Sources and the Circulation of Renaissance Music

This volume explores the means and motives for the distribution of music during the Renaissance. Music in the fifteenth century was available almost exclusively through manuscript copies, while the introduction of the printing of polyphonic music at the beginning of the sixteenth century profoundly changed the circulation of music.The essays discuss both the technical side of the production of sources as well as their roles in the society in which they were produced and cover a wide range of issues including: the activities of scribes and the making of manuscripts; the role of politics in the transmission of repertories; the influence of patrons and collectors; the impact of music printing; the nature and effects of both multiple-impression and single-impression techniques; and the financial side of music printing. Taken together, these essays reveal the critical changes wrought by the transition from manuscript to print during this period.

Mary S. Lewis is Professor Emerita of Music, University of Pittsburgh, USA