a fourteenth-century ceremonial motet and its composer

A Fourteenth-Century Ceremonial Motet and Its ComposerAuthor(s): Brian TrowellSource: Acta Musicologica, Vol. 29, Fasc. 2/3 (Apr. - Sep., 1957), pp. 65-75Published by: International Musicological SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/931423 .

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A fourteenth-century ceremonial motet and its composer 65

A fourteenth-century ceremonial motet and its composer

Brian Trowell (Cambridge)

The isorhythmic motet Sub Arturo--Fons citharizancium-In omnem terrain 1 has tantalised historians of music for some eighty years. As long ago as 1869, Cousse- maker published the text of the upper voice2, which sings the praises of fourteen

English musicians; the composer, Johannes Alanus, includes his own name in the text of the contra. Attempts have been made, from time to time, to establish the indentity of Alanus and of his distinguished colleagues, but thirteen of the latter have hitherto remained mere disembodied names. Coussemaker himself suggested that this group of musicians may have formed the chapel of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster

(1340-99); as usual, he kept the source of his information secret. Probably he had seen the reference reprinted by Dannemann, which lists a certain Jean Alain as

companion to a group of minstrels serving John of Gaunt at the court of Barcelona in 1396 3. The identification of Alain with Alanus has gained some acceptance: it is however unlikely that a ministrels' companion-probably, judging from other con-

temporary account-books, some kind of servant-should have been at any stage of his life a composer of music.

More significantly, it has been suggested that Alanus is the same man as Aleyn, composer of a Gloria found in the Old Hall MS 4. Bukofzer gave good reasons for this, and although it may be objected that the Gloria and Sub Arturo are very different in style, we can point to exactly similar divergences in the works of Power and others. Now Dom Anselm Hughes had tentatively identified Aleyn with John Aleyn, canon of Windsor, who on his death in 1373 left 'unus Rotulus de Cantu musico' to St. Ge-

orge's Chapel there5. Bukofzer brushed this aside: it would not tally well with the other known dates concerning composers of the Old Hall MS; and furthermore, Sub Arturo names a certain 'Ricardus Blich', whom Bukofzer equated with Richard Blithe, a member of Henry V's Chapel Royal in 1419-forty-six years after the death of John Aleyn of Windsor. Bukofzer then repeated the reference to Jean Alain

quoted above, and went on to identify the composer with the John Aleyn who became a minor canon of St. Paul's Cathedral, London, in 1421, and who died in 1437. Here the matter has been allowed to rest.

1 Chantilly, Musee Conde, MS 1047, ff. 70'-71; Bologna, Conservatorio di Musica 'G. B. Martini', MS Q 15 (olim 37), ff. 225'-226, 342'. Facsimile of Chantilly in Wolf, J. (ed.), Musikalische Schrift- tafeln, 1923, pl. 30-31; collated ed. in R. von Ficker (ed.), Sieben Trienter Codices (Sechste Auswahl), D.T.O. 76, Wien, 1933, 9-11. 2 E. de Coussemaker, Les Harmonistes du XIVe Siecle, Lille, 1869, 12 ff. 3 Dannemann, E., Die spiitgotische Musiktradition in Frankreich und Burgund vor dem Auftreten Dufays, StraBburg, 1936, 9. See also Reaney, op. cit. 4 M. F. Bukofzer, Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Music, London, 1951, 76 f. Aleyn's Gloria (Old Hall MS ff. 5'-6) is printed in The Old Hall Manuscript, ed. A. Ramsbotham, H. B. Collins and Dom Anselm Hughes, 3 vols., London and Burnham, 1933-8, I, 7-10.

l Ib., II, vii; III, xii, note.



66 A fourteenth-century ceremonial motet and its composer

If Bukofzer was right, however, certain features of the motet begin to look rather odd. The music is decidedly fourteenth-century in style: dissonance is treated rather

freely, and in the final color the composer has excelled himself in rhythmical intri- cacies of astonishing virtuosity, which involve an unusual overlapping of the isorhythmic patterns. The text, too, is closely paralleled by two other fourteenth-century motets also printed by Coussemaker- a point to which we shall later return. Finally, the older source of Sub Arturo, the Chantilly MS, has now been shown to contain music dating from at least as early as 13696. The Gloria from the Old Hall MS is written in score notation; it is a simple, functional piece in the old-fashioned

homophony of the conductus style, apparently a free composition with no cantus

firmus. The three 6/5-chord dissonances which the editors would like to emend are

typical results of the medieval technique of successive composition: the two dissonant voices make perfectly good sense when each is taken separately with the tenor.

