Bryan White

Ground breaking and comprehensive reference volume covering an extensive range of Purcell studies, including his life and works, his milieu and the reception of his music to the present. In the 30 years since the Tercentenary of Purcell's death in 1995 research into him and the musical culture of Restoration England has developed rapidly. Even the most authoritative books published then are now seriously out of date, and no-one since then has attempted to cover the whole range of Purcell studies. The book is largely taken up with A-Z dictionary entries, preceded by an up-to-date biography and followed by a work-list and bibliography. The dictionary includes entries for many of Purcell's works; the genres he contributed to; the titles and terms he used; the instruments he wrote for; the most important manuscript and printed sources of his music; and some pressing performance practice issues. Important threads are devoted to people associated with Purcell, including earlier composers who influenced him; his fellow composers; his pupils and followers; those who provided him with texts to set; his patrons and employers; the most important copyists, publishers and instrument makers associated with him; and those contemporaries who wrote about him. The book breaks new ground by giving particular emphasis to his performers, including the most prominent singers and dancers he worked with; and the individuals and institutions responsible for maintaining (or sometimes altering) his legacy up to the present.

In 1683 English court musicians and the Musical Society of London joined forces to celebrate St Cecilia's Day (22 November) with a feast and the performance of specially composed music. The most prominent composers and poets of the age wrote for these occasions, including Henry Purcell, John Blow, John Dryden and William Congreve. In 1683 English court musicians and the Musical Society of London joined forces to initiate annual observations of St Cecilia's Day (22 November), celebrating the occasion with a feast and the performance of specially composed musical odes. The most prominent composers and poets of the age wrote for these occasions, including Henry Purcell, John Blow, John Dryden and William Congreve, and the best musicians of the city, primarily drawn from the court music, undertook the performances. After a decade of celebrations, a church service was added before the feast, and elaborate vocal and instrumental music was performed. At the same time, celebrations of St Cecilia's Day began to spread widely throughout the British Isles, where they were held by local music clubs, often with the support of cathedral musicians. Though the annual London celebrations came to an end after 1700 in the face of increasing competition from the city's busy musical and theatrical offerings, Cecilian poetry continued to inspire new musical settings in the eighteenth century, including works by Pepusch, Greene, Boyce and, most notably, Handel. This book examines the social, cultural and religious significance of celebrations of St Cecilia's Day in the British Isles and explores the music and poetry that originated from them. The annual feasts of the Musical Society are analysed in detail, as is the role they played in the development of the ode. The book also considers how advances in musical culture in London were imitated in the provinces and provides a detailed discussion of the variety of Cecilian celebrations held at provincial centres throughout the British Isles.

Extremely diverse and complicated bacterial and protozoan populations inhabit the rumen and intestinal tract of animals, and there is a delicate balance among the individual populations within this complex microbial community. This authoritative edited volume, the first in a two-volume set, reviews the gut environment and the fermentations taking place in animal digestive tracts. It is an essential source of reference for microbial ecologists and physiologists, medical microbiologists and gastroenterologists, biochemists, nutritionists, veterinarians and animal scientists, and wildlife ecologists.

The gastrointestinal tract is a complex anaerobic microbial ecosystem containing a vast assemblage of resident microorganisms performing a multitude of metabolic activities that play a key role in health and disease of humans and animals. Furthermore, the gastrointestinal microbes have a dominant impact on the growth and productivity of both ruminant and non-ruminant animals. This two-volume series on Gastrointestinal Microbiology reviews the literature and provides a comprehensive account of the biological significance of the microbiota present in the alimentary tract of a wide range of animals, in terms of their nutritional ecology, biochemical activities, development and composition, interactions and role in host health and disease. Recent developments in the areas of molecular ecology, bacterial genetics, immunological aspects of host microbe interactions at the level of the intestinal mucosa, bacterial translocation and intestinal disease are included. Although emphasis is placed on domestic ruminants and man, systems which have been extensively researched, this series also provides a full and integrated account of the nutritional ecology and microbial ecology in the gut of many diverse mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles and insects. This broad perspective allows more realistic interpretation, and better evaluation of, as well as greater insight into, the evolution, ecology, and function of the gastrointestinal ecosystem. These volumes contain contributions from a multidisciplinary group of internationally recognized authors, all active researchers in their particular fields.

Extremely diverse and complicated bacterial and protozoan populations inhabit the rumen and intestinal tract of animals, and there is a delicate balance among the individual populations within this complex microbial community. This authoritative edited volume, the first in a two-volume set, reviews the gut environment and the fermentations taking place in animal digestive tracts. It is an essential source of reference for microbial ecologists and physiologists, medical microbiologists and gastroenterologists, biochemists, nutritionists, veterinarians and animal scientists, and wildlife ecologists.