Cross, Sword, and Lyre: Sacred Music at the Imperial Court of Ferdinand II of Habsburg (1615-1637) (Oxford Monographs on Music)

This book introduces a nearly lost music culture: the Vienna court of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II (1619-37). During the Thirty Years War, Vienna was home to one of the largest, most resplendent musical organizations in Europe, making it an important hub for the assimilation of modern Italianate music in the German-speaking lands. Saunders looks at the music in its cultural context, showing how sacred music at this pivotal center was shaped by the composers, institutions, and ideas of the period, and he examines the life and works of the most important court composers, particularly the two imperial chapel masters Giovanni Priuli and Giovanni Valentini.