Celestial Sirens

`One of the merits of Celestial Sirens is the generous sampling of the music provided by nearly one hundred examples of varying length, accompanied by Kendrick's meticulous analyis ... Kendrick provides the English-speaking reader with an erudite exploration into the subject of nuns' music ... let us hope that Kendrick's praiseworthy achievement will prompt further exploration of this complex history and bring to light more of the compositions of these musical women inside the cloister.' Cyrilla Barr, Catholic Historical Review `contains a wealth of newly published archival information' Choice `The richest aspect of this book is the detailed chronicle it provides of five generations of nuns ... coming to terms with the new insistence on monastic enclosure and the threat that it posed to their spiritual expression, artistic training and emotional lives ... an everyday story of Counter-Reformation folk, Robert Kendrick's book could hardly be bettered.' Times Literary Supplement `The documentation is excellent, providing all significant documents in the original language, statistics on the convents of Milan, printed music dedicated to nuns and some liturgical outlines. All this provides a useful supplement to the engaging text, which balances the history and its music, including copious excerpts of original repertory .' Early Music Today `well-documented and richly detailed book ... Kendrick's ability to navigate the larger currents of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Milanese culture in order to contextualize the practices of the city's female monasteries is only one of the many strengths of this impressive study. ... The overview provides an excellent summary of stylistic trends in Milan at the time and keeps the reader focused on the main objective: to understand how the music reflects monastic traditions or conditions. ... Kendrick is to be commended for the extensive musical documentation he supplies ... his scrupulous examination of the music yields most satisfying results. ...Celestial Sirens is an essential addition to the library of any historian with an interest in the sacred music of Seicento Italy.' Journal of the American Musicological Society, vol.50, no.1, Spring 1997