
This unique reference is the first systematic guide to the history of the English-language hymn tune, as represented in printed sources from the earliest (Coverdale's Goostly Psalmes) to 1820. Using a simple numerical code to represent the first two lines of each melody, the book allows the reader to look up any of nearly 20,000 British and American hymn tunes without advance knowledge of the composer, name, or text. Each entry provides an array of information on the tune's first printing, composer, the texts to which it was sung, and its later history. The work contains a historical introduction; a theoretical introduction; chronological and geographical lists of sources; indexes of tunes by name, composer, text, and metre; and tables of concordances with early German and French tunes.
This four-volume set investigates the history and evolution of English-language hymn tunes by providing a comprehensive, systematic census of printed sources from 1535 to 1820. Nicholas Temperley, a prominent musicologist, utilizes a specialized numerical indexing system to catalog nearly 20,000 distinct melodies. The work establishes a rigorous academic framework for identifying and tracing the transmission of hymnody across British and American printed collections.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Scholars and music librarians recognize this set as the definitive reference tool for the study of early modern hymnody. The work is frequently cited for its meticulous organization and the utility of its numerical indexing system for researchers in the field of musicology.
Page Count:
2688
Publication Date:
1998-06-25
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0193111500
ISBN-13:
9780193111509
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