DOCSLIB.ORG

MUSICIANS and COMMONERS in LATE MEDIEVAL LONDON Simon

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
MUSICIANS and COMMONERS in LATE MEDIEVAL LONDON Simon ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: MUSICIANS AND COMMONERS IN LATE MEDIEVAL LONDON Simon Polson, Doctor of Philosophy, 2020 Dissertation directed by: Professor Barbara Haggh-Huglo School of Music This dissertation examines music making in late medieval London (c.1300-c.1550) from the commoners’ perspective, and with this emphasis, does not discuss royal or monastic musical ensembles or music in aristocratic households, nor does it examine the music of St Paul’s Cathedral in detail. This shifts the focus from mensurally notated, pre-composed music towards monophony and extemporized polyphony which, unnotated, was realized in performance. These kinds of music more than any others were those made by medieval musicians and heard by commoners; through a study of archival documents and their printed editions, including account books, chronicles and other sources, the dissertation identifies the events at which musicians performed and commoners encountered music: civic and royal processions; the Midsummer Watches; processions of criminals with “rough music”; liturgical feast days, and at associated meals. It also locates the music of daily life in the streets and in many dozens of parish churches. The extant notated music from medieval London is mostly in chant books. No complete extant source of polyphony survives, but neither would such a source accurately represent a musical culture in which mensural polyphony and notated music itself were inaccessible to most. Used with methodological caution, documents from London reveal details where little notated music survives and describe or hint at the music that commoners knew. Also examined are two songs (“Sovereign Lord Welcome Ye Be,” “Row the bote Norman”) with surviving texts that may be original. A major appendix lists over 300 musicians who flourished in London in the period. MUSICIANS AND COMMONERS IN LATE MEDIEVAL LONDON by Simon Polson Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2020 Advisory Committee: Professor Barbara Haggh-Huglo, Chair Professor Caroline Barron (Royal Holloway, University of London) Professor Olga Haldey Professor Franklin Hildy Professor Edward Maclary © Copyright by Simon Polson 2020 To my mum and dad, and to Thomas with the Trompe and all other Mynstrelles of this Citie of london ii Acknowledgements I acknowledge first my debt to the editors of the rich published archive of medieval London documents, whose unimaginably long hours spent reading, transcribing, and translating the original scribes’ work has placed so much more of London’s archive in my hands than I could ever have read myself. Anne Lancashire (editor, REED Civic London) and Mary Erler (editor, REED Ecclesiastical London) have communicated with me about the texts in their editions, and Lisa Jefferson (editor, Mercers’ and Wardens’ accounts editions) answered my questions. That I could read the manuscripts cited here is thanks to Heather Wolfe and the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington DC. I thank Sarah Powell for her assistance in interpreting some of the texts. I acknowledge the financial assistance of the Dean’s Fellowship (University of Maryland, College Park), the Eleanor Sophia Wood Travelling Bequest (University of Sydney), and the award of a Cosmos Scholars grant (Cosmos Club Foundation, Washington DC). I thank the many scholars whose names appear here in the footnotes and bibliography, and especially those who were willing to communicate with me, and to share their ideas and give feedback on mine: Nicholas Bell, Julia Boffey, Clive Burgess, Helen Coffey, Sean Curran, Helen Deeming, Jane Hardie, Andrew Kirkman, Peter Lefferts, Kathleen Nelson, Christopher Page, Christian Steer, Ian Stone, and Mio Ueno. I also thank the staff of the library systems at the University of Maryland, College Park, especially Austin Smith, and the University of Sydney, especially Andrea Dib. iii I especially thank Giles Darkes for his permission to edit and reproduce his map of medieval London given here as figure 1, the London Metropolitan Archives for permission to reproduce figure 2, and Professor Sally-Beth MacLean for permission to reproduce the selections of REED Civic London given as appendix 3. I thank my dissertation committee, Professors Olga Haldey, Frank Hildy and Edward Maclary, and especially Professor Caroline Barron and my advisor, Professor Barbara Haggh-Huglo. To have studied under Barbara, I