‘The motets of Douce 308: evidence for a more extensive monophonic tradition?’
This paper, which is work-in-progress, considers the 63 motets collected in Oxford Bodleian Library, Douce 308. Most have
refrains, often split between the opening and closing lines of the motet text, and all are presented without musical notation or
any indication of tenors. Where concordances exist, the texts of D308 are invariably in motetus parts, but the concordances also
make Douce 308 a unique witness to a mixture of material from the mainstream polyphonic motet tradition and the otherwise
unique monophonic ‘motets entés’ of Trouvère MS N. This paper will propose that more motets known today only in polyphonic
version may have had origins as monophonic motets. It will consider what the lost monophonic motet repertoire might have
looked like and ask how the motet repertory might have come to be so largely polyphonic given this possible origin in
monophonic, refrain-related, material.
Date: 1 November 2018, 17:00 (Thursday, 4th week, Michaelmas 2018)
Venue: All Souls College, High Street OX1 4AL
Venue Details: Wharton Room
Speaker: Elizabeth Eva Leach (University of 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