Songs in Times of Plague

Download or read book Songs in Times of Plague written by Remi Chiu and published by A-R Editions, Inc.. This book was released on 2020-01-01 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Plague, an indiscriminate and deadly disease, was an important aspect of European intellectual and cultural life during the Renaissance. Perennial outbreaks throughout the period, both small and catastrophic, provoked changes and reactions in religion, medicine, government, and indeed, the arts—from literature, sculpture and painting, to music. This anthology brings together, for the first time, fifteenth- and sixteenth-century motets and madrigals, for three to six voices, written in response to plague. These pieces, with texts commemorating outbreaks and addressing holy figures and secular patrons, reveal how music was imbricated in the wider concerns of societies habitually caught in the grips of pestilence.