HISTORY LATE EUROPEAN MUSIC MEDIEVAL

The lifetime of Amadeus VIII (b. 1383, d. 1451) is without doubt one of the high points of Savoyard cultural history. During his reign, Savoy was raised from county to duchy by Emperor Sigismund (1416). The wedding of Amadeus’s son Louis to Anne, princess of Cyprus and Jerusalem, in 1434, became an instant legend in its time, and united the most brilliant courtiers of Europe and their artistic retinue in Chambéry. Guillaume Du Fay, one of the most important musicians of the fifteenth century, was associated with Savoy from 1434 well into the 1450s (Planchart 2009). When Duchess Anne purchased the shroud of Turin (1453), an important Mass may have been composed by Du Fay for the liturgy associated with the shroud (Robertson 2010). Amadeus’s own career took two unusual turns when he withdrew from government (1434) to live in spiritual retirement on the shores of Lake Geneva and later accepted the papal see offered him by the Council of Basle (1439-49). He ended his life as a cardinal (1449-51). To this mix must be added the presence of cardinal Hugues de Lusignan, the uncle of princess Anne of Lusignan and one of the leaders of ecclesiastical politics, first at the papal court of Eugenius IV and later at the Council of Basle. The last piece of musicological research dedicated specifically to the court of Savoy dates from the early 1990s (Bradley 1992). In the meantime, work related to the biography of Du Fay (e.g., Planchart 2009, Robertson 2010) and to the ars subtilior manuscript Turin J.II.9 (Kügle 2012) has significantly added to the picture. But many gaps remain to be filled. The PI’s research will expand on the very rich materials uncovered during the ongoing research by Margaret Bent on music and Humanism in late Trecento and early Quattrocento Italy (e.g., Bent 2008), as well as in his own recent work on codex Turin J.II.9 and its repertoire (Kügle 2012). Like a spider in the web, Savoy sat at the hub of an intricate political, dynastic, and cultural network linking France, the Church, Italy, and Outremer (Cyprus). To what extent did local and dynastic identities shape the conscious application of different forms of cultural patronage in Savoy, notably music and book collecting? To what extent do they differ from patterns found in the cities (Venice, Padua, Brescia) of northern Italy and at the great rival court of Savoy, Burgundy, in the north?

By Olivier – Flickr: Visite au musée IV.

Bibliography:

Bent, Margaret. Bologna Q15: The Making and Remaking of a Musical Manuscript. Introductory Study and Facsimile Edition. Lucca: Libreria Musicale Italiana, 2008.

Bradley, Robert John. “Musical Life and Culture at Savoy, 1420–1450.” PhD diss., City University of New York, 1992.

Kügle, Karl. “Glorious Sounds for a Holy Warrior: New Light on Codex Turin J.II.9.” Journal of the American Musicological Society 65 (2012): 637-90.

Planchart, Alejandro Enrique. “Connecting the Dots: Guillaume Du Fay and Savoy During the Schism.” Plainsong and Medieval Music History 18 (2009): 11–32.

Robertson, Anne W. “The Man with the Pale Face, the Shroud, and Du Fay’s Missa Se la face ay pale.” Journal of Musicology 27 (2010): 377–434.

The “Monk” and the Prince: Court Culture and Song in Late-Medieval Salzburg

The court of Pilgrim II of Puchheim (c.1330-1396), prince-bishop of Salzburg, has never been systematically studied for the full extent of its patronage of the arts, although it has long been associated with the enigmatic “Monk of Salzburg”, a prominent representative of Upper German song with recently discovered links to France (März 1999). What was the full extent of courtly patronage during Pilgrim’s reign? How does it compare with his predecessors’ and successors’? Does Pilgrim’s activity shed any light on his contemporaries? Pilgrim came from an aristocratic background. He also was an able politician who managed considerably to enlarge his influence by skillfully maneuvering between the greater powers that surrounded him(in particular, Bavaria and Austria, but also the Luxembourg Emperors and the Avignon papacy). Being a prince of the Church, Pilgrim’s court offers excellent comparative material with sub-project 2, not only because he offers a case study broadening 12 the base of sub-project 2, but also because his studies as a young man and later the beginning of the Schism (1378) brought him in close contact with Avignon, including (anti- )Pope Clement VII (Robert of Geneva). A comprehensive study integrating the historical record of Pilgrim’s rule and cultural politics at larger with the evidence provided by the songs of the Monk of Salzburg will fill an important gap in scholarship. It will profit from a rich body of existing scholarship (recently, e.g., Schneider 2008 from the literary side) concerning the Monk’s works, their Vienna and Munich source manuscripts, archival materials on Salzburg general history, and the remains of his architectural sponsorship, for example the chapel he built and endowed at Salzburg cathedral.

Bibliography:

März, Christoph (ed.). Die weltlichen Lieder des Mönchs von Salzburg. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1999.

Schneider, Christian. Hovezuht: Literarische Hofkultur und höfisches Lebensideal um Herzog Albrecht III. von Österreich und Erzbischof Pilgrim II. von Salzburg (1365 – 1396). Heidelberg: Winter, 2008.