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The Prodromus Musicalis of Sébastian de Brossard

Sebastien de Brossard (1655-1730) was a French priest, a zealous collector and historian, a musician of merit, and the author of one of the first dictionaries of musical terminology, the Dictionnaire de musigue of 1703. Largely self-taught in music, Brossard studied theology and philosophy at Caen. He was appointed curate at Strasbourg A in 1687 and maitre de musique in 1689. In 1698 he was made grand chapelain and mattre de musique at Meaux, where he remained until his death. His complete works and immense personal library are contained in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. The first edition of Brossard's solo motets was published in 1695 under the title Elevations et motets a voix seule, avec la basse continue. The title Prodromus Musicalis was used for the second edition, published in 1702, and may be loosely translated "Musical Forerunner" or "Musical Prelude." The motets contain a vocal line with text and a figured bass. The present edition presents a faithful rendering of the figured bass and was prepared from a second edition copy contained in the North Texas State University Music Library. In order to enhance the performance and understanding of the eight motets, much of the prefatory material included in the first edition is translated, the formal and tonal structures are analyzed, and English versions of the texts are given. The many ornaments emplayed in the vocal line are categorized, and their execution is explained.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc662999
Date05 1900
CreatorsBolton, Thomas W. (Thomas Wayne)
ContributorsAdkins, Cecil, Schoep, Arthur
PublisherNorth Texas State University
Source SetsUniversity of North Texas
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis or Dissertation
Formativ, 223 leaves: music, Text
RightsPublic, Bolton, Thomas W. (Thomas Wayne), Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights

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