‘THE EARLY IN NOMINE? A GENESIS OF CHAMBER MUSIC Volume I Presented by - Robert Wright Weidner To fulfill the thesis requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Musicology Thesis Director: Dr. Charles Warren Fox Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester June 12, 1960VITA The writer was born in Brookfield, Wisconsin, on Octeb 21, 1923, He began his serious musical career at the age of fourteen with a silver cornet purchased on the installment plan, He received his early musical training in the Milwaukee Public Schools and played in his high school band and orchestra. In September of 1942 ho matriculated at Milvaukee State Teachers College and received the degree 8.5. in Music and Music Edueation from that institution in January, 1949; his schooling was interrupted by three years’ service in the U.S. Army during World War II, Upon his return from service the writer abandoned the silver cornet and adopted the bassoon as his major instru- ment. Eventually he served as first bassconist in his college orchestra and band and in the Milwaukee Civic Orchestra. He received the degree M.A. in Musicology from the East- man School of Music in June of 1951 and began work on a Ph.D. in Musicology at the same school in the sumer of 1954, continuing his studies in sumer ssions through 1959. hieanwhile he served as a teacher and director of music in various high schools and colleges in Wisconsin, Ohie, New York, and Texas. The avard of a tuition scholarship made it possible for the writer to complete the required residence on his doctoral program in the academic year 1958-59, during whichtime he also fulfilled his course requirements for the Ph.D. On March 30, 1959, the writer married Miss Jocelyn Sack of Savannah, Georgia. The Weidners presently reside in Lincoln, Nebraska, where Jecelyn has begun work on an M.M. at the Uni- versity of Nebraska, and Robert directs the orchestra and teaches woodwinds and music theory at Nebraska Wesleyan Uni- versity, and plays bassoon in the Lincoln Symphony.PREFACE There are times in the history of human endeavor when an idea or form of expression seems to blossom out of place and season, te spring prematurely from an inhospitable soil, to flourish briefly under a winter's sun, only to expire, leaving behind it no certain traces of any direct influence upon that which fellow: of new forms at But the histerian knows that the tle needs concepts may lia hidden in the exprension of any given age or place. Who among the vendors of frottole in the streets of fifteenth-century Italy could have foreseen the ultimate emergence of the splendid madrigals of, say, Marenzio from such humble parentage? And so the instrumental chamber ensenble of the early Renaissance in England appears to have existed in relative isolation, having been but slightly influenced by Continental models, and having apparently influenced the succeeding music of the Continent even less. Yet there is considerable signifi- cance in the English fancy, more specifically the In Nomine instrumental fantasia, because through it England can claim with Italy the equal title to the creation of the first real instrumental chamber music. lapnest He cater: des 17, Jane nd oe Hipttstseeny Sse Heinrie Ey tkesaed 9. » Pe diThe consequence of the In Nomine in English musical history can be adduced in part from the fact that about 140 of these ensemble pieces have come dowa to us, many of them recurring in several MSS of the period, Of further signifi- cance is the fact that in these pieces, the earliest of which were evidently written about the middle of the sixteenth century, it is possible to discern the gradual evolution of idiomatic instrumental ensemble writing, as contrasted with the vocal polyphonic style that characterised the earliest efforts in the fo: In the light of this information it mg strange that only about thirty of these pieces have been published to date and that no detailed study has ever been devoted to this specific tepic. Indeed, of the twenty-one complete In Nomines by Christopher Tye, in hich alone considerable development can be traced, only tvo have been published.” In the realm of literature abaut the subject the situation is much the same, There is an early study by Ernest a Meyer,® a later one by Gustave R @ jointly-written 2yenis Stevens, ed., In Nomine (Kassel, 1956). Surnest H. Meyer, "The "In Komiae! and the Birth of Polyphonis Thetrunental Style in England," Music and Letters XVII (1936), 4, Gustave Reese, “The Origin of the English In Nomine," Journel of American Musicologica? Society II (1949), 7-28. didarticle by Robert Donington and Thurston Dart,> and a very brief one by Dom Anselm Hughes.° The authors of the last three of these cited references claim independent discoveries of the source of the In Nomine--the Benedictus of Taverner's Mass, Gloria Tibt Trinket choice for this distinction as Reese and Messrs. Donington and (Haghes, however, advances no personal Dart do; he rather credits the discovery to a certain Dom Placid Wilcox.) Because of the importance of the In Nomine in the develop- ment of a truly instrumental idiom, and because of the interest- ing light to be shed on this subject by some of the earlier ex- amples of this genre, the writer hi undertaken to transcribe, study, and analyse ih detail some forty ensemble In Nomines written before the turn of the seventeenth century. Of central importance in this study are, of course, the Tye In Nomings, which far outnumber those of any other couposer. What is probably the first In Nomine, the instrumental transcription from the Taverner Mass already referred to, will be included, as will also the two unpublished examples by Thomas Tallis, who was of the same generation as Taverner and tye.” SRobert Donington and Thurston Dart, "The Origins of the In Nomine," Music and Letters XXX (1945), 101-106. 6 ‘Anselm Hughes, "Taverner: the Man and his Work," The Listener XUI (1949), 244, 7y gm inclined to believe, as Hughes evidently does, that the first ensemble transcription did not come from the hand of Taverner himself, but fron a later writer. ivOther composers who will be represented in this study are: White, Ferrabosco (senior), William Mundy, Parsley, Parsons, Thorne, and Woodcoke. As well 2s could be determined, all of these men were either deceased or retired from music de- fore the turn of the century, although several of them (White, Ferraboseo, Mundy, Parsons) were of a younger generation than Tallis, Taverner, and Tye. Two MSS, containing between them almost two-thirds of all existing In Nomines and about three-fourths of the extant ensemble In Nomines, form the basis for this study, They aret a set of part books from the Oxford Bodleian Library, numbered 212-216, which include seventy-three In Nomines in four and five parts; the British Museum MS Additional 31390, which is written in table music form, and contains forty-two In Nomines in five to seven parts. The Sibley Musie Library owns micro- films of both MSS. It will be necessary to examine the turbulent politico- religious backgrounds of this amasing age, which found a John Taverner writing Masses in Latin, later repenting of having written “popish ditties," and ultimately retiring from music to devote his full energies to the persecution of Catholics. Incidentally, it is interesting to note in passing that the identical section of the Mass, Glorig Tibi Trinites, which formed the basis for the first In Nomine also furnished the music for two different English anthem settings. vBiographical information concerning the In Nomine composers will be examined in an effort to bring to light any personal or musical contacts and connections that may have existed among them. The analysis of the music itself sheds some light on this same aspect of the problem. In addition, the brilliant discovery, probably first made by Reese, of the musical origins of this form has given rise to further tantalis- ing questions concerning the "why" of this genre; some of these we shall attempt to answer in the source of this study. Among these matters is the question of the basis for the subtitles appended to 0 many of the Tye works in MS 31390, and the more important issue of certain possible religious implications that may have helped to account for the inception of the genre. In summary, this study aims to illuminate further one small and colorful area of that sprawling, kaleidoscopic, fascinating time which was the early Renaissance, when so many concepts which we of today consider "modern" vere first shaped in the curious and inquiring mind of man, To conclude, the writer wishes to express his apprecia- tion for the graduate scholarship that made possible his year of residence in 1958-59, for the unusual courtesies extended to him concerning the use of material from the Sibley Music Library by Dr. Ruth Wate: e, and, certainly not least, for the privilege of making this study under the guidance of Dr. Charles Warren Fox, his advisor. viPREFACE 6 ee ee oe ee to ee eee weer owes BACKGROUNDS AND BEGINNINGS: JOHN TAVERNER CHAPTER CHAPTER CHAPTER CHAPTER CHAPTER CHAPTER CHAPTER I. I. It. Iv. ve VI. VII. TABLE OF CONTENTS THE IN NOMINE AND ITS TWO PRINCIPAL SOUREES BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES ON TY AND TALLIS, A BIOGRAPHICAL MISCELLANY»... « THE IN NOMINES OF CHRISTOPHER TYE . OTHER PRINCIPAL EARLY IN NOMINSS « CONCLUSIONS «ee ee wee rene BIBLIOGRAPHY. 