Search results for ""boydell brewer ltd""

This new series is to be published in alternate years with Thirteenth Century England, providing a forum for the most recent research into the political, social, economic, ecclesiastical and cultural history of the fourteenth century, one of the most turbulent and compelling periods of English history - reflected in the vitality of the current scholarship.

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A study of the British contribution to film music, detailing the idiosyncracies of British film, and showing how the differences between it and Hollywood affected composers on both sides of the Atlantic. Jan Swynnoe's study is concerned with the special British contribution to film music, detailing how the idiosyncracies of British film, and of the British character, set it apart from its Hollywood counterpart. She shows how the differences between the two industries in all aspects of film making variously affected composers on both sides of the Atlantic. In the mid 1930s, when film composers in America were perfecting the formulae of the classical Hollywood score, film music in Britain scarcely existed; within a year or so, however, top British composers were scoring British films. How this transformation was brought about, and how established British concert composers, including Vaughan Williams and Arnold Bax, faced the challenge of the exacting and often bewildering art of scoring for feature film, is vividly described here, and the resulting scores compared with the work of seasoned Hollywood composers. JAN SWYNNOE researched the material on which her book is based over several years, at the same time pursuing her musical life as pianist, percussionist and composer.

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A full scholarly edition of Dowsing's record of his and his deputies' activities in Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk, 1643-4. During the Civil War, in late 1643 and 1644, the Suffolk puritan William Dowsing visited some hundred parish churches in Cambridgeshire, and about a hundred and fifty in Suffolk, smashing stained glass and other 'superstitious' imagery, ripping up monumental brass inscriptions, destroying altar rails and steps, and pulling down crucifixes and crosses. He dealt equally vigorously with the chapels of the Cambridge colleges, still fresh from their Laudian re-ordering. This modern edition of Dowsing's journal brings together, with commentary, the Cambridgeshire and Suffolk sections of his record of what he destroyed, never previously published together. Dowsing and his character and beliefs are set in context, with coverage of Dowsing and the administration of iconoclasm; the work of Dowsing and his deputies in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk; Dowsing and Cambridge University, and the arguments at PembrokeCollege; evidence of destruction in the other counties of the Eastern Association; the text and history of the journal. Contributors: JOHN BLATCHLY, TREVOR COOPER, JOHN MORRILL, S. SADLER, ROBERT WALKER.

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Investigation into the influence of Eastern music on Britten's composition. Benjamin Britten's interest in the musical traditions of the Far East had a far-reaching influence on his compositional style; this book is the first to investigate the highly original cross-cultural synthesis he was able to achieve through the use of material borrowed from Balinese, Japanese and Indian music. Britten's visit to Indonesia and Japan in 1955-6 is reconstructed from archival sources, and shown to have had a profound impact on his subsequent work: the techniques of Balinese gamelan music were used in the ballet The Prince of the Pagodas (1957), and then became an essential feature of Britten's compositional style, at their most potent in Death in Venice(1973). The No drama and Gagaku court music of Japan were the inspiration for the trilogy of church parables Britten composed in the 1960s. The precise nature of these influences is discussed; Britten's sporadic borrowings from Indian music are also fully analysed. There is a survey of critical responses to Britten's cross-cultural experiments. Dr MERVYN COOKE lectures in music at the University of Nottingham.

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An account of the life and achievements of St Birgitta of Sweden, one of the most charismatic figures in the late medieval mystical tradition, founder of the Bridgettine order. St Birgitta of Sweden was one of the most charismatic figures in the late medieval mystical tradition. In Rome she succeeded in commanding prelates and popes, and throughout the courts of Europe she engaged in political secular intrigues; she married and produced eight children, yet became the only woman in the fourteenth century to be canonised; and in an age where new monastic foundations were proscribed, she founded an order of her own devising, primarily for women. This first modern biography presents an account of her extraordinary life and achievements, placing the saint in the context of the society from which she emerged, and showing how her public voice and reforming zealwere informed by a private spirituality at all stages of her life. Particular attention is given to her most lasting achievement, the monastic foundation which bears her name and has produced a network of communities throughout Europe, active to the present day. BRIDGET MORRIS is senior lecturer in Scandinavian studies at the University of Hull.

