No. 65-19572.

This volume presents the words and music of the at least 23 of the most famous minnesingers from 12th Century Germany. The music is given, along with the first verse in german and then a full translation in English. The English translations attempt to maintain the meaning and rhyme, though not the rhythm of the original. Many sources are given along with a discussion of each piece and of other pieces that could not be reconstructed fully (usually due to lack of a tune). But wait, there's more! A 10" EP Album is included in the back of the book with most of the songs (or a least one verse) sung by prefessionals so you can hear what the Middle high German sounds like, and how they've interpreted the timing and pauses. I give this two flutes up! The only thing I could have asked for would be more of the original german and some more facimilies of the original music. But as a secondary source, this is very nice. There a a few good presentation pieces here.

Sharp, Cecil J., ed. One Hundred English Folksongs. New York: Dover Publications, 1975 (reprint of 1916 edition). ISBN 0 486 23192 5.

EM: This book is just what its title suggests. Not all of the songs in here are Medieval, but Sharp gives background information to all the songs, so it is easy to weed out what is period and what isn't. One good thing about this text, as opposed to other collections of ballads, is that this text includes all the notes to the songs. He also gives sources for the songs, so his notes can serve as a springboard for more research.

Simpson, Claude M. The British Broadside Ballad and its Music. Rutgers University Press, 1966.

GL: A large collection of music for broadside ballads, including extensive references. Excellent resource. Happens to have notes about the origins of many Playford dance tunes as well. Does not have info on many ballads in, say, Child, perhaps because they weren't published as broadsides?

See also Ward's article.

de Smet, Robin. Published music for the viola da gamba and other viols.. Detroit [Mich.] Information Coordinators, 1971. 105pp.

GL: I'm not sure if this survey is rendered obsolete by the VdGSA survey or not.

Statham, Heathcote, ed. Forty Rounds & Catches collected by Thomas Ravenscroft in 1609 : for 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10 voices. London: Stainer & Bell, 1925; distributed in the U.S. by Galaxy Music Corp.

GL: Mentioned by Susan Henry; I haven't found this one in a library yet.

Stephens, John, ed. Medieval Carols. Volume 4 of the Musica Britannica series. 1952, 1958.

Stephens, John. "Rounds and Canons from an Early Tudor Song Book", Music & Letters, Jan 1951, pp. 29-37. Available online as a .pdf for subscribing institutions.

GL: Rounds and cannons from BM. Add. MS 31922, the so-called 'Henry VIII manuscript'. This article is an analysis, mostly concerning the "puzzle" cannons, which generally are missing one part. Does not contain either a facsimile or music.

Stevens, John E. Music & poetry in the early Tudor court. London: Methuen, 1961. 483 pages.

GL: A description of 3 English manuscripts, including the "Henry VIII" manuscript. No facsimilies.

Switten, Margaret and Howell Chickering, eds. The Medieval Lyric: Anthologies and Cassettes for Teaching. A Project Supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and Mount Holyoke College. 3 Anthologies; Commentary Volume; 5 CDs. South Hadley MA: Mount Holyoke College, 1988-9. Materials can be obtained by writing: The Medieval Lyric, Box 1974, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA 01075 or by e-mail: mswitten@mtholyoke.edu. See: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/medst/medieval_lyric.

EM: [...] It is basically a project done by Mount Holyoke College, consisting of a recording of several Middle English Lyrics, with an accompanying booklet with the songs, musical notes, and historical notes on the songs. An excellent sourse for anyone interested in Middle English music.

Margaret Switten adds:

Essays in the Commentary Volume are by Leo Treitler, Music, CUNY Graduate Center; Stephen G. Nichols, French, The Johns Hopkins University; Thomas Riis, music, the University of Colorado, and Margaret Switten. Anthology I contains monastic songs from the Saint Martial repertory plus troubadour and trouvere songs. Anthology II contains Machaut's _Remede de Fortune_ with all lyric insertions. Anthology III contains Medieval English Lyric. All Anthologies contain comments on individual songs: Monastic songs by Leo Treitler; troubadours, trouveres and Machaut by Margaret Switten; Medieval English by Howell Chickering.

