A defining moment in Catholic life in early modern Europe, Holy Week brought together the faithful to commemorate the passion, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In this study of ritual and music, Robert L. Kendrick investigates the impact of the music used during the Paschal Triduum on European cultures during the mid-16th century, when devotional trends surrounding liturgical music were established; through the 17th century, which saw the diffusion of the repertory at the height of the Catholic Reformation; and finally into the early 18th century, when a change in aesthetics led to an eventual decline of its importance. By considering such issues as stylistic traditions, trends in scriptural exegesis, performance space, and customs of meditation and expression, Kendrick enables us to imagine the music in the places where it was performed.

Catholic ritual and music in early modern Europe

Robert L. Kendrick is Professor of Music at the University of Chicago. He is author of Celestial Sirens: Nuns and Music in Early Modern Milan and The Sounds of Milan, 15851650.

Acknowledgements
Terminology, Abbreviations, Texts
1. Symbolic Meanings, Sonic Penance
2. Textual Understandings, Musical Expressions
3. Devotion, Models, Circulation, 1550-1600
4. Dynastic Tenebrae
5. Static Rites, Dramatic Music
6. European Tenebrae c. 1680
7. Ad honorem Passionis: Triduum Music and Rational Piety
8. Endings and Continuities
Appendix: Tables 1-4
Notes
Bibliography
Index