Overview

Five hundred years ago a monk nailed his theses to a church gate in Wittenberg. The sound of Luther’s mythical hammer, however, was by no means the only aural manifestation of the religious Reformations. This book describes the birth of Lutheran Chorales and Calvinist Psalmody; of how music was practised by Catholic nuns, Lutheran schoolchildren, battling Huguenots, missionaries and martyrs, cardinals at Trent and heretics in hiding, at a time when Palestrina, Lasso and Tallis were composing their masterpieces, and forbidden songs were concealed, smuggled and sung in taverns and princely courts alike. Music expressed faith in the Evangelicals’ emerging worships and in the Catholics’ ancient rites; through it new beliefs were spread and heresy countered; analysed by humanist theorists, it comforted and consoled miners, housewives and persecuted preachers; it was both the symbol of new, conflicting identities and the only surviving trace of a lost unity of faith. The music of the Reformations, thus, was music reformed, music reforming and the reform of music: this book shows what the Reformations sounded like, and how music became one of the protagonists in the religious conflicts of the sixteenth century.

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9783110518054

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Reviews

Any reader of this book cannot fail to be immeasurably enriched and pressed to re-think in quite radical ways why music matters, why it is vital that we see it flourish today - and perhaps most especially in the Church. Jeremy Begbie Chiara Bertoglio has attempted to write a comprehensive introduction to sixteenth-century church music without a confessional bias. In this she has largely succeeded. [...] Because no other book attempts what this one does, it is a significant publication. Joseph Herl in: Lutheran Quarterly 32.2 (2018), 92-94 Overall, Bertoglio does a thorough job of presenting the overarching scope of musical development occurring in the sixteenth century. Some theologians may have squabbles over a few of her summaries of theological developments, but her broad strokes are accurate and the musical implications she discusses are often neglected by those who would debate the theological points. The book emphasizes the effects of the religious and cultural upheaval of the century upon music and strikes a healthy balance between depth and breadth. Zachary Jones in: STR 9.1 (2018), 113-43 Overall, this is a much-needed and thorough examination of ideas, genres, developments, and concepts related to music during the sixteenth century. Branden Lee Eden in: Sixteenth Century Journal 49/1 (2018), 316-318

Any reader of this book cannot fail to be immeasurably enriched and pressed to re-think in quite radical ways why music matters, why it is vital that we see it flourish today - and perhaps most especially in the Church. Jeremy Begbie Chiara Bertoglio has attempted to write a comprehensive introduction to sixteenth-century church music without a confessional bias. In this she has largely succeeded. [...] Because no other book attempts what this one does, it is a significant publication. Joseph Herl in: Lutheran Quarterly 32.2 (2018), 92-94

Any reader of this book cannot fail to be immeasurably enriched and pressed to re-think in quite radical ways why music matters, why it is vital that we see it flourish today - and perhaps most especially in the Church. Jeremy Begbie Chiara Bertoglio has attempted to write a comprehensive introduction to sixteenth-century church music without a confessional bias. In this she has largely succeeded. [...] Because no other book attempts what this one does, it is a significant publication. Joseph Herl in: Lutheran Quarterly 32.2 (2018), 92-94 Overall, Bertoglio does a thorough job of presenting the overarching scope of musical development occurring in the sixteenth century. Some theologians may have squabbles over a few of her summaries of theological developments, but her broad strokes are accurate and the musical implications she discusses are often neglected by those who would debate the theological points. The book emphasizes the effects of the religious and cultural upheaval of the century upon music and strikes a healthy balance between depth and breadth. Zachary Jones in: STR 9.1 (2018), 113-43

Any reader of this book cannot fail to be immeasurably enriched and pressed to re-think in quite radical ways why music matters, why it is vital that we see it flourish today - and perhaps most especially in the Church. Jeremy Begbie

Author Information

Chiara Bertoglio, Turin, Italy.

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