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The definitive reference work on this topic. `[The author takes] the Celtic world to include both the European continent and the more recent settlements in the British Isles. The entries, admirably broad in scope, conceive religion and culture as including not only the usual gods and myths but shamanic practices and totems. Maier also provides entries for important scholars of Celtic culture.' CHOICE

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The first large-scale study of the music of Herbert Howells, prodigiously gifted musician and favourite student of the notoriously hard-to-please Sir Charles Villiers Stanford. Herbert Howells (1892-1983) was a prodigiously gifted musician and the favourite student of the notoriously hard-to-please Sir Charles Villiers Stanford. Throughout his long life, he was one of the country's most prominent composers, writing extensively in all genres except the symphony and opera. Yet today he is known mostly for his church music, and there is as yet relatively little serious study of his work. This book is the first large-scale study of Howells's music, affording both detailed consideration of individual works and a broad survey of general characteristics and issues. Its coverage is wide-ranging, addressing all aspects of the composer's prolific output and probing many of the issues that it raises. The essays are gathered in five sections: Howells the Stylist examines one of the most striking aspect of the composer's music, its strongly characterised personal voice; Howells the VocalComposer addresses both his well-known contribution to church music and his less familiar, but also important, contribution to the genre of solo song; Howells the Instrumental Composer shows that he was no less accomplished for his work in genres without words, for which, in fact, he first made his name; Howells the Modern considers the composer's rather overlooked contribution to the development of a modern voice for British music; and Howells in Mourning explores the important impact of his son's death on his life and work. The composer that emerges from these studies is a complex figure: technically fluent but prone to revision and self-doubt; innovative but also conservative; a composer with an improvisational sense of flow who had a firm grasp of musical form; an exponent of British musical style who owed as much to continental influence as to his national heritage. This volume, comprising a collection of outstanding essays by established writers and emergent scholars, opens up the range of Howells's achievement to a wider audience, both professional and amateur. PHILLIP COOKE is Lecturer in Composition at theUniversity of Aberdeen. DAVID MAW is Tutor and Research Fellow in Music at Oriel College, Oxford, holding Lectureships also at Christ Church, The Queen's and Trinity Colleges. CONTRIBUTORS: Byron Adams, Paul Andrews, Graham Barber, Jonathan Clinch, Phillip A. Cooke, Jeremy Dibble, Lewis Foreman, Fabian Huss, David Maw, Diane Nolan Cooke, Lionel Pike, Paul Spicer, Jonathan White. Foreword by John Rutter.

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First ever large-scale study of Crécy and its context, bringing out its true importance in English and French history. With additional contributions from Françoise Autrand, Christophe Piel, Michael Prestwich, and Bertrand Schnerb. On the evening of 26 August 1346, the greatest military power in Christendom, the French royal army withPhilip VI at its head, was defeated by an expeditionary force from England under the command of Edward III. A momentous event that sent shock waves across Europe, the battle of Crécy marked a turning point in the English king's struggle with his Valois adversary. While the French suffered humiliation and crippling casualties, compounded by the consequential loss of Calais a year later, the self-confidence and military reputation of the English - from their king down to the lowliest of archers - soared. Well over half a century before Agincourt, the English had emerged as the most respected fighting force in Europe. This book assesses the significance of Crécy, and offers new interpretations of both the battle itself and the campaign that preceded it. It includes the latest research on the composition and organisation of the English and French armies, a penetrating analysis of the narrative sources and a revealing re-appraisal of the battlefield. It concludes with a fresh look at the role of the archer in Edward III's victory. Dr ANDREW AYTON is senior lecturer in history at the University of Hull; Sir PHILIP PRESTON is an independent scholar, and founding secretary of the Battle of Crécy Trust.

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Explores the variety of legal and regulatory regimes that existed in Western Europe to control labour and how workers experienced those controls. Many economic historians have assumed that labour in Western Europe was 'free' after the end of serfdom in the fifteenth century. These assumptions are increasingly being questioned and labour laws have been identified as creating significant restrictions on workers' freedom. This collection is the first book to look at labour laws across Western Europe from a longer-term perspective. It is interdisciplinary in nature bringing together studies in social, political, economic and legal history. Elements of labour legislation appeared before the Black Death, but were strengthened afterwards particularly in places and periods where labour became scarce. The collection focuses on the rural economy in the late medieval and early modern period. It provides a series of studies which introduce a range of approaches to labour regulation and the very idea of labour across Europe. Uniquely, the collection offers observations on the impact of labour laws on everyday social relations. Attempts to regulate work and labour varied widely: in places they amounted to wishful thinking on the part of the regional authorities, whereas elsewhere they could impose severe limitations on individual freedoms. Contributors: Davide Cristoferi, Theresa Johnsson, Thijs Lambrecht, Charmian Mansell, Francine Michaud, Hanne Østhus, Raffaella Sarti, Carolina Uppenberg and Jane Whittle.

