ABSTRACT
Title of Thesis: THE ART OF MUSIC IN GB-Lbl Add. MS 4911: A CASE FOR ROBERT CARVOR AS THE ANONYMOUS SCOT
Debra Marion Livant Nakos, Master of Arts, 2020
Thesis directed by: Professor Barbara H. Haggh-Huglo Department of Music
GB-Lbl Add. MS 4911, the sole source of an anonymous music treatise, The Art of
Music, is among the few manuscripts to have survived the Scottish Reformation. In answer to the puzzle of its authorship, masters of song schools in Edinburgh or Aberdeen have been proposed. A new reading of the text places the date of its creation between 1559 and
1567 and leads to a revised profile of the author, which, as is demonstrated here, the
Scottish composer Robert Carvor (1487/8 – c. 1568) uniquely matches. Further supporting
Carvor as the author of the treatise is its inclusion of a section of Carvor’s Missa L’homme armé and of a caricature strikingly similar to one found in the Carvor Choirbook (GB-En
MS Adv. 5.1.15), where Carvor’s compositions bear his signature. An Appendix includes the first English translation of the rules of faburden, which are unique to The Art of Music
(f.94r-f.112r).
THE ART OF MUSIC IN GB-Lbl Add. MS 4911: A CASE FOR ROBERT CARVOR AS THE ANONYMOUS SCOT
By
Debra Marion Livant Nakos
Thesis 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 Master of Arts 2020
Advisory Committee:
Professor Barbara H. Haggh-Huglo, Chair Professor William Robin Professor J. Lawrence Witzleben
© Copyright by
Debra Marion Livant Nakos
2020
Dedication
To my parents, in loving memory and gratitude
ii
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Barbara Haggh-Huglo for her inspiration, her stimulating teaching, and the many hours she has spent patiently guiding me. Her love of early music and scholarship is contagious.
My gratitude also goes to Dr. Thomas DeLio for his encouragement and belief that
I could return to my studies after such an extended absence.
I would also like to thank the faculty of the University of Maryland Music
Department for welcoming me and providing me with the opportunity to pursue my dream.
Lastly, I thank my family, especially my sons, for listening without complaint to every discovery or problem, and my husband, for his unwavering love and support through all.
iii
Table of Contents
Dedication ...... ii
Acknowledgements ...... iii
Table of Contents ...... iv
List of Figures ...... v
Abbreviations and Permissions ...... vi
Introduction ...... 1
Chapter 1 The Scottish Art of Music between Destruction and Survival ...... 7
1.1 GB-Lbl Add. MS 4911 ...... 7 1.2 The Course of the Reformation in Scotland ...... 11 1.3 Surviving Pre-Reformation Music Manuscripts ...... 17
Chapter 2 The Art of Music: Origin and Authorship ...... 26
2.1 Locating The Art of Music’s Origin ...... 26 2.2 Dating the Manuscript: Clues to the Author’s Religion and Age ...... 29 2.3 Exploring Significant Characteristics of the Music Examples...... 32 2.4 Linking The Art of Music and the Carvor Choirbook ...... 37 2.5 Proposing Candidates for Authorship of The Art of Music ...... 45
Chapter 3 The Case for Robert Carvor ...... 49
3.1 Robert Carvor’s Biography ...... 49 3.2 Robert Carvor as the Anonymous Scot ...... 57 3.3 The Survival of The Art of Music ...... 60
Chapter 4 Conclusion ...... 66
Appendix: English Translation of the Rules of Faburden in The Art of Music ...... 69
Bibliography ...... 81
iv
List of Figures
Figure 1 Map of Scotland ...... 25
Figure 2 The Art of Music, GB-Lbl Add. MS 4911, f.