In this volume, under one cover we are offered a survey of music for the choral medium from the fourteenth century to the present. This is not a compendium of tired old favorites. It is, rather, a guide to the development of the choral idiom in all its evolutionary complexity.
The editor has realized several objectives in selecting pieces for inclusion: to document stylistic development from the late Middle Ages to the twentieth century; to illustrate the major categories of choral composition in different periods; and to provide a convenient library of works by major composers in the choral genre in a convenient format. The organization of the anthology is chronological: after surveying the sacred choral literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Dr. Robinson divides the secular music of the sixteenth century by nation; he then presents examples of the sacred and secular output of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Romantic period is organized geographically, as is the twentieth century, and includes representative works from all the major Western cultures. In all cases, the very best edition of a work has been chosen for inclusion. Where an acceptable version did not already exist a fresh edition was made especially for this anthology.