Review by Choice Review
Asked to name important composers of the years around 1500, almost anyone familiar with the history of European music would put Josquin Des Prez (c.1450-1521) at the head of the list. This compendium of essays by leading scholars will not change that judgment. But it is bound to change almost every textbook commonplace about Josquin's art, for in the last 20 years new discoveries that throw conventional wisdom into question have radically altered the view of Josquin's life and works. Sherr (Smith College) opens with a group of essays that summarize these new findings, offering some thoughtful perspectives on the aims of Josquin scholarship. Subsequent chapters consider individual genres (Masses, motets, chansons, instrumental compositions) in detail, providing new insights into Josquin's contrapuntal art. A final group of essays focuses on analytic and critical themes, including the relationship of Josquin's music to ideas on symbolism and on rhetoric (a perennial concern for students of Renaissance humanism). Sherr includes excellent reference tools: the bibliography, discography, index, and exhaustive works list will lead readers into the thicket of conflicting attributions. The accompanying CD includes some of the works discussed in the body of the book, here expertly performed by the Clerks' Group. Upper-division undergraduates and above. R. Freedman Haverford College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
