Cipriano de Rore began his career following the styles of Arcadelt, Verdelot, and Willaert. In the space of just over twenty years, he established a reputation of innovation such that Monteverdi's brother could later call him “the founder of the seconda pratica.”1 His late works were imitated by his most significant successors, so that the status of the madrigal as the most outstanding innovative genre of the late Renaissance stems principally from him. The five-hundredth anniversary of his birth (1515 or 1516) was the occasion of the monumental volume of fundamental studies under review, which cast new light on his work and its significance. This lavish publication includes sixty-three musical examples and six scores of complete works; thirty-four photographic figures, including twenty-three full-color reproductions of Hans Mielich's illuminations; and a striking cover that features Mielich's portrait of De Rore. The essays provide important biographical information on his courtly...

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