Historical Music Theory

[Latin] Secretum Philosophorum, Book V: Music - Unknown. England, c. 1300-1350

[Old Middle German] Musica Getutscht und Außgezogē Durch Sebastianū Virdūng ... un Alles Gesang Auß den Notē in die Tabulaturē Diser Benantē Dreyer Instrumentn̄ d'Orgeln un̄ der Lauten d'Flötē Transferieren zu Lernen Kürtzlich Gemacht / Sebastian Virdung (Music Written and Recorded by Sebastian Virdung … and All Singing Except the Notes Transferred to the Tablature of the Three Instruments of the Organ and the Lute and the Flute, Recently Done by Sebastian Virdung) - Sebastian Virdung. Basel, 1511

[Old Spanish] Declaración de Instrumentos Musicales (Declaration of Musical Instruments) - Juan Bermudo. Ossuna, 1555

A Varietie of Lute-Lessons: viz. Fantasies, Pauins, Gilliards, Almaines, Corantoes, and Volts, Selected Out of the Best Approued Avthors, As Well Beyond the Seas As of Our Owne Country - Robert Dowland and John Dowland. Thomas Adams/London, 1610

[Latin] Syntagma Musicum - I: Musicae Artis Analecta, II: De Organographia, III: Termini Musicali - Michael Praetorius. Wittenberg/Wolfenbüttel, c. 1614

[French] Harmonie Universelle, Contenant La Theorie Et La Pratique de La Musique (Universal Harmony, Containing the Theory and Practice of Music) - Marin Mersenne. S. Cramoisy/Paris, 1636

[Latin] Musurgia Universalias, Sive Ars Magna Consoni et Dissoni (Universal Musical Art, or the Great Art of Consonance and Dissonance) - Athanasius Kircher. Ludovico Grignani/Rome, 1650

[Early Modern English] An Introduction to the Skill of Musick: In Three Books – The First: The Grounds and Rules of Musick, According to the Gam-ut and Other Principles Thereof; The Second: Instructions for the Bass-Viol, and Also for the Treble-Violin With Lessons for Beginners; The Third: The Art of Descant, or Composing Musick in Parts - 1st & 2nd: John Playford Philo-Musicae, 3rd: Dr. Tho. Champion with Annotations Thereon by Mr. C. Simpson. William Godbid/London, 1667

[PDF] [Spanish] Instrucción de Música Segundo Tratado – Documentos y Advertencias Generales Para Acompañar la Parte con la Guitarra, Arpa, Organo, o Qualquier Otro Instrumento (Music Instruction Second Treaty – Documents and General Warnings to Accompany the Part with the Guitar, Harp, Organ, or Any Other Instrument) - Gaspar Sanz (translated by Monica Hall). Zaragoza, 1674

[Early Modern English] Musick’s Monument; or, A Remembrancer of the Best Practical Musick, Both Divine and Civil, That Has Ever Been Known, to Have Been in the World. Divided Into Three Parts. The First Part, Shews a Necessity of Singing Psalms Well, in Parochial Churches, or Not to Sing at All; Directing, How They May Be Well Sung, Certainly; By Two Several Ways, or Means; With an Assurance of Perpetual National-Quire; and Also Shewing, How Cathedral Musick May be Much Improved, and Refined. The Second Part, Treats of the Noble Lute, (the Best of Instruments) Now Made Easie; and All It’s Occult-Lock’d-up-Secrets Plainly Laid Open, Never Before Discovered; Whereby It is Now Become So Familiarly Easie, as Any Instrument of Worth, Known in the World; Giving the True Reasons of Its Former Difficulties; and Proving Its Present Facility, by Undeniable Arguments; Directing the Most Ample Way, for the Use of the Theorboe, From Off the Note, in Comfort, &c. Shewing a General Way of Procuring Invention, and Playing Voluntarily, Upon the Lute, Viol, or any other Instrument; With Two Pritty Devices; the One, Shewing How to Translate Lessons, From One Tuning, or Instrument, to Another; the Other, an Indubitable Way, to Know the Best Tuning, Upon Any Instrument: Both Done by Example. In the Third Part, The Generous Viol, in Its Rightest Use, is Treated Upon; With Some Curious Observations, Never Before Handled, Concerning It, and Music in General - Thomas Mace. Printed by T. Ratcliffe, and N. Thompson, for the Author, and are to be Sold by Himself, at His House in Cambridge, and by John Carr, at His Shop in the Middle-Temple Gate in Fleet Street/London, 1676