must number among the luckiest of PhD students; with her enthusiasm, generosity and friendship, and that of Caroline Barron, I have often fancied myself like those young men in medieval London, apprenticed to masters and learning the crafts of musical and historical enquiry from them. And to my friends at the University of Maryland, College Park (especially Erin and Collin), in Washington DC (especially Lucas, John, Elizabeth, and the late Patrick), London (especially Natasha, Gemma, and Nick), and Sydney (especially Daniel and Peta, Mark, Brenda, and Joseph), as well as to my mum and dad, and my brothers and their families, I can only say that while each of you at times may have distracted or delayed me in my work, without you, it would not have been fulfilling, nor half as much fun. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements iii List of Tables vii List of Figures viii List of Abbreviations ix Documents and Citations x Editorial Policy xvi I. Introduction 1 Sources, Methodology, and Problems of Evidence 7 Outline of this Study 18 “Musicians” and “Commoners” 21 The Meaning of “Late Medieval” 24 The City of London 26 II. Minstrels and Musicians in Late Medieval London 28 “Minstrels” and Instruments 32 The Minstrels’ Company and Regulations for Minstrelsy 36 The Waits 42 Thomas the Trumpeter 51 III. Music Heard in the Streets and on the River Thames 56 Key Streets, Sites and Processional Routes 62 Bells 64 Music at Night and in the Night Watches 73 The Midsummer Watches 76 Processions of Civic Officials 90 Royal Occasions 105 Punishment and Crime 117 Private Music in Barges 122 Conclusion 126 IV. Music in the Churches 130 Clerks and Church Musicians 138 Boy Singers 145 The Organ and Organ Players 152 Boy Bishops 173 v Palm Sunday 178 Corpus Christi Day 184 Dedication Feasts and Feasts of Patron Saints 189 Company Feasts and Dinners 196 Conclusion 207 V. Music in Books and on Paper 212 Surviving Notated Music from London 217 Printed Music 220 Notated Music for the Organ 222 Books of Polyphony 225 Private Ownership of Notated Music 238 Lost Manuscripts 241 Lost Vernacular Songs 248 “Sovereign Lord Welcome Ye Be” 249 “Row the bote Norman” 252 VI. Conclusion 257 Appendix 1: Roll of Musicians in Late Medieval London—A Preliminary List 265 Appendix 2: Minstrels and Musicians at Civic Processions—Two Calendars of Data 286 Table A2.1: Calendar of Data for the Mayor’s Processions, 1369-1558 288 Table A2.2: Calendar of Data for the Sheriffs’ Processions, 1382-1521 302 Appendix 3: Ordinances of the Minstrels’ Company 316 Appendix 3.1: Ordinances, 1350 316 Appendix 3.2: Ordinances, 1500 320 Appendix 3.3: Ordinances, 1518 324 Appendix 3.4: Ordinances, 1553 328 Bibliography 331 Manuscript Sources Cited 331 Printed Primary Sources 333 Secondary Sources 336 vi List of Tables Table 4.1. Earliest references to organs in parish churches, and other references to their purchase, construction, and significant maintenance, and their relocation and sale in churchwardens’ documents, with additional information provided by the Reformation Inventories, by church. 154-61 Table 5.1. Extant notated sources of vocal music and fragments from London, or previously (but doubtfully) identified as from London (indicated by *), with RISM sigla, after Haggh, “Sources of Plainchant.” 218-19 Table 5.2. References to books of music used at organs. 223 Table 5.3a. References to pricking and books of pricksong in London parish churches in churchwardens’ documents, with additional information provided by the Reformation Inventories, by church. 228-29 Table 5.3b. References to pricking and books of pricksong in London parish churches in churchwardens’ documents, with additional information provided by the Reformation Inventories, by year. 230-31 Table 5.4. Books probably with musical notation, and presumably now lost, that are identified by their texts in the churchwardens’ accounts. 243-45 Table A1. Roll of Musicians in Late Medieval London. 267-85 Table A2.1. Calendar of Data for the Mayor’s Processions, 1369-1558. 288-301 Table A2.2. Calendar of Data for the Sheriffs’ Processions, 1382-1521. 302-15 vii List of Figures Fig. 1. Map of late medieval London, showing streets and key sites (except parish churches) named in this dissertation. 