Old Hall Manuscript
Encyclopedia
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
sacred music of the late 14th and early 15th centuries, and as such represents the best source for late Medieval
Medieval music
Medieval music is Western music written during the Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire and ends sometime in the early fifteenth century...
English music. The manuscript somehow survived the Reformation
English Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
, and until 1873 belonged to St. Edmund's College
St. Edmund's College, Ware
St Edmund's College is the oldest post-Reformation Roman Catholic school in England. It is an independent school in the British public school tradition set on in Ware, Hertfordshire. During two periods of its history, it has also incorporated a seminary....
, a Roman Catholic school located at Old Hall Green
Old Hall Green
Old Hall Green is a village in Hertfordshire, England.In 1793, an academy, St. Edmund's College, Ware, was established there which provided a school for Catholic boys and a seminary to train priests serving England's recusant community. St Edmund's College was one of two facilities which replaced...
(hence its name) in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
. It was sold to the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
after an auction at Sotheby's
Sotheby's
Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
in the mid-twentieth century.
The manuscript contains 148 compositions overall, 77 of which are written in score rather than in separate parts. Most of the pieces are settings of parts of the ordinary of the Mass
Mass (music)
The Mass, a form of sacred musical composition, is a choral composition that sets the invariable portions of the Eucharistic liturgy to music...
, and are grouped by section, in other words the settings of the Gloria are together, as are the settings of the Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei. Between these grouped settings are some motet
Motet
In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...
s and pieces related to the conductus
Conductus
In medieval music, conductus is a type of sacred, but non-liturgical vocal composition for one or more voices. The word derives from Latin conducere , and the conductus was most likely sung while the lectionary was carried from its place of safekeeping to the place from which it was to be read...
.
The Old Hall Manuscript was compiled in the early 15th century, probably over a period of about 20 years. The hands of several copyists are identifiable, and some of them may be those of the composers themselves. Recent research has suggested that work on the manuscript ended with the death of Thomas, Duke of Clarence, in 1421, a somewhat later date than was previously suggested. This date allows the fitting into the chronology of the latest piece in the manuscript, the wedding motet by Byttering
Byttering
Byttering was an English composer during the transitional period from Medieval to Renaissance styles. Five of his compositions have survived, all of them in the Old Hall Manuscript.A possible identification of Byttering with a Thomas Byteryng has been made...
which was almost certainly written for the marriage of Henry V
Henry V of England
Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....
and Catherine of Valois
Catherine of Valois
Catherine of France was the Queen consort of England from 1420 until 1422. She was the daughter of King Charles VI of France, wife of Henry V of Monmouth, King of England, mother of Henry VI, King of England and King of France, and through her secret marriage with Owen Tudor, the grandmother of...
on June 2, 1420, as well as a group of motets by several composers, the titles of which closely match written accounts of the music played at the celebration of the victory of Agincourt
Battle of Agincourt
The Battle of Agincourt was a major English victory against a numerically superior French army in the Hundred Years' War. The battle occurred on Friday, 25 October 1415 , near modern-day Azincourt, in northern France...
in 1415.
Various musical styles and techniques are represented including English discant
Discant
Discant was a style of liturgical setting in the Middle Ages, associated with the development of the Notre Dame school of polyphony. It is a style of organum that includes a plainchant tenor part, with a "note against note" upper voice, moving in contrary motion...
, treble-dominated works, isorhythm
Isorhythm
Isorhythm is a musical technique that arranges a fixed pattern of pitches with a repeating rhythmic pattern.-Detail:...
ic compositions, and canon
Canon (music)
In music, a canon is a contrapuntal composition that employs a melody with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given duration . The initial melody is called the leader , while the imitative melody, which is played in a different voice, is called the follower...
s. A complex Credo
Credo
A credo |Latin]] for "I Believe") is a statement of belief, commonly used for religious belief, such as the Apostles' Creed. The term especially refers to the use of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed in the Mass, either as text, Gregorian chant, or other musical settings of the...
(No. 75 in the manuscript) includes a three-voice mensuration canon among its five voices; it is notated in black, red & blue notes.
