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Summary:

"Alfonso X (1221-84) ruled over the Crown of Castile from 1252 until his death. Known as "the Wise," he oversaw the production of a wealth of literature in his scriptorium. One of the most impressive of these literary outputs is the collection of songs known as the Cantigas de Santa Maria, which by most counts, comprises 429 songs preserved in four manuscripts. The miracle songs (or cantigas de miragre) form the focus of this book. While the Cantigas have been the subject of much scholarly attention, only a handful of studies have looked at the repertory through an interdisciplinary lens. Fewer still have probed how the Cantigas use the power of song as a communicative medium, one that functions as a social tool within the erudite environment of the Alfonsine court. This book offers a new perspective to the song collection, probing how the Cantigas use their music and text, together with rhetorical devices, to communicate with their desired audience. Author Henry T. Drummond builds upon previous methodologies, adopting a novel and holistic assessment of the songs' melodies, poetic features, and narrative logic to assess a wide selection of songs. He presents a nuanced understanding of a song form that effectively conveys its narratives to its listeners via a diverse combination of tools, embracing medieval rhetoric, rhyme-based play, and song's inherent ludic potential. Such devices, Drummond argues, allow for the Cantigas to loom large as propaganda pieces, designed to dignify Alfonso X through an elaborately devised courtly ritual"--Provided by publisher.

Table of Contents:

• Songs of persuasion
• Sung rhetoric
• The place of rhyme
• Three Jewish conversion songs
• Cantigas and image-building
• Crusades and kingship
• Epilogue.

Author/Creator:

Drummond, Henry T. (Henry Thomas), 1989- , author

Languages:

English

Language Notes:

Item content: English

Main Work:

The Cantigas de Santa Maria: power and persuasion at the Alfonsine court [by Drummond, H.T.]

Other Related Resources:

Online version: Cantigas de Santa Maria [by Drummond] ([1.]; New York : Oxford University Press, 2023 — ISBN 9780197670606; LCCN 2023007302)

Related Series:

New cultural history of music (Complete)

Subjects:

Alfonso X, King of Castile and Leon, 1221-1284 — Cantigas de Santa María

Songs, Galician — 500-1400 — History and criticism

Music — Social aspects — Spain — History — 500-1400

Spain — Court and courtiers — History — To 1500

Cantigas de Santa María (Alfonso X, King of Castile and Leon)

To 1500

Music — Social aspects

Music

Courts and courtiers

Songs, Galician

Spain

Genres:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

History

General Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index: pages 219-255.

Physical Description:

xlvii, 255 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 25 cm.

Physical Characteristics:

monochrome; illustration

Call Numbers:

ML180 .D78 2024

ISBNs:

9780197670590 (hardcover)
0197670598 (hardcover)
9780197670606 (electronic book) [Invalid]
9780197670620 (electronic book) [Invalid]

Library of Congress Control Numbers:

2023007301

OCLC Numbers:

1367233070