6 ee ee eee ee ee ee eens vii Page ia 1 15 32 43 61 97 129 158CHAPTER I BACKGROUNDS AND BEGINNINGS: JOHN TAVERNER In England it was the first half of the sixteenth century which saw the painful demise of the Middle Ages and the equally painful and violent birth of a lusty infant Ae- naissance, At the political level the way of change was pre- pared in part by the conclusion of the Wars of the Roses on Bosworth Field (August 22, 1485), when Henry Tudor of the fouse of Lancaster won the day azainst Richard TII. Early in his career as King Henry VII, Henry Tador sought to strengthen the claims of himself and his progeny upon the throne of England by marrying Elizabeth of York, thus effecting the blending of the Aoses of York and Lancaster. Largely because of his wise, careful, and frugal government of his kingdom--which saw the development of an efficient financial system and the suppression of the lords" private feudal armics--he was able to hold his throne azainst such threats and pretensions as those of the ambitious James IV of Scotland, Perkin Warbeck, and the Zarl of Warwick. In general, the growing centralization of government, emerging out of the policies of the tenacious Henry, prepared, in large measure, the sense of national identity which increasingly distinguished the England of the Xenaissance from that of the feudalistic medieval past.w Social and economic changes, both urban and rural, were largely shaped by the growing importance of the trade in cloth and wool. It was the weaving industry, foreign as well as domestic, that made possible the gradual emergence of a middle class, who were to achieve, in addition to their material success, increasing social and political prominence. The existence of the thriving export market in cloth and wool in part caused the enclosure of fields, in some districts, to pasture the multiplying flocks, This led to bitterness between those, on the one hand, who wanted to grow crops, and those, on the other, who required pasture land, The ploughmen, de~ prived of their lands by enclosure, were often compelled to leave their farms. Such victims frequently turned to banditry or charity, or some combination of both, to maintain themselves. Iu any case, their plight added fuel to the fires of Xenaissance social and economic upheaval in England. In the realm of moral values the Catholic Church still held the day in the Western world, or so it appeared. Savona- rola, toward the end of the fifteenth century, had denied papal infallibility--but he had ultimately paid for his opinions at the stake. To be sure, Luther in 1517 successfully defied papal authority, and Ulrich Zwingli wes preaching reformation heresies in Zurich, But as yet the mass of men preferred to remain comfortably within the faith that had sustained their fathers.While papal authority in matters spiritual remained a potent influence in its particular sphere, in matters political popes sometimes acted--and were accordingly treated-- Like mere rulers of ordinary secular states. At times a pon- tiff arrogated to himself fantastic authority in temporal affairs--as when Alexander VI in 1493 issued two bulls giving to Spain and Portugal all the world's colonial lands on either side of a line drawn from the north to the south pole 370 leagues west of Cape Verdc, Such igh-handed dicta were, in the course of events, certain to be ignored by the ambitious princes of the Renaissance world. After all, the Xenaissance formula for the acquisition and maintenance of political power (documented by Machiavelli in The Prince) was composed not of metaphysics but of the sterner stuff of brutal reality. Arising partly out of England's insular geographical position, her social, economic, and political institutions held their implications for the cultural life of the country. ‘they made it possible for Henry VII, in spite of the many charities of his latter years, to leave behind him after his death a healthy exchequer. The careful frugality that had largely characterized the rule of this lenry made possible the hedonistic flamboyancy of the reign of the gross young man who, in his eighteenth year, mounted the throne as Henry VIII. If the wealth left in the royal treasury enabled theyoung Henry to indulge his pleasure-loving propensities, the growing fluidity in the Snzlish social structure made it possible thet Thomas Wolsey, an obscure cleric, the Oxford- educated son of @ butcher, should rise virtually to rule Eng- land during the years while Henry hunted, havked, played and wrote music, and manifested early his interest in chambers other than those where his councillors sat. In court and chapel the art of music in England flourished during the reign of the sportive and luxuriating king and his sonewhat like-minded cardinal vice-gerent, Musicians of various skills came from the Continent to adorn both the king's music and the chapel royal during Henry's reign.! No doubt English possession of Calais afforded an important bridge for cultural as well as economic intercourse with the Low Sountries. At least one authority believes that the hexachord and solmization techniques appearing in the English polyphony of this period derive from such Continental influences as that of the Flemish composer, Heinrich Isaac, for oxample.” There can be little doubt that it was the felicitous balance between contact with the Continent and isolation from it that gave English music of the early Renaissance its special see, for example, Charles Yan den Borren, Les Musiciens belges en Angleterre & 1'époque de 1a Renaissance (Brusse ae 2yi1liam Coates, "In Nomine," Dic Musik in Ce: Gegenwart (Kassel, 1949-37), VI, 1218.character and flavor. We shall later cite examples of Eng~ lish usage, involving mechanical matters of difference in polyphonic mensural notation, as well as stylistic features, including chromaticism, use of dissonance, cross relations, and the resolution of suspeusions. These peculiarly “nglish" traits were infused into a musical system which agreed, in its essentials, with contemporary Continental thought. Since the abundance and dynamism of the times created a climate congenial to the arts, it is not surprising that this age should give rise to three significant figures in the art of music: John Taverner, Christopher Tye, and Thomas Tallis. Not since the death of Dunstable had native Englishmen of such stat- ure appeared on the musical scene. And the same prosperity which was to herald the three great T's of gnglish Renaissance music witnessed--in England at about the same time as in Italy--a new phenomenon in musical history: instramental chamber ezsemble masic. Since modern scholarship bas established John Yaverner's music as the agency by which the new genre emerged in England we shall at this point consider in some detail che life of John Taverner in relation to the times in which he lived. The facts of Taverner's life available to us are scait enough. For the most complete information in any one account, Volume I of Tudor Church Masic is still the best single source to be found, notwithstanding its date. A number of the more 3qudor church Music (London, 1923), I, xlviii-lvii.recently published biographical lexicons rely at least in part, it seems, on the information gathered in this one source. The earliest specific information on Taverner appears in a letter of October 17, 1526, and records the musiciants reluctance to leave his living and the prospect of a good marriage at "Tattessall" to accept a profferred appointment as choirmaster in the chapel of Cardinal college, Oxford. The new college was founded by Thomas Wolsey, Lord Chancellor to King Henry VIII of England, out of funds procured largely through the suppression of certain small monasteries. The founding of Cardinal College at Oxford and St. Mary's College at Ipswich were projects evidently very dear to Wolsey’s heart. John Foxe hag noted how the Cardinal was at pains to procure some of the best minds in England for the "furniture™ of the Oxford school.* it is significant that Joha Taverner was numbered among such company and indicative that his merit as a musician and composer had passed far indeed beyond the bounds of Lincolnshire, his native district. Whatever difficulties there were concerning his removal from Tattershall must have been put aside, for John Taverner did become the "Informator" (choirmaster) at Cardinal Colleve-~ a@ post which included serving as organist. It has been said with respect to the professional moves of men of churchly vocation, "God calls the loudest where the salary is highest,” 4yohn Foxe, The Acts and Monument Keed Cattley (London, 1837), EV, r John Foxe, ed. Stephen O17.= The call to Oxford was probebly a very Loud one, for the minician's salary ané allowances came to a total of fifteen pounds per annum, a sum ¢ seeded only by the salaries paid to the dean and sub-dean of the college. Some forty-f: va years earlier Volsey's own father hud 1 able to buy au entire house for the sum of eight pounds and a parcel of Land.” No doubt much of Taverner'’s music (which includes eight Masses and twenty-eighy motcts) was written while he was yet at Tattershall. We can addvce this both from the fame which accounted for his cail tu the lucrative and important Ox- ford post, and from the probability of his retirement from the profession of music four years 1 ry when he left Oxford. The compeser may well have had occasion to regret later his decision te forsake the comparatively quiet backwaters of Tattershall for the maelstron of the university, churned by political, intellectual, and religious conflict. It was at Oxford that he hecame infected with the pestilential and danger- ous Lutheran heresies car: ed by a number of Gantabrigians among his colleagues. But Yor the # ‘sercession of Wolsey himself, he wight have shared the penalty meted out to those of his fellows whose gifts did not attract the beneficent attention of the Cardinal.® And twice--first when Wolsey fell from royal favor, charles W. Ferguson, Naked to Mine Enemies (Boston, 1958), p. 22. Spoxe, Op. cit., V, 4-5. Foxe, whose record of these matters is colored by his own strongly Protestant bias, suggests that at least three of the convicted heretics later died as a direct result of having been imprisoned for over six months in "a deep cage under the ground of the same college.”and again when Thomas Cromwell was beheaded for treason~-Tavern- er was hounded out of important positions by the adverse politico- religious fortunes of his superiors.” Taverner was not always so prudent as his timely depart- ure from Cardina) College might suggest, however, He must certainly have been aware that he was placing his very life in jeopardy by identifying himself with the religious malcontents from Cambridge. After all, King Henry had won from Pope Leo X his title of Fidei Defensor for his book, written in 1521, con- demning Lutheran heresies. As for Volscy, as late as the early days of 1529, when a false rumor of the death of Clement VII was circwlated, he still entertained designs on the papal throne it- self. Certainly the founder of Cardinal College, loyal (insofar as this was possible) to both his king and hie Catholic conscience, could not have been expected to show leniency toward heretics, especially those of a Lutheran persuasion, it is unlikely that Wolsey was at all aware of the extent to which reformation heresies had permeated England's younger university when he made the appointments to his college at his own alma mater--probably from the Cambridge class of Tyolsey's reversal of fortune began tovard the end of july, 1529, after he failed to persuade Cardinal Campeggio to concur with hin in pronouncing favorably in the matter of the royal divorce, Taverner may well have had apprehensions about the fate of Wolsey's college and his ovn position there, ¥elvey died November 29, ‘1530; Taverner left Oxford by May of 1530, six months before Iseyts final disgrace. Cronwell was beheaded July 28, 1540,1525, Such strong spirits as Thomas Bilney, Hugh Lattimer, William Tyndale, and Thomas Cranmer were all at Cambridge around the time when the appointments to the faculty of Cardinal College were made. There can be little doubt that men of such fortitude and strength had inspired a sumber of their fellows with the same qualities. Nor can we doubt the persuasive eloquence of the Oxford Cantabrigians, for Taverner became implicated in the heresy charges hardly more than a year after his arrival at Oxford. In view of the frequent penalty for heresy--burning alive--the punishment visited upon the Oxferd offenders was not as severe as might have been expected; they were conpelled to march from St, Mary's to St. Frideswide's carrying faggots, throwing heretical books into a fire at Carfax on their way.” The reason given for Taverner's pardon suggests that in the early sixteenth century musicians were held less accountable for theit acts than more normal men; Foxe records that "the cardinal, for his msic, excused him, saying that he was but a musician: and so he escaped."