Medieval Music as Medieval Exegesis (8) (Studies in Liturgical Musicology) - Tapa dura

...excellent reading for scholars who have not considered all aspects of troping, and for graduate-level courses in medieval music, religion, and literature. * Worship * ..a study that will be of interest to persons in musicology and liturgics but also to students of medieval culture, linguistics, ecclesiastical history, and the history of biblical exegesis. * Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture * ...Flynn's analysis treats far more than what might traditionally be defined as "music." Flynn's study provides a welcome move beyond the disciplinary boundaries that artificially isolate "music" in the liturgy, as he draws upon an impressive array of expertise, from theology to Latin syntax and pedagogy, in his effort to reconstitute the contexts of liturgical discourse. * The Journal Of Religion * In recent years heightened concern for the meaning and social function of music has caused many musicologists to adopt interdisciplinary strategies that seek to locate musical developments within their cultural context, thereby often producing studies of interest to a broad range of scholars. The present work by William T. Flynn is just such a study, in which its author draws on a variety of disciplines in order to show how eleventh-century liturgy-broadly conceived as an indivisible union of text, music, action, and mystagogy-'became the principal locus for the proclamation and interpretation of scripture'...an illuminating example of the new genre of 'liturgical musicology'. * Ecclesiastical History * Flynn's discussion of the texts and music is thorough and likely to be found useful across the disciplines of medieval studies. * Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies * ...few authors embark on such a compelling journey as William T. Flynn does...he succeeds quite elegantly in mediating between types of evidence, technical vocabulary, and methodologies specific to several distinct specialties. Scholars of various medieval disciplines will find this work thought provoking. * The Medieval Review *

In this unique deconstruction of liturgical musicology, William T. Flynn explores the expanding scope of the discipline. He includes contextual and philosophic interpretation that encompasses biblical exegesis, medieval studies, Latin linguistics and ecclesiastical history. Flynn's comprehensive analysis shows that the interdisciplinary dimensions of the expanding field must be understood beyond their traditional boundaries.