Steven Saunders

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.

Sacred Music at the Imperial Court of Ferdinand II of Habsburg (1619-1637)

Cross, Sword, and Lyre

Stephen Collins Foster

Deane L. Root

This first complete critical edition of the works of Stephen Foster (1826-1864) includes reproductions of not only Foster's songs, but also his children's hymns, piano pieces, and instrumental music--the full range of his compositional activity. The compositions appear in the order Foster wrote them. A critical report by the editors accompanies every piece, and introductory chapters discuss the composer's place in American cultural history, the sources for the edition, performing the music, and musical style. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.

Steven Saunders

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