63 Fig. 2. Plainchant notation and significative letters for the Passion according to St Matthew, for Palm Sunday: Cambridge, Cambridge University Library, MS Dd.1.15 (Missal, fourteenth century, St Margaret’s Lothbury), 69v. 211 viii List of Abbreviations BHO British History Online, Institute of Historical Research, University of London, https://www.british-history.ac.uk/. CL Transcription of a record from Anne Lancashire, ed. Records of Early English Drama: Civic London to 1558, 3 vols. (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2015). CWD Churchwardens’ documents (see List of Documents & Citations, and Editorial Procedures). EL Transcription of a record from Mary Carpenter Erler, ed. Records of Early English Drama: Ecclesiastical London (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008). GMO Grove Music Online, via Oxford Music Online, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic. LMA London Metropolitan Archives, City of London. MSL Anne Lancashire, “The Mayors and Sheriffs [of London], 1190-1558,” appendix 7 of CL, 983-1037 (also online and regularly updated at https://masl.library.utoronto.ca/). ODNB Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, https://www.oxforddnb.com/. OED Oxford English Dictionary, https://www.oed.com/. PRI Transcription of a record from the (parish churches’) Reformation Inventories, from H. B. Walters, London Churches at the Reformation (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge; New York: Macmillan, 1939).1 STA C.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • “Accompt of Writing Belonging to Me Pet. Burrell” Notes on Marriage, Birth and Death 1687 - 1704
    “Accompt of Writing belonging to me Pet. Burrell” Notes on marriage, birth and death 1687 - 1704 Introduction During a research visit to the Kent History and Library Centre in October 2019, the bundle “MANORIAL DOCUMENTS AND DEEDS (1250-1927)” was ordered. The documents related to the Burrell family of Beckenham, Kent. My role was “research assistant” to my husband, Keith, who was working on deeds and leases relating to Shortlands House and Estate in the 17th and 18th centuries (see “Shortlands House and Estate 14th – 21st Century”). Peter Burrell 1649/50 – 1718 ©Kent Archives Ref: U36/F1 Reproduced by kind permission ©Burrell Family Collection/Knepp Castle One of the items in the bundle was U36/F1 “Burrell family – account book of Peter Burrell, including account of rents 1687-1694, repairs at Beckenham (no details) 1692; lands purchased 1698-1704, notes on birth and death of children 1687-1701”. It was a small notebook containing an inscription stating that it was the property of Peter Burrell. The first 61 “folios” (double pages), neatly detailed the who, when and what of financial and land transactions. These I duly transcribed to confirm the dates and names of owners and tenants detailed various purchases, sales and exchanges of fields, houses, farms and estates. This appeared to be the end of the accounts and there was a handy index of names at the back of the book. However, leafing past the blank pages, I came to pages crowded with less carefully penned writing, with continuations in margins and marks indicating where, having run out of room on one folio, Peter had continued an entry on another page.
    [Show full text]
  • UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title In danger of undoing: The Literary Imagination of Apprentices in Early Modern London Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1fx380bc Author Drosdick, Alan Publication Date 2010 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California In danger of undoing: The Literary Imagination of Apprentices in Early Modern London by Alan J. Drosdick A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Joel B. Altman, Chair Professor Jeffrey Knapp Professor Albert Russell Ascoli Fall 2010 Abstract In danger of undoing: The Literary Imagination of Apprentices in Early Modern London by Alan J. Drosdick Doctor of Philosophy in English University of California, Berkeley Professor Joel B. Altman, Chair With the life of the apprentice ever in mind, my work analyzes the underlying social realities of plays such as Dekker’s The Shoemaker’s Holiday, Beaumont’s The Knight of the Burning Pestle, Jonson, Chapman, and Marston’s Eastward Ho!, and Shakespeare’s Henriad. By means of this analysis, I reopen for critical investigation a conventional assumption about the mutually disruptive relationship between apprentices and the theater that originated during the sixteenth century and has become a cliché of modern theater history at least since Alfred Harbage’s landmark Shakespeare’s Audience (1941). As a group, apprentices had two faces in the public imagination of renaissance London. The two models square off in Eastward Ho!, where the dutiful Golding follows his master’s orders and becomes an alderman, while the profligate Quicksilver dallies at theaters and ends up in prison.