® More probably the true reason was that suggested by Pulver--Wolsey's reluctance to lose Tavernerts skill from the chapel of Cardinal College.!° we 8 ‘Charles £. Mallet, A History of the University of Oxford (Lond- on, 1924), I, 442. Carfax nae an important juncture of four principal streets, and St. Mary's and St. Frideswide's were two prominent buildings (located in close proximity) in sixteenth- century Oxford, Jvoxe, Op. cite, Vs 5. 1 yertrey Pulver, A Bographical Dictionary of Old English Music (London, 1927), p. 449.10 know that Wolsey was sufficiently fond of music to maintain his own personal chapel of high excellence; there is a record of his having given up one of his own chapel boys to Henry at the monarch's insistence. The king's "Master of the Children," William Cornyshe, is reported to have praised the training the boy had received under Wolsey's choirmaster, a certain Nichard Pygott 22 It is evident that Taverner was reinstated to his posi- tion in the chapel of Cardinal College after the heresy episode of 1528, Had this not been the case he would almost certainly have left Oxford before May of 1530, (The record of the appoi: ment of a new choirmaster, one John Benbow of Manchester, is dated May 20, 1530.)!? nut Taverner's departure was prophetic, and not long after Wolsey, the man, was broken and discarded and his most cherished dream suffered a similar fate; Cardinal College was suppressed. The deed of surrender is dated January 15, 1531.13 Taverner must have long since returned to his hone in Boston, Lincolnshire, by the time Henry established his own college at Oxford in July of 1532, i . ’ tlietters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the hei Henry VIII, arranged and catalogued by J. S. Brewer (London, «See Vol. Il, entries numbers 4023, 4924, 4025, 4043, 4044, 4053, 12rudor church Music, I, 1. II, 38. Uyallet, Op. cit.obs The next item in the known chronology of Taverner con- cerns his election to the Guild of Corpus Christi in Boston in 1537. Later the signature of the composer, now presumably in his early forties, appears on a letter dated September 11, 1538, 44 Tes contents indicate that and addressed to Thomas Cromwell. the ex-informator, now held a position of some importance as an agent of Cromwell in the suppression of religious houses. It is likely that Taverner had become acquainted with Gromvell through their mutual association with Wolsey, for Cromwell hed been in the Cardinal's service since 1514, It was he who had inplemented the suppression of the monasteries (an act which wes, incident- ally, authorized by papal bull) to provide for Wolsey's colleges and later continued faithfully to serve the interests of the disgraced Cardinal even after his banishment from court. But Taverner's prominent position--confirmed by two further letters of his, ané one by the Bishop of Dover, all addressed to Cromell--vas again short-lived. when Cromwell suffered the political reverses that culminated in his execution in 1540, Taverner's post was either vacated by him or dissolved entirely. Thus, beginning in 1541, Taverner's name appears in the register of the Guild of Corpus Christi as one of its two stewards. It is probable that he remained in this post until his death on October 25, 1545. At any rate, the register Moudor church Music, I, liv. The birth date, c. 1495, is based on the supposition that he was not likely to be older than his early thirties when called from Tattershall to Oxford in 1526, since he was contemplating marriage at that time,12 indicates his contimous stewardship through 1543, at which time the register itself is discontinued, Laver, in 1547, the Corpus Christi Guild itself was dissolved throughout ng- land. As to Taverner, however checkered his career, he was able to bequeath to his wife, tose, properties in and around Poston, where he died and was buried, Xose Taverner requested that at her death her "bodie to be buried in the parishe churche of saynt Botulphe in the sayd oston in the bell house next ay vl5 che pair were survived by two daughters. husbande. Whether John Taveraer died a Catholic or was in fact a Protestant is still open to question. We have no way of being certain that his involvement in the heresy matter at Oxford signified a permanent change of heart. Even his association with Thomas Cromwell is uot a warra: nt of Protestantism, since Cromvell himself died professing the Catholic faith, The as- sumption of Taverner's Protestantism is based largely on the circumstantial evidence of his replacement at Oxford over a year and @ half after the heresy trials were concluded. Even the famous footnote in Foxe's Book of Martyrs, as it was called, is open to question in view of the author's Protestant bias.!°® 15rpid., 1idi, Quoted from the Lincoln Probate Dean and Chapter Books, 1551-53, fo. 271s sistry, 1roxe, Loc. cit. The note reads: "This Taverner repented him very much that he had made songs to popish ditties, in the tine of his blindness."‘The composer's affiliation with a Guild of Corpus Christi in 1537 could possibly be interpreted as an indication that he had abandoned his strong Protestant sympathies.!? Even the assumption that Taverner completely withdrew from his musical profession because of a change in his religious beliefs is open to question. ‘The composer, perhaps tired of the uncomfortable Oxford Linelight, divining Henry's intentii with respect to Wolsey's colleges, may have returned gladly to obscurity for its own sake, in Boston. since he evidently had no misical appointment to any of Boston's churches (and such a famous misical name would probably have come to light in church archives, had he take a church post), we assume that he composed no more. Art for art's sake was not a concept indigenous to the sixteenth contury, Still, ve should not con- fuge confident assumption with absolute fact in che matter of Yaverner's abandonment of his profession. it is probably the portraic of John Taverner that ap- pears in those five of the six part books of the Mass, Gloria Wibi Trinitas, which have decorative initials. Uhe five ornamental initials are all reproduced as a frontispicee in Ty 1 church Music,!® and one of them is also reproduced in the Oxford see H. F. Westlake, The Parish Gild (London and New York, 1919), Cha Christi." f Medieval ingland Gilds of Corpus 18 a : ’ ‘Antony Wood, The History and Antiquities of the Colleges and es SLE See pp. 437-428 concerning Henry's intentions rezarding the colleges. 194 . Tudor Church Music, I14 Companion to Music.” 7 hey reveal a man of stern, almost grim, visage, with a stroug, prognathous jaw and eye of penetrating intensity, Looking at this portrait it is not difficult to imagine a man of thorough, almost relentless efficiency--whether converned with the business of practicing counterpoint and organ, or that of contributing to the martyrology of the Roman Catholic chureh. Among his contemporaries and near-contemporaries it is Likely that he was best remembered as "the good musician." Yet there must wlso have beea some who remembered him chiefly, and with pain and bitterness, as the ruthless ageut of an even nore ruthless Thomas Gromell. Still others may well have remombered him for his having bu d his fingers in the dange ous fires of Lutheranism; he may iudecd have been the first important English composer to embrace and remain in the Protes- taut belief. However these things may be, it remains rather curious that the one likely portrait of John Taverner renain- ing to the present day occurs in connection with that Mass from which was extracted the i ‘trumental In Nomine bearing such an important place in English musical history. to Music (9th ed.; London, en 1, facing p. 162. W®percy A. Scholes, Oxford Comp: New York, Toronto, 1955), pl. =CHAPTES II MINE AND ITS TWO PRINCIPAL SOURCES Arising cut of the economy of abundance that accompanied the accession of Henry VIII, England's first chamber music helped meet the growing demand for entertainment and diversion in the hone. Indeed, our very definition of chanber music, which azrces substantially with that of Ernest Neyer, implies hone use, for we understand the term to refer to any music created primarily for the enjoyzent of performers rather than a listening audience, and intended to be performed by a single player, or a limited number of players, to a part. In spite of an aura of nystery shrouding some aspects of the subject, certain observations can be made on the basis of facts available to us, To begin with, we present the In Nomine theme, which is really an antiphon for the second vespers of Trinity Sunday (Ex. 1). The Latin text of the antiphon fol- lows: "Gloria tibi Trinitas aequalis, una Deitas, et ante omvia saecula, et nunc et in perpetuum."* Our example shows the Sarum rather than the Roman form of the tune, because the English composers based their settings on the Sarum use and usually larnest “eyer, English Chamber Music (London, 1946), pp. 1-2. This hook provides an excellent background for the subject in ral. 2uGlory be to Thee, equal Trinity, one Godhead, before all tine, now and forever. 1s16 adhered rather strictly to the given cantus.’ The two versio: are very sinilar, however, Ex. 1, Antiphon, Gloria tibi Trinitas. 40 1s fo or Several authorities, as our preface explains, claim independent title to the discovery of the In domine's source. We will here review such essential facts of its origin as are olars. At that point where the words agreed upon by these + in nomine Domini occur in the Benedictus of john Taverner's Mass, Gloria tibi Trinitas, the antiphon melody of onr Example 1 appears in long-note, cantus-firmis style. Someone, perhaps Taverner himself (but more likely an admirer of this work), extracted this section of the four-voice Benedictus and con- Santiphonale Sarisburiense (London, 1901-1924), plate 286. of, The Liber Usualis (Tournai, 1934), p. 914,17 verted it into a textless motet for viols. Why this, like most of the succeeding compositions based on this same melody, was given the name of the Mass text rather than the title (i.e., a textual incipit) of the antiphon melody is not known, The matter is even more puzzling when we consider that the name of the antiphon was assigned as a title for the Mass as a whole. Occasionally, however, the title of the antiphon is used for a work based on this cantus firms, Especially is this true of keyboard works of the genre, a notable example be- ing a group of six settings by William Blitheman in The Mulliner Book.