WRITTEN FRAGMENTS OF AN ORAL TRADITION: “RE-ENVISIONING” THE SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY DIVISION VIOLIN by KATHERINE LINN ROGERS A THESIS Presented to the School of Music and Dance and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts June 2012 THESIS APPROVAL PAGE Student: Katherine Linn Rogers Title: Written Fragments of an Oral Tradition: “Re-Envisioning” the Seventeenth-Century Division Violin This thesis has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree in the School of Music and Dance by: Marc Vanscheeuwijck Chairperson Lori Kruckenberg Member Kathryn Lucktenberg Member and Kimberly Andrews Espy Vice President for Research & Innovation/Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded June 2012 ii © 2012 Katherine Linn Rogers iii THESIS ABSTRACT Katherine Linn Rogers Master of Arts School of Music and Dance June 2012 Title: Written Fragments of an Oral Tradition: “Re-Envisioning” the Seventeenth-Century Division Violin Seventeenth-century division violin music is not considered part of the classical canon, but its background as a European art form may make it seem “too Western” for traditional ethnomusicological study. The purpose of this thesis is twofold: first, I outline the historical context, transmission, and performance practice of division violin playing in England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Also of interest to me is the way in which we, as musicologists, study oral tradition within the context of a musical culture that no longer exists today. After an exploration of the ideas of Milman Parry and Albert Lord, Walter Ong, Ruth Finnegan, and Slavica Ranković, I discuss the English division violin’s background and transition from a largely oral to a predominantly literate tradition. I demonstrate this change in transmission, composition, and performance practices through examining the second and sixth editions of John Playford’s The Division Violin (1684). iv CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Katherine Linn Rogers GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon DEGREES AWARDED: Master of Arts, Musicology, 2012, University of Oregon Master of Music, Viola Performance and String Pedagogy, 2010, University of Oregon Bachelor of Music, Viola Performance, 2008, University of Oregon AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Oral Tradition Repetition Violin Pedagogy Chamber Music GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS: Outstanding Graduate Scholar in Musicology, University of Oregon, 2012 Graduate Teaching Fellowship in the Strings Area, University of Oregon, 2008–2010 General University Scholarship, University of Oregon, 2006–2009 Music Graduate Travel Award, University of Oregon, 2009 Western Undergraduate Exchange Scholarship, University of Oregon, 2004 – 2008 v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express sincere appreciation to Marc Vanscheeuwijck for his assistance in the preparation of this manuscript. In addition, special thanks are due to Margret Gries for sparking my interest in Renaissance string band music and graciously giving me the opportunity to learn from her week after week at our Friday night collegium meetings. I would also like to thank Ralph Stricker-Chapman for his support and willingness to discuss the topic of oral and written tradition with me on an almost daily basis. In addition, I would like to thank Ann Due McLucas, Kathryn Lucktenberg, and Lori Kruckenberg for their support with this project. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 Literature Review................................................................................................... 7 II. WRITTEN “FRAGMENTS” OF AN ORAL TRADITION?.................................. 10 “Definitions” of Tradition ...................................................................................... 12 The Orality-Literacy Debate .................................................................................. 15 Pioneering the Debate ...................................................................................... 16 Approaching the Great Divide ......................................................................... 19 Moving Towards a Continuum......................................................................... 20 Beyond the Continuum: Orality and Literacy as Place and Space................... 23 Orality and Literacy in Musicology....................................................................... 30 Leo Treitler’s Generative System..................................................................... 31 A “Re-Envisioning” of Cultures....................................................................... 33 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 36 III. ITALIAN ROOTS OF THE DIVISION TRADITION ......................................... 38 Divisions as Compositional Practice...................................................................... 39 A Survey of Italian Diminution Manuals from Ganassi to Rognoni ...................... 46 Silvestro di Ganassi.......................................................................................... 48 Diego Ortiz ...................................................................................................... 53 Divisions in Later Sixteenth-Century Venice................................................... 56 Diminutions in Milan at the end of the Sixteenth Century .............................. 59 vii Chapter Page Bovicelli, Caccini, and Spadi: Diminutions at the Turn of the Century .......... 61 A Comparison of the Manuals Through Rore’s Ancor che col partire (1547)....... 66 Italian Influences in Seventeenth-Century England............................................... 70 IV. JOHN PLAYFORD AND THE DIVISION VIOLIN TRADITION IN LONDON ......................................................................................................... 72 Political and Musical Changes in Seventeenth-Century London........................... 74 The Advent of Industry: Music Publishing in London........................................... 75 John Playford ......................................................................................................... 77 Playford’s Division Violin ...................................................................................... 80 Publication History of The Division Violin ...................................................... 82 A Comparison of the Editions .......................................................................... 85 The Divisions on “John, come kiss me now”................................................... 90 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 96 V. WRITTEN AND ORAL CONVENTIONS OF THE DIVISION VIOLIN: APPLICATIONS OF ORAL-LITERATE THEORIES AND FINAL CONCLUSIONS.................................................................................................... 98 Italian Diminutions ................................................................................................ 99 Ong’s Elements of Literacy in Seventeenth-Century England .............................. 101 The Division Violin and the Parry-Lord Approach................................................. 104 The Division Violin on Ranković’s Continuum...................................................... 107 Final Conclusions................................................................................................... 111 viii Chapter Page APPENDICES.............................................................................................................. 113 A. RORE’S ANCOR CHE COL PARTIRE WITH DIMINUTIONS...................... 113 B. PUBLICATION HISTORY OF THE DIVISION VIOLIN ................................ 124 C. TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THE SECOND EDITION OF THE DIVISION VIOLIN ................................................................................... 127 D. TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THE SIXTH EDITION OF THE DIVISION VIOLIN ................................................................................... 131 E. DIVISIONS ON “JOHN, COME KISS ME NOW” BY MELL, BALTZAR, AND ECCLES .............................................................................. 136 F. VARIATION ANALYSES OF THE DIVISIONS ON “JOHN, COME KISS ME NOW” ..................................................................... 148 REFERENCES CITED................................................................................................ 154 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Ranković’s hypothetical two-dimensional model of the oral-literate continuum............................................................................................................... 26 2. Ranković’s three-dimensional conception of the oral-literate continuum ............. 26 3. Two views of Ranković’s proposed three-dimensional model of the oral-literate continuum with plotted case study texts ............................................ 27 4. Various methods of dividing a melody .................................................................. 42 5. Ganassi’s classifications of “simple” and “compound” divisions ......................... 50 6. Cover of the second printed edition of Playford’s Division Vioiln (1685)............