Source Readings in Music History: The Renaissance v. 2 Strunk, W. Oliver

This is the essential primary source collection for anyone studying Renaissance music — letters, treatises, and theoretical writings from the musicians and thinkers who shaped the era. Oliver Strunk assembled the documents that matter: Josquin's contemporaries debating compositional technique, theorists wrestling with tuning systems, church officials arguing over polyphony in worship. It's not a narrative history but the raw materials of one, translated and annotated for modern readers. You get Glarean on modal theory, Zarlino on counterpoint, Vicentino on chromaticism — the debates that defined an entire musical language. Dry in spots, yes, but indispensable if you're writing a paper, teaching a seminar, or just want to hear Renaissance musicians speak in their own voices. This is Volume 2 of Strunk's landmark series, standard reading in musicology programs for decades. For music students, historians, and anyone who wants to understand Renaissance composition from the inside out.