* Each of the pieces is separately entitled Gloria tibi Trinitas (though Lowinsky believes them to be a single cycle of variations for organ).° They are numbered among a total of ap- proximately thirty keyboard settings of the In Nomine which have come down to us in various manuscript collections, including The 6 Fitzwilliam Virginal Bool While some of these thirty pieces are but keyboard transcriptions of music for viols, others are thought to have been written specifically for keyboard media.” Some of these pieces are entitled Gloria tibi Trinitas, some, In Nomine, and occasionally the titles for a given example are 4the Mulliner Book, ed. Denis Stevens (London, 1951). SBdward Lowinsky, “English Organ Music of the Renaissance--II," usical Quarterly 39 (1953), 528-531. *the Fitgwilliam Virginal Book, ed. John A, Fuller-Neitland and W. Barclay Squire (Z-vols.3 New York, 1949), "Denis Stevens, The Mulliner Book A Commentary (London, 1952), Pe 26. — ~18 at variance in different SS. As compared with the keyboard versions just discussed there remains to us a rich legacy of about 140 examples of the form for string-instrument combinations. We shall treat selected examples of these pieces in this study, since it was through this medium that the transition to an idiomatic instrumental chanber style is believed to have evolved in England.® We shall first aay a word about the English cantus firmus practice per se. The use of liturgical cantus in instru- mental music of this period in England was common. Though the Gloria tibi Trinites seens especially favored, such other tunes as Aeternae rerun, Miserere mihi Domine, Dum transisset, 0 lux beata Trinitas, Christe qui lux, end Felix namque were also used in this way. The keyboard settings of plain-song cantus firmus tunes were probably actually used in the liturgy. It is believed that such wu nee of the cantus in a prominent explains the pri outer voice, where its meledic contours ean the more easily be discerned, in so many of these keyboard pieces.” Sgcnest H. Meyer, "The "In Nominet gud the Birth of Pelyphente Instrumental Style in ggland," gers 17, (1 28; "The In nemine was the connecting Ae eer Tras vocal motet and the Fantasia.” 9, Stevens e Mulliner , . . Comme: Pe 24: "It was only in the truly iieteglea, compoaitio ifone of aedtord and his con- temporaries chat the melody to be aud: id the best UeyPer*macing it s0'wes to place it inthe erebie or the faag.”1 As to the ensemble works, we are not so sure. One of the outstanding authorities on the In Nomine suggests both that they were played in churches at times,2° and that, "most pro- bably the instrumental In Nemine never had a place in the ser- vice." the guestion is moot, yet some liturgical connection, at least of an earlier tradition, is indicated. In British Museum Additional M3 31390 all of the settings of the Dum transisset sabbatum (including the four Tye examples) begin, like the Felix namque keyboard settings discussed earlier, on the note after the priest's intonation, It seems reasonable to postulate the use of these string pieces in both church and home, with the relatively inconspicuous inner placement of the cantus indicating a predominant house-music or chamber-music function. After all, this is not the only period in the history of music when forms and uses of the church found currency in the home, At least one authority has totally neglected the In iomine, while treating at length and in detail the similarly learned instrumental polyphonic ricerear that flourished in contemporary Italy.12 No doubt the ricercar held greater implica- > 104, yy ay . : A Meyer, Op. cit., p. (303) "We know that the earliest Innomines were also played in Ghurch, as some of the principal collections of Innomines were preserved in the old archives of the great churches and were composed by Shurch organists.” Dsenst Meyer, English chamber Music (London, 1946), p. 84. omer Ulrich, Chamber Music (New York, 1948).20 tions for the future history of chamber music, And yet the In Nomine deserves attention--if only because it parallels its Italian counterpart in that both types arise out of a certain speculative approach to music. One structural detail sets the two types markedly apart, however: the use of the relatively inviolable cantus firms in the English pieces. 13 Against the rhythmic thrust and drive of the other parts the cantus, to be sure, is usually submerged as a melody, Sut its connective influence as well as its harmonic regulative function, as Jacquot explains, nade it a potent influence in these works./4 By contrast, Continental ricercari, lacking this restrictive Ariadne thread, are harmonically nore free. References to the In Nomine in contemporaneous writings on music are conspicuously lacking. Although Morley mentions 13fy British Museum MS Add, 31390 the In Moning holds a special place among the many cantus firms pieces present {tysethe equal longznoce vouass oF he Ganeuss aed the fafre:, quency of such features as the filling-in of harmonic leaps) with which it is treated. 14 Musique instrumentals de 2a Zen ce, ed. Jean Jacquot cht 5) Pe ~ Jacquet writes of the Gloria tibi Trini- tas, ", . . nlavoir plus d'autre réle que d'imposer certaines armoniques au développement d'oeuvres qui sont fantaisies sur des s originaux." Freely e author's point is that these cantus melodies no other role than that of imposing certain harmon- ic conditions on the development of these works, which are, actually, fantasies on original subject21 the fantasia in general terms, he does not allude specifically to the In Nomine.2> Indeed, the first specific and somewhat detailed information about the form occurs in the oft~quoted section of Roger North's well-known work, written over a hundred years after the period with which we are primarily concerned. !® Rimbault, the editor of this book, explains that he has in his library a volume of In Nomines, formerly the property of the North and L’Kstrange families, From his description it is ap- parent that it was British Museum MS Additional 31390 which passed through the hands of both North and Rimbault before it came to reside in the British Museum?” North's description of the style of the In Nomine paints an accurate and not unsympathetic picture of these complex contrapuntal works. The author, hoy- ever, proceeds with almost indecent haste to assure the reader that he is sufficiently modern and sophisticated to perceive the weakn of the form, and he likens the homogeneous sound of the cece of viols to a “confused singing of birds in a grove." micansaMerleyy A FMD apt age dntpotugtion 52 Practical 1Sroger North, Memoirs of Music, ed. Edward Rimbault (London, 184e}s” This book was actually erieven about 1725" ypid., ps 69. 1s Thids 4 Pz 70, See alsot Roger North» The Musicsll Gramarian edv Afida Andrews (London, 1928), pps 4-10e ,22 North goes on to explain that the use of plain-song as a basis first arose out of church influences, but continued later as a result of "custome, rather than any authority."!? As to the ensembles’ origin and use as chamber music, we quote at length: + « » but the art was so farr advanced that divers would’ diseant upon plain-song extempore together, as Mr. Morley shews; and this exercise was performed not onely by voices and extempore, but whole con for instruments of four, five, and six parts, were solemnly composed, and with wonderful art and invention, whilest one of the parts (comonly the middle) bore onely the plain-song throtout .. . It [consort music] adapted to the use private familys, and societysy and for tha purpose bases were contrived to fill the parts . 6 + Although both Simpson?) and Mace”? mention the "fancy" and devote some brief attention to the subject of consort music in general, neither author specifically mentions the In Nomine. Mace, significantly, implies that the true consort of viols has already largely diseppeared from the English musical scene at the time of his writing, for he mentions (with a sigh still audible across the centuries) the "rare chest of viols" {under- scoring mine], and the change in taste which had relegated them 1°yonoirs, ps 67. 20rpid., pp. 67, 70-74. 21, Christopher Simpson, & ntroduction to Practic- al Music (London, 1732). The bool Va age pati pa ane Tn ees. 22thomas Mace, Musick's Monument (London, 1676).23 to obscurity. Burney, a strong partisan of vocal music, writes of "motets, madrigals, and in nomines, originally de- signed for voices . . . fantasie made expressly for instru- ments . . .""3 Hawkins briefly mentions the subject, referring to the remarks of Butler? and recording in two footnotes the avard by a Polish prince, of a prise to John Milton (father of the poet) for a forty-part (!) In Nomine of the latter's compo- 25 sition. The medium for which this early string ensemble music was written was the viol. A matched set or "chest" of these Anstruments consisted of two each of a bass, tenor, and treble.2° They were provided with six strings and a fretted fingerboard; the accordatura of each type is given in Example 2. Compared with the string instruments of the modern orchestra the viols were relatively flat-backed and round-shouldered in shape. Their tone was correspondingly softer and more nasal in character. 