[Spanish] Resumen de Acompañar (Accompany Summary) - Santiago de Murcia. Madrid, 1714

[German] Der Vollkommene Kapellmeister, Das ist Gründliche Anzeige Aller Derjenigen Sachen, die Einer Wissen, Können, und Vollkommen iInne Haben Muß, der Einer Capelle mit Ehren und Nutzen Vorstehen will: Zum Versuch Entworffen (The Perfect Bandmaster, This is a Thorough Display of All the Things That Someone Who Wants to Lead a Band with Honor and Benefit Must Know, Be Able to Do and Have Full Control of: Designed for Experimentation) - Johann Mattheson. Christian Herold/Hamburg, 1739

[Italian] Dizionario Delle Artie de’ Mestieri Compilato Innanzi da Francesco Griselini ed Ora Continuato Dall’ Abate Marco Fassadoni Tomo Sesto (Dictionary of the Arts and Crafts Previously Compiled by Francesco Griselini and Now Continued by Abbot Marco Fassadoni, Vol. 6) - Francesco Griselini and Abbot Marco Fassadoni. Appresso Modesto Fenzo/Venezia, 1768

[French] Voyage d'un François en Italie, Fait Dans les Années 1765 & 1766 (A Franciscan journey to Italy, made in the years 1765 & 1766) - Joseph Jérôme Le Français de Lalande. Unknown, 1769

[Italian] Elementi Teorico-Pratici di Musica, con un Saggio Sopra L'arte di Suonare il Violino Analizzata, ed a Dimostrabili Principj Ridotta, Opera Utilissima a Chiunque Vuol Applicare con Profitto alla Musica, e Specialmente a' Principianti, Dilettanti, e Professori di Violino (Theoretical and Practical Elements of Music, with an Essay on the Art of Playing the Violin Analyzed and Reduced to Demonstrable Principles, a Very Useful Work for Anyone Who Wants to Apply Themselves Profitably to Music, and Especially to Beginners, Amateurs, and Violin Teachers) - Francesco Galeazzi. Stamperia Pilucchi Cracas/Rome, 1791

[German] Der Physikalische und Musikalische Tonmesser, Welcher Durch den Pendel, dem Auge Sichtbar, die Absoluten Vibrationen der Töne, der Haupt-Gattungen von Combinations Tönen, so wie die Schärfste Genauigkeit Glsichshwebender und Mathematischer Accorde Beweist, Erfunden und Ausgeführt (The Physical and Musical Tone Gauge, Well Through the Pendulum, Visible From the Eye, the Absolute Vibrations of the Tone, The Main Characteristics of Tone Combinations, as Well as the Sharpest, Uniformly Webbing and Mathematical Tuning, Found and Led) - Henrich Scheibler. G. D. Bädeker/Essen, 1834

Hector Berlioz on Modern Instrumentation - Hector Berlioz. The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular, Vol. 7, No. 163, pp. 293-294, 1856

Mozart’s Succinct Thorough-Bass School - Sabilla Novello, E. Holmes. The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular, Vol. 9, No. 214, pp. 379-381, 1860

On the Derivation of the Scale, Tuning, Temperament, the Monochord, &c. - Dr. Crotch. The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular, Vol. 10, No. 224, pp. 115-118, 1861

Ancient British Music - John Parry. The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular, Vol. 10, No. 225, pp. 131-134, 1861

A Draught for the Particular History of Phonics: Or, the Doctrine of Sound and Hearing - Francis Bacon. The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular, Vol. 10, No. 235, pp. 303-306, 1862

[Latin, German] Mircologues Guidonis De Disciplina Artis Musicae d.i. Kurze Abhandlung Guido's über die Regeln der Musikalischen Kunst (Guido's Micrologue on the Discipline of the Art of Music; Guido's Short Treatise on the Rules of Musical Art) - Guido of Arezzo; Michael Hermesdorff. Commissionsverlag J. B. Grach/Trier, 1876

Music a Science of Numbers - William Chappell. Proceedings of the Musical Association, 4th Session, pp. 1-12, 1877

