This book provides an overview of the current state of research on Machaut, the major figure of 14th-century French music and poetry, giving fair representation to the many areas of Machaut research that are pursued in fields outside music.Coverage of the current state of knowledge on each of the manuscripts includes the newly discovered Aberystwyth manuscript, described in detail here for the first time. A section on the large narrative poems pulls together recent research of several scholars and offers new views. An up-to-date concordance of the miniatures in all of the illustrated Machaut manuscripts gives information on where published studies and facsimiles may be found. The discography is the most complete list of Machaut recordings yet compiled and provides critical evaluations of recordings most valuable for instruction, according to our latest conception of performance practice in the 14th-century.A biography section organizes the documentary material in a way that will facilitate further research. The bibliography of secondary works cites books, editions, articles, and dissertations (including forthcoming works) from 1740 to 1991, in French, English, the other western European languages, Polish, Russian, and Japanese. The volume is fully indexed.
Biography
Lawrence Earp
"Medievalists working in the areas of musicology, literature, and codicology have already come to appreciate Earp's many scholarly contributions to Machaut studies. With the appearance of this volume, collective gratitute can only increase." -- Romance Philology
"The volume is completed by three detailed indexes: an index of manuscripts; a general index of names, places, and subjects; and an index of titles, first lines, and refrains. These increase the usefulness of the volume." -- Romance Philology
"This immensely useful and painstakingly thorough guide to Machaut studies will be invaluable for Machaut scholars, and indeed for all those working on fourteenth-century French music, poetry, or manuscripts. In one handy volume, Earp has provided detailed descriptions of all known Machaut manuscripts, a biographical sketch outlining all that is known of Machaut's life, and a meticulously annotated bibliography and discography. Thorough cross-referencing and indexing makes the volume extremely user-friendly, notwithstanding the mass of material that it contains." -- Romance Philology
"The catalogue of manscripts is fully comprehensive, providing descriptions and complete bibliographic references not only for the large collections devoted to Machaut's complete works, but also for any manuscript containing any Machaut piece. Such a catalogue will prove an invaluable starting point for future editorial or codicological projects...of immense value for anyone contemplating an iconographic study. By collating all manuscript illuminations and grouping them by text, Earp makes it possible to view at a glance the illustration of any given text across the manuscript tradition." -- Romance Philology
"Absolutely indispensable. Anyone with a serious interest in scholarship on Machaut could do no better than to invest in this book." -- Notes
"Another volume in an invaluable series. It is a book with 'Must Buy' written all over it." -- Early Music Today
"Earp has packed his book with useful information for the student of Machaut's life and works and has in addition provided a very adequate biography of the composer-poet. Anyone with a serious interest in Machaut will want to use this resource manual." -- Brio
"This is a balanced, generous, and above all rich collection of material." -- Maney"This is the single most authoritative, accessible, comprehensive and usable source on Machaut in existence and as such can be thoroughly recommended." -- Mark Sealey, ClassicalNet