23, Charles Burney, A Gen History of Music, ed. Frank Mercer (Londen, 1938), fr, $8358, chart ler, ; paceer va thendon, ERE) Phas ples of Musik in Singing and 35 ohn Hawki Gi Science and Practice of muste fiondone cn ser, $f Se 26, See: Curt Sachs ory of Musical Instruments (New York, 1940), pp. seFSspee24 Ex, 2. Accordatura of Viols. Tredle Tenor ‘The sources forming the basis of this study represent the two largest repositories of In Nomines remaining to the present day, We shall discuss each of these two important collections in turn and in some detail, British Museum MS. Additional 31390 is generally be- Lieved to date from c. 1575-80. Its arrangement of parts is taken to indicate its probable use for table (i.e,, chamber) music in the home rather than for liturgical purposes (: Ex. 3), The dimensions of the original manuscript are eleven by sixteen inches. Its contents include 136 pieces of which 42, scattered throughout the book, are In Nomines, Predominant- ly the msic is in five parts, although pieces for four, six,25 seven, and, in one instance, twelve voices are to be found in it. There are three instances of pieces originally in four parts being provided with an added fifth voice in this source.” In general the music in this manuscript is reasonably legible, even though the microfilm machine of the Sibley Music Library repreduced the pages at only half their original size, The titles of the pieces and the names of their composers were, alnoi employed in the source include the treble, soprano, mezzo- in many c totally illegible, however. The clefs soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, and even the "French violin clef" (i.8., the G clef with g" falling on the bottom rather than the second line), A signature of one flat pre- domi na’ pear that it would have been very difficult for as many as six in the In Nomines of both sources. It does not ap- or seven musicians, gathered around a table, to read their respective parts from this book while yet having enough room to play their viols comfortably. We may add that this manu- script's titlepage gives cause for some speculation as to pre- cise performance practices, since it reads: "A book of In Nomines & other solfainge songs of v: vit vii: & viii: pts for voyces or instruments.” 27 ‘Stevens, The Mulliner . . . p. 29, gives four instane! Ph 3 but tne tise 2 oye - sons on f. (new) 52 is erroneous; the page in question does not contain any Parsons work, TI have been able to substantiate only the following: Taverner (f, 120), Tallis (f. 112), Johnson (f. 72). I am giving original folio numbers for these last.26 The ambiguity and error of the titlepage, which lists eight-voice music not present--at least in the folios (17-145) remaining to us--and fails to mention the twelve-voice piece that 18 present, corresponds to a certain inaccuracy and ap- parent ca: jsness marring the MS as a whole. Errors, in addition to wrong notes, includes the omission of beats (f. 84 A, medius, wm, 16-17, ¢-sharp through the following e''); the omission of rests (f. 84 B, bassus, m. 29); a mistaken identical repetition of five notes (f. 80 B, quintus, ma, 11- 12, beginning with the first f't and including the a in the following bar); rests of incorrect value (f, 112, bassus, m. 243 and quintus, m, 44)$ and finally, the mistaken use of the soprano instead of the treble clef across a page, which throws half of the quintus of an entire In Nomine a third off (f. 66, beginning with the last note of m. 27).7° Ex. 3. Piapegteiee of Parts, Carey as * In Nomine by Parsons, | @ ay = SB eg) ) | —alto- eter — | | S/* 13 a ——Bass clef — —Mezzo soprano — —_ lef 28ye are consistently employing the "old® or original fol: tion numbers since they are the only ones appearing on the27 To return briefly to the musical contents of this manuscript, we should mention that there are, in addition to the In Nomines, a number of settings of other plain-song tunes, including eight of the Dum transisset Sabbatum, and one each of the Misorere, 0 lux beata Trinitas, and Christus re- a9 Noble has pointed out that the compositions in this manuscript based on French chansons outnumber those of English and foreign motets combined.°° He goes on to collate a number of the: instrumental settings with the sources and dates of their original publication, by way of establishing 1578 as the probable date of the M3, Since this approximate date is sub- stantiated by a aumber of scholars, and is rather firmly fixed, we may assume the contents of this book to be fairly typical of the instrumental music current in England around the third quarter of the sixteenth century, The relatively high percent- age of instrumentalised French chansons in this source certain- ly indicates strong cultural affinities between England and her nearer Continental neighbors during this period in her history. cont.) ibley Library's film of the MS. Jeremy Noble gives a more Logical, but less convenient system in La Musique instrunentale, PR. . 29nese gther tunes can be found som pan in the Liber. | Usualis (19 > Ppe 775-7765 2665 n deen fb a8}, pe tee; bo Saran Abedshonal’ SLR. Noble, Op. cit., pp» 91-114,28 Certain modifications in the principles governing sixteeath-ceatury white notation should be considered in connection with this MS. The first of these is that either an upward or a downward tail at the left of the first note of a ligature makes the initial and following note both semi- brevess the one piece which makes use of this modification, and does so repeatedly, is on f, 118. The second departure from more conventional usage occurs very commonly throughout this sources an initial in descending position is a breve and not, as more general practice would dictate, a long (numerous examples of this ean be found in f. 46 a). 2+ : Finally, we call attention te the widely divergent degrees of complexity in the In Nomines of MS 31390, They vary from simple, straightforward piecos in fairly large note signature (f, 35 B), to values, and carrying the alle by complex examples involving superimposed meters throughout (duple against triples f. 92) and pieces involving diminution (D>) as well as coloration (f, 84 A), In the Oxford Bodleian MSS 212-216 we are dealing with @ set of five part-books containing 73 In Nomines, 24 in four parts, and 49 in five, grouped separately. (In addition there 3lop,, rules for 14, Polyphonic Music 90 atures in Willi Apel, The Notation o} 1600 (Ach edey Cambrides, E45). ppe 91-29 are a number of verse anthems.) The dimensions of the original part-hooks ave approximately eleven and one-eighth by seven inches; the Sibley Music Library's microfilm machine enlarges this to, roughly, one and one-thirty-second ef an inch to the original inch. The books bear no title other than the respective voice part of each; th are given, in order from the lowest part to the highest, ast hassus, tenor, contratenor, medius, quintus. (Within the quintus book the part is design- ated "superius" for each piece.) The naming of the parts just given results in the somewhat misleading designation of "medius” for the uppermost part of the four-voice pieces. The word, "probatum," oceurs at the bottom of a nunber of pieces, pre- sumably to indicate that these parts have been checked and found to be correct. In the main these books were very carefully prepared, and the incidence of error in them is appreciably less than that of the British Museum source. (Cases of notes appearing with only half of their correct value ogcurin the tenor of No. 24 among the four-voice pieces, mm. 39-40, and in the quintus of No. 32 of the five-part pieces, last note of m, 32 and the first of m. 33.) This source uses essentially the same clefs and notation- al system as M3 31390, except that the sembreves and smaller values tend to be of a round rather than a diamond shape, and30 ligatures are rare, Coloration is used, and there is at least one interesting instance of a warginal "explanation" of a passage to make clearer the values of the blackened notes (quintus, No, 32 of five-part Pieces, mm. 56-57). Since the latest composer of known date to be represented in Oxford Bodleian MS$ 212-216 is Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625), we may conclude that the source dates from around the turn of the century, probably no earlier than 1600, Its contents in- clude works by all the composers of In Nomines represented in MS 31390, except for "Malery® and Pleforth. (According to Meyer's catalogue the In Nonines of these two men cannot, in any event, be found elsevhere than in MS 31390.)°? The presence of examples by so many composers represented in the older source would indicate the sturdy durability as well as a certain musical excellence in the earliest exanples of the form. The existence of ensemble versions transcribed for key- board and lute, and of ensenble pieces furnished with added parts also apeaks well for the durability and adaptability of the In Nomine. The flexibility and sturdiness of the form would tend to reaffirm its importance in English musical history, and, at the same tie, its value as an area of further investigation. We should not close this chapter before paying a debt of 3yeyer, Die Mehrstinnige p x + + + Mitteleuropa (Kassel, 1934), pps das, 148.a gratitude to Mr, Jeremy Noble, without whose detailed listing of the titles and composers of the works in the British Museum source our task of identification (from the reduced microfilm) would have been almost impossible, °? S3xoble, Op. cit., pp. 97-107.CHAPTER III BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES ON TYE AND TALLIS Whenever the subject of English music of the Renaissance comes under discussion, the name of John Taverner will be joined by those of Christopher Tye and Thomas Tallis in the forefront of the ranks of the famous. Because of the importance of Tye and Tallis in relation both to our subject and to the over-all musical scene in England at this time, it is advisable to con- sider now and compare briefly the lives of the two men. Here, as with the subject of Taverner, there remain to us only a scant few bones of fact upon which to hang the meat of biography. Still, by combining facts and sifting circun- stantial evidence, we can arrive at some plausible conclusions about the lives of these two remaining members of the great English triumvirate of T's. The exact places and dates of both of these men lie obseured in the mists of history, Tradition generally places the year of Tye's birth at about 1500, and that of Tallis at about 1505.) The articles on the two men in Groye's Dictionary in f for the evermeny bot Biener faperts fyeres a choir boy at King's College, Cambridge, around 1497-1512 ("um 1497- 1512"). 3233 suggest Ely or Cambridge as the birth place of Tye (probably because he seems to have spent much of his youth in Cambridge, and most of the rest of his life at Ely),? and Leicestershire as the general region of Tallis's birth.? Although only the surname occurs in the records of King's College, Cambridge, for the years 1511 and 1512, it was probably Christopher Tye who served there as fifth choir boy in the third quarter of 1511, had risen to second choir boy a year later, and was serving as one of the singing men in 1527. He went on to earn a bachelor's degree from Cambridge University in 1536 and a doctorate there in 1545. Thomas Tallis, on the other hand, was probably a graduate of Oxford University. Although the identity in the case is not beyond question, a certain Thomas Talley is recorded as having received a bachelor of arts degree in 1528, and a master's degree in 1531, both from Oxford.4 Very probably it was the composer to whom these arts degrees were avarded.