This collection of essays concerning the medieval motet represents the most recent and exhaustive contribution to a well-represented area of study and teaching on a genre that has fascinated scholars as far back as the eighteenth century (Haines, 175). The editor Jared C. Hartt has drawn together here wide-ranging perspectives on the thirteenth- and fourteenth-century motet. The main goal of the collection is compared by Hartt to the genre itself: the book is “partly a debate genre, and partly a polyphonic motet of its own making” (13), bringing together at times contrary interpretations and analyses (a feature of the motet discussed by S. Clark in chapter 10). The volume as a whole both defends more traditional views of the motet and overturns previous scholarship that, at times, essentialized and limited the scope and definition of the genre.

As the abstract for the book notes, this is the first edited collection dealing solely with medieval motets, differentiating it from, for example, the 1997 collection edited by Dolores Pesce, Hearing the Motet: Essays on the Motet of the Middle Ages and Renaissance (Pesce herself contributes chapter 6 in the volume under review). There are several single-author books on the medieval motet, of course, and many of these writers appear here as contributors or via citation (the latter category includes Mark Everist, Emma Dillon, Christopher Page, and Sylvia Huot). The Critical Companion appears alongside several important books published in 2018 by its contributors: Catherine A. Bradley, Polyphony in Medieval Paris: The Art of Composing with Plainchant; Anna Zayaruznaya, Upper-Voice Structures and Compositional Process in the Ars Nova Motet; and an edited collection by Bradley and Karen Desmond, The Montpellier Codex: The Final Fascicle: Contents, Contexts, Chronologies. To say it has been a good year for scholarship on the medieval motet would be an understatement.

With seventeen chapters and an introduction, the Critical Companion reflects the highly varied subfield of musicology and music theory and includes scholars of diverse ranks; the gender parity is also notable. The book is organized into two parts: the first comprises “fundamental topics” (chapters 1–8) and the second case studies (chapters 9–17). Some admixture occurs, with Pesce's chapter 6 just as easily a case study as a “fundamental topic.” Hartt offers a thorough overview in his introduction, including summaries and discussions of all chapters (4–11). This alone is an invaluable service for scholars and students desiring a synopsis of the book and the state of current research. Hartt also provides a thematic summary and a list of “contested areas” (12–13) revolving around chronology, compositional techniques, notation, and geography. Themes range from the textual to the notational, with emphasis on motets as cohesive wholes, textuality, borrowing, audibility, structure and notation, and the written archive. Textuality is particularly important as it intersects with intertextuality, monotextuality, materiality, and textual meaning. Attention is rightly paid to two-voice motets and monophonic motets in various chapters, and motet tenors receive ample discussion.

Several chapters read like topic surveys, while others advance nuanced arguments; thus Critical Companion presents itself equally as a companion to the study of the medieval motet, laying out basic approaches, and also a critical collection of new scholarship that will shape future research. While the volume is highly admirable, variability is one of the few critiques that could be made. A distinction between a topics chapter and a case study is expected; however, chapters within each part range in complexity and accessibility. Since Hartt defines the audience as specialists, upper-level undergraduates, and graduate students (1)—commendable in breadth and fitting for a companion-type volume—most chapters demand some background in medieval music. For instance, certain examples and tables require sustained examination and dissection and the occasional lack of translations may stymie some. Included, however, is a helpful glossary defining many of the technical terms encountered throughout the chapters.

There is much here for any seasoned scholar to digest, and many of the case studies will serve as excellent stand-alone chapters to assign in higher level courses. In the end, this volume stands as a central guide to future work on the medieval motet—indeed, medieval musicology as a whole will need to account for arguments made throughout its pages.