Re-Envisioning Past Musical Cultures: Ethnomusicology in the Study of Gregorian Chant (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780226395807)

Studying Gregorian chant presents many problems to the researcher because its most important stages of development were not recorded in writing. From the sixth to the tenth century, this form of music existed only in song as medieval musicians relied on their memories and voices to pass each verse from one generation to the next.

Peter Jeffery offers an innovative new approach for understanding how these melodies were created, memorized, performed, and modified. Drawing on a variety of disciplines, including anthropology and ethnomusicology, he identifies characteristics of Gregorian chant that closely resemble other oral traditions in non-Western cultures and demonstrates ways music historians can take into account the social, cultural, and anthropological contexts of chant's development.

Author: Peter Jeffery
ISBN-10: 0226395804
ISBN-13: 9780226395807
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Language: English
Published: 12/01/1995
Pages: 222
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.74lbs
Size: 8.93h x 6.03w x 0.59d