    [Show full text]
  • Aline Dell'orto Carvalho
    ÉCOLE DES HAUTES ÉTUDES EN SCIENCES SOCIALES Aline dell’Orto Carvalho EN NOIR ET BLANC : LA REPRÉSENTATION DES NOIRS DANS LE DESSIN D’HUMOUR AU XIXE SIÈCLE. BRÉSIL, FRANCE, ANGLETERRE ET PORTUGAL. Mémoire présenté à la mention Histoire et Civilisations de l’École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales pour obtention du diplôme de Master 2 Directeur : Christophe Prochasson Rapporteur : Claudia Damasceno Paris Mai 2013 TABLE DE MATIÈRES Remerciements ..............................................................................................................3 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 4 Chapitre 1 – Un premier pas ......................................................................................18 Chapitre 2 – Les allers-retours de la presse ................................................................60 Chapitre 3 – Les échanges La Guerre Civil Américaine vue d’Europe .....................................................87 Les voyages de Raphael Bordallo Pinheiro ...................................................119 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 140 Tableau de sources ...................................................................................................145 Bibliographie............................................................................................................. 156 2 REMERCIEMENTS Dans ce moment charnière
    [Show full text]
  • The Trecento Lute
    UC Irvine UC Irvine Previously Published Works Title The Trecento Lute Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1kh2f9kn Author Minamino, Hiroyuki Publication Date 2019 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 4.0 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California The Trecento Lute1 Hiroyuki Minamino ABSTRACT From the initial stage of its cultivation in Italy in the late thirteenth century, the lute was regarded as a noble instrument among various types of the trecento musical instruments, favored by both the upper-class amateurs and professional court giullari, participated in the ensemble of other bas instruments such as the fiddle or gittern, accompanied the singers, and provided music for the dancers. Indeed, its delicate sound was more suitable in the inner chambers of courts and the quiet gardens of bourgeois villas than in the uproarious battle fields and the busy streets of towns. KEYWORDS Lute, Trecento, Italy, Bas instrument, Giullari any studies on the origin of the lute begin with ancient Mesopota- mian, Egyptian, Greek, or Roman musical instruments that carry a fingerboard (either long or short) over which various numbers M 2 of strings stretch. The Arabic ud, first widely introduced into Europe by the Moors during their conquest of Spain in the eighth century, has been suggest- ed to be the direct ancestor of the lute. If this is the case, not much is known about when, where, and how the European lute evolved from the ud. The presence of Arabs in the Iberian Peninsula and their cultivation of musical instruments during the middle ages suggest that a variety of instruments were made by Arab craftsmen in Spain.
    [Show full text]
  • The Midwives of Seventeenth-Century London
    The Midwives of Seventeenth-Century London DOREEN EVENDEN Mount Saint Vincent University published by the press syndicate of the university of cambridge The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom cambridge university press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb22ru, uk http://www.cup.cam.ac.uk 40 West 20th Street, New York, ny 10011-4211, usa http://www.cup.org 10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia Ruiz de AlarcoÂn 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain q Doreen Evenden 2000 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2000 Printed in the United States of America bv Typeface Bembo 10/12 pt. System DeskTopPro/ux [ ] A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data Evenden, Doreen. The midwives of seventeenth-century London / Doreen Evenden. p. cm. ± (Cambridge studies in the history of medicine) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 0-521-66107-2 (hc) 1. Midwives ± England ± London ± History ± 17th century. 2. Obstetrics ± England ± London ± History ± 17th century. 3. Obstetricians ± England ± London ± History ± 17th century. 4. n-uk-en. I. Title. II. Series. rg950.e94 1999 618.2©09421©09032 ± dc21 99-26518 cip isbn 0 521 66107 2 hardback CONTENTS List of Tables and Figures page xiii Acknowledgements xv List of Abbreviations xvii Introduction 1 Early Modern Midwifery Texts 6 The Subjects of the Study 13 Sources and Methodology 17 1 Ecclesiastical Licensing of Midwives 24 Origins of Licensing 25 Oaths and Articles Relating to the Midwife's Of®ce 27 Midwives and the Churching Ritual 31 Acquiring a Licence 34 Midwives at Visitations 42 2 Pre-Licensed Experience 50 Length of Experience 50 Deputy Midwives 54 Matrilineal Midwifery Links 59 Senior Midwives 62 Midwives' Referees 65 Competence vs.
