Dear Manolo and Sandy, The information in that blurb at the beginning of the Francesco volume is not accurate. I did not write a thesis on Francesco. Some of the volumes in the Harvard Publications in Music had derived from theses and dissertations, such as Kanazawa'a master's thesis on Holborne, and Bathia Churgin's dissertation on Sammartini.
But many volumes were commissioned by the publication committee. I had made some Francesco transcriptions in Ward';s seminar, and these were apparently circulated to the committee, and I was offered a contract. Which I naively accepted, not realizing how immense was the amount of music. This was before Brown's bibliography, and very little was known about where the music was to be found. Even the thesis by Joel Newman (NYU 1944--during WW_II) and dissertation by Elwyn Wienandt were far from complete in their coverage of the music. But Francesco's name was well known, although little of his music had been published in modern editions. So that's how it came about. Of course, I found Francesco's music especially fascinating, and that made the project enjoyable. Each new microfilm brought the possibilities of a new "find." And some were, such as the "Siena"manuscript which I discovered when I'd nearly finished, and a rare print that Madame Thibault let me use. Colin Slim's dissertation identified many sources, and his assistance was invaluable. I also had assistance from a English Brigadier Michael Prynee, who would inform me wheever he found some pieces by Francesco. The piece that fascinated me the most was No. 3. It is a "perfect" piece of music. ajn ----- Original Message ----- From: "Manolo Laguillo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Arthur Ness" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "LUTELIST" <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, August 06, 2006 6:52 PM Subject: [LUTE] Re: P H Lang: Music in Western Civilization > Dear Arthur, > BTW, Arthur, let me ask you something I am often > curious about: how did > you arrive to that thesis theme, Francesco Canova da > Milano? > I imagine you have told the story quite often, and > perhaps it is even > written down somewhere, so answering my question would > be as easy as > providing the link to that text. > If that's not the case, I'm sure many in this list (at > least newcomers > as myself) share with me this desire of knowing... > > Saludos from Barcelona, > > Manolo Laguillo > > > > Arthur Ness wrote: > >> Dear Manollo, >> >> I did not realize that the book was available in >> translation. Paul Henry Lang was a much admired >> musicologist and member of the music facuilty at >> Columnbia University. His Music in Western >> Civilization >> (1941) is his best known work. He also wrote a >> pathfinding book on Handel, among other nice things. >> >> WesternCiv is for its time (1941) a >> comprehensive coverage of most areas of music >> history. >> It is an easy read, since he seems to have been >> aiming >> for the general reader, and he has a fine ,literary >> style (in English, at least). As a result he does not >> always go into the detail that one might expect in a >> history intended for professional musicians or >> conservatory >> students. Another drawback is that so many >> discoveries >> have been made since he wrote, that much is lacking. >> >> Take a look here in the dealers's column. Some copies >> are very inexpensive in German or English (3-5 >> Euros). >> >> http://www.ubka.uni-karlsruhe.de/hylib/en/kvk.html >> >> Hope this helps in your decision. >> >> The standard one-volume music history is Grout >> (Donald >> Jay) and Palisca (Claude) A History of Western Music >> (Norton--many editions). In Spanish from Alianza in >> Madrid. >> ajn. >> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Manolo Laguillo" >> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> To: <[email protected]> >> Sent: Saturday, August 05, 2006 7:20 PM >> Subject: [LUTE] P H Lang: Music in Western >> Civilization >> >> >>> Hi, lutefriends, >>> >>> I have found the spanish translation, made in >>> Argentina in 1963, of >>> >>> Paul Henry Lang: Music in Western Civilization. >>> >>> It is a substantial volume (nearly 900 pages), and >>> the >>> price, even being >>> a 2nd hand book, is also quite hefty. This is >>> because >>> of the weight, >>> which pushes the sending costs. >>> >>> What is your opinion of this book? Is it worth the >>> expens? >>> >>> Thank you in advance for your responses. >>> >>> Saludos from Barcelona, >>> >>> Manolo Laguillo >>> >>> -- >>> >>> To get on or off this list see list information at >>> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >>> >> >> >> > > -- >