Bukofzer's analysis seems a little hasty, on closer inspection: the known dates con-

cerning Old Hall composers almost all refer to those represented in the later additions

to the MS (one exception, William Excestre, can be traced back to the chapel of

John of Gaunt in 1383 7); but Aleyn's piece belongs to the oldest layer. Richard Blithe,

too, died in 1420 (see below), and seems to have been near the end of his career,

perhaps appearing on the books of the royal household in a purely honorary capacity.

Finally, if Sub Arturo lists eminent English musicians personally known to Bukofzer's

Aleyn of St. Paul's Cathedral, who died in 1437, it is extraordinary that not one of his

thirteen remaining colleagues has so far been discovered during my three years of

research into the published and unpublished records of the early fifteenth century. When and where, then, can we expect to find traces of Aleyn and his friends? The

answer lies in the text of the motet itself, and it will be useful to reprint here the

words of the upper voices:

1. Sub Arturo plebs vallata 3. Cuius non previsas posco

plaudat melos; laus ornata res, quas J. de Alto Bosco

psallatur altissimo. reserat theorica,

Anglis conferentur grata qua fungens vernat, ut nosco, eventu piissimo. G. Martini practica.

2. En militia cum clero 4. Piis placent ac tyrannis floret; musicorum vero res Ricardi Blich, Johannis

chorus odas jubilat, necnon de Oxonia, e quibus modo sincero arte cuius multis annis

J. de Corbe emicat. fulsit Cantuaria.

6 See G. Reaney, The Manuscript Chantilly, Musee Conde 1047, in Musica Disciplina VIII, 1954, 59 ff.

; See my article Heinrich IV. in MG G, 1957. 8 Spelling has been standardised and punctuation added; Bologna has been followed, with one or two

emendations from Chantilly, which is a corrupt text. The main variants are: 1: conferent (both) /

2: J. de corbe sermicat (Ch.); J. de corbrem ei micat (Bo.) / 3: preuisos (Bo.); pastores for posco res

(both); marco for Martini (Ch.) / 4: olit for Blich (Ch.); oxomia (Ch.); ozonia (Bo.) / 5: rauge for

Mughe (Ch.); .G. dumudus de buria (Ch.); .E.d.mundus (Bo.) / 6: vsilet for Blich (Ch.); epijs vbich for

Episwich (Ch.) / 7: G. flos vxonie (Ch.); exonie (Bo.); Racholaus li for a Nicholaus qui (Ch.); de bada

famellico (Ch.); et de muris coniungatur (Ch.) / 9: pageat for practicat (Bo.).




5. Sed G. Mughe, radix florum, 7. Flos Oxoniae miratur, det generibus melorum; Nicholaus, qui vocatur,

Edmundus de Buria, de Vade Famelico; basis aurea tenoris, E. de Muristo jungatur

est, quem fovet curia. his triplo mirifico.

6. Princeps bellicus probavit S. Prepollet G. de Horarum quas ex Blich G. res creavit, Fonte lyra, vox non parum;

rutilantes oculo; mulcet auris Simonis Episwich J. quas gustavit, Clementis os cuius clarum

mirae vocis modulo. manus nitet organis.

9. Practicat Adam Levita precellenter. Quorum vita

sana diu vigeat, ut et illis, qua finita,

porta caeli pateat.

These patchwork verses give several strong hints to guide our search. There is to be a great rejoicing among the people, who are well protected under the rule of 'Arthur', for some great good fortune that has befallen the English (1); on this occasion the

knighthood and the clergy flourish together, while the musicians sing praises (2); kings (perhaps 'tyrants') are also apparently present (4); and we hear of a warlike

prince who is a patron of music (6). We must look, then, for a monarch who is likened to the legendary King Arthur, for a warlike prince, and for a great occasion in English history when these two, and perhaps other kings, united in praise with the knighthood, the clergy, and the musicians.

'Arthur' may undoubtedly be identified with Edward III (1312-77), King of

England from 1327; and the 'warlike prince' would be his son Edward, Prince of Wales (The Black Prince), who was one of the most brilliant generals of his day. Edward III's long reign, which was dominated by the Hundred Years' War with France, remains one of the greatest periods of English arms and English chivalry. On St. Ge-

orge's Day, 1349, Edward founded the Order of the Garter in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, directly imitating the ideals of the legendary King Arthur. In the words of one chronicler, he renewid the Round Table and the name of Arture, and ordenid the Order of the Garter, making Sainct George the patrone thereof9. The 'great occasion' was presumably one of Edward's spectacular victories over the French.