    [Show full text]
  • New York Antiquarian Book Fair Booth
    ◆ New York Antiquarian Book Fair March 9-12, 2017 Booth E15 ◆ Isabelle BILBAO - Guy NEPLAZ 00.33.645.26.71.60 - 00.33.673.95.62.26 BAYONNE - FRANCE To place your order, call, write, e-mail KOEGUI BOOKSELLER 21 Rue Vieille Boucherie, Bayonne City, 64100 Telephone 00.33.559.59.78.74 - [email protected] www.librairie-koegui.fr ◆ SUMMARY • Unique copies ..........................................................p. 1 • Parisian life ..............................................................p. 29 • Litterature .................................................................p. 33 th • Illustrated books XX century .......................p. 41 • Varia ..............................................................................p. 55 • Index (with notice’s number) .......................................p. 65 ◆ All postage is extra. New clients are requested to send remittance with orders. All New York and New Jersey residents must add the appropriate sales tax. We accept Master Card, and Visa. Catalogue designer : Elodie Boisse / www.elodie-boisse.com Photography by Alexandra Vaquero-Urruty / [email protected] Unique copies 1. BARBEY d’AUREVILLY, Jules – LOBEL RICHE Les Diaboliques. 7 200 $ Paris: Librairie de la collection des Dix, A. Romagnol, 1925. 1 volume, quarto, 322pp. Full aubergine morocco binding signed George LEVITZKY. Spine with four raised bands decorated with blind fillets extending to the boards in gilt and mosaic plant motifs. Morocco havana doublure within a mosaic morocco border. Silk painted end-papers, all edges gilt. Original paper covers and spine bound in. Leather-edged slipcase and chemise with aubergine morocco spine. LIMITED EDITION of 300 numbered copies, this one of the 120 numbered copies on Japan paper containing a triple set of the illustrations. Edition illustrated with 38 original etchings by Lobel-Riche - 21 plates, including a portrait, not included in the pagina- tion, 10 headpieces and 7 tailpieces.
    [Show full text]
  • ST. PAUL's CATHEDRAL Ex. Par ALL HALLOWS, BERKYNCHIRCHE-BY
    ST. JAMES AND ST. JOHN WITH ST. PETER, CLERKENWELL ST. LEONARD WITH ST. MICHAEL, SHOREDITCH TRINITY, HOLBORN AND ST. BARTHOLOMEW, GRAY'S INN ROAD ST. GILES, CRIPPLEGATE WITH ST. BARTHOLOMEW, MOOR LANE, ST. ALPHAGE, LONDON WALL AND ST. LUKE, OLD STREET WITH ST. MARY, CHARTERHOUSE AND ST. PAUL, CLERKE CHARTERHOUSE ex. par OBURN SQUARE CHRIST CHURCH WITH ALL SAINTS, SPITALF ST. BARTHOLOMEW-THE-GREAT, SMITHFIELD ST. BARTHOLOMEW THE LESS IN THE CITY OF LONDON ST. BOTOLPH WITHOUT BISHOPSGATE ST. SEPULCHRE WITH CHRIST CHURCH, GREYFRIARS AND ST. LEONARD, FOSTER LANE OTHBURY AND ST. STEPHEN, COLEMAN STREET WITH ST. CHRISTOPHER LE STOCKS, ST. BARTHOLOMEW-BY-THE-EXCHANGE, ST. OLAVE, OLD JEWRY, ST. MARTIN POMEROY, ST. MILD ST. HELEN, BISHOPSGATE WITH ST. ANDREW UNDERSHAFT AND ST. ETHELBURGA, BISHOPSGATE AND ST. MARTIN OUTWICH AND ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL ex. par ST. BOTOLPH, ALDGATE AND HOLY TRINITY, MINORIES ST. EDMUND-THE-KING & ST. MARY WOOLNOTH W ST. NICHOLAS ACONS, ALL HALLOWS, LOMBARD STREET ST. BENET, GRACECHURCH, ST. LEONARD, EASTCHEAP, ST. DONIS, BA ST. ANDREW-BY-THE-WARDROBE WITH ST. ANN BLACKFRIARS ST. CLEMENT, EASTCHEAP WITH ST. MARTIN ORGAR ST. JAMES GARLICKHYTHE WITH ST. MICHAEL QUEENHITHE AND HOLY TRINITY-THE-LESS T OF THE SAVOY ex. par ALL HALLOWS, BERKYNCHIRCHE-BY-THE-TOWER WITH ST. DUNSTAN-IN-THE-EAST WITH ST. CLEMENT DANES det. 1 THE TOWER OF LONDON ST. PETER, LONDON D Copyright acknowledgements These maps were prepared from a variety of data sources which are subject to copyright. Census data Source: National Statistics website: www.statistics.gov.uk
    [Show full text]
  • A Reappraisal of the Feast of Fools: Interaction and Reciprocity Between the Clerical and the Secular
    A Reappraisal of the Feast of Fools: Interaction and Reciprocity between the Clerical and the Secular A Reappraisal of the Feast of Fools: Interaction and Reciprocity between the Clerical and the Secular MA Thesis History: Europe 1000-1800 Thesis Supervisor: Dr. p.c.m. Peter Hoppenbrouwers Due Date: 31/08/2019 Number of Credits: 20 Number of Words: 18.513 Name: Sokratis Vekris Student Number: 2254379 Address: Vasileiou 8, 15237, Athens, Greece Telephone number: +30 6948078458 E-mail address: [email protected] 1 A Reappraisal of the Feast of Fools: Interaction and Reciprocity between the Clerical and the Secular Table of Contents 1. Introduction p. 3 - 11 2. What Counts as Feast of Fools? p. 12 - 28 2.1. Tracing the Origins p. 12 - 14 2.2. Essential Features p. 14 - 19 2.3. Regional Variations p. 19 - 23 2.4. Contemporary Perception of the “Feast of Fools” p. 24 – 28 3. Lay and Clerical Interaction p. 29 - 48 3.1. Inviting the Laity p. 29 - 37 3.2. Clerical Participation in the Parallel Lay Festivities p. 38 - 48 4. Conclusion p. 49 5. Bibliography p. 50 - 53 2 A Reappraisal of the Feast of Fools: Interaction and Reciprocity between the Clerical and the Secular Introduction At the end of the eleventh century various regions of Northern France witnessed the emergence of what is arguably the most controversial ecclesiastical liturgy in the history of Catholic Christianity: The Feast of Fools. The first surviving notice of the feast comes from a learned theologian of Paris named Joannes Belethus (1135-1182), written in the period between 1160 and 1164.
    [Show full text]
  • Completions and Reconstructions of Musical Works Part 1: Introduction - Renaissance Church Music and the Baroque Period by Stephen Barber
    Completions and Reconstructions of Musical Works Part 1: Introduction - Renaissance Church Music and the Baroque Period by Stephen Barber Introduction Over the years a number of musical works have been left incomplete by their composers or have been partly or wholly lost and have been reconstructed. I have a particular interest in such works and now offer a preliminary survey of them. A musical work in the Western classical tradition is the realization of a written score. Improvisation usually plays a very small part, and is replaced by interpretation, which means that a score may be realized in subtly different ways. The idiom in most periods involves a certain symmetry in design and the repetition, sometimes varied, sometimes not, of key parts of the work. If the score is unfinished, then a completion or reconstruction by a good scholar or composer allows us to hear at least an approximation to what the composer intended. The use of repetition as part of the overall design can make this possible, or the existence of sketches or earlier or later versions of the work, or a good understanding of the design and idiom. Without this the work may be an incomplete torso or may be unperformable. The work is not damaged by this process, since, unlike a picture, a sculpture or a building, it exists not as a unique physical object but as a score, which can be reproduced without detriment to the original and edited and performed without affecting the original version. Completions and reconstructions may be well or badly done, but they should be judged on how well they appear to complete what appears to be the original design by the composer.
