{"product_id":"singing-the-news-of-death-una-mcilvenna-9780197551851","title":"Singing the News of Death: Execution Ballads in Europe 1500-1900","description":"Across Europe, from the dawn of print until the early twentieth century, the news of crime and criminals' public executions was printed in song form on cheap broadsides and pamphlets to be sold in streets and marketplaces by ballad-singers. \u003cem\u003eSinging the News of Death: Execution Ballads in Europe 1500-1900\u003c\/em\u003e looks at how and why song was employed across Europe for centuries as a vehicle for broadcasting news about crime and executions, exploring how this performative medium could frame and mediate the message of punishment and repentance. Examining ballads in English, French, Dutch, German, and Italian across four centuries, author Una McIlvenna offers the first multilingual and longue dur馥 study of the complex and fascinating phenomenon of popular songs about brutal public death. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBallads were frequently written in the first-person voice, and often purported to be the last words, confession or 'dying speech' of the condemned criminal, yet were ironically on sale the day of the execution itself. Musical notation was generally not required as ballads were set to well-known tunes. Execution ballads were therefore a medium accessible to all, regardless of literacy, social class, age, gender or location. A genre that retained extraordinary continuities in form and content across time, space, and language, the execution ballad grew in popularity in the nineteenth century, and only began to fade as executions themselves were removed from the public eye. With an accompanying database of recordings, \u003cem\u003eSinging the News of Death\u003c\/em\u003e brings these centuries-old songs of death back to life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Una McIlvenna\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0197551858\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780197551851\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford University Press, USA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/05\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 554\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.91lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.59h x 6.36w x 1.55d","brand":"Una McIlvenna","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44054769697023,"sku":"9780197551851","price":135.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_8ded00d1-c1ae-4f8c-8342-411bf5bf149a.jpg?v=1685031889","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/singing-the-news-of-death-una-mcilvenna-9780197551851","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}