The Anatomy of Iberian Polyphony around 1500

This book is an outcome of the project The Anatomy of Late-15th- and Early-16th-Century Iberian Polyphonic Music, conducted between 2016 and 2019 at CESEM?Centre for Study of the Sociology and Aesthetics of Music at Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, to which senior and junior scholars contributed in a spirit of collegiality and close cooperation.

The background context for the Anatomy project was the realisation of the large extent to which the centre/periphery discourse dominates the narratives regarding music around 1500, even if these narratives have been challenged in recent decades. Early Iberian polyphonic repertories are still commonly barely acknowledged for their intrinsic technical and aesthetic value owing largely to the fact that they are seen as non-compliant with centric and canonical models, although they are, in fact, legitimate cultural elaborations blending both local and foreign influences.

By dealing with issues of polyphonic techniques and styles, reassessment of sources, processes of transmission and reception of music, and the retracing of composers' careers, this book offers a fresh look at the establishment of central and local dynamics and the ways in which Iberian repertories negotiate with other European centralities.