Antoine Busnoys: Method, Meaning, and Context in Late Medieval Music

This volume brings together twenty original essays by distinguished scholars of late medieval music on the life, works, and cultural context of the composer Antoine Busnoys (c.1430-1492), musician to Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and one of the most celebrated composers of the fifteenth century. The essays present the results of much new research on music, ceremony, and ritual in the late Middle Ages; intertextual, contextual, and hermeneutic approaches to the music of Busnoys and his contemporaries; methods for assessing issues of authorship and anonymity; readings of theorists on compositional procedures and the performance of fifteenth-century music; and assessments of Busnoys's legacy to the musical culture of the late Middle Ages. Particularly noteworthy are the studies providing new light on the origins of L'homme armé mass tradition; unpublished documents on Busnoys's activity in churches in Poitiers and Brussels; previously unidentified liturgical sources for his plainchant cantus firmi; and studies and complete editions of several anonymous works newly attributed to Busnoys. These widely ranging essays offer a wealth of novel approaches to the study of musical culture in the late Middle Ages that is of interest not only to medievalists, but to students of all fields of music historical inquiry.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations List of Tables List of Music Examples List of Complete Editions of Pieces Abbreviations 1: Paula Higgins: Introduction. Celebrating Transgression and Excess: Busnoys and the Boundaries of Late Medieval Culture 2: David Fallows: `Trained and immersed in all musical delights': Towards a New Picture of Busnoys Part I Music, Ceremony, and Ritual in Late Middle Ages 3: Howard Mayer Brown: Music and Ritual at Charles the Bold's Court: The Function of Liturgical Music by Busnoys and his Contemporaries Appendix A. Passages from the 1469 Regulations at Charles the Bold's Court Concerning Singing Appendix B. Liturgical Occasions Celebrated with Special Solemnity at the Court of Charles the Bold Appendix C. The Contents of Brussels 5557 4: M. Jennifer Bloxam: On the Origins, Contexts, and Implications of Busnoys's Plainsong Cantus Firmi: Some Preliminary Remarks 5: Flynn Warmington: The Ceremony of the Armed Man: The Sword, the Altar, and the L'homme armé Mass Appendix A. Extracts Concerning the Mass Called the Ceremony of the Armed Man, from the Zibaldone Quaresimale of Giovanni Rucellai Appendix B. The Imperial or Royal Sword Ceremony during Christmas Matins from the Papal Ceremonial of Pierre Ameil, c.1375-1400 Appendix C. Papal Gifts of the Sword and Hat Blessed on Christmas and Sent to Distant Recipients, 1455-1503 Appendix D. Gifts in the Pope's Presence of the Blessed Sword and Hat, 1455-1503, in Rome Appendix E. Text for the Presentation of the Blessed Sword and Hat, Instituted by Sixtus IV Part II Intertextual, Contextual, and Hermeneutic Approaches to Late Medieval Musical Culture 6: Michael P. Long: Arma virumque cano: Echoes of a Golden Age 7: Paula Higgins: Musical Politics in Late Medieval Poitiers: A Tale of Two Choirmasters 8: Rob C. Wegman: Mensural Intertextuality in the Sacred Music of Antoine Busnoys Appendix. Chapter Deliberation re: Busnoys v. Le Begue 9: Jaap van Benthem: Text, Tone, and Symbol: Regarding Busnoys's Conception in In hydraulis and its Presumed Relationship to Ockeghem's Ut heremita solus. Appendix A. Busnoys's In hydraulis and it Sources Appendix B. The Fifteenth-Century Orthography of Ockeghem's Name Appendix C. In hydraulis: Letter-Values and Golden Sections Part III Issues of Authorship, Attribution, and Anonymity in Archival and Musical Sources 10: Mary Natvig: The Magnificat Group of Antoine Busnoys: Aspects of Style and Attribution Appendix. Text and Translation of the Magnificat 11: Andrea Lindmayr-Brandl: Resjois toi terre de France/Rex pacificus: An `Ockeghem' Work Reattributed to Busnoys 12: Barbara H. Haggh: Busnoys and `Caron' in Documents from Brussels. Appendix A. Documents from Brussels on Busnoys and `Caron' Appendix B. Summary of Burgundian Court Escroes Showing Caron's Presence or Absence 13: Leeman L. Perkins: Conflicting Attributions and Anonymous Chansons in the `Busnoys' Sources of the Fifteenth Century Appendix A. Busnoys Song Attributions Appendix B. Virelais in the Sources Central for Busnoys: A Summary Overview Appendix C. Inventory of Virelais in the Sources Central for Busnoys Appendix D. Catalogue of Chansons by Antoine Busnoys Part IV Reading the Theorists on Compositional Procedures and Changing Styles 14: Peter Urquhart: False Concords in Busnoys Appendix A. Thirty-one Harmonic Fifths in Busnoys's Three-Part Chansons that are Probably Diminished Appendix B. Busnoys, C'est bien maleur 15: Richard Wexler: Simultaneous Conception and Compositional Process in the Late Fifteenth Century 16: Alexander Blachly: Reading Tinctoris for Guidance on Tempo Part V Busnoys's Legacy 17: Martin Picker: Henricus Isaac and Fortuna desperata Appendix. Fortuna desperata: A List of Individual Settings of Voices Borrowed from the Canzona Attributed to Busnoys 18: Allan W. Atlas: Busnoys and Japart: Teacher and Student? 19: Honey Meconi: Poliziano, Primavera, and Perugia 431: New Light on Fortuna desperata Appendix A. Fortuna desperata: Chronology to c.1510 Appendix B. Comparison of London 16439 and Riccardiana 2723 (Original Layer) Appendix C. Stanze 33-37 of Poliziano, Stanze cominciate per la Giostra del Magnifico Giuliano de' Medici 20: Joshua Rifkin: Busnoys and Italy: The Evidence of Two Songs Conference Closing Forum: Future Directions in Busnoys Studies Notes on Contributors Index of Compositions by Busnoys General Index

Review :
`this lavish and extensive volume, the most elaborate book devoted to a single late-Medieval composer since the volume on Josquin des Prez edited in 1976 by Edward Lowinsky.' American Recorder. `an extraordinarily comprehensive view of a composer who for most of us has been a shadowy figure.' American Recorder. `a very useful introduction that places Busnoys scholarship in its present context.' American Recorder. `fascinating light on the daily life of the court's muscial establishment and on the way in which the regular sequence of the liturgy was celebrated.' American Recorder.