Henry V and the Earliest English Carols: 1413–1440

As a distinctive and attractive musical repertory, the 100-odd English carols of the fifteenth century have always had a ready audience. But the key viewpoints date to the late 1920s, when Richard L. Greene first defined the poetic form; and little has been published since 1950, when a new manuscript was found and John Stevens published his still definitive edition of all the music, giving rise to substantial publications by major scholars in both music and literature. This book offers a new survey with a firmer focus on the form and its history. Fresh examination of the manuscripts and of the styles of the music they contain leads to new proposals about their dates, origins and purposes.