An Early Music Dictionary: Musical Terms from British Sources 1500-1740

In this dictionary of early music, Graham Strahle has compiled definitions of musical terms in English as used and understood during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. He includes terms relating to instruments, performance, theory and composition and draws entirely from original printed and manuscript sources in Britain in the period 1500–1740. The first group of sources are lexicographic works, mainly general English dictionaries but also Latin, Italian, French and Spanish dictionaries published in England. These give a representation of continental as well as English music traditions. The second group of sources are musical treatises, performance and composition books and other musical writings. The dictionary reveals how terms and definitions were understood by musicians using their own words. Definitions are grouped in chronological order under the relevant head-word so that changes in meaning can be easily traced.