THEMES OF DEATH, SORROW, AND WIDOWHOOD IN MARGUERITE OF AUSTRIA’S CHANSONNIER, BRUSSELS, BIBLIOTHÈQUE ROYALE MS 228: SOCIAL CONTEXTS AND PUBLIC IDENTITY By ERIC MICHAEL LUBARSKY A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF MUSIC UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2010 1 © 2010 Eric Michael Lubarsky 2 To my family and friends for their unlimited and unconditional support 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS While I am grateful to countless people who gave me their time, effort, ideas, and support that allowed me to complete this document, I must thank a few specific individuals whose contributions guided my direction and shaped the outcome most dramatically. This projected spurred my introduction to several scholars from the field whose help and guidance along the way was invaluable. First, many foundational aspects of this project began after a working with the microfilms at the University of Illinois Musicological Archives for Renaissance Manuscript Studies, where Dr. Herbert Kellman was my gracious host and guide. While my project changed dramatically since that visit, his wise suggestions guided many of my initial inquiries, and our conversations were extremely prophetic of the outcome of my work. To him, I am grateful. I would also like to thank Dr. Barabara Haggh, who in a few brief conversations redirected my thinking and my arguments. I am also indebted to Dr. Honey Meconi for sharing her forthcoming article with me prior to publication as well as previous versions and read papers. Along with these distinguished members of the field, I am indebted to nearly all members of the faculty of the University Of Florida School Of Music in one way or another as well as the library staff for constant their constant patience and help. After nearly a decade of study at the university, the many influences from the faculty and staff are impossible to distinguish. However, I must specifically recognize the constant support of Mitchell Estrin, who provided encouragement and fostered my ambitions even as I chose to leave the world of clarinet performance for the realm of musicology. I thank Dr. Silvio dos Santos for selflessly sitting on my defense and providing very thoughtful critiques of my thinking and approach. Thanks goes to Dr. Alex Reed for his 4 helpful input and his goodhearted attitude while reading a rather long thesis that has very little to do with musical theory. To Dr. Margaret Butler goes great appreciation for her support and encouragement in the earliest stages of this project, which grew out of paper prepared for one of her seminars. Her questions and critique of the final document were extremely valuable as well. My final thanks and greatest appreciation goes to Dr. Jennifer Thomas who has provided the foundation for all my musicological inquiries and interests for the last six years. Her visceral passion for the material and subject inspired my interests in Renaissance music specifically and my curiosities in the discipline of musicology more broadly. Her scholarship provided my introduction this manuscript and court as well. In the process of creating this document, our hours of discussion have been invaluable to me. I cannot thank her enough for reading far too many drafts of these chapters, and still always providing new, thoughtful suggestions and guidance. I am both appreciative of and inspired by her intuitive ability to know when to criticize and when to praise. I am humbled by her knowledge, her thinking, her imagination, her work ethic, her selflessness, and her commitment in matters both related and unrelated to the field of musicology. I am grateful for her investments in me. Thank you all so much. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... 4 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 7 ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 10 Marguerite of Austria’s Chansonnier: Provenance, Persona, and Problems .......... 14 The Methods of Interpretation ................................................................................. 24 The Network of Discourses ..................................................................................... 32 2 THE CONSOLATION OF DEATH IN MARGUERITE OF AUSTRIA’S CHANSONNIER ..................................................................................................... 39 Mourning Rituals ..................................................................................................... 41 The Consolation of Death ....................................................................................... 48 The Struggles of Life and the Afterlife ..................................................................... 51 Job and Lazarus as the Virtuous Heroes ................................................................ 53 Conclusion: The Residuals of Collecting................................................................. 60 3 THE AFFECTS AND EMOTIONS OF MARGUERITE’S CHANSONNIER ............. 63 Divine Emotions ...................................................................................................... 64 Compassionate Sorrow ........................................................................................... 74 The Affects of Love ................................................................................................. 81 4 Widowhood in Marguerite of Austria’s Chansonnier ............................................... 98 The Widow’s Choice ............................................................................................... 99 The Widow’s Behavior .......................................................................................... 103 The Mourning Widow ............................................................................................ 108 Conclusion: The Widow’s Power .......................................................................... 117 5 CONCLUSIONS: MARGUERITE OF AUSTRIA’S CHANSONNIER AS A MEDIUM OF SOCIAL DISCOURSE ..................................................................... 122 The Chansonnier as a Cultural Record ................................................................. 123 Knowing Marguerite Through Her Chansonnier .................................................... 128 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................... 134 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................... 144 6 LIST OF TABLES Table page 1-1 Thematic Analysis of Texts ................................................................................. 38 2-1 Works Citing Mourning Rituals ........................................................................... 61 2-2 Works Inviting Death .......................................................................................... 62 2-3 Works Describing Suffering ................................................................................ 62 3-1 Use of Song of Songs in Officium des Septem Doloribus ................................... 95 3-2 Use of Seven Sorrows Texts in MS .................................................................... 95 3-3 Use of Song of Songs 5:6-8 ............................................................................... 96 3-4 Work Displaying Compassionate Sorrow ........................................................... 97 3-5 Christ References in Tous noble cueurs qui mes regretz voyez ......................... 97 3-6 Works Portraying Brides of Christ ....................................................................... 97 3-7 Works describing Languor .................................................................................. 97 4-1 Acquiescing to the Difficulties of Life ................................................................ 121 4-2 Works Mourning Deaths ................................................................................... 121 5-1 Composers Represented and Regional Employment ....................................... 133 7 Abstract of Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Music THEMES OF DEATH, SORROW, AND WIDOWHOOD IN MARGUERITE OF AUSTRIA’S CHANSONNIER, BRUSSELS, BIBLIOTHEQUE ROYALE MS 228: SOCIAL CONTEXTS AND PUBLIC IDENTITY By Eric Michael Lubarsky August 2010 Chair: Jennifer Thomas Major: Music The large chansonnier, Brussels, Bibliothèque royale MS 228, that belonged to Marguerite of Austria (1480-1530) collects musical works reflecting both its owner’s tastes and the values of the world from which it sprang. Martin Picker’s 1965 monograph The Chanson Albums of Marguerite of Austria describes the overwhelming mood of melancholy in this manuscript. He establishes the multiple ties between the content of the book to Marguerite’s court and her biography. The chansonnier incorporates works that mourn specific deaths from the regent’s life along with multiple symbols of her patronage. As well, it includes some works with texts written by Marguerite herself. Honey Meconi’s more recent evaluation suggests that some works