Consecutive Fifths - F. E. Gladstone. Proceedings of the Musical Association, 8th Session, pp. 99-121, 1881

On Some Italian and Spanish Treatises on Music of the Seventeenth Century - Rev. Sir F. A. Gore Ouseley, Bart., M.A., Mus. Doc. Proceedings of the Musical Association, 8th Sess., pp. 83-98, 1881

On Certain Principles of Musical Exposition Considered Educationally and With Special Reference to Current Systems of Musical Theory, Part 1 - Gerald F. Cobb. Proceedings of the Musical Association, 10th Session, pp. 125-151, 1883

On Certain Principles of Musical Exposition Considered Educationally and With Special Reference to Current Systems of Musical Theory, Part 2 - Gerald F. Cobb. Proceedings of the Musical Association, 10th Session, pp. 153-184, 1883

Musical Psychics - Gerald F. Cobb. Proceedings of the Musical Association, 11th Session, pp. 117-147, 1884

The Renaissance Attitude Towards Music - Hugo Leichtentritt. The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 604-622, 1915

XVII Century Orchestral Instruments - Adam Carse. Music & Letters, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 334-342, 1920

The Social Condition of Violinists in France Before the Eighteenth Century - Marc Pincherle, Ottomar King. The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 193-198, 1922

Some Musical Instruction Books of the Seventeenth Century - H. C. Colles. Proceedings of the Musical Association, 55th Session, pp. 31-49, 1928

Tonal Intensity as an Æsthetic Determinant - Otto Ortmann. The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 178-191, 1928

Polyphonic Music of the Gothic Period - Rudolf Ficker, Theodore Baker. The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 483-505, 1929

Popular Polyphony in the Middle Ages - Manfred Bukofzer. The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 31-49, 1940

The Perfect Fifth - LL. S. Lloyd. The Musical Times, Vol. 81, No. 1169, pp. 298-300, 1940

Catalogue of Early Books on Music (Before 1800) – Supplement: (Books Acquired by the Library 1913-1942), by Hazel Bartlett, Principal Cataloger, Descriptive Cataloging Division; With a List of Books on Music in Chinese and Japanese - Hazel Bartlett. Library of Congress/Washington, D.C., 1944

On Interpreting Early Music - Robert Donington. Music & Letters, Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. 223-241, Oxford University Press, 1947

[PDF] Source Readings in Music History: From Classical Antiquity Through the Romantic Era - Oliver Strunk. Princeton University/W. W. Norton & Co., 1950

The Violin and Its Technique in the 18th Century - David D. Boyden. The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 9-38, 1950

The “Curious” Art of John Wilson (1595-1674): An Introduction to His Songs and Lute Music - Vincent Duckles. Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 93-112, 1954

Some Speculations on a Crisis in the History of the Violin - Kenneth Skeaping. The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 8, pp. 3-12, 1955

Treatise on the Ornaments of Music - Giuseppe Tartini (translated and Edited by Sol Babitz). Journal of Research in Music Education, Vol. 4, No. 2/Chicago Music Educators National Conference, 1956

Mersenne and Evolving Tonal Theory - Albion Gruber. Journal of Music Theory, Vol. No. 1, pp. 36-67, 1970

[Danish] Der Brummende Violone (The Humming Violone) - Francis Baines. The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 23, pp. 82-85, 1970

The Bowed Strings: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow - Carleen M. Hutchins and Marjorie Bram. Music Educators Journal, Vol. 60, No. 3, pp. 20-25, 1973

Diderot’s Tunings for the Violin Family - Eric Halfpenny. The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 27, pp. 15-20, 1974

The Real Relationship Between Kirnberger’s and Rameau’s Concept of the Fundamental Bass - Cecil Powell Grant. Journal of Music Theory, Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 324-338, 1977

[Italian] Gil Strumenti Esoterici di Vivaldi (Vivaldi’s Esoteric Instruments) - Eleanor Selfridge-Field, J. H. Van der Meer, Colin Lawson, Andrew Stiller, Edgar Hunt and Rose Cottage. Il Flauto Dolce, No. 8, pp. 8-18, 1979

Performing Nineteenth-Century Music on Nineteenth-Century Instruments - Robert Winter. 19th-Century Music, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 163-175, 1977

Harmonic Theory in Musical Treatises of the Late Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries - Benito V. Rivera. Music Theory Spectrum, Vol. 1, pp. 80-95, 1979

