Early Music History (2018) Volume 37. © Cambridge University Press doi:10.1017/S0261127918000074 Anne Heminger Email:
[email protected] MUSIC THEORY AT WORK: THE ETON CHOIRBOOK, RHYTHMIC PROPORTIONS AND MUSICAL NETWORKS IN SIXTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND Whilst scholars often rely on a close reading of the score to understand English musical style at the turn of the fifteenth century, a study of the compositional techniques composers were taught provides complementary evidence of how and why specific stylistic traits came to dominate this repertory. This essay examines the relationship between practical and theo- retical sources in late medieval England, demonstrating a link between the writings of two Oxford-educated musicians, John Tucke and John Dygon, and the polyphonic repertory of the Eton Choirbook (Eton College Library, MS 178), compiled c. 1500–4. Select case stu- dies from this manuscript suggest that compositional and notational solutions adopted at the turn of the fifteenth century, having to do particularly with metrical proportions, echo music-theoretical concepts elucidated by Tucke and Dygon. These findings impinge upon the current debate concerning the presence of a network between educational institutions in the south-east of England during this period. In a 1997 article on the early Tudor court and the Eton Choirbook (Eton College Library, MS 178), Magnus Williamson posed an important question: ‘was [the Choirbook] the product of a provincial or a metropolitan environment?’ To answer this query, Williamson traced links between Eton College and other educational institu- tions, showing connections to Arundel College, Fotheringhay Col- lege and Windsor Chapel, while focusing on the college’sstronger ties to Oxford and Cambridge.