> It is not possible to fix the date of Tallis's appoint- ment at the Abbey of the Holy Cross at Waltham, but it seems 2oodfrey Arkwright and Jeffery Mark, "Christopher Tye," Grovete Dictionary of Musie and Masiel ans (Sth ed.3 London, 1548), > 624-627, 3zamund Fellowes, "Thomas Tallis," Ibid., VIII, 294-300. 4 Joseph Foster, gnlenges, 1500-1714 (Oxford and Lon- don, 4892), tee § hh e ted in: Nan Cooke Ricereeaney Garpenter, | vissle Ap, she Medieval ‘and Renaissance Universities (Norman, dk! ae, 1958. he Medieval fe Scarpenter, Op. cit., p. 163. The author explains that it was34 likely that he went there not long after leaving Oxford. In any event, he must have accrued some years of service by the time of the abbey's dissolution in 1546, for he had almost certainly risen to the post of the master of the choristers and/or organist. That he was in a position of leadership (or gave some other cause for special preferment) is adduced from his having received at the abbeyts dissolution a larger terminal salary payment and a larger gratuity than any other chapel member. Leaving Waltham, Tallis served for a time at Canter- bury, probably in 154] and 1542, where his name appears as a lay clerk.© His appointment to the chapel royal as early as 1542 suggests that he may have come under the royal scrutiny while still at Waltham. The position must have suited well the composer's temperament and character, for he retained 2 firm hold upon his chapel post despite tempetuous religious up- heavals under four Tudor monarchs--from the latter reign of Henry VIII through a score of years of the rule of Elizabeth. It 1s not surprising that the composer's epitaph should bear proud mention of his service to four sovereigns. (cont. ) not uncommon for a musician to take an arts degree rather than one in musics she names Hugh Ashton and Richard Edwards as cases in point. Spoth Waltham and Canterbury are near London, the former lying about ten miles north of that city, and the fatter about fifty niles east and south of it.35 Presumably Tallis’s starting salary was that of all gentlemen of the Tudors’ chapels seven and one-half pence per day, Later he received additional rewards. On November 27, 1557, Queen Mary leased jointly to Tallis and one Richard Bow- yer (then master of the children of the chapel royal) the manor of Minster in Thanet, for a period of twenty-one years, In 1559 the household expenses of Elisabeth include an entry, "Talys in bonis 40%." But the author of the article in The Dictionary of National Siography adds the doleful intelligence that all the musicians in the household were reported in arrears on the subsidy.” What was probably intended as another generous perquisite from Queen Elisabeth apparently came to nothing, On January 21, 1576, Tallis and William Byrd received a joint, twenty-one year monepoly on the printing of music and lined music paper. Hawkins quotes at length from the queen's patent, which includes a2 clause forbidding all others not enly to print msic, but also to import "out of any forren realmes into any our dominions any to sell 8 songe or songes made and printed in any forren countrii or put to sale, uppon paine ef our high displeasures. . . . On June 27, 1577, the two men petitioned Elizabeth for 7 Henry Davey, “Thomas Tallis," The Dictionary of National Bio- BAAD (heen Boast 1gO) ki eas SET OF Mattonal Bie ® john Hawking, AG: the Soienc actice of Music (London, 4 Seay > Piaget ‘456. The orig: ane srapeiee ‘on of his work was published in'l776,36 the lease of crowned lands to the value of £40 without fine, claiming that their printing license had already put them in debt net less than 200 marks (about £133). Their petition also mentioned that Tallis, now aged, held no other lands than the lease granted by Queen Mary (which was, incidentally, due to expire), and that this lease had not been renewed to Tallis's name. The queen's rexponse was moderately favorable, and the two composers were granted lands to the value of £30. Both history and art profited from the composers! financially barren partnership, hewever. The one product known to have come of the printing monopoly was the Cantiones Sacrae, published in 1575; it contained motets for five and more voices, sixteen of them by Tallis and eighteen by Byrd. In addition, prefatory material in the work preyides two important biographic- al items: a suggestion that Byrd had been Tallis's pupil, and an indication that the twe men wore at that time sharing the post of organist of the chapel royal. Beginning with Christopher Tye's appointment to Ely Cathedral, his career parallels, sometimes with astonishing closeness, that of Dr. Richard Cox (1500-1581), a prominent contemporary cleric. The association of the two men probably began in 1519, when Cox is known to have been at Cambridge; Tye was at the time probably still serving in the chapel of King's College.37 Undoubtedly Cox, during his Cambridge sojourn, rubbed el- bows with some of the same restless crew who later answered Wol- sey's call to Oxford and ultimately tainted Taverner and his colleagues, for the cleric received his B.A. from Cambridge in 1523-1524, Having completed the first stage of his academic training, Cox went to Oxford to begin his active career. He must have kept company with the dissident element there, for he was forced eventually to leave the university, when his Lutheran views became known. (Incidentally, in time these views became so widely known that early in 1559 Cox was among the prominent Protestants appointed to dispute with Roman divines at West- ninster.) On November 24, 1540, Gox was appointed archdeacon of Ely. Not long afterwards Tye was given a musical post there. At Michaelmas (September 29) of 1543 he appears to have drawn his first full year's salary of £10, In spite of his superior's ap- pointment to the tutoring staff of Prince Rdward in 1544, Tye seems to have remained for a time at Ely, for the treasurer's rolls of 1547 record the payment of his salary at Michaelmas, as usual. At this point we come upon a shadowy period in the life of the composer, for the rolls of Ely Cathderal between 1547 and 1559 are lost. During these same years Cox, the influent- ial friend, for a time rose the crest of fortune's wa high with the accession of the Protestant Edward VI under the beneficent eye of Protestant Protector Somerset (Edward Seymour). rising38 ‘The wave's trough was correspondingly deep, however; the ac- cession of Catholic Mary sav Cox accused, though not convicted, of complicity in Northumberland's plot (te deprive both Mary and dlisabeth of the succe: ments, and ultimately removed to discreet voluntary exile in the ion), deprived of all his prefer- free city of Frankfurt--where he could maintain his Protestant convictions and a comfortably unssorched epidermis as well, Only the light of a single fact shines to us through the gloom of Ely's lost rollss the publication in 1533 of a musical work composed and versified by Tye, and dedicated to the young monarch, Edward VI, The opus consisted of settings for four voices of the beginning verses of each of the first fourteen chapters of the book of Actss the scripture yas revritten in rhymed, metrical form by Tye himself.° The title of the work reads? The Actes of the Apostles, translated into Enll (sie) Metre, and dedigated 0 the kynges, nose excellent nafepere, by, Christopher in Mu one of en ste honoratle Chapsll, ynge and also to play upen the lute ary for studentes after theyr piadyay te tyle theyr wyttes, and also for all Christ dans that cannot synge, to read the good and dod yg storyes of the lyves of Christ hyx Apostles. 1553. Suenry Davey, English ate. (London, 1895), p. 142. ETT these pieces the rire the fourteenth chapter, at least, is a one. Although Davey T two Biblical verse: sevetos only of ver Tenoted int 2 oe, English Edition, ed. G. 8 P. Arkwright (London, 189: > 13.39 Judging by the sample of Chapter 14 of this work published by Hawkins, we can agree with the widely held assessment of these pieces as being musically worthy but poetically execrable.® The latter fact may have accounted for the apparent indifferonce with which the werk was received, as well as for the discontinu- ance of the project at the fourteenth chapter. A significant matter related to this publication lies in its being the only indication that has come down to us of Tye's membership in the chapel royal. Pulver suggests Tye's appointment may conceivably have been an honorary one.” It is Likely that Cox, with his influence, could have managed such an honor for his old friend. Indeed, some years earlier, not long after Cox was made chancellor of Oxford in 1547, he seems to have arranged that Tye, whese doctorate in music was from Cambridge (in 1545), be incorporated (officially recognized and privileged) at oxford in 1548, At this point we shall fecus our attention upon a play of the early seventeenth century by a certain Samuel Rowley (a. cs 1633). Ita title is When You See Ne You Know Me. In- cluded in the dramatis personae of this work a of both the young Prince Edward and Doctor Tye.!9 In this the characters SHawkins, Op. cit., I, 454-455. Spulver, Op. cit., p. 471. 10 Samuel Rowley, When You See Me. . ., ed. F. P. Wilson (Ox- ford, 1952), asa ,40 play Edward at one point addresses Tye as “our musick!s lecturer." The details of the plot reveal, true to the facts, Tye's dedication of The Actes of the Apostles to the Prince; and Edward, in response, tells Tye that he will have it sung "in my father's chapel.” Be it admitted that Rowley, like his older contemporary, Shakespeare, is not above playing fast-and-loose with facts-- Aneluding historical chronology--when it will serve his dramatic purpose, (In this play Cardinal Wolsey, the chief villain of the opus, is still alive--thirteen years too late--to connive against Catherine Parr after her marriage to Henry in 1543.) Yet Rowley reveals some understanding of Henry VIII's person- ality, and the author's strongly Protestant bias argues for a Lively interest in all matters relating to Edvard VI and his reign, In addition there is the interesting possibility that Rowley may have been the grandson of Tye hinselft?? From the title page of The Actes, with its reference to the lute (an instrument which Hdward VI played) we infer a close and personal relationship between Tye and the dedicatee. Further, Tye's reference to the recreational value of these pieces for the student may well be a reference to Edward hin- self, and implies the strong possibility of Tye's tutorage of lyenry Davey, "Christopher Tye," The Dictionary of National Biography (London, 1949-50), XIX,41 Edward in msic, For these and other reasons this writer is inelined to believe that Cox, who was for a tine senior tutor of Edward, had successfully exercised his influence once again on behalf of his old friend and brought Christopher Tye to join the tutorial staff, It is not impossible that Tye may even have