Dunstable Quick Glance

John Dunstable (ca. 1385 - 1453)

• English composer who spent part of his life on the Continent, where he had influence on French and Franco-Flemish composers

• Complete works are located in Musica Britannica vol. viii.

• Most important English composer of the first half of the fifteenth century

• Contemporary of Leonel Power

• Represents the end of the old polyphony and the beginning of the new Renaissance style

• Style is a blend of English and Continental traditions

• Contenance Angloise -- predilection for thirds and sixths

• Influence of fauxbourdon

• Works for three voices, a few for four or five.

• Alternatim style (full sections and duets)

• Melodic writing - lyrical and flowing - declamatory

• Strict imitation not found often in his writing

• Four basic kinds of works:

Isorhtymic motets (12)

Non-isorhythmic motets based on plainsong

Non-isorhythmic motets written in Free treble or Ballade style

Non-isorhythmic motets in declamatory style (syllabic)

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John Dunstable (ca. 1385 - 1453)

World Wide Web

Works

Isorhythmic motets for three voices Albanus roseo rutilat/Quoque ferendus eras/Albanus domini laudans Ave regina celorum, ave decus/Ave mater expers paris/Ave mundi spes Maria Christe sanctorum decus/ Tibi Christe splendor Patris/Tibi Christe Dies dignus/Demon dolens/Iste confessor Gaude felix Anna/Gaude mater/Anna parens Specialis virgo/Specialis virgo/Salve parens Veni sancte spiritus/Consolator optime/Sancti spiritus assit

Gaude virgo saluta/Gaude virgo singularis/Virgo mater/Ave gemma Preco preheminencie/Precursor premittitur/[textless]/Inter natos Salve schema/Salve salus/Cantant celi/[textless] Veni sancte/Veni sancte/Veni creator/Mentes tuorum Nesciens mater (fragment)

Settings of sacred Latin texts (non-isorhythmic) for three voices Alma redemptoris Alma redemptoris Ascendit Christus Ave maris stella Ave regina celorum Beata Dei genitrix Beata mater Crux fidelis Gaude virgo Gloria sanctorum Magnificat O crux gloriosa Quam pulchra es Regina celi Salva mater Salva regina (several) Sancta Dei genitrix Sancta Maria (several) Speciosa facta es Sub tuam protectionen

Setting of sacred Latin text (non-isorhythmic) for four voices Descendi in ortum meum

Setting of sacred Latin text (non-isorhythmic) for five voices Gaude flore virginali

Sound Recordings

John Dunstaple: Musician to the plantagenets. Orlando Consort. Metronome (1996).

Dunstable: Cathedral Sounds. Clemencic Consort, René Clemencic, Director. Arte Nova (1998).

Dunstable: Motets. Various. EMI (2000).

Dunstable: Motets. The Hilliard Ensemble, Paul Hiller, Director. Angel (199n). The Musical Book of Hours. Alexander Blachley, Director. Archiv (1998).

Collections

Bukhofzer, Manfred. John Dunstable: Complete Works. Musica Britannica, viii (1953).

- a second, revised edition was prepared by , Margaret Bent, Ian Bent and Brian Trowell, and was published in 1970.

M2.M638 vol. viii

Bibliography

Bent, Margaret. Dunstaple, Oxford Studies of Composers (17). London: Oxford University Press, 1981.

Bent, Margaret and Ian Bent. ‘Dunstable’, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 20 vols. London: Macmillan, 1980.

Bowers, Roger. Choral Institutions within the English Church: Their Constitution and Development, 1340-1500. Univ. of East Anglia, unpublished PhD. diss., 1975.

Bukofzer, Manfred. ‘English Church Music of the Fifteenth Century’, New Oxford History of Music, iii. pp. 165-213. (1960).

Kennedy, Michael. The Oxford Dictionary of Music. London: Oxford University Press, 2nd Edition, 1997.

Reese, Gustave. Music in the Middle Ages : With an Introduction on the Music of Ancient Times. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1940.

Sachs, Curt. The Rise of Music in the Ancient World. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1943.

