Category: Music Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN-10: 0595183719
Type: Non-Fiction
Pages: 238
Copyright: Jun 1 2001
A book covering medieval music and its mental and emotional effect on the listeners.
This groundbreaking book fulfills two purposes. The first is to introduce interested musicians and listeners to the increasingly popular field of medieval music. The second is to trace the history of all music, as well as its effect upon the level of awareness of the listeners.
Covering intricacies within melody, rhythm, voice, and instruments which aren't usually considered, MEDIEVAL MUSIC, MAGICAL MINDS is a fascinating read, for the non-musician as well as for the professional.
Excerpt
Imagine that you are a peasant farmer or shopkeeper living and working in the York area, coming to Mass at York Minster in the thirteenth century. Imagine yourself sitting in the pews, as the monks and/or nuns file in. Above you loom the magnificent arches of the cathedral, through which shines the promising light of the early morning sun. The statues of the Virgin Mary and the Apostles line the walls around you. . . .
Then, as the service begins, the cathedral is filled with the voices of the monks and nuns. Out of reverence, they are singing softly, but the cathedral has been designed with the perfect acoustics for that music . . . As the mass ends, you rise and leave. Nothing is farther from your mind than your problems, or the mundane exigencies of the forthcoming harvest, or the customers waiting at your shop. Your mind, heart and soul are still soaring with the voices of the monks and nuns. And perhaps the experience has given you enough inner strength to get you through the day. That, my friends, is the highest form of magic.