tutored Elizabeth ia those days, for Dr. John Cheke, the prince's classics and mathematics tutor, sometimes conducted his le Ampthill, and afterwards at Hatfield.!? ons with the children together, both while they were at If indeed Tye did teach music to the young king, he joined the staff not sooner than the last months of 1547, and probably not later than 1550, for in that year Cox's own pedagogical service to Edward ended. The same indications of Tye's presence on the tutoring staff argue for the likelihood of his membership in the chapel royal, where he would have been in daily attendance upon his young charge. We strongly contend, therefore, that the composer's membership in the chapel was an active one, and not in honoris gauss. How long Tye remained in the chapel is, again, « moot question, Anthony Wood plates him there for some time, inter- preting Fuller's remark that Tye “was probably the organist" to read that “he was chief organist of Edward 6 and first organist of Elizabeth.""3 wood is likewise responsible for the oft-quoted 12str Clements R. Markham, King Edward YI (London, 1907), p. 6. aaereny Noble, "Christopher Tye," Grove's Dictionary, VIII,42 story about Elizabeth's message to Tye, objecting to the lat-~ ter's organ playing on the grounds that it wes "out of tune.” According to the anecdote, in which Tye is described as "a peevish and humorous man," the composer sent the verger back to the queen to inform her that it was her "3 that were out of tune.24 rt is somehow not difficult to imagine an irate teacher even today repreving thus a bumptious former student, queen or no. In spite of the disgrace and ultimate exile of his friend and benefactor, Tye could conceivably have remained in his post after the accession of Mary, quietlycarrying out his appointed tasks in the chapel. The seven pence half-penny per diem could well have kept him there in spite of his Protestant convictions, for he was probably a family man by this time. (There is sone evidence of » son, Peter, and two or three daughters, Mary, Ellen, and possibly Agnes.) On the other hand, the composer could logically have left the chapel in 1550, when Cox left the tutoring staff, or in 1553, when Bivard died and Catholic Nary mounted the throne. A curious document, dated May 23, 1559, has teen various- ly interpreted to imply both that Tye remained at Ely, and that he may have left Ely for a period of time, The decument in question consists of a deed drewn up by the dean and the chapter at Ely. According to this deed Tye, who is named as organist Mgcholes, Op. Shs 1 p16, Scholes guages the anecdote en- tire from’an unpi d manuscript of Qood’s, now in the Bod- leian Library.43 and choirmaster of Ely, is to receive a salary of £10 per annum, with the power of distraining on the Manor of Sutton as 2 kind of guarantee of his remuneration, The contents refer to @ "Donatio" and include the words, "pro diligenti servitio . , . hactenus impenso," with reference to the composer's service.!° Arkwright points to these Latin words as an indication that Tye, having served faithfully and uninter- ruptedly, was receiving a kind of promotion,1® He further suggests that the dean and the chapter, learning of the in- tended retirement of the msician, used this means to retain his services for a while longer,” Henry Davey, on the other hand, points to the fact that Tye vas already receiving the stated salary, and suggests that the deed in question may be one of formal reappointment after an absence.!® speculation Uarkwright and Mark, Op. git., VIII, 625. 16, ‘the Old 1r-19. Arkyright, the edfteref eh ein > thored the article in Grovets Heplonary: are in substantial agreement in their nterpretation of the facts of Tye's life. This volume, Tea ieiee o ‘iy still the most complete available biogray al source on fys, Moe, sit. ” ® weet” iced a abe Papen of | staviar eet ene 3 pages as it is reprinted in Vol. X of ine a Sd gaaheh on, supports Davey's view, suggesting thet ek, a finitely a deed of reappointment.aside, only new documentary evidence can conclusively clarify the thorny matter of the “if" and "when" of Tye's service in the chapel royal. The favorable tidings of Elisabeth's accession reached the continent, quickening the hopes of Richard Cox and calling hdm once again to his English destiny, The cleric's return to England once again affected, as we shall see, the career of his musical friend. Cox, first elected to the bishopric of Norwich late in june of 1559 was, by a sudden reversal of official action, elected instead to be Bishop ef Ely a month later. Al- though he had twice preached before Elisabeth's first parliament in its early days (the parliament began on January 25, 1559) he wrote a letter to the queen some time between his election to the See of Ely and his consecration (on December 21) that he could no longer minister to her in her chapel because of the lights and crucifix ther Doubtless the queen's moderation in religious matters was as offensive to his Protestant extremism aa it was to Catholic extremists on the other side, Not long after Cox thus turned his back on the court to devote himself to his ecclesiastical duties at Ely, Tye took religious orders, Bishop Cox ordained Tye a deacon in July of 1560, and a priest the following November, Tye, ia return, re- tired from his musical duties, probably around the middle of 1561, for in Michaelmas of that year he drew only half of his45 annual salary. A report made by Cox in late 1560 or early 1561 indicates that Tye was living on the property of his benefice at Doddington with his family, but without license, as yet, to preach, The composer received additional benefices aftervards, but resigned one (Wilbraham Parva) in 1567, and the other (Newton) in 1570, Evidently Tye's days were not without sorrow and dis- appointment. On several occasions he fell afoul of the laws governing the payment of fees and dues in connection with his livings, and there is other evidence that he was either not interested or not competent in business matters. Even Dodding- ton, his last remaining benefice, was ordered sequestered for non-payment of dues in 1570. But Tye appears to have retained At until his death two years later for his successor was not instituted until March of 1573, Added to these legal difficulties was the deeply disap- pointing conduct of his son, Peter, who forged his father's name to secure eccleniastical orders, and whose general conduct seens to have been more worthy of Tom Bakewell than of the son of so distinguished a father. Viewing the lives of Tallis and Tye in comparison, we cannot fail to remark the relative serenity and stability of the former.!9 Having achieved the honor of a post in the 19. o fh Mus (London, 1928), VI, xi-xxiv. This is the with? 3 on musts ‘ographical source on Tallis.46 chapel royal, Tallis evidently won the esteem of the successive severeigns, both Catholic and Protestant, whom he served, Evi- debtly he devoted himself exclusively to his musical duties, and so remained safe from the howling storms of suspicion and persecu- tion blown up by the treacherous Renaissance cross-winds of doctrine, Tye, on the other hand, perhaps because of his close association with the militant Protestant, Cox, appears at least in some measure to have shared the changing fortunes of his friend, Characteristically, while Tallis finished his years in apparently untroubled retirement in Greenwich, Tye was in legal difficulty only shortly before his death. In another respect they differed too, for, while Tye vas a family man, Tallis, married late in life, remained childl Whether the two men ever met we cannot be sure, but this writer's interpretation of the available facts certainly implies a personal acquaintance through the chapel royal. Additionally, it is quite possible that Tye, a famous man, might have visited the court even after his retirement to Doddington. Dr. Hayden V, White of the history department of the University of Rochester assures me that Tye's ecclesiastical duties would not necessarily have kept him tied to the premises of his livings.20 put let us drop this matter before we W®retter to the author, Rochester, New York, May 21, 1959,47 venture too far out upon the insubstantial sands of pure speculation, Having interpreted the available facts to the best of our ability, we are left with a simple and somewhat wistful "if"--if only the famous check book of the chapel royal had begun ten or fifteen years earlier than 1561...CHAPTER IV A BIOGRAPHICAL MISCELLANY We must confront now a seomingly haphazard collection of assorted biographical odds and endsy they concern the lesser-known early In Nomine writers lying within the scope of this study, The information available on these men varies considerably in detail and scope. Ironically, one of the most completely documented biographies in this group is that of a man (Alfonso Ferraboseo, the elder) who, though he lived for a time in England and exerted an influence on her music, was born in Bologna and spent the last ten years of his life on the European mainland, But, as with our previous biographical chapte: » we will concern ourselves not so much with biography for its own sake as for its possible relation to the history and development of the In Nomine, We shall begin by considering the life of Robert White (or Whyte), the most complete account of which is to be found, once again, in the Tudor Ghurgh Music collection.) Most of White's contemporaries, Merley included, and a number of later authorities including Burney, ranked him among the finest composers of the English Renaissance, Pulver avers that White "deserves consideration side by side with Tye, Tallis, and the Jqudor church Music, V, xi-xix. 4849 best of their Continental contemporaries." From the standpoint of our subject this man is important at least partly because of his connection with Tye, of whom he quite probably was a protege, and alnost certainly, later, a son-in-law. White's apparently lively interest in non-ecclesias- tical misic suggests Tye's influence. As evidence of White's somewhat secular musical avocation there remain to us, according to Meyer's count, at least five ensemble In Nomines,* in addition, the report by Davey and others of lute pieces from the pen of White also calls to mind Tye's setting of the Acts.