Performance and the Middle English Romance - Couverture rigide

Zaerr, Linda Marie

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 1843843234 ISBN 13 : 9781843843238

Editeur : D.S. Brewer, 2012

Synopsis

An examination of if and how medieval romance was performed, uniquely uniting the perspective of a scholar and practitioner.

Although English medieval minstrels performed gestes, a genre closely related to romance, often playing the harp or the fiddle, the question of if, and how, Middle English romance was performed has been hotly debated. Here, the performance tradition is explored by combining textual, historical and musicological scholarship with practical experience from a noted musician. Using previously unrecognised evidence, the author reconstructs a realistic model of minstrel performance, showing how a simple melody can interact with the text, and vice versa. She argues that elements in Middle English romance which may seem simplistic or repetitive may in fact be incomplete, as missing an integral musical dimension; metrical irregularities, for example, may be relics of sophisticated rhythmic variation that make sense only with music. Overall, the study offers both a more accurate comprehension of minstrel performance, and a deeper appreciation of the romances themselves.

Linda Marie Zaerr is Professor of Medieval Studies at Boise State University.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

Although English medieval minstrels performed gestes, a genre closely related to romance, often playing the harp or the fiddle, the question of if, and how, Middle English romance was performed has been hotly debated. Here, the performance tradition is explored by combining textual, historical and musicological scholarship with practical experience from a noted musician. Using previously unrecognised evidence, the author reconstructs a realistic model of minstrel performance, showing how a simple melody can interact with the text, and vice versa. She argues that elements in Middle English romance which may seem simplistic or repetitive may in fact be incomplete, as missing an integral musical dimension; metrical irregularities, for example, may be relics of sophisticated rhythmic variation that make sense only with music. Overall, the study offers both a more accurate comprehension of minstrel performance, and a deeper appreciation of the romances themselves.

Biographie de l'auteur

Linda Marie Zaerr is Professor of Medieval Studies at Boise State University.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: D.S. Brewer
• Date d'édition: 2012
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1843843234
• ISBN 13: 9781843843238
• Reliure: Relié
• Numéro d'édition: 1
• Nombre de pages: 296
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible