A History of Lincoln Minster ed. by Dorothy Owen (review)

BOOK REVIEWS625 chants are taken are precisely identified (not all publications on chant in the past named their sources). Hiley's book reflects the breadth of scholarly activity in chant study during the past decades, both in regard to varied aspects of the author's own research, and also in his recognition of the work of other scholars from many countries. The volume includes an exhaustive bibliography consisting of the usual published items along with numerous unpublished studies, such as dissertations. Subsequently, throughout the work, Hiley lists and often alludes to relevant writings on each specific topic, so that his volume genuinely fulfills the function of a scholarly handbook by providing direct, accessible reference information both on the subject itself and on primary and secondary sources. As such, this bookwill be ofinterest both to new scholars and to those with long experience in the study of chant. Another salient and welcome characteristic of Hiley's volume is its contextualization of the music: chant is treated not only as a musical phenomenon, but is seen in its relationship to liturgy, as well as in its historical and cultural setting (and Hiley's own studies have previously made an excellent contribution to that field). For instance, the attractive—and deceptively simple— sketches in Chapter 9 describing some of the people and locales associated with chant history collectively reveal not only Hiley's own panoramic view but also the wide range of areas related to an understanding of chant in its broad milieu. Earlier books about chant also sought to present a synthesis of the field: best known—and Hiley refers to them both in his introduction—are Willi Apel's Gregorian Chant (1958), and Peter Wagner's Einführung in die gregorianischen Melodien (3 vols., 1895-1921). Appearing near the end of the twentieth century, Hiley's Western Plainchant: A Handbook admirably summarizes and generously serves the study of ecclesiastical chant today. This wonderfully organized, well-written, and comprehensive volume by a distinguished scholar is assured a place among the significant books written about chant in the Western tradition. Joan Halmo University ofSaskatchewan A History of Lincoln Minster. Edited by Dorothy Owen. (New York: Cambridge University Press. 1994. Pp. xviii, 334. »6995.) As befits a cathedral considered by John Ruskin to be "out and out the most precious piece of architecture in the British Isles," Lincoln Minster has been more than usually fortunate both in the survival of its records and the quality of its local antiquaries. All the more surprising perhaps that the many devotees of Lincoln Cathedral have had to wait until 1994 for the first systematic history 626 BOOK REVIEWS of one of the greatest institutions of the English Church. The waiting has certainly proved worthwhile; for the labors of Dr. Dorothy Owen and her five colleagues have ensured that their survey of Lincoln Cathedral will now hold a distinguished place within the current spate of other cathedral histories. Indeed, theirs is a highly vivid contribution to most of the complex patterns of English church history throughout nearly nine centuries, a contribution which owes much of its originality to the different ways in which all the authors have made such excellent use of the unrivalled—and largely unpublished —records of Lincoln Minster itself. The writing of a satisfactory history of a Christian cathedral, that terrestrial house of many mansions, is, of course, a good deal more difficult to achieve than might be supposed. A History of Lincoln Minster solves most of the many possible structural problems by providing the reader with three detailed and predominantly narrative "historical surveys," respectively the work of Dr. Owen herself (1091-1450), of Margaret Bowker (1450-1750), and finally of David Thompson, who accomplishes the heroic task of describing the cathedral 's history between 1750 and 1949 in a chapter ofover one hundred pages. Throughout these chapters attention tends to focus, appropriately enough, less on the bishop than on the chapter and minor minster clergy of Lincoln; but one is never left in any doubt that the latter's fortunes can only be explained in terms of developments outside the precinct walls. Indeed, this volume inevitably owes much ofits appeal to being a sustained...