Medieval Music

Preface: In writing this book I have had in mind the needs of undergraduates and others who require a straightforward account of medieval music, above all in its technical aspects. There is in these pages little biography and almost no sociology, topics on which others are better equipped to write; on the other hand considerable attention is paid to notation, so often the key to musical style. I have regarded the Middle Ages as a phenomenon of the Christian West, with the consequent omission of Byzantine chant (except in passing in connection with the subject of modes), not to mention the music of Islam and 'medieval' oriental music generally. This has excluded the possibility of comparisons between these musical cultures and that of the West; but apart from my own lack of expertise it has to be confessed that this is an area in which subjective opinion counts for much and in which very little can be demonstrated with confidence. -- John Caldwell.