Music and Culture in Italy from the Middle Ages to the Baroque

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The eminent Italian musicologist here analyzes major developments in music during the golden era from Dante to the Italian Baroque.

Nino Pirrotta aims at music history set in a broad cultural perspective. These essays are concerned with music and poetry in the age of Dante, the historical importance of unwritten music and popular forms, music in relation to current aesthetic ideas, the development of polyphonic styles, the growth of musical institutions, music in the theater, and the beginnings of opera.

Half of the essays, originally published in Italian, have been translated for this volume; revisions have been made throughout to take account of the most recent scholarship. During the many years he taught at Harvard, Nino Pirrotta won the admiration of American musicologists and students. This volume will make his thought and graceful style available to everyone interested in music history.