Music for Richard III

[jean]

Readers of the Richard III thread on Platform 3 will know that I have been engaged in a campaign to persuade Leicester Cathedral to honour the reburial of the recently-disinterred monarch with a Requiem according to Sarum use such as he ought to have received in 1483, accompanied by suitable polyphony.

I discovered this morning that there's already been a concert of music that Richard might have heard at various stages in his life. Here are the details:



Richard’s childhood England

John Dunstable (c1390 -1453) Quam pulcha es
John Benet (d.1458?) Gloria
John Cooke (c1358 – 1442?) Stella Celi
John Dunstable Sancta Maria

Music from the Court of Burgundy

Antione Busnois (1430 -1492) Mon seul et sangle
Hayne v. Ghizeghem (1445- c.1476) De tous biens plaine
Antointe Busnois A vous sans autre
Guillaume Dufay (1397 -1474) Ave Regina Caelorum
Guillaume Dufay Ce moys de mai

Gruthuse’s hospitality and The Hague

Mattaeus Pipelare (c1450 –c1515) Helas de Vous
Johannes Ockeghem (c.1410 -1497) Fors solament
Mattaeus Pipelare Sur tous regretz
Johannes Ghiselin (fl.1481 – 1507) La Alfonsina

England in the 1470s

Anon. Agincourt Carol Agincourt Carol
John Bedyngham (d.c.1460) Grant temps
John Dunstable Puzzle canon
Anon. Basse Danse Leonzello

King Richard’s Courtly Christmas Festivities

Anon. Basse Danse Tesara
Anon. (c.1420) There is no rose of swich virtu
Anon. (15th Century) Alleluia: A nywe work
Anon. (15th Century) Nowel: Owt of your slepe aryse
Anon. Cancon de pifari dicto

But there is nothing there that will do for his Requiem - it's nearly all secular - so the search continues.

[BBMmk2]

What musoic wopuld monks would have sung at these times? Be a kind of Requiem mass, perhaps all plainchant?

[Roehre]

The English anonymous Missa Veterem Hominem, dating from c.1440, and the anonymous (English or French) Missa Caput from approximately the same time are two of the few candidates, if the work has got to be pre-1485.

Older, but a possible candidate as known to have been performed at courts: the (anonymous) 14th C Messe de Tournai.

Any of the Missae L'Homme armé, Dufay, Busnois, DesPrez, Ockeghem, and especially an early 15C anonymous one, would do, and given the melody on which these are based, these would be quite appropriate.

[french frank]

What musoic wopuld monks would have sung at these times? Be a kind of Requiem mass, perhaps all plainchant?

There would have been the liturgy for the Burial of the Dead, sung to plainchant. There was that scene in Olivier's Richard III where Lady Anne Neville is following Henry VI's bier (how come? he was killed in 1471), and the procession of monks is chanting the antiphon In paradisum (deducant te angeli).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ5k81SXhN4

[BBMmk2]

This could be the best evidence fopr the music for R3's reinternment?

[jean]

What I was trying to find out when I posted on the other thread (I started this one because speculation about the fate of the Princes had taken over the other) was how the liturgy in use in this country would have differed from what would have been in use here before the imposition of the Roman rite after the Council of Trent.

I kept nearly getting there, but at the crucial point the information would run out.

For example, here is an account of an actual surviving Sarum missal, with quite a lot of detailed information about differences from the Roman lituugy in the ordinary of the Mass.

The contents lists gets as far as telling me there's a Mass for the Dead in it - but there's no more information than that.

So I'm still looking.

[jean]

The English anonymous Missa Veterem Hominem, dating from c.1440, and the anonymous (English or French) Missa Caput from approximately the same time are two of the few candidates, if the work has got to be pre-1485...

Any of the Missae L'Homme armé, Dufay, Busnois, DesPrez, Ockeghem, and especially an early 15C anonymous one, would do, and given the melody on which these are based, these would be quite appropriate.

Not Requiems, though.

There are several Flemish Requiems to choose from, but I am not sure how much music from the continent would have been performed here after we'd stopped thinking France was really ours.

I wondered if Fayrfax would have started composing by then. Probably not.

[Roehre]

Not Requiems, though.

There are several Flemish Requiems to choose from, but I am not sure how much music from the continent would have been performed here after we'd stopped thinking France was really ours.

I wondered if Fayrfax would have started composing by then. Probably not.

I'm afraid the survived "Flemish" Requiems are too late, later than 1485, perhaps Ockeghem's the "exception confirming the rule".
There is one older anonymous Requiem, but that hasn't survived completely.

[french frank]

What I was trying to find out when I posted on the other thread (I started this one because speculation about the fate of the Princes had taken over the other) was how the liturgy in use in this country would have differed from what would have been in use here before the imposition of the Roman rite after the Council of Trent.

