MTU Library Catalogue

Syndetics cover image
Image from Syndetics

Sound and space in Renaissance Venice : architecture, music, acoustics / Deborah Howard and Laura Moretti.

By: Howard, Deborah [author].
Contributor(s): Moretti, Laura, 1969- [author].
Material type: materialTypeLabelBookPublisher: New Haven : Yale University Press, [2009]Copyright date: ©2009Description: xv, 368 pages : illustrations (some colour) ; 25 cm.ISBN: 9780300148749 (hardback); 0300148747.Subject(s): Church architecture -- Italy -- Venice | Architecture, Renaissance -- Italy -- Venice | Architecture -- Italy -- Venice -- History -- 16th century | Church buildings -- Acoustics -- Italy -- Venice | Music and architecture -- Italy -- Venice -- History -- 16th century | Liturgy and architecture -- Italy -- Venice -- History -- 16th century | Church music -- Italy -- Venice -- 16th century | Venice (Italy) -- Buildings, structures, etcDDC classification: 726.5094531109031
Contents:
Acknowledgements -- Preface -- Introduction -- 1. San Marco -- 2. Island monasteries -- 3. Mendicant friaries -- 4. Parish churches -- 5. Opedali Grandi -- Conclusion -- Appendices -- Repertoire for choral experiments -- List of tracks -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.
Awards: Click to open in new window
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Copy number Status Barcode
General lending MTU Cork Centre Architectural Education Lending 726.5094531109031 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 00177698
General lending MTU Crawford College of Art and Design Library Lending 726.5094531109031 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 00196713
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

While composers of sacred music in 16th-century Venice were devising increasingly complex choral polyphony, Venetian architects began to develop new configurations of sacred space. This fascinating book explores the direct relationship between architectural design and sacred music in Renaissance Venice. Deborah Howard and Laura Moretti combine historical research into the architectural and liturgical traditions of a dozen Venetian churches with the results of a parallel series of scientific surveys and live choral experiments of the acoustic properties of the chosen buildings.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Acknowledgements -- Preface -- Introduction -- 1. San Marco -- 2. Island monasteries -- 3. Mendicant friaries -- 4. Parish churches -- 5. Opedali Grandi -- Conclusion -- Appendices -- Repertoire for choral experiments -- List of tracks -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Howard (Univ. of Cambridge) and Moretti (Worcester College, Oxford Univ.) here celebrate and document an extraordinary collaborative effort involving a corps of musicians, musicologists, acoustical experts, architectural historians, and eager audience participants. Sixteenth-century Venice pursued a number of musical innovations, most famously the use of a choir physically divided into two halves--the coro spezzato--introduced into Venice by Adrian Willaert, maestro di cappella of San Marco. Twelve churches in Venice were chosen for analysis in order to determine how architectural design and placement of singers affected the sound reception of this music. The research was capped by a week of choral concerts in these spaces accompanied by detailed listener responses. Each of the church investigations offers up valuable, and sometimes surprising information, but the chapter on San Marco--"one of the leading musical centers of Renaissance Europe"--stands on its own as a must-read. Results are documented in a number of elaborate technical appendixes. Selected sound tracks from the musical tests are available on a Web site linked to the book. A stimulating approach to an under-researched aspect of Venetian architecture. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-level undergraduates and above; general readers. D. Pincus National Gallery of Art

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Deborah Howard is Professor of Architectural History, University of Cambridge, and Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge. Laura Moretti is Scott Opler Research Fellow in Architectural History, Worcester College, Oxford .