Description: Based on primary sources, many of which have never been published or examined in detail, this book examines the music of the late seventeenth-century composers, Biber, Schmeltzer and Muffat, and the compositions preserved in the extensive Moravian archives in Kromeriz.
Review Quotes: 'Brewer bases his exhaustive, scholarly and highly readable and illuminating analyses of the work of these three composers and their contemporaries on stylistic considerations.' Classical Net 'Most performers of the repertoire alluded to in the book's title should read it. ... a valuable contribution to our knowledge and understanding of 17th-century Austro-German music...' Early Music Review 'Charles E. Brewer's book is a seminal work about instrumental music of the 17th century in the parts of Europe under Habsburg rule, which Manfred F. Bukofzer mentions only tangentially in his splendid monograph. Even if the reader will not necessarily agree completely with certain opinions, the quantity of knowledge and context compiled in the book is imposing and valuable. No researcher dealing with music of the 17th century will be able to ignore Brewer's book.' Hudebni veda