Sluys (1340) and Crecy (1346) gained the English little political or strategic advant-

age, and these dates would seem rather too early for the style of Sub Arturo. By far the strongest claimant is the Black Prince's victory of Poitiers (1356), where Jean le Bon, King of France, was taken prisoner. Poitiers ended a decisive phase of the war and resulted in the Treaty of Bretigny (1360), whereby France was forced to cede vast areas of her territory to England, and to pay a ransom of three million gold crowns for the release of her king. Edward celebrated the battle by an unusually magnificent meeting of the Garter Knights at Windsor Castle in 1358, on St. Ge- orge's Day. For this occasion he finished the Round Tower, to house his Round Table. The festivities lasted some three weeks and attracted the attention of all Europe.

* G. F. Beltz, Memorials of the Order of the Garter, London, 1841, xxxviii.




It was the peak of Edward's career: among the guests were the royal captives John of France (who lived at Windsor for three years), David II of Scotland and his queen, the Duke of Blois, and Philippe le Hardi, first Duke of Burgundy lo. Here we find

'kingly ones' in abundance-or 'tyrants', if that translation is preferred: they were all enemies of the crown. Not until Agincourt (1415) was there another such victory for England. At Windsor, too, were the 'knighthood', the Order of the Garter, and the

'clergy', the warden and canons of Windsor: the order and the college were Edward's twin foundation, and certainly 'flourished together'. The 'chorus of musicians' would be formed, no doubt, by members of the Chapel Royal, members of the Black Prince's chapel, and some of the Windsor canons. We should therefore expect to find traces of the musicians named in Sub Arturo by investigating the archives and other records surviving from the latter half of Edward III's reign.

Surely enough, a comparatively superficial search through the unpublished royal documents of that time, and an examination of various published sources, reveal the names of many more of Aleyn's colleagues. My survey has not been exhaustive, and there are also considerable gaps in the chronological sequence of the Exchequer accounts. A thorough investigation would take years. Nevertheless, the evidence that

has come to light should serve its present purpose, and may help to stimulate future

research. Let us take the fifteen musicians in the order in which the motet places them 11.

JOHANNES ALANUS (JOHN ALEYN). Also spelt Alenus, Alayn. He was in the Chapel

Royal in 1364-8, 1370, and 1372-3. It seems unlikely that he was the John Aleyn, rector of Wetheringsett (diocese of Norwich), who was granted a canonry of London

on Sep. 12 1349, and a further one at Salisbury on Oct. 2 of the same year (CPP, 174,

176). On Dec. 18 1361, however, Edward III granted a prebend in St. Paul's Cathe-

dral, London, to 'the King's clerk, John Aleyn' (PR. XII, 134), and made him a

canon of Windsor on Sep. 25 1362 (F. III, 378). On May 10 1363 Queen Philippa

petitioned the Pope for a London canonry on behalf of 'John called Aleyn' (no doubt

Aleyn had had to resign his earlier prebend there on being promoted to Windsor); he

also held the church of Bradstead (Rochester), immediately subject to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and canonries and prebends in the Royal Free Chapel in Exeter Castle

and at Windsor, according to the letter; the Queen's request was granted, provided that Aleyn resigned his stall at Exeter (CPP, 416). On Apr. 7 1365, Edward III presented him to the church of Nayleston (Lincoln) (PR. XIII, 29). A John Aleyn, per-

10 Ib., 5; J. Mackinnon, The History of Edward the Third, London, 1900, 449.

11 The following unpublished Exchequer Accounts in the Public Record Office, London, form the

basis of the information concerning the Chapel Royal. Unless otherwise stated, all are account books

of the Royal Household; some are mere fragments, listed only for completeness. E/36/203 (1339--42) E/36/204 (1342-6); E/1011391/15 (1348-51: livery roll); E/101/392/12 (1354-5); E/403/389

(1359: issue roll); E/101/393/11 (1360-2); Ib./393/15 (1361-3: livery roll, without names from

the Chapel Royal); Ib./394/13 (1363-5: id.); Ib./394/15 (1364-6; no names from the Chapel Royal);

Ib./394/16 (1364-6; livery roll); Ib./396/2 (1366-9); Ib./396/11 (1370-1); Ib./397/5 (1372-5);

Ib./397/20 (1375-8; livery roll); Ib./398/9 (1377-8); Ib./406/10 (1396-8); Ib./406/21 (1413-4).

See Appendix for sigla used in the biographies.




haps the same man, was presented by the King to the church of Shoreham (Rochester) (Ib. 232). On Sep. 20 1367, the King granted our Aleyn a prebend in Wells Cathedral (PR. XIV, 6). On Feb. 13 1368 the Pope granted him the Archdeaconry of Suffolk (Norwich) on petition of King Edward, provided that he resigned the rectory of Otte- ford (Rochester) and his canonry and prebend at Windsor (CPL. IV, 71). He vacated the latter on Sep. 26 of the same year; but this was a mere pretence, as the King re-appointed him to another prebend there within three weeks, on Oct. 15 (PR. XIV, 151-2). In 1370 he was sent into Kent by Edward, to borrow money from various abbots, priors and others, being paid ? 5 on May 14: he was still there on Mar. 4, when he was sent letters under the Privy Seal (DIB, 111, 471). On Feb. 15 1370, the King made him a canon of Exeter Cathedral, repeating the order a month later on March 25 (PR. XIV, 376, 384). He must have died late in 1373: on Dec. 7 of that year his Windsor canonry was given to another, Aleyn being dead (PR. XV, 369), while the Archdeaconry of Suffolk was granted to his successor on Dec. 10 (F. II, 487).

