Meter in Music, 1600-1800: Performance, Perception, and Notation

"All practising musicians with an interest in the baroque owe it to themselves to be exposed to the ideas contained in this book." --Continuo

"This is a book from an excellent musician in the early field who turns out also to be a most persistent scholar... " --Early Music

"... the book offers a vast quantity of data from a wide range of sources.... George Houle is to be congratulated for his honest presentation of the entire spectrum." --Music Educators Journal

The treatment of meter in performance has evolved dramatically since 1600. Here is a practical guide for the performer, with many quotations from early manuals and treatises, and abundant examples.

Introduction

1. The Origins of the Measure in the Seventeenth Century

2. Time Signatures in the Eighteenth Century

3. Rhythmopoeia: Quantitative Meters in Poetry and Music

4. Quantitas Intrinseca: The Perception of Meter

5. Articulation of Quantitative Meter

6. Accent as Measure Articulation and as Measure Definition

Appendix: Rhythmopoeia according to Johann Mattheson and Wolfgang Caspar Printz

Notes

Bibliography

Index