ABSTRACT
Throughout the treatise, the author gives accurate references concerning Biblical and patristic sources, for his main intention was to dispute religious leaders hostile to the current practice of church music. It is possible that the author consulted the English source, but it is more likely that he was acquainted with Athanasius’s Epistula through other theological or Biblical writings where it was cited. Among the classical writers most frequently cited by the author are Marcus Tullius Cicero, Plutarch, Aristotle, Ovid, Homer, Horace and Terence. One may be impressed by the author’s wide readings of the patristics. The author’s patristic sources are among the most popular of his day in relation to the history of church music, particularly psalmody. The author was fairly well acquainted with contemporary authors who wrote in Latin. The early modern writers seldom acknowledged their references; the author is more informative than the majority of his contemporary writers.