Participating artists: Peter Becker, baritone; Mark Bleeke, tenor; Paul Hillier, baritone (who performs all the Medieval English songs); Laurie Monahan, soprano; William Sharp, baritone; Tina Chancey, rebec; Robert Eisenstein, vielle; Christopher Kendall, lute, mandora; Scott Reiss, recorders.

A full listing of the songs is in my _Music and Poetry in the Middle Ages: A Guide to Research on French and Occitan Song 1100-1400_ (NY and London, 1995).

See also: Songs of the Troubadours and Trouveres: An Anthology of Poems and Melodies.

A related work is Teaching Medieval Lyric with Modern Technology, which consists of a program CD-ROM, a CD-ROM with 250 manuscript images, and 7 audio CDs. The material contains the items from The Medieval Lyric but adds more cantigas and does not include English lyrics.

Turbet, Richard. Tudor Music: A Research and Information Guide. Garland Publishing, 1994. ISBN 0-8240-4296-4.

GL: An annotated bibliography of research into English music from the Eton Choir book until 1591, although it covers much later material if it is in a style similar to that of 1591. Excellent resource for finding articles, many of which are in journals with no electronic index and inadequate paper indices. XXX go through this for entries.

Tydeman, William. The Theatre in the Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press, 1978. ISBN 0-521-21891-8.

SF: In addition to providing information on Western European theatre conditions from 800-1576, this book contains a wonderful chapter called "The Performers," which deals with period entertainers ("histriones") in general, such as minstrels, mimes, etc. This chapter contains information on Medieval and Renaissance views of performers, classifications of entertainers by their contemporaries, and the social role of the "histriones." Provides citations from period sources, glossary, and bibliography.

Urich, Bernhard, Concerning the Principles of Voice Training During the A Cappella Period and Until the Beginning of Opera (1474-1640). Translated by John W. Seale. MPLS, Pro musica press, 1973, reprint edition 1997. Paper $20.00

The publisher says: This was Ulrich's doctoral thesis in Berlin, 1910, in which he challenges the conclusions of both Hugo Goldschmidt and Max Kuhn regarding vocal pedagogy in the period studied. Copious quotations and musical examples from Zacconi to Praetorius. A well-organized study of what is known about vocal pedagogy from original sources.

Vlasto, Jill. "An Elizabethan Anthology of Rounds", Musical Quarterly XL (1954) 222-234.

GL: Concerns a 1580 manuscript of Thomas Lant with 57 rounds and cannons in it, of which 48 appear in some form in Ravenscroft's books. Many are different; Lant's "Hold they peace" is considerably easier than Ravenscroft's, but has a similar text and rhythm/layout. Music given for the 9 which aren't in Ravenscroft; notes are given for all as to how they compare to Ravenscroft.

Vlasto, Jill, ed. Lant, Thomas. Fifteen Anonymous Elizabethan Rounds (1580). Published by Stainer & Bell in 1954, 1971, distributed by Galaxy Music Corp.

GL: I found this in WorldCat; it's a small sheet-music collection. A mention of this collection by Susan Henry is what eventually lead me to Jill Vlasto's article above.

Ward, J. Articles in the Journal of the American Musicological Society, X (1957), 151-180; and XX (1967), 28-86.

GL: Two articles of interest: the first is about the music and text of the Handefull of Pleasant Delites, the second is additions and corrections to Simpson's British Broadside Ballad and Its Music. In particular, there are numerous corrections and additions to the pre-1600 tunes in Simpson.

Warlock, Peter, ed. Pammelia and other Rounds and Catches by Thomas Ravenscroft (1609-1611). Oxford University Press: London, 1918.

GL: For 3-11 voices. Actually also includes all the catches and rounds from Deuteromelia and Melismata. This edition is in modern notation with "modernized" spellings. Note that Peter Warlock is apparently the pseudonym of Philip Heseltine.

