SKU: GI.G-9739
Composed by Dennis
Shrock. Music Education.
299 pages. GIA
Publications #9739.
Published by GIA
Publications (GI.G-9739).
ISBN 9781622773398.
English.
The
Renaissance era, lasting
from the mid 1400s to
about 1630, is one of the
most distinctive and
revolutionary periods in
the arts, and music is no
exception. Composers like
Dufay, Josquin, Tallis,
Victoria, Palestrina,
Gabrieli, Praetorius, and
Byrd were visionaries
whose transformational
music developed alongside
the paintings and
sculptures of Botticelli,
da Vinci, Michelangelo,
and Raphael. In this
remarkable book, a
companion to Performance
Practices in the
Classical Era and
Performance Practices in
the Baroque Era, noted
scholar and conductor
Dennis Shrock draws from
primary sources to
document and explain
authentic performance
practices of Renaissance
era music—in many
cases eye opening and
rarely employed today.
Insightful chapters cover
topics including vocal
and instrumental sound,
tempo, articulation,
phrasing, ornamentation,
and expression. Like a
restorer uncovering the
original brilliance of
the ceiling of the
Sistine Chapel,
Shrock’s work
reveals the rich and
colorful nature of this
wonderful music as
originally intended.
Performing Renaissance
Music—together
with Shrock’s
companion recording
Renaissance
Reborn—is an
insightful, colorful, and
comprehensive portrait,
certain to assist anyone
who seeks to better
understand the music of
the great Renaissance
composers. This book is a
vital resource for any
conductor, performer, or
aficionado of Renaissance
music. Dennis Shrock is
author of six books
published by GIA:
Performing Renaissance
Music (2018), Performance
Practices in the Baroque
Era (2013), Performance
Practices in the
Classical Era (2011),
Handel’s Messiah:
A Performance Practice
Handbook (2013), Music
for Beginning Conductors
(2011), and A
Conductor’s Guide
to Choral/Orchestral
Repertoire, co-authored
with James Moyer (2017).
In addition, Dr. Shrock
is author of three books
published by Oxford
University Press: Choral
Repertoire (2009), Choral
Scores (2015), and Choral
Monuments (2017). Dr.
Shrock has held faculty
positions at Boston
University, Westminster
Choir College, the
University of Oklahoma,
and Texas Christian
University, and has had
residencies at Baylor
University, the
University of Southern
California, the
University of
Mississippi, and Yale
University. He has also
served as Artistic
Director of the Santa Fe
Desert Chorale and
Canterbury Choral Society
of Oklahoma City, Interim
Conductor of the Dallas
Symphony Chorus, and
Editor of The Choral
Journal. In addition, he
has been a frequent
All-State conductor and
lecturer at conferences
of the American Choral
Directors Association. He
has received a number of
awards and recognitions
for his work. The City of
Santa Fe declared
December 22, 2003
“Dennis Shrock
Day,†Westminster
Choir College granted him
an “Alumni Merit
Award,†the state
of Oklahoma conferred on
him a citation for
“Contributions of
Excellence,†and
the University of
Oklahoma granted him two
“Distinguished
Lectureships†and
named him a
“Presidential
Professor.†Dr.
Shrock received a
bachelor’s degree
in music education from
Westminster Choir College
and both master’s
and doctoral degrees in
choral conducting from
Indiana University. The
cover artwork is a
depiction of monks
singing the office from a
Gradual illuminated in
the 1440s and used by the
Olivetan
Benedictines.