The Old Hall Manuscript is significant for confirming the existence and character of specifically English musical traits, the extent of the development of English music, as well as the influence of continental practices. In particular it shows a tendency in England to focus on musical complexities, such as canons, at a time when music on the continent was increasingly tending towards simplicity. Whether this trend generally continued in the 15th century in England is hard to determine because of the poor survival of manuscripts from that time, but it was well established by the middle of the 15th century, for example at the Burgundian
Burgundian School
The Burgundian School is a term used to denote a group of composers active in the 15th century in what is now northern and eastern France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, centered on the court of the Dukes of Burgundy. The main names associated with this school are Guillaume Dufay, Gilles Binchois,...
court, that there was a style which was identifiably English — "la contenance angloise", according to Martin le Franc
Martin le Franc
Martin le Franc was a French poet of the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance.He was born in Normandy, and studied in Paris. He entered clerical orders, becoming an apostolic prothonotary, and later becoming secretary to both Antipope Felix V and Pope Nicholas V.He was named provost at Lausanne...
in his poem of 1441-1442 Le Champion des Dames. On the other hand, the Old Hall Manuscript is an impressive example of French influence in England. Manfred Bukofzer
Manfred Bukofzer
Manfred Bukofzer was a German-American musicologist and humanist. He studied at Heidelberg University and the Stern conservatory in Berlin, but left Germany in 1933, going to Basle, where he received his doctorate. In 1939 he moved to the United States where he remained, becoming a U.S. citizen...
, writing in Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Music (1950) wrote: "The greatest surprise of the Old Hall Repertory is unquestionably the prominent role of isorhythmic technique, which is irrefutable proof of a strong French influence." As English musicians were well known at the Burgundian court, French musicians may also have been known in England. It has been suggested that Pycard
Pycard
Pycard, also spelt Picard and Picart was an English or French Medieval and Renaissance transitionary composer....
, composer of the canon No. 75, was actually French; but this is unlikely on stylistic grounds.
The influence of the Low Countries may be discerned in the music of Oliver.
One feature of the repertoire is the cultivation of dissonance, comparable perhaps to the music in the Cyprus Manuscript of a couple of decades later. Good examples can be heard in the music of John Cooke and Damett.
A historically significant development was the occasional use of divisi, the earliest certain evidence of polyphony being sung by a choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
of two or more voices per part.
Composers with works in the Old Hall Manuscript include Leonel Power
Leonel Power
Leonel Power was an English composer of the late Medieval and early Renaissance eras. Along with John Dunstaple, he was one of the major figures in English music in the early 15th century.-Life:...
, Pycard
Pycard
Pycard, also spelt Picard and Picart was an English or French Medieval and Renaissance transitionary composer....
, William Typp, Thomas Byttering
Byttering
Byttering was an English composer during the transitional period from Medieval to Renaissance styles. Five of his compositions have survived, all of them in the Old Hall Manuscript.A possible identification of Byttering with a Thomas Byteryng has been made...
, Oliver, Chirbury, Excetre, John Cooke, Roy Henry
Roy Henry
Roy Henry was an English composer, almost certainly a king of England, probably Henry V, but also possibly Henry IV...
(probably King Henry V
Henry V of England
Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....
, but possibly King Henry IV
Henry IV of England
Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...
), Queldryk, John Tyes, Aleyn, Fonteyns, Gervays, Lambe
Lambe
Lambe is a surname, and may refer to:* Charles Lambe , Royal Navy admiral* Charles Laverock Lambe , Royal Air Force air marshal* John Lambe , English astrologer* John Lambe , English criminal...
, Nicholas Sturgeon, Thomas Damett
Thomas Damett
Thomas Damett was an English composer of the late Medieval and early Renaissance eras.The illegitimate son of a gentleman, he was a commoner at Winchester College until 1406-7 and became rector of Stockton, Wiltshire, in 1413. His name appears occasionally in the Royal Household Chapel accounts...
, and others. The manuscript also contains a few works by foreign musicians including Antonio Zachara da Teramo.
External links
Sources
Manfred BukofzerManfred Bukofzer
Manfred Bukofzer was a German-American musicologist and humanist. He studied at Heidelberg University and the Stern conservatory in Berlin, but left Germany in 1933, going to Basle, where he received his doctorate. In 1939 he moved to the United States where he remained, becoming a U.S. citizen...
, Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Music. New York, 1950. p. 56. Richard H. Hoppin, Medieval Music. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1978. ISBN 0-393-09090-6
- Margaret Bent, "Old Hall MS"; "Sources, Medieval, England"; The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. ISBN 1-56159-174-2
- Harold Gleason and Warren Becker, Music in the Middle Ages and Renaissance (Music Literature Outlines Series I). Bloomington, Indiana. Frangipani Press, 1986. ISBN 0-89917-034-X