Humanism, Philippe De Vitry, and the Ars Nova
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i THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MUSIC HUMANISM, PHILIPPE DE VITRY, AND THE ARS NOVA by G. VICTOR PENNIMAN A thesis submitted to the School of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music in Musicology Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 1997 i ii The members of the Committee approve the thesis of G. Victor Penniman defended on 25 July, 1997. __________________ Charles Brewer Professor Directing Thesis __________________ Lori Walters Outside Committee Member __________________ Jeffery Kite-Powell Committee Member Approved: ________________________________________________________ Jeffery Kite-Powell, Chair, Department of Musicology ________________________________________________________ John J. Deal, Assistant Dean, Graduate Studies in Music ii iii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................. v INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................1 Chapter Page 1. TOWARD A DEFINITION OF HUMANISM..........................................................8 Humanism as a Renaissance Characteristic......................................................8 Evidence of Pre-Renaissance Humanism: The French Classical Literary Tradition ..............................................12 Italy………………. ..............................................................................................30 Humanism: Summary and Definition .............................................................34 2. WORDS AND MUSIC: THE NATURE OF FRENCH LATIN AND VERNACULAR MUSICO-POETIC PRACTICE AT THE DAWN OF THE ARS NOVA.................................................................................36 Vernacular Song: Transition fro Oral To Written Tradition...............................................................................37 The Power of the Sung Poem ............................................................................43 3. THE HUMANISM OF PHILIPPE DE VITRY ........................................................45 Philippe de Vitry: A Brief Biography..............................................................45 Vitry and Petrarch...............................................................................................48 Vitry’s Role in Il bucolicum carmen ....................................................................56 Roy Martin Ellefsen and Vitry’s Humanism...................................................67 4. THE ARS NOVA AS HUMANIST PHENOMENON...........................................71 The Ars Nova.......................................................................................................71 Humanist Aspects of the Ars Nova..................................................................76 The Ars Subtilior: Unforseen Developments.................................................79 Conclusion… .......................................................................................................80 iii iv APPENDICES………......................................................................................................82 Introduction ........................................................................................................82 Appendix A: Rerum Familiarum IX, 13...........................................................83 Rerum Familiarum XI, 14.......................................................................98 Appendix B: Eclogue #4, “Daedelus,” from Il bucolicum carmen...............100 Translation .............................................................................................104 Appendix C: Eclogue #4 Commentary.........................................................108 Cod. 33 Plut. 52 Laurenziana Anonymous........................................108 Translation .................................................................................119 Cod. Vat. Pal. 1729: Francesco Piendibeni da Montepulciano .......131 Translation .................................................................................133 Commentary on Piendibeni.................................................................136 Translation .................................................................................140 BIBLIOGRAPHY…… ...................................................................................................144 iv v Abstract This thesis will demonstrate as conclusively as possible the humanist basis of the Ars Nova, centered in the fourteenth-century French literary tradition. The milieu and works of Philippe de Vitry and his association with well-known influential humanists such as Petrarch will be closely examined. Since at least the turn of the century historians of art, literature, and philosophy have traced the beginnings of the “Italian” Renaissance and the first stirrings of humanism to the beginning decades of the fourteenth century. It is only recently, however, that musicologists have been able to begin to do the same. Much of the recent research that supports this will be consolidated, and a picture will be presented of a fourteenth-century humanist and composer; an individual who had a profound impact on the music of his time and set the stage for the musical developments of what has been accepted as the actual “Renaissance” in music: Philippe de Vitry. In 1981, Roy Martin Ellefsen asserted in his doctoral dissertation that, though virtually labeled as such by Petrarch, with whom he was in close contact, Vitry was not, in fact, a humanist. Recent research, however, may prove the opposite and, through the compilation of this information, it will be possible to show the humanist impetus behind Vitry’s music and the developments of the Ars Nova. v vi An initial study of Paul Oskar Kristeller’s book Renaissance Thought, begins to give some idea that there is, in fact, a French humanist connection. Kristeller asserts in this work that Italian humanism is a hybrid of the “novel interest in classical studies imported from France toward the end of the thirteenth century and the much earlier traditions of Medieval rhetoric.” Clearly there is a suggestion of a sort of proto-humanism imported from France around the time that Vitry would have been actively pursuing his scholarly interests. The fact that Petrarch, the consummate early humanist, held Vitry in very high regard also suggests that humanism, or some prototypical form of it, could well be involved in the thought processes that influenced Vitry and others who brought about the musical changes associated with the Ars Nova. This thesis will show a verifiable humanist influence on the music of the early Ars Nova, and that the music of this period was not, as William Manchester says, a “Renaissance laggard,” but that its advances and changes were contemporary with the beginnings of the Renaissance in the other arts, and perhaps influential upon them. vi 1 Introduction In his 1981 doctoral dissertation, Roy Martin Ellefsen states, that Philippe de Vitry “cannot be considered a humanist.”1 He writes: He may have been literate, sophisticated and multi-talented, but he did not “personify the humanistic spirit par excellence.” Whatever stirrings of humanism worked within him had little or no influence of the medieval, contemplative, architectonic aesthetic of his music.2 It is intended in this thesis to show, through careful examination of both musical and literary traditions in France during the Middle Ages, that Vitry in fact can be considered a humanist, and that the innovations of the Ars Nova with which he is directly connected can be seen as influenced by, if not an integral part of, early Renaissance humanism. Perhaps of primary importance will be to form a working definition of humanism. There is evidence readily available that suggests that humanism was not restricted to the Renaissance. Paul Oskar Kristeller,who is drawn on heavily in this work, Jacques Le Goff, Christopher Page, and others plainly show in their texts humanist tendencies at work all the way back to the Carolingian era. A 1 Roy Martin Ellefsen, “Music and Humanism in the Early Renaissance: Their Relationship and Its Roots in the Rhetorical and Philosophical Traditions” (Ph.D. diss., Florida State University, 1981), 213. 2 Ibid., 213-14. 1 2 definition of humanism based on these ideas will be contrasted to Ellefsen’s definition. With humanism defined, it will then be important to examine the state of literary and musical practice in France and Italy in the early fourteenth century. Kristeller defines Renaissance humanism as a combination of French classical literary tradition and Italian rhetorical tradition.3 Since this study focuses primarily on Vitry and the French Ars Nova, most attention will be paid to the French literary and musical traditions. It is generally accepted, and will be shown here in brief, that France, specifically Paris, was the European cultural leader of the Middle Ages.4 Italy did not really become a cultural center until the fourteenth century, and even then it can still be shown to be heavily influenced by France. This is not to deny Italy’s importance in fourteenth- century European culture. The great achievements of Italian humanists during that time are well documented and do not beg refutation. One aspect of the medieval timeline on which special emphasis will be placed is the continuity in literary and musical practice that can be seen from the Carolingian era through the Renaissance. This continuity