ABSTRACT
Some thirty years ago the late Arnold Schering of Berlin set forth his theories claiming a predominance of instrumental over vocal participation in the music of the 12th to 16th centuries. 1 In support of his contentions, he adduced specific features found in the music as criteria of its “instrumental style”. These criteria were subjected at the time to at least one detailed criticism; 2 but although Schering's more extreme contentions have not been accepted by most scholars, the premises of his argument—and therefore the true significance of these criteria—have not been examined with sufficient care. As a result, the idea of a general “instrumental”, as contrasted with a general “vocal”, style has gained some currency and has been rather indiscriminately applied in present-day musicological writing.