Aleyn was obviously a trusted servant of Edward III, and was well rewarded for his work. The Windsor legacy referred to earlier proves that he possessed music. The later history of the Chapel Royal affords many instances of men gaining admission to the royal household on the strength of their musical ability, catching the eye of the King, and gaining promotion through secretarial and administrative work. The two (perhaps three) livings which Aleyn held in the diocese of Rochester, and the fact that the King chose him for a delicate mission to those parts, suggest that he may have been a native of Kent.

J[OHANNES] DE CORBE (JOHN OF CORBY). He shines out trueheartedly from

among the chorus of musicians (2). He was in the Chapel Royal from 1364 to 1368. On Jan. 18 1358 the King presented him to the church of Pickworth by Folkingham (Lincoln) (PR. X, 646). On May to 1363, the King granted him a prebend in the Royal Free Chapel of St. Stephen in Westminster Palace, which however for sony reason he did not take up; he was appointed to a different prebend there a month later, on June 19 (PR. XII, 338, 354). On Nov. 10 of the same year he was presented to the church of Worfield (Coventry and Lichfield), again by the King (Ib., 422) on Mar. 9 1365, Edward III granted him the prebend of Undredon in the Royal Free Chapel of Bridgenorth (PR. XIII, 97). It is possible that he was the same man as John de Cory, clerk to the Black Prince, who was presented to the church of Mertherkeler (St. David's) on Oct. 29 1347 (BPR. I, 137). He may have died in 1368, when another man was appointed to Worfield church. There are two towns named Corby, in Cumberland and in Lincolnshire: in view of his early presentation to a Lincoln church, it seems probable that he came from Corby, Lincs. He was a composer of 'unexampled works' (3), and these were interpreted by -

J[OHANNES] DE ALTO BOSCO (JOHN OF HAUTBOYS). Hautboys is a Suffolk town, and was known as 'de Haltobosco' as early as 1200 A. D.; in the fourteenth century it was also spelt Hoboys, Haultboys and-more significantly -Hauboys. For this musician who 'unlocks with the theoretical writings the works of J. de Corbe' (3) must surely be none other than John 'Hanboys,' as he has hitherto been called. As




Eitner has stated, there is no authority for the spelling 'Hamboys'. His only surviving treatise, 'Summa super musicam continuam et discretam,' is found in a fifteenth-

century source (B. M. Add. MS 8866). The name is unequivocally spelt 'Hanboys' by the copyist. But the treatise, a commentary on Franco of Cologne for the most part, must surely belong to the fourteenth century, as Davey thought; it is even paired in the MS with (?) Tunsted's 'Quatuor principalia' which undeniably dates from that time. And if a fifteenth-century scribe were copying from a fourteenth-century MS, this is precisely the sort of mistake that we should expect him to make, for the Gothic letters 'u' and 'n' were identical in form. Our only authority for the life of 'Hanboys' is Bales, whose book was published in 155712". He stated that the theorist flourished in the reign of Edward IV, in about 1470, and that he was given the title of Doctor of Music by common consent. (Farmer said that he was at Cambridge University, but there is no record of this 13.) Bales also attributed Tunsted's treatise to 'Hanboys'; this suggests that he was guessing the date of the author from the date of the MS, and lessens the weight of his authority. Later writers such as Holinshed dutifully echoed Bales. The 'Summa super musicam . . . does not mention John of Corby by name; but a certain Robert Trowell who is there commended may perhaps have been the canon of Worksop Priory, Notts., who exchanged the church of All Saints in the Marsh (York) for the vicarage of Sheffield on Sep. 13 1412; he was succeeded there on Feb. 1 1419 (FP. II, 54). I have not so far come across any John Hauboys or

Hautboys in my search; in his treatise he is called 'reverend', which suggests that he

may have been a friar or a monk, hidden in the anonymity of a monastery. A John

Haubergh was in the Chapel Royal in 1364-8 and 1377, but the name seems too far removed from 'Hauboys' to warrant conjecture.

