English composer John Dunstable was the Beethoven of the fifteenth century, a transitional figure whose work swept away all that went before it. Nevertheless, it has not been the easiest thing to enjoy Dunstable's music in a current context, and that is not for lack of love on the part of scholars and early music ensembles. Although English, very little of Dunstable's music survives in his native land thanks to Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries and its requisite destruction of Latin music manuscripts, occurring ...
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English composer John Dunstable was the Beethoven of the fifteenth century, a transitional figure whose work swept away all that went before it. Nevertheless, it has not been the easiest thing to enjoy Dunstable's music in a current context, and that is not for lack of love on the part of scholars and early music ensembles. Although English, very little of Dunstable's music survives in his native land thanks to Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries and its requisite destruction of Latin music manuscripts, occurring more than 80 years after Dunstable wrote his last note of music. The bulk of Dunstable's scores survive in continental Europe only, scattered as far away as Russia, some of it being unidentified and/or incomplete. Gathering the various scraps and fragments that belong to the hand of Dunstable is a labor of love for Antony Pitts, leader of Tonus Peregrinus, who helped edit the well-known Metronome disc of Dunstable's music made a decade ago by the Orlando Consort and works very closely...
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