Johannes Tinctoris and Music Theory in the Late Middle Ages and Early Renaissance

The two-day international conference 'Johannes Tinctoris and Music Theory in the Late Middle Ages and Early Renaissance took place on 9–10 October 2014 in the Chancellor’s Hall, Senate House, University of London. It was convened by Ronald Woodley and Christian Goursaud and supported by Birmingham Conservatoire, in association with the Institute of Musical Research. The conference marked the culmination of the first phase of the research project ‘The Complete Theoretical Works of Johannes Tinctoris: A New Digital Edition’ (2011–14), which was generously funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and hosted by Birmingham Conservatoire, Birmingham City University. The edition, as well as further information about the project, is ongoing at: www.earlymusictheory.org/Tinctoris Project Team and Programme Committee: Professor Ronald Woodley: Principal Investigator Dr Jeffrey J. Dean: Senior Researcher David Lewis: Researcher Christian Goursaud: PhD Studen

Lunchtime Recital: Antoine Busnoys: Missa L'homme armé

A research-led performance of Antoine Busnoys (c.1430–1492), Missa L'homme armé by the Gentlemen of Her Majesty's Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace, on Sunday 23 February 2020. Performers: Christian Goursaud (baritone & director), Karl Gietzmann (countertenor), Matthew Pochin (tenor), and Jack Granby (tenor)

CD booklet notes | Thomas Tallis: Gentleman of the Chapel Royal (RES10229)

Music notes in the CD booklet of 'Thomas Tallis: Gentleman of HM Chapel Royal', recorded in July 2018 by the Gentlemen of HM Chapel Royal and released in December 2018 by Resonus Classics. Programme: 1. Suscipe quaeso Domine (prima pars) 2. Si enim iniquitates (secunda pars) Missa Puer natus est nobis 3. Gloria 4. Sanctus & Benedictus 5. Agnus Dei 6. In pace in idipsum 7. Miserere nostri Domine Mass for Four Voices 8. Gloria 9. Credo 10. Sanctus 11. Benedictus 12. Agnus Dei 13. Loquebantur variis lingui

The Production and History of Valencia 835

The splendidly produced manuscript E-VAu 835 (hereafter V) was made at the Aragonese court of Naples during the music theorist Johannes Tinctoris’s period of employment there under King Ferrante I from the 1470s to the 1490s, and is now held in the Biblioteca Històrica of the Universitat de València. Containing nine of Tinctoris’s music-theoretical treatises, it is bound in morocco leather with gold tooling, and features gold illumination and finely painted floral decoration

CD booklet notes | O Give Thanks Unto the Lord: Choral Works by Thomas Tomkins (RES10253)

Music notes in the CD booklet of 'O Give Thanks Unto the Lord: Choral Works by Thomas Tomkins', recorded in July 2019 by the Choir of HM Chapel Royal and released in December 2019 by Resonus Classics. Programme: Death is swallowed up in victory Preces & Responses The Fourth Service: Magnificat & Nunc dimittis Who can tell how oft he offendeth Gloria tibi Trinitas Give sentence with me, O God The Seventh Service: Magnificat & Nunc dimittis Jesus came when the doors were shut Turn unto the Lord our God A Fantasy Give ear to my words The heavens declare the glory of God Remember me, O Lord O Lord, how manifold are thy works O give thanks unto the Lord Voluntar

Adventures in Time: Working at the Limits of Music Notation

This article describes some of the work of the team of researchers working on project ‘Interpreting the Mensural Notation of Music: An Expert System Based on the Theory of Johannes Tinctoris’ (2017-2021) at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). It was published on Arts and Minds, the official blog of the AHRC

The Neapolitan Presentation Manuscripts of Tinctoris’s Music Theory: Valencia 835 and Bologna 2573