    [Show full text]
  • Vestiges of Midsummer Ritual in Motets for John the Baptist
    Early Music History (2011) Volume 30. Cambridge University Press doi:10.1017/S0261127911000027 M A A Email: [email protected] FIRE, FOLIAGE AND FURY: VESTIGES OF MIDSUMMER RITUAL IN MOTETS FOR JOHN THE BAPTIST The thirteenth-century motet repertory has been understood on a wide spectrum, with recent scholarship amplifying the relationship between the liturgical tenors and the commentary in the upper voices. This study examines a family of motets based on the tenors IOHANNE and MULIERUM from the feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist (24 June). Several texts within this motet family make references to well-known traditions associated with the pagan festival of Midsummer, the celebration of the summer solstice. Allusions to popular solstitial practices including the lighting of bonfires and the public criticism of authority, in addition to the cultural awareness of the sun’s power on this day, conspicuously surface in these motets, particularly when viewed through the lens of the tenor. The study suggests the further obfuscation of sacred and secular poles in the motet through attentiveness to images of popular, pre-Christian rituals that survive in these polyphonic works. In the northern French village of Jumièges from the late Middle Ages to the middle of the nineteenth century, a peculiar fraternal ritual took place. Each year on the evening of the twenty-third of June, the Brotherhood of the Green Wolf chose its new chief. Arrayed in a brimless green hat in the shape of a cone, the elected master led the men to a priest and choir; Portions of this study were read at the Medieval and Renaissance Conference at the Institut für Musikwissenschaft, University of Vienna, 8–11 August 2007 and at the University of Chicago’s Medieval Workshop on 19 May 2006.
    [Show full text]
  • Domine Dirige
    Kevin J. Gardner is Associate Professor of English at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. A Betjeman scholar, he is the author of Betjeman and the Anglican Imagination (SPCK, 2010). He is also the editor of Faith and Doubt of John Betjeman: An anthology of his religious verse (Continuum, 2005) and Poems in the Porch: The radio poems of John Betjeman (Continuum, 2008). In addition to his work on Betjeman, he has published on a wide variety of literary figures over the years, and has a particular interest in twentieth-century writers who address issues of faith and religion. BETJEMAN ON FAITH An anthology of his religious prose Edited by Kevin J. Gardner First published in Great Britain in 2011 Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge 36 Causton Street London SW1P 4ST www.spckpublishing.co.uk Preface copyright © Kevin J. Gardner 2011 All other chapters copyright © the Estate of Sir John Betjeman 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. SPCK does not necessarily endorse the individual views contained in its publications. Scripture quotations are taken from the Authorized Version of the Bible (The King James Bible), the rights in which are vested in the Crown, and are reproduced by permission of the Crown’s Patentee, Cambridge University Press. Extracts from The Book of Common Prayer, the rights in which are vested in the Crown, are reproduced by permission of the Crown’s Patentee, Cambridge University Press.
    [Show full text]
  • Subject Indexes
    Subject Indexes. p.4: Accession Day celebrations (November 17). p.14: Accession Day: London and county index. p.17: Accidents. p.18: Accounts and account-books. p.20: Alchemists and alchemy. p.21: Almoners. p.22: Alms-giving, Maundy, Alms-houses. p.25: Animals. p.26: Apothecaries. p.27: Apparel: general. p.32: Apparel, Statutes of. p.32: Archery. p.33: Architecture, building. p.34: Armada; other attempted invasions, Scottish Border incursions. p.37: Armour and armourers. p.38: Astrology, prophecies, prophets. p.39: Banqueting-houses. p.40: Barges and Watermen. p.42: Battles. p.43: Birds, and Hawking. p.44: Birthday of Queen (Sept 7): celebrations; London and county index. p.46: Calendar. p.46: Calligraphy and Characterie (shorthand). p.47: Carts, carters, cart-takers. p.48: Catholics: selected references. p.50: Census. p.51: Chapel Royal. p.53: Children. p.55: Churches and cathedrals visited by Queen. p.56: Church furnishings; church monuments. p.59: Churchwardens’ accounts: chronological list. p.72: Churchwardens’ accounts: London and county index. Ciphers: see Secret messages, and ciphers. p.76: City and town accounts. p.79: Clergy: selected references. p.81: Clergy: sermons index. p.88: Climate and natural phenomena. p.90: Coats of arms. p.92: Coinage and coins. p.92: Cooks and kitchens. p.93: Coronation. p.94: Court ceremonial and festivities. p.96: Court disputes. p.98: Crime. p.101: Customs, customs officers. p.102: Disease, illness, accidents, of the Queen. p.105: Disease and illness: general. p.108: Disease: Plague. p.110: Disease: Smallpox. p.110: Duels and Challenges to Duels.
    [Show full text]