This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ The motets of Henricus Isaac (c.1450-1517) : transmission, structure and function. Kempson, Emma Clare The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you receive permission from the author. Your fair dealings and other rights are in no way affected by the above. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 07. Oct. 2021 THE MOTETS OF HENRICUS ISAAC (c.1450-1517): TRANSMISSION, STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION Volume 1 A thesis submitted for the degree of PhD University of London by EMMA CLARE KEMPSON King's College London 1998 BIBL 10 UNW. Acknowledgements I have been privileged and fortunate to work with Professor Reinhard Strohm, who has supervised this dissertation with enthusiasm, patience and generosity of both his time and ideas. My thanks to him for his support and guidance throughout my postgraduate studies. In spring 1993, I visited Heidelberg University as an ERASMUS student. My thanks to Professor Ludwig Finscher for his time and encouragement at an early stage of this project. Special thanks also to Tim Crawford of King's College London who offered invaluable expertise and assistance in producing the music editions presented in Appendix I. Research for this dissertation was funded by a three-year grant awarded by The Humanities Research Board of the British Academy. I have enjoyed the help and cooperation of librarians and staff at many libraries including: the Music and Humanities Libraries at King's College London, the University of London Library, Senate House, the British Library, the Berlin Staatsbibliothek, the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich and the BischOfliche Zentralbibliothek in Regensburg. Finally, my thanks to all my friends and especially to my family who have been a constant source of support and encouragement throughout. Abstract Manuscript and printed sources attribute over 50 motets to Henricus Isaac (c. 1450-1517). This study focuses on the transmission, structure and function of Isaac's work in this genre. It begins by considering the implications of recent manuscript research on the dating and attributions of Isaac's motets. Several motets that have been incorrectly attributed to Isaac are newly-identified and the attributions of those motets classified as dubia by Martin Just are also reconsidered. Over half of Isaac's motets are settings of liturgical chant. The study analyses cantus firmus treatment in Isaac's chant settings. New chant sources are identified for three antiphons set by Isaac including the Marian antiphon 'Ave sanctissima Maria'. The influence of both local liturgical traditions and specific polyphonic repertories on Isaac's work is explored through comparison of the melodic versions of chant Isaac sets with contemporary chant sources as well as with contemporary polyphonic settings. The tempo relationship between tempus perfectum (0) and tempus imperfectum diminutum (0) in Isaac's motets is also studied. Comparison of the mensural organisation of motets in which perfect and imperfect time mensurations occur simultaneously with the mensural organisation of works in which the two mensurations appear successively highlights changes in the tempo relationship between 0 and 0. This study prompted a comparative analysis of the mensural organisation of Isaac's through-composed masses. Here, the interpretation of average note values as time series data is explored and new thoughts are offered on the correlation between tempo and rhythmic movement. Finally, the functions of Isaac's motets are considered. Specific contexts in which Isaac's motets were performed may be established through analysis of both their texts and transmission. It can be shown that Isaac's motets functioned as liturgical polyphony, as 'chapel music' and as musical propaganda. The study ends with an exploration of motets that may have originated from commissions. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page VOLUME ONE Abstract 3 Table of contents 5 List of tables, figures and examples 8 Introduction 10 Isaac's motets: sources and attributions Introduction 28 29 Manuscript studies 29 - Munich 3154 35 - Berlin 40021 - Regensburg C. 120 39 The attributions of Isaac's motets 42 - Motets incorrectly attributed to Isaac 50 - Doubtful attributions 59 - Spurious motets 64 - Just's dubia 65 2 Cantus firmus treatment in Isaac's chant settings Introduction 83 Cantus firmus treatment in Isaac's chant settings 87 - Cantus firm us repeated 92 - Cantus firmus in notes of equal value 107 - Free cantus firmus elaborations 110 - Cantus firmus in superius 110 - Cantus finnus in bassus 115 - Migrating cantus firmus 121 - Cantus firmus in tenor and superius 128 - Cantus firmus in imitation 137 - Chant fantasias 142 - Chant settings in motet-like form 148 3 Isaac's chant settings and liturgical traditions: a preliminary study Introduction 164 Consulted chant sources 173 Newly-identified chant sources 177 - Ave sanctissima Maria 177 - Gaude, Dei genitrix 197 - Salve regina 210 Multiple settings of chant cantus firmi 211 - Argentum et aurum 212 - Virgo prudentissima 220 6 4 The tempo relationship between perfect and imperfect time in Isaac's motets Introduction 243 Perfect and imperfect time in Isaac's motets 246 - 0 decus ecclesiae 249 - Salve reginal 252 - Angeli archangeli / Comme femme desconfortée 253 - Optime divino I Da pacem / Sacerdos et pontifex 256 - Quid retribuam tibi, Leo 260 - Virgo prudentissima (a6) 262 - Salve regina II 267 5 The mensural organisation of Isaac's through-composed masses Introduction 273 The relative chronology of Isaac's through-composed masses 279 The correlation between tempo and rhythmic movement in 0 and 0 292 6 Cantus firmus and function in Isaac's motets Introduction 299 The functions of Isaac's motets 304 - Liturgical polyphony 305 - Chapel music 308 - Instrumental-type motets 311 - Musical propaganda 212 Cantus firmus and function 318 - Spiritus sanctus in te: Ludwig Senfi 321 7 VOLUME TWO Appendices I: Music editions 1. Cum esset desponsata mater Isaac 328 2. Verbum caro factum est Isaac 333 3. Judea et Jerusalem Isaac/Obrecht? 341 4. Gaude, Dei genitrix Isaac 353 5. Sancta Maria virgo Isaac 360 6. Quae est ista Isaac 370 7. Sive vivamus Isaac 384 8. Spintus sanctus in te Senfi 390 - Chant transcriptions 399 - Critical edition 407 II: Manuscript sigla 414 HI: Work List - Reliably attributed motets 421 - Motets of doubtful attribution 442 - Incorrectly attributed motets 444 - Spurious motets 448 IV: Bibliography - Editions of music and facsimiles 449 - Secondary literature 456 8 List of tables Page Table I Chants set by Isaac 18 Table 1.1 Argentum et aurum, Ecce sacerdos magnus, Inviolata, integra et casta: transmission 34 Table 1.2 Compositions by Isaac in Berlin 40021 and their concordant sources 37 Table 1.3 Compositions by Isaac in Regensburg C. 120 and their concordant sources 41 Table 1.4 Motets considered errata, incerta and dubia by Just 44 Table 1.5 Staehelin: doubtful and misattributed motets (Grove6) 45 Table 1.6 Picker: doubtful and spurious motets 45 Table 1.7 Sources not included in Just's dissertation and the Isaac motets they transmit 47 Table 1.8 Qui paraclitus diceris: transmission 55 Table 1.9 Judea et Jerusalem: transmission 60 Table 1.10 Motels considered dubia by Just and their sources 65 Table 1.11 Isaac's motets in Heidelberg 318 67 Table 2.1 Cantus firmus treatment in Isaac's chant settings 90 Table 2.2 Unidentified cantus firmi and fragments 91 Table 2.3 Argentum et aurum, Ecce sacerdos magnus: texts 100 Table 2.4 Tristitia vestra vertatur: transmission 120 Table 2.5 Gaude, Dei genitrix: migrating cantus firmus 123 Table 2.6 Sancta Maria Virgo: migrating cantus firmus 126 Table 2.7 Cantus firmus in Quae est ista 134 Table 3.1 Polyphonic settings of the Marian antiphon "Ave sanctissima Maria" 178 Table 4.1 The mensural organisation of seven motets by Isaac 248 Table 5. 1 The mensural organisation of Isaac's through-composed mass cycles 274 Table 5.2 The mensural organisation of M. Argentum et aurum 275 Table 5.3 The mensural organisation of M. Et trop penser 277 Table 5.4 Average note values in 0 and 0 279 Table 5.5 The mensural organ isation of M. Virgo prudentissima 281 Table 5.6 The mensural organisation of M. La Spagna 294 Table 5.7 Average note values in perfect and imperfect time in M. La Spagna 295 Table 5.8 Average note values in perfect and imperfect time in Isaac's through-composed masses 297 Table 6.1 Choirbooks and partbooks in the BischOfliche Zentralbibliothek Regensburg 306 9 List of figures Figure 3.1 Ave sanctissima Maria 180 Figure 3.2 Ave sanctissima Maria: comparison of melodic versions 187 Figure 3.3 Gaude, Del genitrix: comparison of melodic versions 203 Figure 3.4 Argentum et aurum: comparison of melodic versions 216 Figure 3.5 Virgo prudentissima: comparison of melodic versions 233 Figure 5.1 Scatter diagram of average note values in 0 and 0 in Isaac's through-composed masses 279 Figure 5.2 Linear presentation of average note values in Isaac's masses 297 List of examples Example 2.1 Inviolata, integra et casta: Munich 3154, fol.