G[ILBERTUS?] MARTINI (GILBERT MARTYN?) He 'blossoms forth, practising the

theory of John of Hautboys' (3). He was apparently a composer, who learned his trade

directly or indirectly from Hautboys. A 'Gilbert Martyn, the King's serjeant', was

given a corrody at the convent of Benydon on Dec. 9 1361 (CRE, XI, 302). This means that he was certainly a clerk of the royal household, though we cannot be

sure that he was in the Chapel Royal. He was in holy orders, for the Abbess and

Convent of Benydon were directed to find him a benefice. Otherwise I have found no

suitable 'Martyn' during my search.

RICARDUS BLICH (RICHARD BLITHE). Also spelt Blythe, Blyth, Blith. He appears to

have been a composer, whose works proved pleasing 'to the pious and kingly' (4),

together with those of Johannes de Oxonia. A Richard Blithe was in the Chapel Royal in 1413, 1417 and 1419. Henry V presented him to a prebend in the Royal Free

Chapel of Hastings on Feb. 6 1416 (CRH. I, 336). On Oct. 27 1417 the Bishop presented him to a prebend in Hereford Cathedral (REL, 113). Henry V gave him a

pension of ? 5 a year from the church of West Kington, Wilts., on Mar. 9 1419; this was made over to another, Blithe being dead, on Oct. 7 1420 (NR, 739, 380). His

12 J. Bales, Scriptorum illustrium maioris Brytannie, Basileae, 1557, 617. 13 H. G. Farmer, Music in Mediaeval Scotland, in Proceedings of the Musical Association LVI, 1930, 80.

14 E. de Coussemaker, Scriptorum Nova Series, I, 1864, 403 ff.




Hereford prebend was granted to another for the same reason on Sep. 8 1420 (REL, 117). The award of a pension, followed so quickly by his death, suggests that Blithe was an old man. If he was the 'Blich' of Sub Arturo, he must have died in his eighties -

unlikely, but perfectly possible. He may have been related to William Blithe (see below), which could possibly account for the early fame in musical circles which this identification would imply. There are two towns of Blyth in Nottinghamshire and in Northumberland.

JOHANNES DE OXONIA (JOHN OF OXFORD). He is paired with Richard Blithe (see above), as a composer 'with whose art Canterbury shone for many years' (4). A 'Sir John de Oxonia' was granted a canonry of Chichester Cathedral by the Pope on Dec. 15 1349, at the request of the bishop elect, the prior and the convent of Wor- cester; he already held the church of St. Andrew (Worcester) (CPP, 191). The Pope granted the same man a benefice in the gift of the abbot and convent of Gloucester on Feb. 1 1351, on condition that he resigned St. Andrew's and resided in his new

living (CPL. III, 390). This man has no traceable connection with music or with the

monarchy. The surname is however corrupt in both sources: it reads 'Oxomia' in Chantilly,

'Ozonia' in Bologna. But in verse 7, where 'Oxoniae' is certainly correct, Chantilly reads 'Vxonie' and Bologna 'Exonie'. The confusion between '0' and 'E' was

notoriously common in English sources of the fourteenth century, and if the Bologna copyist could read 'Exonie' for 'Oxonie' in verse 7, he could easily have made the reverse error in verse 4. If this is so, the name would run Johannes de Exonia (John of Exeter), and in this case he would perhaps be the John de Exestre who was in the

Chapel Royal in 1372-4, 1377, and even as late as 1396-7, under Richard II (I have not yet had time to examine the records from the earlier years of the latter's reign). This man may be related to William Excestre, the composer represented in the Old Hall MS, who was also in the Chapel Royal in 1396-7.

G[ULIELMUS] MUGHE (WILLIAM MUGGE). 'The root of the flowers' was presumbly a teacher, who was to 'tell of the orders of song' (5). He was in the Chapel Royal 1342-5, and became 'custos,' or warden, of the King's newly-founded college at Windsor on June 18 1349 (F. III, 371), being the second man to hold this important post. On Oct. 19 1348, the Pope granted him the canonry of Lichfield on the petition of the abbot elect of St. Augustine's, Canterbury; Mugge is here described as one of the King's household clerks, and rector of Hertfield (Chichester) (CPP, 139). A grant of his is preserved in the Windsor Erary, with his seal (II, X. 1. 13). The Black Prince gave him a tun of wine on Dec. 18 1353 (BPR. IV, o108). On Feb. 19 1357 the Pope granted him a

canonry at Lichfield Cathedral; he is described as canon and prebendary of Exeter Cathedral: he had presumably resigned his earlier Lichfield Canonry (CPP, 291). On

Sept. 8 1358, he exchanged the church of Weston (Norwich) for the archdeaconry of Barnstaple (Exeter) (Ib. 309, 332): his name is here spelt Sugge-another common confusion, between 'M' and 'S'. By now this wealthy pluralist was enjoying at least four benefices simultaneously. He became Treasurer of Exeter Cathedral on Sep. 20 1367 (F. I, 415). His will is preserved at Lambeth Palace, dated 1380 (Reg. Courteney,




201). He was succeeded at Windsor on Feb. 24 1381, dying shortly before that date. As an extremely active servant of the Throne, he is very frequently mentioned in the records of the time. The Pope allowed him to absent himself from Windsor for sixty days a year on Jan. 18 1363, no doubt on the King's business (CPP, 474).

