Cross, sword, and lyre
Subtitle: sacred music at the imperial court of Ferdinand II of Habsburg (1619-1637)
By: Steven Saunders.
Publisher: Clarendon Press; Oxford University Press
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Oxford; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 358
Subjects: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, 1578-1637.; Church music -- Holy Roman Empire -- 17th century.; Holy Roman Empire -- Court and courtiers.
Description: Cross, Sword and Lyre introduces a nearly lost culture: the Vienna court of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II (1619-37). During the Thirty Years War, Vienna was home to one of the largest, most resplendent musical organizations in Europe, and an important hub for the assimilation of modern Italianate music in the German-speaking lands.

In this book Steven Saunders looks at the music in its cultural context, showing how sacred music at this pivotal centre was shaped by the composers, institutions, and ideas of the period. He examines the life and works of the most important court composers, particularly the two imperial chapel masters Giovanni Priuli and Giovanni Valentini.

The book demonstrates how their music was shaped by liturgy, court ceremony, dynastic tradition, and music's function as courtly representation and political statement, as well as by the personnel, instruments, and repertoire of the music chapel.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [332]-349) and index.