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An investigation into how Antioch maintained itself as an independent principality during a period of considerable challenges. Situated in northern Syria, on the eastern-most frontier of Latin Christendom, the principality of Antioch was a medieval polity bordered by a host of rival powers, including the Byzantine Empire, the Armenian Christians of Cilicia, the rulers of the neighbouring Islamic world and even the other crusader states, the kingdom of Jerusalem and the counties of Edessa and Tripoli. Coupled with the numerous Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities who populatedthe region, Antioch's Frankish settlers - initially installed into power by the military successes of the First Crusade - thus faced numerous challenges to their survival. This book examines how the ruling elites of the principality sought to manage these competing interests in order to maintain Antioch's existence during the troubled twelfth century, particularly following the death of Prince Bohemond II in 1130. His demise helped to spark renewed interest from Byzantium and the kingdom of Jerusalem, and came at a time of both Islamic resurgence under the Zengids of Aleppo and Mosul, as well as Armenian power growth under the Rupenids. An examination of Antioch's diplomatic and military endeavours, its internal power structures and its interaction with indigenous peoples can therefore help to reveal a great deal about how medieval Latins adapted to the demands of their frontiers. ANDREW BUCK is an Associate Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, from where he received his PhD in 2014.

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The career of William Marshal, who rose from being the penniless, landless younger son of a middle-ranking nobleman to be regent of England in the minority of Henry III, is one of the most extraordinary stories of the Middle Ages.His biography was completed shortly after his death by a household minstrel and we are fortunate that it survives to give a unique portrait of a twelfth-century knight's life in the early days of tournaments and chivalry as wellas his career in warfare and politics.

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The first in-depth study of Mendelssohn's two settings of Goethe's Die erste Walpurgisnacht, in the context of scenes from Goethe's Faust and other works. This paperback edition of Mendelssohn, Goethe, and the Walpurgis Night addresses tolerance and acceptance in the face of cultural, political, and religious strife. Its point of departure is the Walpurgis Night. The Night, also known as Beltane or May Eve, was supposedly an annual witches' Sabbath that centered around the Brocken, the highest peak of the Harz Mountains. After exploring how a notoriously pagan celebration came to be named after the Christian missionary St. Walpurgis (ca. 710-79), John Michael Cooper discusses the Night's treatments in several closely interwoven works by Goethe and Mendelssohn. His book situates those works in their immediate personal andprofessional contexts, as well as among treatments by a wide array of other artists, philosophers, and political thinkers, including Voltaire, Lessing, Shelley, Heine, Delacroix, and Berlioz. In an age of decisive political and religious conflict, Walpurgis Night became a heathen muse: a source of spiritual inspiration that was neither specifically Christian, nor Jewish, nor Muslim. And Mendelssohn's and Goethe's engagements with it offer new insightsinto its role in European cultural history, as well as into issues of political, religious, and social identity -- and the relations between cultural groups -- in today's world. John Michael Cooper is Professor of Music at Southwestern University and author of Mendelssohn's "Italian" Symphony (Oxford University Press).

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The primary focus of this book is on the arms and armour of Europe, but also included are neighbouring cultures where these had a direct influence on developments and changes within Europe, from late Roman cavalry armour, Byzantium and the East, to the influence of the Golden Horde. A Companion to Medieval Arms and Armour covers the entire period from the fifth to the fifteenth century, a thousand years which saw huge changes in military technology in most of the world's major civilisations. Arms and armour in Europe are the principal focus of the studies, but those of neighbouring civilisations, including the Byzantine Empire, eastern Europe, the steppes and the Islamic world, are also investigated, both for the impact upon them of European technological developments, and for their influence upon developments within western Europe. Arms and armour in Europe developed dramatically during the thousand years from the fifth to the fifteenth century. During this broad sweep of time civilisations rose and fell and population movements swept from east to west, bringing in their wake advances and modifications absorbed and expanded by indigenous populations. So although the primary focus of this book is on the arms and armour of Europe, it also includes neighbouring cultures where these had a direct influence on developments and changes within Europe, from late Roman cavalry armour, Byzantium and the Eastto the influence of the Golden Horde. A truly impressive band of specialists cover issues ranging from the migrations to the first firearms, divided into three sections: From the Fall of Rome to the Eleventh Century, Emergence ofA European Tradition in the High Middle Ages, and New Influences and New Challenges of the Late Middle Ages; throughout there is particular emphasis on the social and technological aspects of medieval military affairs. Contributors: ANDREA BABUIN, JON COULSTON, TIM DAWSON, CLAUDE GAIER, MICHAEL GORELIK, JOHN HALDON, MARCO MORIN, HELMUT NICKEL, DAVID NICOLLE, EWART OAKESHOTT, ANNE PEDERSON, SHIHAB AL-SARRAF, ALAN WILLIAMS.

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