MEDIEVAL
MUSIC
a.
General
This provides brief
information on composers and their
works (with information about where extant manuscripts can be found).
There is
also an extensive bibliography.
This comprehensive searchable
resource is provided by LaTrobe
University Library in Australia. You can
also browse by
Text,
Composer,
Genre,
Manuscript
or
Liturgical
Feast.
Although written in 1968, Richard Rastall’s thesis is still important
and most informative.
b.
Examples
This
is a collection of facsimiles both of pages from the original
manuscript and of
a transcription of the music made in 1922 of what is thought to be the
largest
collection of solo songs to have survived from the Middle Ages. They
were
written in Spain during the
reign of Alfonso X
"El Sabio" (1221-1284).
This informative article in
French by Olivier Bettens
is part of his useful collection of material under the heading
'Chantez-vous fran�ais?'
Compiled by Peter Jeffery of
the Music Department of
Princeton University, this is a comprehensive collection of information
and
links to other sites.
An interesting introduction, stressing
the importance of Cyprus as a vital
staging post during
the Crusades. There are samples of music contained in an early
fifteenth-century Cypriot manuscript, now in the collection of the
National
Library of Turin, Italy.
Five midi-files on the site of the English & Fine Arts Faculty of
the Virginia Military Academy.
A detailed, informative
article by Joel Cohen in which
he considers whether or not instruments were used to accompany the
songs of
troubadours.
A useful overview of the music
of the period with
references to CD recordings. Written by Todd M. McComb.
These examples, from
the
Vatican's vast
collection, include pages, copied towards the end of the 15th century,
showing the Gregorian chant of the first verse of the hymn
'Conditor
alme siderum'.
MEDIEVAL
DANCE
A
brief but informative introductory article,
written by Yvonne Kendall, that contains a 'Brief Overview of World
Dance' and
'Dance in Western Culture'. It is part of the ORB (online reference
book) for
Medieval Studies.
A growing collection
of illustrations of dance from medieval documentary sources, with a
text in both German and English. A very useful resource.
A verbal account of simple
dance steps, compiled by
Ken Reed.
In a series of files, there is
an excellent account
(based on surviving manuscripts) of the basic steps and method of
dancing in Italy during the
fifteenth century.
There are then detailed descriptions of many dances, including
La
Spagna,
Reale,
Corona,
Pietosa,
Caterva,
Voltati
in Ça Rosina,
Petit
Vriens and
Pizochara.
In the Bibliothèque Royale Albert I, Brussels, is a
Burgundian-Flemish dance manuscript that was probably written
in the first half of the fifteenth century. This page provides an
introduction
and information about the four dance-steps dealt with in the
choreography (in
English) and a transcript of the manuscript and some illustrations.
OTHER
LISTS OF MEDIEVAL DRAMA LINKS
Some Internet resources for
the study of Medieval and
Early Renaissance Drama, compiled by Alan Baragona of the Virginia
Military
Institute, Lexington, Virginia.
Prof. Michael Hanly, of Washington State University, has produced a
page of links for 'the use of my medieval students and of any others
who stumble upon it'.
A short but useful list of
links.
Any suggestions or
comments? Please write
to me: 
for $16.93 and in the UK from Amazon.co.uk
for £12.50.