Table of Contents

Plates; Tables; Abbreviations; Author's note; From the beginnings to the middle of the thirteenth century; The later thirteenth and fourteenth centuries; The age of power and Dunstable; The later fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries; The period of the reformation; The Elizabethan and Jacobean period: music for the church; Secular vocal music, 1575 - 1625; Instrumental music, 1575 - 1625: musical life and thought; Charles I, the commonwealth, and the
restoration; Music under the later Stuarts; Bibliography; Indexes

About the Author

John Caldwell is the author of Editing Early Music (OUP, 1985), co-editor of The Well Enchanting Skill: Music, Poetry, and Drama in the Culture of the Renaissance(OUP, 1990), series editor for OUP's Musica de Camera series, editor of John Stanley: Complete Works for Flute and Basso Continuo: Six Concertos (OUP 1974-78 and 1987), and editor of William Boyce: Ten Voluntaries for the Organ or Harpsichord (OUP, 1972)

Reviews

`His commentary is almost seamless'
Music Teachers Online Journal
`Caldwell goes straight to original sources to provide new perspectives in both an erudite and user-friendly manner.'
Music Teachers Online Journal
A rich and varied tradition is covered in Caldwell's excellent two volume The Oxford History of Music. Volume 1 ... is one of only a few recent publications that date to investigate the somewhat murky area of the pre-Reformation, especially in its earliest days. This is a remarkable volume in which the scholarship cannot be faulted and one cannot hope to find such a knowledgeable and accessible approach elsewhere.
`His ability to absorb, to generalize, and to select representative examples for discussion is everywhere apparent in this volume. There are few aspects of English music before 1715 for which this book will not provide a reliable summary and a guide to further learning.''
Notes, December 1992
`triumphant success ... this can be recommended as a reliable, well-proportioned and up-to-date survey of its subject.'
Early Music News
`We wait with the liveliest expectancy for the second instalment of this munificent, music-loving book.''
Wilfrid Mellers, Times Literary Supplement
`I am filled with admiration by the present volume, for not only is the coverage both wide and deep, it is the work of one man ... It is amazing how much detail there is, and given the limitations of even 700 pages, how accurate it is ... Caldwell's no-nonsense approach and economical style pack in a great deal of information ... One of the most admirable features of this book is the wealth of music examples ... Without doubt this is a authoritative work
... Caldwell's perspective is clear and up to date in terms of scholarship; his judgements are informed, and his opinions just and generous.''
Times Higher Education Supplement
`he is a reliable guide to the literature and to the present state of knowledge, while not being afraid to question the conclusions of others when appropriate ... Given the size of this volume and the richness of the material, Caldwell's structure is a model of clarity ... this splendid book ... should be read by all those interested in early music. Caldwell's work is beautifully written and produced, discusses the music sensibly and comprehensively, and
provides an excellent guide to themain authorities and editions for the period. I for one look forward to the second volume.''
Early Music
`John Caldwell's account of English music is extensive and authoritative, a remarkable achievement ... Caldwell's coverage is full and well conceived and amply supplied with apt musical examples. The writing is clear and trenchant ... Caldwell's knack of explaining difficult concepts and techniques clearly and concisely is exemplary ... wide ranging and imaginative use of literary as well as musical sources ... this volume is highly recommended as a
comprehensive, current and highly readable account of the development of English music.''
Plainsong and Mediaeval Music Journal
`the signal virtue of this book, over and above its scholarship, is that it never forgets that music is made by human beings for human beings'
Times Literary Supplement
`superbly produced'
The Oldie
`On the evidence of this volume, the first of two, John Caldwell has written the definitive work on British music. Indeed it is likely to remain so until well into the next millennium ... This suggests that Caldwell has a very clear eye as to his readership: a precocious school pupil, an undergraduate, and enthusiastic amateur, all will find the entire volume of immense value. More experienced practitioners such as teachers, researchers, performers, and
librarians also will find it valuable for checking details of some unfamiliar aspect of the subject.'
Richard Turbet, Musical Times, January 1993
`Furthermore this is surely one of the best illustrated books of music reference that has ever been published. ... Otherwise the reader is positively pampered by the volume's virtues ...one of Caldwell's many achievements is to confirm just how good English music is. ...by 1700 England had produced many of the world's finest composers. Cadwell's book gives us all the ammunition we require, not to fight or brag, but to evangelise on their behalf.'
Richard Turbet, Musical Times, January 1993
`Bound to become the standard text on its subject, this book is indispensable to all music libraries.'
Rosemary Williamson, Brio, Spring/Summer 1992, Volume 29 No. 1.
`There are few aspects of English music before 1715 for which this book will not provide a reliable summary and a guide to further learning ... full, erudite and persuasive appreciation of English art music and the background to its production ... far surpasses any existing book.''
Nicholas Temperley, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Notes, December 1992
`His ability to absorb, to generalize, and to select representative examples for discussion is everywhere apparent in this volume. There are few aspects of English music before 1715 for which this book will not provide a reliable summary and a guide to further learning.''
Notes, Dec. 1992
`a handsome and striking achievement ... Page after page is replete with mammoth erudition and painstaking study, and distinguished by the judicious selection of material and the patient identification, extraction and explanation of salient points. Music examples are in generous supply. There is an immense amount of information here that it is hugely useful to have drawn together into a single book. Caldwell has provided the springboard from which (or in
reaction to which) a new generation of enterprise may conceive its vision and draw its momentum.''
Roger Bowers, Music and Letters, Vol. 74, No. 2, May 1993