EDMUNDUS DE BURIA (EDMUND OF BURY). He seems to have been a prot6g6 of Mugge at court, and a 'golden foundation of the tenor'-a great singer (5). 'Dominus Edmund Monachus de Bury' appears with two anonymous companions on a livery roll of the royal household in 1364-5; they may have served as confessors to the household or the chapel. Edmund was receiving ? 20 a year from the King by Michaelmas 1359, according to an unpublished Issue Roll of the Exchequer. By May 3 1370 this had been increased to ? 30 (DIB, 68, 331). A lively but rather old-fashioned three-part song in Cambridge University Library (Add. MS 5943) entitled 'This Yule' bears the

ascription 'quod Edmundus'. BLICH, G[ULIELMus] (WILLIAM BLITHE). See RICHARD BLITHE above. He seems to

have been another composer, in the service of a 'warlike prince' (6). He is not recorded in the service of either Edward III or his son, the Black Prince; but his works were

' savoured' (or perhaps 'flavoured') by the marvellous singing of John of Ipswich (see below), who was certainly a member of the Black Prince's chapel. On Mar. 16 1355, Thomas Percy, Bishop of Norwich, petitioned the Pope on Blithe's behalf for a canonry at Lincoln Cathedral, describing him as Master of Arts, scholar of theology, and his own master and teacher, already holding the church of Bretilby (Lincoln); Blithe was

granted a canonry at Chichester Cathedral instead (CPP, 284-5). On May 22 1359 he was collated Archdeacon of Norfolk (Norwich) (F. II, 483); this was confirmed by the Pope on Aug. 4 of the same year (CPP, 312). He apparently vacated the post for

some reason, for he was restored to it on Sep. 14, a month later (F. II, 483). He still held it on Apr. 4 1367 (CPL. IV, 65), and on Mar. 1 1368 (CRE. XII, 469). He was

dead, however, before Mar. 13 1373, when another was appointed (F. II, 483). His

will is also at Lambeth Palace, dated 1373 (Reg. Whittleseye, 129).

EPISWICH, J[OHANNES] (JOHN OF IPSWICH). Also spelt Yeppeswich, Yppeswiz, Gyppes- wich,Gyppewico, etc. A Dominus William de Yepeswich was in the Chapel Royal in 1354. John, however, was a member of the Black Prince's chapel, first recorded there on Nov. 10 1357 (BPR. IV, 227). He sang the works of William Blithe (6) under the

patronage of a 'warlike prince', so that this is precisely where we should expect to find him. He was frequently promoted by the prince: he became rector of Bliston (Exeter) on June 12 1347 (Ib. I, 86); was appointed dean of the Free Chapel of St. Nicholas in

Wallingford Castle on Dec. 20 1351, where he is recorded again on June 18 of the

following year (Ib. IV, 36, 54); was apparently presented to the church of St. Cride

(Exeter) on Feb. 21 1354 (Ib. II, 57), and certainly to the church of Llanteglos in the

same diocese on June 4 1356 (Ib. IV, 188). He was dead by Jan. 1 1359, when another man was authorised to receive debts owing to his estate (Ib., 152). The date of his

death gives us the latest limit for the composition of Sub Arturo, in all probability. NICHOLAUS DE VADE

FAMELICO.(NICHOLAS OF HUNGERFORD, literally 'of the hungry

ford'). He is described as the 'flower of Oxford' (7), being grouped with John of Ips-




wich and E. de Muristo as one of a trio of singers. He was also under the protection of the Black Prince. A canon of St. Frideswide's Priory, Oxford, he was elected prior on May 15 1349 (PR. VIII, 292); the election was disputed, but Edward III confirmed his appointment on June 1 of the same year (Ib. 3oo). His term of office was troubled by frequent complaints of indiscipline among the canons, and he himself seems to have lost patience on at least one occasion: in 1354 it was alleged that Nicholas, with diverse armed laymen, about the middle of the night on 1 July, assaulted the sub-

prior and canons, while they were chanting mattins in the choir, broke the door of the church, dragged some of the canons from the choir and others from the dormitory, to the effusion of blood... (VCH, 98-9). In 1365 he illegally traded his office, but the Black Prince intervened with the Pope to save him from the consequences of simony, describing him as 'his chaplain' (CPP, 509). Nicholas died, prior again, in 1370.