Pythagorean Intonation and the Rise of the Triad - Mark Lindley. Royal Musical Association Research Chronicle, No. 16, pp. 4-61, 1980

[German] Empirisch-Experimentelle Methoden in der Musikforschung. Kritische Bemerkungen zur Kompetenz und Eigenständigkeit der Systematischen Musikwissenschaft und zur Relevanz Einiger Ihrer Ergebnisse (Empirical-Experimental Methods in Music Research. Critical Remarks on the Competence and Independence of Systematic Musicology and the Relevance of Some of its Findings) - Georg Feder. Die Musikforschung, 33. Jahrg., H. 4, pp. 409-431, 1980

Instrumental Pitch in England c. 1600 - Herbert W. Myers. Early Music, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 519, 521-522, 1982

The Censored Publications of The Art of Playing on the Violin, or Geminiani Unshaken - Roger Hickman. Early Music, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 73-76, 1983

Musical Motifs in the Medieval Church Paintings of Uppland – A Swedish RIdIM Project - Ingebjørg Barth Magnus. Fontes Artis Musicae, Vol. 33, No.. 2, pp. 190-193, 1986

[PDF] The Performance of French Baroque Music: A Report on the State of Current Research - Albert Cohen. Performance Practice Review, Vol. 1, No. 1, Article 3, 1988

[PDF] “Back to the Land”: Performance Practice and the Classic Period - Malcom S. Cole. Performance Practice Review, Vol. 1, No. 1, Article 4, 1988

Bowing Styles, Vibrato and Portamento in Nineteenth-Century Violin Playing - Clive Brown. Journal of the Royal Musical Association, Vol. 113, No. 1, pp. 97-128, 1988

Zacconi’s Viola da Braccio Tunings - Herbert W. Myers. The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 51, pp. 244-247, 1998

[PDF] Saint-Saëns’ (1915) View on the Performance of Early Music - Robert Stevenson. Performance Practice Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, Article 3, 1989

“Chiavette” and Modal Transposition in Italian Practice (c. 1500-1837) - Patrizio Barbieri. Recercare, Vol. 3, pp. 5-79, 1991

[PDF] The Vibrato Controversy - Frederick Neumann. Performance Practice Review, Vol. 4, No. 1, Article 3, 1991

The Spanish Baroque Guitar and Seventeenth-Century Triadic Theory - Thomas Christensen. Journal of Music Theory, Vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 1-42, 1992

[PDF] Some Observations Concerning Baroque and Modern Vibrato - Frederick Kent Gable. Performance Practice Review, Vol. 5, No. 1, Article 9, 1992

Chord Structure in Medieval Music - Todd M. McComb. Early Music FAQ, 1994

Base d’Harmonie: A Scene from Eighteenth-Century French Music Theory - Cynthia M. Gessele. Journal of the Royal Musical Association, Vol. 119, No. 1, pp. 60-90, 1994

A Wider Role for the Tenor Violin? - Agnes Kory. The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 47, pp. 123-153, 1994

The Name “Tenor Violin” - Ephraim Segerman. The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 48, pp. 181-187, 1995

Praetorius’ Cammerthon Pitch Standard - Ephraim Segerman. The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 50, pp. 81-108, 1997

Praetorius’ Pitch Standard - Herbert W. Myers. The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 51, pp. 247-267, 1998

Pythagorean Tuning and Medieval Polyphony - Margo Schulter. Early Music FAQ, June 1998

On Praetorius’ Pitch Standard - Ephraim Segerman. The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 53, pp. 339-344, 2000

Pitch in Viols and Harpsichords in the Renaissance - Nicholas Mitchell. The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 54, pp. 97-115, 2001

A Survey of Pitch Standards Before the Nineteenth Century - Ephraim Segerman. The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 54, pp. 200-218, 2001

The Use of Renaissance Vocal Polyphonic Music in the Vihuela and Lute Repertoire - Daniel Wolff. Guitar Review, No. 123, Autumn 2001

Vivaldi and the English Viol - Michael Talbot. Early Music, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 381-394, 2002

The Forgotten Art of Modulation in Renaissance Polyphony - Gaston G. Allaire. Revue Belge de Musicologie, Vol. 57, pp. 5-57, 2003

