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Chapter
8
England and Burgundy in the Fifteenth Century
Outline
  1. Influence of English Music on Continental Style
    1. The English presence in France
      1. Kings of England held territory in northwest and southwest France.
      2. Hundred Years' War (1337-1453): England and France fighting for control of France.
      3. English rulers brought musicians with them, especially to Belgium and Burgundy.
    2. Contenance angloise ("English guise" or "quality")
      1. French poet Martin Le Franc used this phrase to describe the pleasing sound of English music in about 1440 (HWM Source Reading, page 168).
      2. He praises Guillaume Du Fay and Binchois for creating beautiful music influenced by the English sound as heard in the music of John Dunstable.
      3. Tinctoris, writing a generation later, also looked to these three composers as creators of a new art (HWM Source Reading, page 156).
      4. Characteristics of the English sound
        1. Frequent use of harmonic thirds and sixths, often in parallel motion
        2. Few dissonances
        3. Simple melodies
        4. Syllabic text setting
        5. Homophonic textures
  2. English Polyphony
    1. Music based on chants
      1. One common style has three voices with the chant in the middle.
      2. The chants were sometimes lightly embellished.
      3. The chants were most often from the Sarum rite, the distinctive chant dialect used in England.
    2. Credo (see HWM Example 8.1)
      1. Melody is an English variant of the Credo melody in NAWM 3f.
      2. Chant voice in the middle
      3. Lowest voice a third below
      4. Top voice a parallel fourth above the chant voice
      5. The results is a stream of parallel 6-3 sonorities.
    3. Faburden
      1. Improvised 6-3 sonorities
      2. There are a few notated examples.
      3. The word might derive from "burden" for the lowest voice and "fa" for the need to use B-flat, "fa," in the soft hexachord.
    4. Cantilena
      1. Freely composed piece, not based on chant
      2. Homorhythmic
      3. Streams of sixth records alternate with other consonances.
    5. Motet and Mass Ordinary
      1. Isorhythmic motets until ca. 1400
      2. Polyphonic settings of Mass Ordinary texts
      3. The Old Hall Manuscript (HWM Figure 8.1) is the primary source of fifteenth-century English polyphony
        1. The largest number of pieces are settings from the Mass Ordinary.
        2. It also includes motets, hymns, and sequences.
    6. The carol (HWM Example 8.2 and NAWM 32)
      1. Religious songs in Latin or English
      2. Favorite topics were Christmas and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
      3. Solo and choral sections alternate.
        1. Stanzas were all to the same music.
        2. Refrain was called the "burden."
        3. NAWM 32 has two burdens.
  3. John Dunstable (ca. 1390-1453, see HWM ­biography, page 173)
    1. Biography
      1. Sometimes also spelled "Dunstaple"
      2. The most highly regarded English com­poser of the first half of the fifteenth century
      3. Served many noble patrons, including the Duke of Bedford, who was Regent of France in 1422
      4. Probably spent part of his career in France
      5. The English composer most often cited as influencing continental composers
      6. His compositions are preserved chiefly in manuscripts copied on the continent.
      7. His works include settings of the Mass Ordinary, twelve isorhythmic motets, and over twenty other sacred works in Latin.
    2. Music
      1. Dunstable's output includes at least three polyphonic mass cycles, other Mass Ordinary movements, twelve isorhythmic motets, other Latin sacred works, and five secular songs.
      2. His most numerous and important works are his three-part sacred pieces, including settings of antiphons, hymns, and Mass sections.
        1. Some have a cantus firmus in the tenor, serving as the foundation for the other voices.
        2. Others elaborate the top voice using a technique now called paraphrase.
    3. Veni sancte spiritus (HWM Figure 8.1)
      1. Four parts with isorhythmic structure
      2. Combines the hymn Veni creator spiritus and the sequence Veni sancte spiritus
      3. Embodies English preference for thirds together with fifths or sixths
    4. Three-part sacred pieces
      1. These are Dunstable's most numerous and historically important works.
      2. Settings of antiphons, hymns, Mass sections, and other liturgical or biblical texts
      3. Paraphrase technique used in many works.
        1. Chant is given to the top voice.
        2. The chant melody is given a rhythm and ornamented by adding notes around those of the chant.
      4. Others place the chant in the tenor as a cantus firmus.
      5. The rhythmic variety is typical of Dunstable's style.
    5. Quam pulchra es (NAWM 33)
      1. Not based on an existing melody
      2. The three voices are similar in character and nearly equal in importance.
      3. Homorhythmic
      4. The form is based on the phrases and sections of the text.
      5. Exemplifies naturalistic rhythmic declamation
      6. Faburden appears in a few phrases, leading to cadences.
    6. Redefining the motet (see HWM Figure 8.2)
      1. Previous definition: any work with texted upper voices above about a cantus firmus
      2. Isorhythmic motet
        1. Old-fashioned by ca. 1400
        2. Disappeared by ca. 1450
      3. New definition by 1450: any setting of a liturgical text, whether the original melody was used or not
      4. From the sixteenth century on:
        1. Any polyphonic Latin-texted piece
        2. Sometimes also applied to music using texts in other languages
  4. Music in the Burgundian Lands
    1. Duchy of Burgundy (see HWM Figure 8.3)
      1. The duke of Burgundy's influence was nearly equal to that of the king of France.
      2. From 1419-35 Burgundy was allied with England during the Hundred Years' War.
      3. Burgundy held many territories, including today's Holland, Belgium, and northeastern France.
      4. Dukes traveled among regional centers rather than maintain a permanent residence.
      5. Chapel
        1. Philip the Bold (r. 1363-1404), the first duke of Burgundy, established a chapel in 1384.
        2. By 1445 the chapel had 23 singers under Philip the Good (r. 1419-67).
        3. Most of the musicians came from Flanders and the Low Countries (Belgium and the Netherlands).
      6. Band of Minstrels (see HWM Figure 8.4)
        1. The musicians imported from France, Italy, Germany, Portugal
        2. Instruments included trumpets, shawms, vielles, drums, harps, organ, and bagpipes.
      7. Charles the Bold (r. 1467-77)
        1. Amateur instrumentalist and composer
        2. He died without a male heir, leaving much of the duchy to be absorbed into France.
      8. Visits from foreign musicians helped forge a cosmopolitan style, which influenced music in other regions.
    2. Genres: four principal types
      1. Secular chansons with French texts
      2. Motets
      3. Magnificats
      4. Settings of the Mass Ordinary
    3. Three-voice texture predominates.
      1. Cantus, spanning a wide range, contained the melody.
      2. Tenor and contratenor within the same range, about a sixth lower
      3. Each line had a distinct role.
  5. Binchois and the Burgundian chanson
    1. Chanson in the fifteenth century
      1. Any polyphonic setting of a French secular poem
      2. Stylized love poems in the courtly tradition
      3. Rondeau (ABaAabAB) was the most popular form.
    2. Binchois (ca. 1400-1460; see HWM biography, page 178, and HWM Figure 8.5)
      1. Known as Binchois, but his name was Gilles de Bins
      2. Before working for the duke of Burgundy, he spent some time in the service of an English earl who was part of the forces occupying France.
      3. Worked for Philip the Good at the Burgundian court, 1427-1453
      4. His works include mass movements, motets, and secular songs.
      5. His works were widely copied and imitated by others.
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