Medieval Liturgical Chant and Patristic Exegesis. Words and Music in the Second-Mode Tracts

342pp. Heavy book, extra postage will be requested for delivery outside UK. Emma Hornby argues that careful study of the musical shape of chant illuminates the structured beauty which serves both to articulate the text for listeners and to draw special attention to words and phrases which were important within the patristic tradition of exegetical commentary on the Bible. She illustrates these features through an examination of the interplay of formulaic material with unique phrases and melismas in the second-mode tracts, a group of chants dating back at least to the 8th century. ; Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Music