This collection of papers, which originated in the 2009 conference, “Sacred Music in the Habsburg Empire 1619–1740 and Its Contexts,” provides both a rich document of current scholarship and points out the significant research desiderata. Harry White begins this volume with an examination of Johann Joseph Fux and the concept of “musical servitude,” but he also notes that “history, including music history, has drawn a veil over the Viennese Baroque” (11). Reading through this volume, one gains hints of how significant this specific musical repertoire was to later composers, such as Johann Sebastian Bach, and how manuscript copies were still being made of this music into the nineteenth century. In a number of respects, the late Renaissance and baroque styles discussed in these papers were sonic emblems of not just the house of Habsburg, but also of a distinct Central-European musical tradition of sacred music. Following White's essay, the next four contributions also center on Fux, including problems of attribution (Thomas Hochradner), compositional style (Mattias Lundberg), and his influence on Johann Sebastian Bach and Michael Haydn (Albert Clement and Erick Arenas).

The remaining papers all examine different facets of almost two centuries of musical activity in the Habsburg lands. Problems of attribution are examined in Herbert Seifert's essay, “Miserere mei Deus: Eine große Komposition des Kaisers, aber welches?,” and in focused studies on Giuseppe Tricarico (by Markop Deisinger), Marc'Antonio Ziani (by Johannes Prominczel), Gottlieb Muffat (by Alison Dunlop), and Filippo Salviati (by Guido Erdmann). Other contributions provide important source studies, including the longevity of a significant collection of introits by Antonio Bertali (Tassilo Erhardt) and a repertoire of Holy Week music for Viennese convents (Janet K. Page). Five papers examine regional repertoires: Robert Rawson, Peter Holman, and Jana Spáčilová (Bohemia and Moravia), Claudio Bacciagaluppi (Naples), and Stefanie Beghein (Antwerp).

Of broader interest are those studies that examine issues of context. Jen-Yen Chen examines an extensive repertoire of masses whose titles reference virtues, such as prudence, humility, and justice; and Andrew Weaver provides a perceptive reading of image and music as symbols of Ferdinand III's imperial power. Erika Honisch's examination of eucharistic devotion at the court of Rudolf II is especially informative both in her handling of primary sources and her explication of Philipp de Monte's motets, “Caro mea vere est cibus” and “Ego sum panis vivus.”

The concise nature of these published papers necessarily limits the depth of their discussions; for example, Honisch could have examined more fully the significance of Utraquist practices in the late sixteenth century, especially among the Literary Brethren. This lack in a few cases has been addressed by the more recent publication of longer monographs (for example, those by Rawson and Weaver). However, the veil discussed by White still remains, and much work remains to gain bibliographic control of the widely dispersed manuscripts of this repertoire and to see how the Habsburg style of sacred music came to influence the better-known musical repertoires of France and Italy. Even so, this collection will provide a beginning access point for Habsburg and musical historians to the actual sonic world of the “pietas austriaca.”