Music and Ideas in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries

“Engagingly written for non-specialists (and even non-musicians), yet invaluable for the expert, this remarkable book is both the final summation of a lifetime’s distinguished scholarship by the acknowledged master in the field and a stimulating, thorough and authoritative introduction to nearly every aspect of a lively and complex cultural and intellectual milieu of great historical significance: the musical world of the Renaissance and early Baroque, when the rediscovery of classical antiquity helped transmute the medieval into the modern. A profoundly generous legacy by a master scholar and teacher.”–David E. Cohen, Columbia University

“It is hard to imagine anyone better qualified to write this book than Claude Palisca. Music and Ideas in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries brings together his vast learning on Renaissance musical thought in a concise and readable volume that will be of value to scholars and students alike. It is a fitting culmination to this distinguished scholar’s career.”–Thomas Christensen, professor of music, University of Chicago