PRIMITIVE POLYPHONY? SIMPLE POLYPHONY OUTSIDE THE MAINSTREAM OF THE MUSIC HISTORY NARRATIVE by AMY MICHELLE LESE 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 2015 THESIS APPROVAL PAGE Student: Amy Michelle Lese Title: Primitive Polyphony? Simple Polyphony Outside the Mainstream of the Music History Narrative 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 Margret Gries Member Eric Mentzel Member and Scott L. Pratt Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded June 2015 ii © 2015 Amy Michelle Lese iii THESIS ABSTRACT Amy Michelle Lese Master of Arts School of Music and Dance June 2015 Title: Primitive Polyphony? Simple Polyphony Outside the Mainstream of the Music History Narrative This thesis addresses the relatively narrow understanding of simple polyphony in music history. Using three examples, I provide a survey, mostly of secondary literature available in English, and offer an overview of the use of simple polyphony in three different places and time periods in Western Europe during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. More specifically, I examine the music of the Devotio Moderna in the Low Countries and Northern Germany during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Llibre Vermell and Iberian pilgrim culture in the fourteenth century, and the laude and processional genres in Northern Italy during the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries. My purpose is to bring the topic of simple polyphony—significant despite its simplicity—back to the center of the music history narrative. iv CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Amy Michelle Lese GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene California State University, Long Beach DEGREES AWARDED: Master of Arts, Musicology, 2015, University of Oregon Bachelor of Music, Music Composition, 2010, California State University, Long Beach AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Medieval Music Renaissance Music v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my appreciation to Dr. Lori Kruckenberg for inspiring me to focus on the subject of simple polyphony, as well as assisting me in the early stages of this manuscript: this project could not have happened without her. I would also like to thank my thesis committee for all their aid and encouragement. Finally, I would like to recognize my family and friends who supported me in this endeavor and in my academic life in general. Thank you. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 Review of Literature – Status Quaestionis ............................................................ 4 II. MUSIC FOR THE DEVOTIO MODERNA ............................................................ 15 Definitions – Personalities and Contexts – Geography – Society and Culture ...... 15 Characteristics of Fourteenth- and Fifteenth-Century Burgundian Music ............ 27 Characteristics of Devotio Moderna Music ........................................................... 34 Examples of the Music of the Devotio Moderna ................................................... 38 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 48 III. MUSIC OF THE MONTSERRAT PILGRIM COMMUNITY ............................ 50 Contexts – Geography – Society and Culture ........................................................ 50 Characteristics of the Music of Iberian Pilgrimages .............................................. 54 Examples of the Music of the Llibre Vermell ........................................................ 56 Historiography ....................................................................................................... 61 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 62 IV. LAUDE AND MUSIC FOR PROCESSIONS IN ITALY (1200-1500) ............... 64 Contexts – Geography – Society and Culture ........................................................ 64 Italian Sources of Simple Polyphony ..................................................................... 67 Franciscan Laude and Hymns ................................................................................ 71 Performance Practice of Processions ..................................................................... 73 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 78 vii Chapter Page V. CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................... 80 Pathways for Further Research .............................................................................. 83 APPENDIX: REFERENCES CONSULTED .............................................................. 87 REFERENCES CITED ................................................................................................ 89 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 2.1. The Low Countries circa 1400-1500 .................................................................... 20 2.2. Ave verum corpus from B LVugbib – 3049H ....................................................... 23 2.3. Ut te per omnes/Igens alumnus Padue.................................................................. 30 2.4. Missa Fors seulement: Kyrie ................................................................................ 31 2.5. Missa Pange lingua: Kyrie ................................................................................... 33 2.6. Lectio Tertia; 108v ................................................................................................ 40 2.7. Vilnius, F22-95; 106v............................................................................................ 42 2.8. Vilnius, F22-95; 107r ............................................................................................ 43 2.9. Transcription of Vilnius, F22-95; 106v and 107r.................................................. 44 2.10. Utrecht, Hs. 16 H 34; 55v-56r ............................................................................ 45 2.11. Transcription of Utrecht 16 H 34; 55v ................................................................ 46 3.1. Pilgrim Sites of Medieval Iberia ........................................................................... 51 3.2. Benedicamus Domino I ......................................................................................... 57 3.3. Laudemus Virginem .............................................................................................. 59 3.4. Mariam matrem Virginem..................................................................................... 60 4.1. Transcription of excerpt of Psalm 148.1 from MS 312; 66v ................................ 70 4.2. Laude Syon salvatorem, Rome, St Isidore’s College, MS 1. 88; 15v......................................................................................................................... 73 4.3. Transcription of Laude Syon salvatorem .............................................................. 74 ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION When working in the field of music history, scholars consciously or unconsciously tend to follow an established chronological and development-minded narrative. That narrative consists of the evolution of composed polyphony with fully developed independent lines from rule-derived and improvised streams of polyphony, such as what one can see captured in the notation of the Winchester Troper. Types of polyphony preserved in notation that fit the label of ‘innovative’ tend to be emphasized to the exclusion of oral traditions and of simple polyphonies. Moreover, students of music history can fall into the trap of thinking of polyphonic techniques as technology: composers discover a new tool to craft music and replace the old, outdated technology. Simple polyphony is a tool humans developed, but it was not discarded as outdated when the polyphony of Notre-Dame or other sophisticated polyphonies were created. Simple polyphony is sometimes referred to as ‘peripheral polyphony,’ reflecting both the idea of being outside the mainstream of Western musical culture, and the fact that surviving records of it tend to be from the outskirts of Europe or provincial areas. However, these neglected traditions are important; evidence points to the performance of this music enduring much beyond the earliest surviving examples of the early Middle Ages. Considering the neglect of simple polyphony and its place in music history or medieval and early modern Europe, I will discuss evidence of several instances of this music from different times and places, as well as argue that scholars may also want look outside the narrative of the evolution of European polyphony, and recognize other traditions occurring alongside the more ‘progressive’ forms. 1