Through forty-five essays by leading scholars, this Cambridge History brings fifteenth-century music to life for both specialists and general readers.

Introduction Anna Maria Busse Berger and Jesse Rodin; Part I. Historiography: (a) Listening: 1. Hearing Josquin hearing Busnoys Michael Long; 2. Religion and the senses in fifteenth-century Europe Klaus Pietschmann; (b) Terms and Concepts: 3. The work concept Laurenz Lütteken; 4. The L'homme armé tradition - and the limits of musical borrowing Jesse Rodin; (c) Composer Studies: 5. Guillaume Du Fay: evidence and interpretation Alejandro Enrique Planchart; 6. Jean d'Ockeghem Lawrence F. Bernstein; 7. Josquin and epistemology Jesse Rodin; Part II. Improvisation and Composition: 8. Oral composition in fifteenth-century music Anna Maria Busse Berger; 9. Improvisation as concept and musical practice in the fifteenth century Philippe Canguilhem; 10. How did Oswald von Wolkenstein make his contrafacta? Anna Maria Busse Berger; 11. Making a motet: Josquin's Ave Maria...virgo serena John Milsom; 12. The origins of pervasive imitation Julie E. Cumming and Peter Schubert; Part III. Humanism: 13. Humanism and music in Italy James Hankins; 14. Fifteenth-century humanism and music outside Italy Reinhard Strohm; 15. Poetic humanism and music in the fifteenth century Leofranc Holford-Strevens; 16. Canterino and Improvvisatore: oral poetry and performance Blake Wilson; 17. Liturgical Humanism: saints' offices from the Italian peninsula in the fifteenth century Alison K. Frazier; Part IV. Music and Other Arts: 18. Architecture and music in fifteenth-century Italy Deborah Howard; 19. Music and feasts in the fifteenth century Anthony M. Cummings; 20. French lyrics and songs for the New Year, c.1380-1420 Yolanda Plumley; Part V. Music in Churches, Courts, and Cities: 21. Musical institutions in the fifteenth century and their political contexts Klaus Pietschmann; 22. Music and musicians at the Burgundian court in the fifteenth century David Fiala; 23. The papal chapel in the late fifteenth century Richard Sherr; 24. The beneficial system and fifteenth-century polyphony Pamela F. Starr; 25. Professional women singers in the fifteenth century: a tale of two Annas Bonnie J. Blackburn; 26. Savonarola and the boys of Florence: songs and politics Patrick Macey; Part VI. Religious Devotion and Liturgy: 27. Music and ritual M. Jennifer Bloxam; 28. Marian devotion in the fifteenth century David J. Rothenberg; 29. Affective literature and sacred themes in fifteenth-century music Anne Walters Robertson; Part VII. Theory and Practice: 30. Measuring measurable music in the fifteenth century Anne Stone; 31. The transformative impulse Emily Zazulia; 32. Transformations in music theory and music treatises Evan A. MacCarthy; Part VIII. Sources: 33. Polyphonic sources, c.1400-50 Margaret Bent; 34. Polyphonic sources, c.1450-1500 Thomas Schmidt-Beste; Part IX. Genres: 35. The polyphonic mass in the fifteenth century Andrew Kirkman; 36. The fifteenth-century motet Laurenz Lütteken; 37. Fifteenth-century song Nicole Schwindt; 38. Instrumental music in the fifteenth century Keith Polk; 39. Sacred song in the fifteenth century: cantio, carol, lauda, Kirchenlied Reinhard Strohm; 40. Plainsong in the age of polyphony Richard Sherr; Part X. Reception: 41. The most popular songs of the fifteenth century David Fallows; 42. The nineteenth-century reception of fifteenth-century sacred music Andrew Kirkman; 43. The modern reception of the music of Jean d'Ockeghem Lawrence F. Bernstein; 44. Recordings of fifteenth-century music Honey Meconi; 45. Solidarity with the long-departed: fifteenth-century echoes in twentieth-century music Richard Taruskin.