The Baldwin Part Books and a Case Study of the Eight Settings of The
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THE BALDWIN PART BOOKS AND A CASE STUDY OF THE EIGHT SETTINGS OF THE RESPOND DUM TRANSISSET SABBATUM By Alison Margaret Welch A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of Master of Arts by Research Department of Music College of Arts and Law University of Birmingham August 2017 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT This dissertation considers the eights settings of the respond Dum Transisset Sabbatum from The Baldwin Part Books. The set of parts books is one of the major repositories of Latin Church Music in England from the Tudor Period, covering the years from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I. It provides a brief context for the part books and some consideration of the work of John Baldwin, single copyist of this manuscript. Baldwin also had sole or part involvement with several other significant manuscripts of the period, which are discussed. The dissertation goes on to review the settings in detail, concerning their characteristics, use of cantus firmus, motifs, imitation, methods of aiding cohesion, and setting of text. It concludes with a consideration of what makes ‘a good composition?’, an evaluation of the settings and a possible order of composition. Two of the unica, settings by John Mundy and Strabridge, have been transcribed and a suggested tenor part has been created. Dedication This research is dedicated to all family and friends who, over the years, have learned to smile and nod Acknowledgments With my most grateful thanks to Professor Andrew Kirkman, Peyton and Barber Professor of Music, Birmingham University, August 2017 Introduction This dissertation aims to investigate the eight settings of the respond Dum Transisset Sabbatum copied by John Baldwin into the set of part-books now known as The Baldwin Part Books, Oxford ChCh 979-83 (hereafter BPB). The BPB provide a comparatively rare opportunity to examine in detail how a group of six composers set the same respond, with two of them setting it twice. The BPB, John Baldwin the Scribe, and the respond, Dum Transisset will be placed in their respective contexts, and then through consideration of various aspects of the music, the settings will be discussed, compared, and conclusions drawn, evaluating the merits of each. Examination will include consideration of similarities, differences, common approaches, use of motifs, imitation, and text setting, but with the proviso that this is only within Baldwin. Space prevents placing them in the context of other works by the individual composers or in their wider contemporaneous context, apart from in general terms. The first chapter provides a brief historical context for the books and a review of the life and work of John Baldwin. His work is considered in terms of the music he copied, but not his role as a member of St George’s, Windsor, as a gentleman of the Chapel Royal, or as a composer. Too little is known of his life as a singer to make any assessment in relation to his roles, and consideration of his work as a composer is beyond the scope of this dissertation. The second chapter provides an overview of the BPB and their contents. The third chapter considers the composers represented in them and their connections with each other. The fourth chapter looks at the respond, its place in the liturgy and its presence in the Part Books. Chapter five considers Dum Transisset in terms of text and function, its prevalence in Europe, specific reference to Christian Hollander, and the appearance of Dum Transisset in English manuscripts. Chapter six considers aspects of the settings in detail and chapter seven analyses the melodic and rhythmic connections within and between the settings. Chapter eight discusses voices in relation to text – including underlay and setting of specific words. Chapters nine and ten focus on the two settings by Taverner and by Sheppard. It was not unusual for a composer to set the same text more than once – there are other examples within this collection – but here it will be profitable to compare the settings in different ways: • Taverner settings with each other • Sheppard settings with each other • Taverner with Sheppard Chapter eleven considers the process of transcription and completion of the settings by John Mundy and Strabridge. There are no concordant sources for these works and therefore a proposed tenor line for each has been devised and inserted, enabling the music to be performed. The final chapter presents a possible order of composition and draws out observations and conclusions relating to the perceived quality of the settings. They will be evaluated in relation to Daniel Leech-Wilkinson’s contention that ‘it should be possible to identify pieces which do nothing out of the ordinary, or which fail to do the ordinary in an interesting way, monotonously using and reusing a few hackneyed melodic shapes, rhythmic figures, and contrapuntal progressions.’ It may thereby, by implication, be possible to form a judgment – albeit from a modern critical perspective – as to whether a composition is ‘good’, ‘bad’, or ‘boring.’ (Knighton and Fallows, OUP: p.7) VOLUME I CONTENTS Tables Abbreviations CHAPTER ONE CONTEXT AND JOHN BALDWIN 1.1 A short historical context 1 1.2 Baldwin the Man 7 1.3 Baldwin as Copyist 18 1.4 Baldwin as seen through his poems 28 CHAPTER TWO THE BALDWIN PART BOOKS – OXFORD, CHRIST CHURCH, MS 979-983 36 CHAPTER THREE THE COMPOSERS IN BALDWIN 45 CHAPTER FOUR THE RESPOND 4.1 Function 49 4.2 The Respond in Baldwin 58 CHAPTER FIVE DUM TRANSISSET SABBATUM 5.1 Text, translation, liturgical place 63 5.2 Dum Transisset in Europe 67 5.3 Hollander 82 5.4 Dum Transisset in England 86 CHAPTER SIX THE EIGHT SETTINGS OF DUM TRANSISSET IN BALDWIN 6.1 Introduction 89 6.2 Designation 93 6.3 Concordant sources 101 6.4 Length 101 6.5 Tempus 101 6.6 Flats 102 6.7 Mode and Pitch 102 6.8 Number of voices 104 6.9 Range and tessitura 104 6.10 Cantus Firmus – position and alterations 105 6.11 Motifs 106 6.12 Texture 106 6.13 Rhythm and Melody 108 6.14 Cadences 108 CHAPTER SEVEN CONNECTIONS 7.1 Motifs and Imitation 112 7. 2 Use of the DT motif 120 7.3 Other Fragments of the Cantus Firmus 122 7.4 Significant intervals 134 7.5 Connections between motifs 136 CHAPTER EIGHT TEXT AND VOICE 139 CHAPTER NINE COMPARISONS: I Taverner 156 CHAPTER TEN COMPARISONS: II Sheppard 173 CHAPTER ELEVEN COMPARISONS: III 11.1 Taverner and Sheppard 189 11.2 Taverner/Sheppard compared with the remaining settings 190 11.3 Hollander: Prima Pars and Secunda Pars 192 CHAPTER TWELVE TRANSCRIPTIONS AND COMPLETIONS 12.1 Transcriptions 198 12.2 Critical Commentary 198 12.3 Completions 201 CHAPTER THIRTEEN CONCLUSIONS 203 BIBLIOGRAPHY 216 ONLINE CITATIONS 225 VOLUME II CONTENTS Plainsong Dum Transisset Sabbatum Hollander Hollander Et Valde Mane Mundy Sheppard I Sheppard II Strabridge Tallis Taverner I Taverner II Mundy Completion Strabridge Completion Combined notes and stress patterns, Alison Wray Sources of Dum Transisset TABLES Table Name Page Table 1 Archival References to John Baldwin 10 Table 2 Works in ChCh 979-983 by Non-English Composers 43 Table 3 The Respond in ChCh 979-983 59 Table 4 Sections of text in Dum Transisset Sabbatum 65 Table 5 European Settings of Dum Transisset Sabbatum 68 Table 6 A comparison of the eight settings of Dum Transisset 94 Sabbatum in ChCh 979-983 Table 7 Mundy – critical commentary 198 Table 8 Strabridge – critical commentary 200 ABBREVIATIONS AS – Antiphonale Sarisburiense CR – Chapel Royal DT – Dum Transisset Sabbatum EECM – Early English Church Music TCM – Tudor Chuch Music Abbreviations for the Eight Settings of Dum Transisset Hol – Hollander, setting of Dum Transisset Sabbatum PP – First part of Hollander setting: Dum Transisset Sabbatum SecP – Second part of Hollander setting: Et Valde Mane Mun – J. Mundy, setting of Dum Transisset Sabbatum Tal – Tallis, setting of Dum Transisset Sabbatum Shep1 – Sheppard, 1st setting of Dum Transisset Sabbatum Shep2 – Sheppard, 2nd setting of Dum Transisset Sabbatum Stra – Strabridge, setting of Dum Transisset Sabbatum Tav1 – Taverner, 1st setting of Dum Transisset Sabbatum Tav2 – Taverner, 2nd setting of Dum Transisset Sabbatum CHAPTER ONE THE BALDWIN PART BOOKS This chapter considers briefly the post-reformation period in England and supplies such information as is known about Baldwin, the man and the copyist. It provides the context within which Baldwin compiled these manuscripts. 1.2 A short historical context It is tempting to approach the historical context of the Baldwin Part Books (BPB) from a twenty-first-century mindset, trying to separate it into political, religious, sociological (including personal) and philosophical elements. However, insofar as it is ever possible to take full cognisance of a past situation, such a separation would have been inconceivable to the people of the day. For them, all four elements were inseparable from each other, interacting at all points. Marshall (Marshall, 2003, p.38), maintains that the ‘early English Reformation acquired its distinctive character from the convergence of a spiritual reform movement with the dynastic and political requirements of the English crown’. Hence, there were already moves in Henry VIII’s reign to transform the Church to the doctrine of ‘justification by faith’ alone and dispense with monasteries, masses, indulgences, vows etc.