A Critical Review: Studies in Italian Sacred and Instrumental Music in the 17th Century by Stephen Bonta - Shanon P. Zusman. The Online Journal of Bass Research, Vol. 1, 2004

Music Printers and Booksellers in Rome (1583-1600) With New Documents on Coattino, Diani, Donangeli, Tornieri, and Franzini - Patrizio Barbieri and Ken F. Hurry. Recercare, Vol. 16, pp. 69-112, 2004

Between Theory and Practice: Comparative Study of Early Music Performances - Eitan Ornoy. Early Music, Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 233-247, 2006

[PDF] Review “Performance on the Lute, Guitar and Vihuela: Historical Performance Practice and Interpretation” by Victor Anand Coelho - Daniel Zuluaga. Performance Practice Review, Vol. 12, No. 1, Article 7, 2007

Music-selling in Seventeenth-Century Rome: Three New Inventories from Franzini’s Bookshops 1621, 1633, 1686 - Patrizio Barbieri. Recercare, Vol. 23, No. 1/2, pp. 131-173, 2011

[Amazon] Medieval Music (The Library of Essays on Music Performance Practice) - Honey Meconi (editor). Routledge, 2011

[PDF] Sanseverino’s Alfabeto Songbook - Monica Hall. LSA Quarterly, Spring 2011

A Performer’s Guide to Seventeenth-Century Music, 2nd Ed. - Stewart Carter and Jeffrey Kite-Powell (editors). Indiana University Press, 2012

[Video] Craig Wright: Listening to Music – Development of Aural Skills in Understanding Western Music - Yale Courses, December 2012

The Music of Social Climbing: Spanish Vihuela Prints as Commonplace Books - Deborah Lawrence. The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 96, No. 1, pp. 137-167, 2013

[PDF] Instrumental Idiom in the 16th Century: Embellishment Patterns in Arrangements of Vocal Music - David Lewis, Tim Crawford, Daniel Müllensiefen. 17th International Society for Music Information Retrieval Conference, 2016

My Historical Performance Practices - Matthew Weinman, Lutenist/Composer, 2017

Approaching Baroque Style With Modern String Players - Zachary Carrettin. Vox Humana, January 2018

Keeping the Customers Satisfied: Updating Older Music in Bourbon France - Ronald Broude and Mary Cyr. The Musical Times, Vol. 160, No 1949, pp. 3-24, 2019

The Best Practical Musick: Thomas Mace’s Rule of Time-Keeping - AndrewLawrenceKing.com, May 2019

Time’s Arrow Flies Through 500 Years of Classical Music - Karmela Padavic-Callaghan. Scientific American, August 2020

[PDF] Francesco Corbetta – The Best of All: A Study of His Life and Works - Monica Hall. Self-published, 2020

Music History Re-Strung - Corey Hugh Highberg. Medium.com, September 14, 2020

String Quartets in Beethoven’s Europe - Edited by Nancy November. Academic Studies Press, 2022

[PDF] The Humour and Graces of Thomas Mace - Bernhard Fischer. June 2022

Baroque Music Operas, Concertos, Oratorios, Cantatas & More - Hermione Lai. Interlude, October 2022

Felipe Libón, the First Traveling Spanish Virtuoso and His Violin Concerto No. 6 (1812) – A Performance Practice Case Study: I. Poco Allegro - Saya Ikenoya. Royal Conservatory, The Hague, 2023

String Virtuosi in Eighteenth-Century Naples: Culture, Power, and Music Institutions - Guido Olivieri. Cambridge University Press, 2023

Plucked or Bowed?: Two Early String Instruments in the Towers of Saint Sophia in Kiev, Their Characteristics and Cultural Identity - Dorothea Baumann. Belonging, Detachment and the Representation of Musical Identities in Visual Culture, pp. 109-126, Hollitzer Verlag, 2023

Folk Music and Song in the WPA Ex-Slave Narratives - John Minton. University Press of Mississippi, 2024

Marin Mersenne and the Study of Harmony: From Sound to Music - Leendert van der Miesen. Amsterdam University Press, 2025

A Cultural History of the Violin in Nineteenth-Century London: From Instrument to Art - Tom Wilder. Boydell & Brewer, 2025

Fiddling Is My Joy: The Fiddle in African American Culture - Jacqueline Cogdell DjeDje. University Press of Mississippi, 2025