Despite the scholarly attention that has rightly been paid to Universitat de València, Biblioteca Històrica, MS 835, and Bologna, Biblioteca Universitaria, MS 2573, as crucially important textual sources for Tinctoris’s music theory, insufficient regard has so far been given to these two Neapolitan presentation manuscripts as historical artefacts that encode information about the priorities and concerns of those who brought them into existence. This thesis presents the first complete physical descriptions of these manuscripts, and employs detailed palaeographical, iconographical, and historical analysis to establish the likely circumstances of, and reasons for, their production. In the course of proposing identifications of the scribes and artists involved, analysing in fine detail their sequences of preparation, considering the organisational structure articulated by the decorated initials, interpreting the iconography of the portrait miniature on the frontispiece of Valencia 835, and marshalling complex heraldic evidence, many other Neapolitan manuscripts are brought into discussion. By analysing and contextualising Valencia 835 and Bologna 2573, therefore, the thesis functions also as a significant contribution to anglophone scholarship on the wider output of the Neapolitan scriptorium in the late fifteenth century. A newly enriched account is proposed of Tinctoris’s arrival and period of employment in Naples, and of his and the wider court’s involvement in the preparation of music theory manuscripts as instruments of political expression. This thesis, therefore, offers a re-appraisal of the genesis and later history of these two high-value music theory manuscripts. By presenting detailed codicological analysis and using it to construct and reshape historical narratives, it also provides a firm basis for future scholarly investigation into Tinctoris and music theory within the intellectual, cultural, and political climate of late fifteenth-century Italy

The Neapolitan Presentation Manuscripts of Tinctoris’s Music Theory: Valencia 835 and Bologna 2573

Despite the scholarly attention that has rightly been paid to Universitat de València, Biblioteca Històrica, MS 835, and Bologna, Biblioteca Universitaria, MS 2573, as crucially important textual sources for Tinctoris’s music theory, insufficient regard has so far been given to these two Neapolitan presentation manuscripts as historical artefacts that encode information about the priorities and concerns of those who brought them into existence. This thesis presents the first complete physical descriptions of these manuscripts, and employs detailed palaeographical, iconographical, and historical analysis to establish the likely circumstances of, and reasons for, their production. In the course of proposing identifications of the scribes and artists involved, analysing in fine detail their sequences of preparation, considering the organisational structure articulated by the decorated initials, interpreting the iconography of the portrait miniature on the frontispiece of Valencia 835, and marshalling complex heraldic evidence, many other Neapolitan manuscripts are brought into discussion. By analysing and contextualising Valencia 835 and Bologna 2573, therefore, the thesis functions also as a significant contribution to anglophone scholarship on the wider output of the Neapolitan scriptorium in the late fifteenth century. A newly enriched account is proposed of Tinctoris’s arrival and period of employment in Naples, and of his and the wider court’s involvement in the preparation of music theory manuscripts as instruments of political expression. This thesis, therefore, offers a re-appraisal of the genesis and later history of these two high-value music theory manuscripts. By presenting detailed codicological analysis and using it to construct and reshape historical narratives, it also provides a firm basis for future scholarly investigation into Tinctoris and music theory within the intellectual, cultural, and political climate of late fifteenth-century Italy

Playing With Historical Time

This review article for the Early Music journal assesses six recordings released up to 2019 that in various ways combine early and new music. In the first two discs, new music is allowed to influence old music and vice versa in the performances of some excitingly experimental artists. In the second two, early music is used as the inspiration for entirely new compositions. Finally, modern repertory is reimagined though the use of historical instruments to remarkable effect

The Mensural Structures of Busnoys's 'L'homme arme' Mass

This article offers an analysis of the mensural structures of Antoine Busnoys’s 'L’homme armé' mass. The premise of this analysis is that the mensural structure of the mass’s proportional tenor necessarily imposes its patterning on the three non-tenor polyphonic voices, hence minor modus in the proportional tenor relates to major modus in the other voices, and major modus in the proportional tenor is reflected at what might be termed a ‘macro-mensural’ level of organization in the non-tenor parts. Busnoys’s contrapuntal phrase structure, cadential points, and melodic patterning are shown variously to articulate the prevailing mensural structure and also at times to subvert it. This article attempts to explain how Busnoys used modus of both kinds not only as an abstract quality governing the application of imperfection and alteration, but as a creative compositional tool