A visitor to the forum has emailed this to me - he was very anxious to apologise to Jean if he had "underestimated" her research thus far:

"I have also been prompted to write again specifically at this moment after having noticed a comment from 'Jean' on your ‘Music for Richard III’ thread. Your contributor referred to a link to the Sarum Missal, but gave the impression she(?) had not been able to draw much that helped her in the document identified by the said shortcut, which led to a copy of an essay on an early Roman Missal held at Ampleforth Abbey in Yorkshire. The essay argues this historic volume can be dated as 'not later than 1506' and could have been produced further back into the 15th century. What Jean may not have noted, was that the same essay also suggested this edition of the Missal contains a relatively substantial section relating to 'Masses for the Dead' (apparently extending from pp 511-521).

"Jean may not be able to visit Ampleforth Abbey from Liverpool to explore the contents of this original document at first hand, but I'm sure a telephone call to the Abbey would quickly identify a supportive member of the community, who would be able to advise her about the exact contents of this section. From what I hear, the Abbey School appears to be developing quite a reputation for its music department and support might be available from that area also.

"I cannot imagine this text would contain much (if any) music, but it would identify any textual differences between Sarum and the later Tridentine Rite in terms of funerals. As you notice yourself [that's to me], the standard plainchant settings of 'In paradisum' etc. would very likely tie in with these early texts, the music of which is available in the 'modern' Liber Usualis from Solesmes, of course. Scholars claim the chants specifically of the Missa pro defunctis dates back to at least the 13th century, which means they could theoretically have been made available across quite a wide geographical area from then onwards. Just before the weekend, I happened to be involved in singing an even earlier 12th century kyrie from an 'English' source, attributed to Goderic (part of 'Crist and Sainte Maria') and I can report that it was recognisably 'Gregorian' in its style (even if confusingly printed in modern notation) which would make me relatively confident that such music was available in these islands at that time and onwards."

[jean]

"Jean may not be able to visit Ampleforth Abbey from Liverpool to explore the contents of this original document at first hand, but I'm sure a telephone call to the Abbey would quickly identify a supportive member of the community, who would be able to advise her about the exact contents of this section.

I had not really thought to presume so far! If Leicester Cathedral expressed an interest in doing things properly, I might!

...this text...would identify any textual differences between Sarum and the later Tridentine Rite in terms of funerals.

That's what I'd hope.

And the chant then would be similar to the Roman chant of the Liber, but with slight variations.

That's the next bit of research!

[Simon]

I have a suspicion that the Caput Mass may have been known over here, at least in the south and south-east, at least in the greater houses. There was a lot of trade, irrespective of the shifting political geography and allegiances, and I don't think it logical to believe that the movement of musicians and music that definitely occurred throughout continental Europe would have been completely restricted by the Channel. FWIW, Jean, it would be my favourite for the job! A great idea, btw. Good luck with the research.

http://www.glossamusic.com/glossa/reference.aspx?id=25

PS That said, I think he should go to York, where he wanted to be buried and where he had planned his chapel. Though to be fair to Leicester, interring hime there might give the city a bit of a lift - and it certainly needs it!

[Julien Sorel]

Unless I misunderstand you, Simon (I thought Jean was talking about a Requiem Mass?) the original Missa Caput is English, isn't it? I think Wikipedia's accurate here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missa_Caput

The cantus firmus on which the mass is based, which was long of mysterious origin, was discovered by Manfred Bukofzer to be from the Sarum Rite: the melisma on the last word, "caput", from the antiphon Venit ad Petrum, which was used at the Mandatum ceremony (the Washing of the Feet) on Maundy Thursday during Holy Week.[2] The melisma on the single word is long and dramatic, containing over 100 notes, and spanning the interval of an octave. Within the melisma the melodic interval of the fourth is prominent and is repeated several times, and several modes, including Phrygian, Dorian and Mixolydian, are implied, giving it an extraordinary melodic diversity.

While originally the Caput mass was thought to have been by Dufay – since it is attributed to him in its most complete source, the Trent Codices – recent research has established that it originated in England.[3] The cyclic mass has been shown to be a development of English origin, enthusiastically taken up by composers of the Burgundian School, and eventually becoming the primary vehicle for long-span musical expression in the High Renaissance.

Like the link . Graindelavoix are fantastic, IMO: very interesting and different approach.

[Simon]

Yes, seems a worthy group. I have their Poissance d'Amour CD, hence how I knew about the other stuff, though none of the others. Yet.

Thanks for the knowledge update: I had no clue that Caput was now thought to have been English in origin. Somebody with time may well research that more... But it makes it all the more appropriate, doesn't it, in a way?

[Roehre]

Missa Caput is either French or Burgundian (as I implied in #3), or a mix. The jury is still out, and most likely we will never know. Whatever, I think it's an excellent candidate for a Mass to be sung at Richard III's funeral/burial.

Brilliant CD Poissance d'Amour is, isn't it (a pity the way it's packed with the CD in the booklet, but soit)

[Catherine Bott]

I like this idea for an Early Music Show - I'll mention it to my masters tomorrow!