The Captive Scribe: The context and culture of scribal and notational process in the music of the ars subtilior

Stoessel, Jason

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.