Recent Studies in Poetry and Music of the English Renaissance (1986-2007)

Author: dunn, leslie c.

Source: English Literary Renaissance, Volume 38, Number 1, February 2008 , pp. 172-192(21)

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Abstract:

This essay updates that of Louise Schleiner (ELR 16.1 [1986], 253-68). The past 20 years have seen major new studies of music and poetry in seventeenth-century England, the court masque, the lute ayre, Thomas Campion's works, and Shakespeare's songs. Archival research has identified the authorship of anonymous song lyrics, uncovered previously unknown musical settings of poems, and reconstructed the textual histories of ballad and hymn tunes. New editions, bibliographies, and online databases will facilitate further discoveries. Major figures such as Sidney, Campion, and Milton continue to attract a major share of critical attention. In recent years, however, the focus has shifted from formalist analyses of musico-poetic relations to considerations of the writing and singing of poetry to music as social practices, and of the location of such practices within the broader “soundscape” of early modern England. This new scholarship suggests rich possibilities for future work. (L. C. D.)

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6757.2008.00121.x

Affiliations: 1: VASSAR COLLEGE

Publication date: 2008-02-01