Part of the seminal Cambridge History of Music series, this volume departs from standard histories of early modern Western music in two important ways. First, it considers music as something primarily experienced by people in their daily lives, whether as musicians or listeners, and as something that happened in particular locations, and different intellectual and ideological contexts, rather than as a story of genres, individual counties, and composers and their works. Second, by constraining discussion within the limits of a 100-year timespan, the music culture of the sixteenth century is freed from its conventional (and tenuous) absorption within the abstraction of 'the Renaissance', and is understood in terms of recent developments in the broader narrative of this turbulent period of European history. Both an original take on a well-known period in early music and a key work of reference for scholars, this volume makes an important contribution to the history of music.

This collection of essays investigates the work of Heinrich Glarean, one of the most influential humanists and music theorists of the sixteenth century. For the first time, Glarean's musical writings, including his masterwork the Dodekachordon, are considered in the wider context of his work in a variety of disciplines such as musicology, history, theology and geography. Contributors reference books from Glarean's private library, including rare and previously unseen material, to explore his strategies and impact as a humanist author and university teacher. The book also uses other newly discovered source material such as course notes written by students and Glarean's preparations for his own lectures to offer a fascinating picture of his reactions to contemporary debates. Providing a detailed analysis of Glarean's library as reconstructed from the surviving copies, Heinrich Glarean's Books offers new and exciting perspectives on the multidisciplinary work of an accomplished intellectual.