A man of huge reputation in his lifetime, the 15th-century composer Binchois remains one of the key musical figures of his age. In addressing facets of his life, music, influences, and the world he inhabited, this volume casts light on this enigmatic composer and also on the fascinating culture in which his musical personality was shaped.

A man of huge reputation in his own right and as an alumnus of one of the most sophisticated courts in the history of western Europe, the fifteenth century composer Binchois remains for us, at the turn of the twenty first century, one of the key musical figures of his age. Yet in spite of the attention afforded him in the past, he remains, perhaps more than ever, an enigma. One of the chief aims of this book, surprisingly the first concerned solely with the composer, is to attempt to begin to unravel that enigma by viewing him from a variety of contrasting angles. In so doing it will also provide a catalyst for further research which will further deepen our understanding not only of Binchois himself, but also of the cultural environment of which he was part.

PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
BINCHOIS IN CONTEXT: LITURGY, STYLE, CULTURE
Binchois and Sacred Music at the Burgundian Court
After Burgundy: Rethinking Binchois's Years in Soignies
Rites of Passage. Music in (Social and Ceremonial) Action: Nove cantum melodie, The Burgundian Court, and Binchois's Early Career
THE SACRED MUSIC: STYLE, CONTEXT, AND THE BINCHOIS CANON
Binchois and England: Some Questions of Style, Influence, and Attribution in his Sacred Works
Binchois the Borrower
Wiser's Codices and the absconditus Binchois
THE SONGS
The Binchois Game: Tonal Coherence and Compositional Style
Bridging the Medial Caesura: The Wraparound Rondeau
Binchois and the Poets
Binchois's Songs in the Feo Belcari Manuscript
FROM MANUSCRIPT TO EDITION: ISSUES OF THEORY AND EDITING
Accidentals in Binchois's Songs
The Use of Cut Signatures in Sacred Music by Binchois
Towards a Theory of Text-Music Relations in the Music of the Renaissance