‘Motets in England in and around the Old Hall manuscript’
Abstract
The dating of Old Hall hinges round its possible provenance and the still-contested identity of the composer named as Roy Henry; it provides in turn termini post and ante quem for English motets, some relating to the post-Agincourt celebrations, but the dates are not uncontroversial. In revisiting these questions, I list for the first time the two dozen or so motets preserved in England from this period, further sorted chronologically on grounds of style, technique and transmission, and the extent to which French influences have been absorbed. I suggest a new later dating of the virtuosic Sub Arturo plebs in the context of other discoveries of recent decades. This little-studied repertory bridges the gap between the 14th-century motets published in PMFC XV and the better known ones of Dunstaple preserved in mostly later sources.
Date:
20 October 2016, 17:00 (Thursday, 2nd week, Michaelmas 2016)
Venue:
All Souls College, High Street OX1 4AL
Venue Details:
Wharton Room
Speaker:
Margaret Bent (Oxford)
Organising department:
Faculty of Music
Part of:
Seminar in Medieval and Renaissance Music
Booking required?:
Not required
Audience:
Members of the University only
Editor:
Laura Spence