E. DE MURISTO (EDMUND MIRTOGH?). He was the third of a trio of singers including John of Ipswich and Nicholas of Hungerford (7). Chantilly reads 'et de muris coniungatur', which may tempt us to reopen the question of the nationality of Johannes de Muris-Davey cites various authorities who thought him English15. If 'de Muris' was intended, however, he would surely be praised as a theorist rather than as a

singer; furthermore, all the other names in the motet are furnished with either a Christian name or an initial. Probably we should follow the more reliable Bologna version: 'E. de muristo'. Even so, we are not much nearer an identification. Con-

sidering the fact that the other two singers from this group were connected with the Black Prince, it is tempting to read the name as a rendering of 'Edmund Mirtogh', recorded as a member of the Black Prince's chapel on Nov. 10 1357 (BPR. IV, 227). Or it may be a mis-spelling of 'Marisco' ('marsh'), perhaps March, Cambridgeshire or Marsh Barton, Devon.

G[rLIELMUS] DE HORARUM FONTE (WILLIAM TIDESWELL, literally 'of the well of the hours': 'tide' and 'hour' were synonymous at this date-see O. E. D.). He was a singer and instrumentalist, playing the 'lyra' (8). He was in the Chapel Royal in 13 54, recorded as 'Dominus William Tideswell'. On May 24 1349, the King gave him a pension from the convent of Romsey, Hants (CRE. IX, 82). Tideswell is in Derbyshire.

SIMON CLEMENS (SIMON CLEMENT). Also spelt Clementis. A singer and organ- player (8). He was in the Chapel Royal in 1377. The Black Prince twice petitioned the

Pope on his behalf: on Sep. 2 1363 the Pope granted him a canonry in York Minster, and he is there described as rector of Pimperne (Salisbury), litigating in the Papal Court for a canonry and prebend in Salisbury Cathedral; he had to resign his con- tested post at Salisbury. On Feb. 4 1366, the Pope awarded him the Archdeaconry of Worcester; he is there spelt 'Clementis' (CPP, 455, 517). The captive King of France took with him to England in 1357 one 'Clement, clerc de chapelle' 16

ADAM LEVITA (ADAM THE DEACON). He has so far evaded identification. An Adam Leche was in the Chapel Royal in 1377.

15 H. Davey, History of English Music (2nd. ed.), London, 1921. 16 J. Marix, Histoire de la musique et des musiciens de la cour de Bourgogne sous le regne de Phi- lippe le Bon, Strasbourg, 1939, 14, note 1.




There may well be some dispute about some individuals in the above list of ten- tative identifications; but the general weight of the evidence proves conclusively, to

my mind, that Sub Arturo was composed during the middle years of Edward III's

reign, and almost certainly for the magnificent Garter celebrations at Windsor centr-

ing round St. George's Day, 1358. It is unfortunate that we have no surviving Wardrobe Books or other royal records which cover the vital period 1355-60; the Issue Rolls only rarely mention clerks of the Chapel Royal, who were not paid directly from the Exchequer. But the fragmentary biographies sketched above hinge about the year 1360, taking a rough average; and I hope to have shown that no other occasion of that period fits in so well with the text of the motet. It is interesting, too, to consider the other texts which Coussemaker printed with Sub Arturo: each lists famous French musicians, and the second Apollinis eclipsatur, is so close to the

English motet in some respects that it appears to be an answer to Aleyn's challenge. I have not seen the music, but the verses are in the metre of Aleyn's contra text; and

according to M. van den Borren 17, the French motet is built on the same plainsong tenor, In omnem terrain: Their sound is gone out into all lands... It would perhaps be too much to hope that the contra, which begins Zodiacum signis lustrantibus, refers to Jean le Bon's rival order of knighthood, that of the Star!

Finally, this reassessment confirms the view of Dom Anselm Hughes that the

Old Hall MS contains music dating well back into the fourteenth centuryis. We

should now start hunting for some of the composers who are represented in the oldest

layer, amongst the records of Richard II's time, if not earlier. Since the music of Roy

Henry appears in the original compilation, we may even have to resign ourselves to

the idea that Henry IV, rather than his son, was their royal composer. Be that as

it may, we can now be certain that fourteenth-century England bred a school of

composers whose works could stand comparison with the writing of Chaucer and

Langland, the painting of Gilbert Prince, the carving of Hugh Herland, or the build-

ing of Henry Yevele. For the commanding virtuosity of Sub Arturo can hardly have

grown in a musical desert. Apart from the verbal evidence of Aleyn's verses, one or

two recently discovered MS fragments, such as Magdalen College, Oxford, MS Lat.

