The Oxford history of music (Volume I) The Polyphonic Period Part I Method of Musical Art, 330-1330

By H.E. Wooldridge

Book Overview

How did Western music learn to speak in many voices? Listen to the first harmonies. In The Oxford History of Music (Volume I), H. E. Wooldridge traces the method of musical art from late antiquity music through medieval Europe 330-1330, showing how chant, theory, and practice hardened into craft with sure footing. This music history volume moves from early church music to the rise of medieval polyphonic music, explaining not only what changed, but why those changes mattered to worship, learning, and the shaping of a shared European sound. Built on rigorous historical music scholarship, it reads as a clear academic musicology book and a dependable music history reference: the emergence of schools and styles, the discipline of rhythm, and the origins of musical notation that made complex repertory possible. Wooldridge writes for the serious reader without shutting the door on the curious one, making it equally at home beside a college musicology textbook or a personal library of classics. Along the way, you gain context for a Gregorian chant collection and the wider early music anthology tradition, with the Oxford series' trademark balance of narrative sweep and evidential care. For collectors, it stands as a landmark of English-language musicology; for musicians and listeners, it restores the long prelude to the Renaissance to vivid, intelligible life. Republished by Alpha Editions in a careful modern edition, this volume preserves the spirit of the original while making it effortless to enjoy today -- a heritage title prepared for readers and collectors alike.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9353702534
• ISBN13: 9789353702533
• Release Date: May 2019
• Publisher: Alpha Edition
• Length: 408 Pages
• Weight: 1.14 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.5"