Jason Stoessel, The Captive Scribe: The context and culture of scribal and notational process in the music of the ars subtilior (PhD, University of New England, 2002)

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Abstract

The extant scribal record of the music of the ars subtilior is considered in terms of the reception of this musical style within particular cultural contexts. The first part of this study re-examines the two principal sources (F-CH!564 and I-MOe5.24) of a partially shared ars subtilior repertoire and concludes that, despite the presence in part of a repertoire ostensibly composed north of the Alps (c. 1380-1395), these manuscripts were compiled in or close to major centres on the Italian peninsula (Florence and Pisa/Bologna/Florence respectively). These conclusions form the background to the second part of this study that identifies cultural tendencies/influences in the notation of musical rhythm in the ars subtilior repertoire. Notational process as a whole is conceptualised according to neo-Aristotelean ontology present in musical theory of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Notational process in relation to special note shapes is split into two groups: a northern Italian school originating in Lombardy and extending at least as far as Tuscany which employed an arithmetic process in the construction of new note shapes; and a tradition stemming from proportional processes with origins in France which were subsequently adopted and modified by scribes and composers from Italian centres. In relation to mensuration signs, variation in forms and meanings in datable works suggest the existence of a notational school of thought c. 1380 which bridges the earlier modes of intrinsic signification with the increasingly extrinsic modes that emerged at the end of the fourteenth century. A major revision of the received view concerning the influence of the mathematical process of algorism upon notational process is argued with the conclusion that algorithmic concepts were already present in the notation of the ars subtilior before the end of the fourteenth century. A new edition of pertinent works also accompanies the study.

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Table of Contents

Volume 1: Thesis

  • Contentsiv
  • Abstractv
  • Acknowledgementsvi
  • Indices of Tables and Figuresviii
  • Key to Abbreviationsx
  • Prologue1
  • Chapter 1: What is the ars subtilior10
  • Chapter 2: A source in Italy? Observations of scribal process and filiation in Codex Chantilly24>
    • 2.1 Physical and scribal characteristics30
    • 2.2 Contents and repertorial considerations36
    • 2.3 Evidence of editorial activity54
    • 2.4 The index: clues to Codex Chantilly's early provenance64
    • 2.5 Relationships with other sources68
    • 2.6 Conclusions92
  • Chapter 3: A French legacy in the hands of Italian masters: The manuscript Modena, Biblioteca estense, alpha.M.5.2494
    • 3.1 Physical and scribal characteristics98
    • 3.2 Illumination and rubricae109
    • 3.3 Contents and repertorial considerations111
    • 3.4 Composers in MOe5.24127
    • 3.5 Relationships with other sources145
    • 3.6 The provenance and origin of the manuscript173
    • 3.7 Conclusions182
  • Chapter 4: The notational grammar of the ars subtilior184
    • 4.1 Coloration194
    • 4.2 Special note shapes204
    • 4.3 Conclusions237
  • Chapter 5: The use of mensuration signs in French and Italian notational systems: Observations concerning theory, practice and semiotic intertextuality239
    • 5.1 Mensuraion signs in French notational theory241
    • 5.2 The signa divisions in Italian notation and theory248
    • 5.3 The early practical application of mensuration signs in French notation257
    • 5.4 The use of tempus mensuration signs in works in the ars subtilior style260
    • 5.5 Proportional uses of mensurataion signs in the ars subtilior273
    • 5.6 Conclusions281
  • Chapter 6: Algorism, proportionality and the notation of the ars subtilior: Some observations on the dating of the works of Baude Cordier2834
    • 6.1 The rise of algorism in European culture285
    • 6.2 Algorism in theory and practice of mensural music289
    • 6.3 Baude Cordier reconsidered306
    • 6.4 Conclusions315
  • Epilogue317
  • Appendum321
  • Bibliography341
  • Index of Compositions373
  • General Index to Volume 1378

Volume 2: Appendices

  • Introductory Remarks6
  • Appendix A: Edited Compositions9
  • Apepndix B: Critical notes to edited works309
  • Indices to Volume 2424

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