The Motets and Magnificats of John Dunstable

John Dunstable (ca. 1385 - 1453), also known as John Dunstaple, is well known to modern scholars through publications of Continental manuscripts from his lifetime. Through these documents the characteristics of his music paint an image of English music from the fifteenth century. Their collective predilection for thirds and sixths, known as the Contenance Anlgoise, influenced composers and poets on the Continent, including DuFay and Binchois. The French poet Martin le Franc coined this term meaning English countenance, or preference, around 1440 when he described the pleasantness of this music. He makes an allusion to Dunstable in the poem, signifying the recognition Dunstable received during his own lifetime. Of interesting note was his interest in astronomy and mathematics: he contributed to manuscripts published on these subjects as well.

Little is known of Dunstable’s early life, including his year of birth. He was born in the town of Dunstable, just outside of Bedfordshire, England. He spent part of his life serving the English Duke of Bedford, who was Regent to France from 1422 until his death in 1435. While there he fought Joan of Arc. Dunstable most likely remained with the Duke until his death, then he returned to England, eventually dying in London in 1453. While on the Continent Dunstable would have been introduced to French Fauxbourdon. Borrowing some of the sonorities, he created elegant harmonies in his own music using thirds and sixths, hence influencing the music of Dufay and Binchois.

About sixty of Dunstable’s works are known today. Some additional works are attributed to him, but scholars now question the authenticity of several of these. Twelve isorhythmic motets survive, most for three voices. Talea and color are most common in the tenor (lowest voice), but examples can be found in the upper voices as well (cantus prius factus). When in the top voice, the tune may be slightly ornamented. Melodic material was generated from existing plainsong, sequences, hymns, or antiphons, but Dunstable did not always borrow the entire tune. In several instances only a section of the existing melody is used, making identification difficult.

Imitation is not terribly common in his motets. Rhythmic imitation is more common than melodic. In his works that use a new melody, Dunstable displays unusual craftsmanship compared to his contemporaries. He possessed a remarkable gift for creating simple and elegant vocal lines where every note has a role in the shape and direction of the phrase. Leaps can be found, but generally movement by step or third is the most common. A jump of a third was, however, common at cadences. It should be noted that cadences still finished pure, or without third coloration, despite the use of thirds and sixths during the body of a work. This style of thirds and sixths is now referred to as “English discant,” so named by Manfred Bukofzer. However, to Dunstable the term “discant” would have referred to counterpoint. Dissonances are few, and the music has a peaceful and lovely sonority that sounds primarily major to modern ears.

Dunstable set sacred Latin texts that do not contain isorhythm as well, most for special occasions or the Divine Office. Not many of these works contain plainsong, but are written in “free treble” or “ballade” style, referring to the freely composed melodic line. In these works Dunstable created magnificent art, reveling in the fresh sound of this new discant style. Dunstable also wrote using a declamatory style, setting the text primarily syllabically. This clear style is best presented in his masterpiece Quam pulchra es for three voices. Notes are arranged carefully with a homogeneous texture, and easy musical rhythms that match the correct verbal declamation of the text. Hints of fauxbourdon, and arguably traces of conductus style where voices move together, can be found as well.

Dunstable is attributed with three settings of the Magnificat, and four Marian Antiphons. Two of the Magnificat setting are most likely not by him. The one remaining for three voices made use of plainsong in the top voice, slightly ornamented. This canticle begins in usual fashion with an incipit, but then an alternation of two and three part writing is used. Sonorous thirds and sixths are present, and the text is set in declamation style, due to the almighty impact of Mary, to be sure.

Much of Dunstable’s music is for three parts, with a few exceptions, but no more than five parts. Duets are common throughout his output, and most are in perfectum time (3). Dissonances are not common, but usually prepared. His revolutionary concept of the voice parts forming a harmonic unit, where each member is consonant with all others, opposed to being consonant with just one other member, helped influence the music of DuFay and Binchois, and brought great joy to all those who heard his music.

©2002 Todd Edward Samra