CCLXVIII, f. 26, which preserves parts of two isorhythmic motets, are now helping us to sketch in the outlines of musical development in fourteenth-century England: we can now begin to see that it was not at all the barren period that our scanty source

material had led us to believe. ,

APPENDIX

Sigla used for published sources containing biographical information: BPR: The Register of Edward, the Black Prince, 4 vols., London, H. M. Stationery Office, 1930-33.

CPL: Calendar of entries in the Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland, Papal Letters,

III-IV, London, H. M. S. 0., 1897, 1902.

17 Ch. van den Borren, Le manuscrit musical M. 222 C. 22 de la BibliothIque de Strasbourg..., An-

vers, 1924, 111-3. This motet also appears in the Ivrea MS and in Barcelona, Biblioteca de Catalunya,

B. M. 853.

1I The Old Hall Manuscript, op. cit., II, viii: ... the actual verdict of the music ... would seem to

serve as one more justification for concluding that whole sections of the Old Hall Manuscript should

be rated as fourteenth-century rather than as fifteenth-century music.



Musikwissenschaftliche Unternehmungen in Deutschland seit 1945

Musikwissenschaftliche Unternehmungen in Deutschland

seit 1945 Harald Heckmann (Kassel)

1945 wurde mit dem totalen Zusammenbruch auch der Zusammenbruch des deutschen Musiklebens und damit der deutschen Musikforschung offenbar, zu dem der Keim bereits sehr viel friiher gelegt worden war. Schon bald nach 1933 verurteilte das damals herrschende Regime namhafte Forscher zum Schweigen, bedeutende Wissenschaftler verlieBen das Land, und der Kontakt mit der internationalen wis- senschaftlichen Welt wurde von Jahr zu Jahr schwieriger, bis er schlie1lich ganz erlosch, als der Krieg ausbrach. Mit Kriegsende trat zur inneren Verelendung die

diuBere Not: Bibliotheken und Institute waren zerst6rt, die Organisation des Musiklebens und der Musikwissenschaft wurde zerschlagen, und das Verlagswesen stagnierte v6llig. Immerhin aber hatte sich die deutsche Musikwissenschaft unter der Diktatur einen Rest von Selbstaindigkeit erhalten k6nnen, so daB sie in ihrem inneren Kern intakt geblieben war und sich ihre wissenschaftliche Sauberkeit - von betriib- lichen Ausnahmen abgesehen - bewahren konnte. Das war das Fundament, auf dem man nach 1945 wieder aufbauen konnte, und demgegeniiber wog die materielle Un- gunst der Zeit leicht.

Dieser Aufbau begann in der Stille der musikwissenschaftlichen Seminare der Universititen, in den Magazinen und Lesesailen der Bibliotheken und an den Schreib- tischen der Forscher. Schon bald aber wurden auch die ersten Versuche gemacht, den verstreuten Kraiften eine organisatorische Form zu geben, und so kam es im November 1946 zur Griindung der ,,Gesellschaft ffir Musikforschung", die gedacht war als ein Zusammenschlufl von Musikforschern, Musikwissenschaftlern, Kirchenmusikern und praktischen Musikern mit Freunden der Musikforschung. Praisident ist seither Fried- rich Blume, der auch ihr Initiator war. In vier 6ffentlichen Kongressen ist die Gesell- schaft bisher an die O*ffentlichkeit getreten. Die Referate der letzten drei Kongresse, die internationalen Charakter trugen (Liineburg 1950, Bamberg 1953, Hamburg

75

CPP: Id., Petitions to the Pope, I, London, H. M. S. 0., 1896. CRE: Calendar of the Close Rolls, Edward III, 14 vols., London, H. M. S. 0., 1896-1913. CRH: Calendar of the Close Rolls, Henry V, 2 vols., London, H. M. S. 0., 1929-32. DIB: (ed.) Devon, F., Issue Roll of Thomas de Brantingham ... 44 Edward III (1370), London, 1835. F: Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae, (ed.) Le Neve, J., (rev.) Hardy, T. D., 3 vols., Oxford University

Press, 1854. FP: Fasti Parochiales, (ed.) Hamilton Thompson, A., and Travis Clay, C., II, in Yorks. Arch. Soc.

Record Series, CVII, Leeds, 1943. NR: Calendar of the Norman Rolls, Henry V, in Annual Reports of the Deputy Keeper of the

Public Records, nos. 41-2, London, 1880, 1881. PR: Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Edward III, 16 vols., London, H. M. S. 0., 1891-1916. REL: The Register of Edmund Lacy, Bishop of Hereford, (ed.) Parry, J. H., and Bannister, A. T.,

Hereford, Cantilupe Society, 1917. VCH: Victoria History of the Counties of England: Oxfordshire, II, (ed.) Page, W., London, 1907.



a fourteenth-century ceremonial motet and its composer

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