Singing to the Lyre in Renaissance Italy: Memory, Performance, and Oral Poetry (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781108488075)

A primary mode for the creation and dissemination of poetry in Renaissance Italy was the oral practice of singing and improvising verse to the accompaniment of a stringed instrument. Singing to the Lyre is the first comprehensive study of this ubiquitous practice, which was cultivated by performers ranging from popes, princes, and many artists, to professionals of both mercantile and humanist background. Common to all was a strong degree of mixed orality based on a synergy between writing and the oral operations of memory, improvisation, and performance. As a cultural practice deeply rooted in language and supported by ancient precedent, cantare ad lyram (singing to the lyre) is also a reflection of Renaissance cultural priorities, including the status of vernacular poetry, the study and practice of rhetoric, the oral foundations of humanist education, and the performative culture of the courts reflected in theatrical presentations and Castiglione's Il cortegiano.

Author: Blake Wilson
ISBN-10: 1108488072
ISBN-13: 9781108488075
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 11/21/2019
Pages: 484
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 2.10lbs
Size: 9.87h x 7.14w x 1.27d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 06/01/2020