The Cultural Life of the Early Polyphonic Mass

Andrew Kirkman is Associate Professor of Music at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, New Jersey.

• Preface; Part I. The Status of the Early Polyphonic Mass: 1. Enlightenment and beyond; 2. Contemporary witnesses; Part II. The Ritual World of the Early Polyphonic Mass: 3. 'Faisant regretz pour ma dolente vie': piety, polyphony and musical borrowing; 4. 'Head of the Church that is His Body': Christological imagery and the Caput Masses; 5. Sounding armour: the sacred meaning of L'homme armé; 6. The profane made sacred: outside texts and music in the Mass; Part III. The Cradle of the Early Polyphonic Mass: 7. The shape of the Mass; 8. Counterpoint of images, counterpoint of sounds; Last things; Appendices: Appendix 5; Appendix 6.1; Appendix 6.2; Bibliography.

"...Kirkman’s excellent use of both historical writings and modern musicological scholarship will go far towards contextualizing musical compositions for other scholars of this period." -ELIZABETH RANDELL UPTON,University of California