Williams, Miller. Patterns of Poetry Louisiana State University Press, 1986, ISBN 0-8071-1330-1.

GK: [....] but in my opinion, the very best book on poetic forms out there, period, is Miller Williams' _Patterns of Poetry_, Louisiana State University Press, 1986, ISBN 0-8071-1330-1. It doesn't postulate on how poetic forms in Ireland, Scotland and Wales developed, but it does list many of the traditional Celtic forms, with examples, and attempts to show how the form might have been used. It's subtitled "An Encyclopedia of Forms," and it's been one of the little books I keep beside my desk and just can't do without since I had to use it for a college class years ago. The book pays more attention to the Welsh forms than Irish and Scottish, and you will find discussion of Italian forms and some French forms as well as the standard English forms. Overall, it's a good reference book with a lot of fine examples.

Wilson, David Fenwick (1990). Medieval Music: An Anthology for Performance and Study. Schirmer, New York. 275 pages. ISBN 0-02-872952-8

TC: A companion to Medieval Music: Style and Structure by the same author. Takes a historical approach, with chapters giving examples of the major styles of medieval music from plainchant through 14th century polyphonic song.

Wilson, David Fenwick (1990). Medieval Music: Style and Structure. Schirmer, New York. 403 pages. ISBN 0-02-872951-X

TC: A textbook companion to Medieval Music: An Anthology for Performance and Study. Chapters on the major musical styles from 800-1400 explain the theoretical and structural features of each, and their implications for performance. Includes practicum exercises for learning to think and sing like a medieval musician. A very useful book. Extensive bibliography.

Wooldridge, Harry Ellis, ed. Early English harmony from the 10th to the 15th century, illustrated by facsimiles of mss., with a translation into modern musical notation. London: Bernard Quaritch (vol 1), London: Plainsong and Mediaeval Music Society (vol 2). Also a modern edition: New York: AMS Press, 1976, ISBN 0 404 12925 0.

GL: Volume 1 has 60 greyscale facsimilies of manuscript pages.

Whythorne, Thomas; Sayce, Lynda, ed. 15 Canonic Duos (1590). Sul Tasto Publications, Oxford, 1991. 16pp.

GL: Modern transcription; a facsimile is available on microfilm (and online).

Wythorne, Thomas. Cantus. Of duos, or songs for tvvo voices, .... London, 1590. UMI 1969 microfilm of original in the British Library. Also available online to subscribing institutions.


Things to add

Low and Lusty Ballads from the Elizabethan Underworld. Recording from "Sound Alive Series"; I haven't found this one in a library yet.


Contributors

Andrea B Gansley-Ortiz / Esmerelda <andreago@juno.com> [AGO]
Dennis Sherman / Robyyan <dennis_sherman@unc.edu> [DS]
Dani Zweig / Dani of the Seven Wells <dani@telerama.lm.com> [DZ]
Matt Newsome / Eogan MacLaren <mnewsome@warren-wilson.edu> [EM]
Greg Lindahl / Gregory Blount of Isenfir <lindahl@pbm.com> [GL]
Heather Rose Jones / Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn <hrjones@uclink.berkeley.edu> [HRJ]
John Haines <jhaines@epas.utoronto.ca> [JH]
Kristina Pereyra / Phaedria <kristina@uclink.berkeley.edu> [PH]
Susan G. Henry / Rosanore of Redthorn <henrys@icicle.winternet.com> [SH]
browningpj@alpha.hendrix.EDU
Joel Kramme <jkramme@umr.edu> (Prof of Music)
Catelin the Patient / Amy Wilson <wilson@mrs.org> [CP]
Gwen Knighton <gwynfyd@max.tiac.net> [GK]
Bill Hodghead / Liam <billho@microsoft.com> [BH]
Tim Connor [TC]
Fred Ross [FR]
Sancha de Flores [SF]
L. Joseph / Jehanne de Wodeford [LJ]
Elizabeth Bair [EB]


Gregory Blount of Isenfir