Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The present collection of essays demonstrates that an appreciation of complex cultural networks can result in fresh insights into the interpretation of music from the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The book provides an outstanding case study of an approach to an early modern composer in which his music and career are considered in relation to cultural networks. The expression 'cultural networks' is used here in the broadest sense, encapsulating political, religious and social networks which each had a part to play in the creation of music, its dissemination and use. Peter Philips's music is best understood in relation to multifarious religious, political, social and musical circles which interact to form a complex set of interconnected networks. Academies and religious institutions may be seen at the heart of many musical networks in the Early Modern Period.