Warrior, Courtier, Singer

Download or read book Warrior, Courtier, Singer written by Richard Wistreich and published by Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. This book was released on 2007 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Giulio Cesare Brancaccio was a Neapolitan nobleman with long practical experience of military life. He was also a virtuoso bass singer whose performances were praised by both Tasso and Guarini. Richard Wistreich examines Brancaccio's life in detail and considers the mental and social world of a warrior and courtier with musical skills in a broader context. He also illustrates the use of music in the process of 'self-fashioning' and the role of performance of all kinds in the construction of male noble identity within court culture, including the nature and currency of honour, chivalric virtù and sixteenth-century notions of gender and virility in relation to musical performance