* (Here, remember, was a collection in which Bible verses were set to lute accompaniments specifically “to recreate the mind.") Christopher Tye's early respect for Robert White may well have had academic grounds, for the younger man had, like his fathe -in-law-to-b: earned his academic degree (a bacca- laureate in music) at Cambridge. When the elderly master retired from his active musical career at Ely, it was Robert White who succeeded him. Since it often happesed then, as now, that a retiring master named his successor, it is altogether likely that such was the cage here. In this same connection it is 2pulver, Op. cits, Pe 486, risyer. Die mohrstimmige, . . Mitteleuropa (Kassel, 1934), p. ‘Dictionary of National Biography, XXI, 71-72.50 worthy of note that White, whose official capacity was designated as "master of the choristers," started at the same annual salary as his eminent predecessor had been earning throughout his tenure. In tine the evident musical link between the two men led to even closer bonds through the marriage of Robert White to Ellen Tye, That the woman, Ellen, was indeed a daughter of the great composer is strongly indicated by the fact that the care of the children born of this union reverted to Katherine Tye, the composer's widow, when both White and his wife were tragically carried off in the plague of 1574. White's possible service as chorus master at Chester for a few years after his resignation from Ely in 1566 is probably not so important to the In Nominets early history as his appointment in 1570 to the post of master of the choristers at Westminster Abbey, Serving in such a capacity in a cultural hub like London, stimulated by the proximity of the fine msic- ians of the chapel royal, even a gifted man would be inspired to excel himself, And his musical efforts, including those of a "house music” nature, would have more significant cultural implications for the country as a whole. Surely the interest of a man of the stature of White, ranked among the test composers of his time, added important impetus to the blossoming In Nomine ensemble movement, And conversely, it is a mark of the musicalSL significance of this amateur ensemble genre that it merited the serious attention of yet another excellent musician like Robert White. In conclusion, if we seem to have protested too vigor- ously White's importance in his time, it is only an effort to offset the effects of a too-facile alliterative oversimplifica- tion of English Renaissance musical history. However convenient the Tye-Taverner-Tallis formula may be as a mnemonic device, it fails far short of presenting an accurate historical and aesthetic perspective. We turn our attention now to another important composer of early In Nomines, six of which have come down to ust Robert Parsons, whe, like White, also suffered at the hands of history. Although this man is relatively unknown to us, authorities reckon him at least among the near-great of his art and era, Pulver's evaluation is that "he stands out a little below the best writers of his time."* The sane author maki specific mention of his "original effects of harmony."© charles Butler, the early seventeenth-century musician, mentions the In Nomines of Parsons along with those of Tye and Taverner as outstanding examples of the type.” We are impoverished indeed as to the facts of Parson's Spulver, Op. cit., pe 351. Sioc. cit. Tputler, Op. cit., ps 91.52 life; his birth date is not known and the facts of his biog- raphy are often confused with those of John Parsons, a later composer. Pulver names Exeter as Robert Parsons's place of birth, and authorities are agreed that he was sworn a gentle- man of the chapel royal in 1563.° His life was tragically cut off when he drowned at Newark-on-Trent on January 25, 1570, The following February 22, William Byrd was sworn in his place in the chapel. This is essentially all the biographical informa- tion available to us concerning Parsons. Yet we can assume with some confidence that he stands as yet another example of compos- ers who, in London's rich musical environment, came not only under the direct influence of his fellows in the chapel royal, but almost certainly under the indirect influence of the eminent Dr. Tye as well. Four In Nomines remain to us from the pen of Osbert Parsley, who was certainly among the most placid of all the sixteen-century English composers of whom we have any knowledge. An inscription on the north side of Norwich Cathedral attests that Parsley served there for fifty years as instructor of the choristers. He was known to Morley, who cites one of his pieces as an example of the technique of writing canon on a plain song.’ Jeffrey Mark in Grove's Dictionary mentions arrangements Spuiver, Op. elite, pe 351. A vorley, A Plain and Easy.» s, ps 177.53 for five viols of Parsley’s msic in the possession of the British Museum.2° Among the standard lexicons consulted, only Pulver's volume specifically mentions this man’s In Nomines.2? Parsley, who died in 1585, seems to have had no direct contact with London or the chapel reyal, Still, especially in view of the proximity of Norwich to both Ely and Doddington, it is altogether reasonable to assume that he, too, came under the influence of so illustrious a musician as Christopher Tye. Among the more prolific early In Nomine writers we mist List one of whom we know virtually nothing biographical. Among the lexicographers only the indefatigable Eitner even mentions this figure, and that merely to place him as a sixteenth-century Englishman and to credit him with the composition of a Browning and two In Nomines.!? Actually, we possess three In Nomines by this composer, Clement Woodcoke (or Woodcock, as his name is sometines spelled). We have included in this study a single existing Io Nomine from the pen ef each of two sixteenth-century composers: John Thorne and William Mundy, The former was famous for his Werove's Dictionary, VI, 567. Upuiver, Op. sit, p. 350. Wrovert Eitner, Blozraphiseh-b: higches Quellenlexikon eer und ehrten der os Heterecheene s zur Mitte des 19. rhunderts (10 vols.; Leipzig, TE59- ‘1904 > X» 300.skill in composing upon a plain song, and Morley mentions him in this connection,!3 He is known to have served at York Minster for some time, and West names him as organist there from 1550 to 1573.4 He died on December 7, 1573; very few of his compositions remain to us. Concerning William Mundy ve know that he served as vicar- choral of St. Paul's until his appointment to the chapel royal on February 21, 1563. He was replaced in the chapel in 1591, presumably by reason either of death or retirement. Pulver claims the existence of evidence in Mundy's music that he, Like Byrd, "remained . . . a Roman Catholic at heart," in spite of his appointment to the chapel under Elizabeth.?° Our final biographical task in the pr nt chapter concerns the very interesting Alfonso Ferrabosco, the elder. Of all the musicians who served England during this period in her history, and especially anong those who served the parsin- onious Elisabeth, Ferrabosco was certainly the most lavishly recompensed for his skills. Apparently even "Oriana," for all her intense nationalism, was not above regarding the Italian peninsula as the source of the richest of musical treasures. Uyorley, Op. cit., p. 177. 14john &. West, Cathedral Organists (London, 1921), p. 120. 1puiver, Op. eit., p. 338.55 Alfonso, the son of Domenico Ferrabosco, was born in Bologna early in 1543, but must have migrated at a rather early age to England, for already in 1564 he writes of his "long service" to the Queen, (Some exaggeration was involved here, however, since he was known to have been in the service of the Cardinal of Lothringen as late as 1559.) There is little doubt either as to his musical gifts or his prececity, for there is a reference to "Master Alfonso,” when he was still but a youth of nineteen. Also, to the detriment of our own view of his character, he began at an early age to manifest his unfortunate propensity to repay generosity and confidence with ingratitude and deception. June of 1564 found Master Alfonso in the service of Cardinal Farnese, complaining in letters of his patron's re- luctance to re’ him that he might return to £ngland, Craft- Aly, Ferrabosco escaped the clutehes of Farnese by pretending tha he was returning only to his native Bologna. He made his way to England instead; there are knglish letters by Alfonso, beginning as early as October of 1564, excusing his failures of 16 attendance at court for reasons of illn 16, g. P. Arkwright Noves, on che Ferrabosco Fanily," The TH (1911-1912), 28, and IV (1$12- > Ad ree oe stievnat’ Lin the Ferrabosco Family,” The An Iv (1912-1913), fa1-141. Both of these Sources have a vealth of information, although there is some difference as to the interpretation of the facts.36 In other letters of the same period, addressed to Leic- ester and others, Ferrabosco complained of deprivations suffered because of hie illegel departure from Italy, The composer claimed that the Inquisition had confiscated property bequeathed to him by his father because Alfonse had left Bologna without the legally required travel license. Quite probably this is another instance of Ferrabosco's dealing cavalierly with the truth, since his father, in fact, remained alive for some years beyond the date of the episode in question. On September 10, 1567, Ferrabosco was granted a pension by Queen Elizabeth, to remain in effect as long as the composer stayed in her service. Typically, his response to such gener- osity was a request that the wording of the patent be altered so as to guarantee him his pension even in the event of her death. It was probably this piece of effrontery, as well as other matters, including the suspicion of Ferrabosco'’s having murdered a certain young Italian musician of Sir Philip Sidney, that brought him under a cloud in the latter part of the same year. Fortune, however, soon turned again to Alfonso's ad- vantage, He was absolved of complicity in the murder and, early in 1569, awarded a generous annual pension of £100, guaranteed (even as he had so brashly and tactlessly requested) during the life of the Queen and “heredibus et successoribus387 Bi J nostris.""” Let us pause a moment here to compare these lavish terms, settled upon this foreigner, with the modest annuities of the English cathedral musicians--Taverner's £15, Tye's and White's &10--or the approximate bll paid to such English gentle- men of the chapel royal as Tallis, Parsons, and Byrd. Even in Blisabethan England, evidently, the native musician vas, at least relatively speaking, not without honor save in his own land. It seems that in spite of Elizabeth's magnanimous action Ferrabosco was even at the time plotting to deal further in duplicity. He wangled permission to return to Italy in order to settle his affeirss then, after leaving England, he produced a series of excuses for remaining on the Continent. May of 1572 found him still on the European mainland, in France. It was probably at some time during this long sojourn that he took unto himself a Dutch wife of the city of Antwerp. Mean- while two bastard children languished in the environs of Green- wich, where Ferrabo: had made his English hom (One of these, Alfonso, junior, was to pursue a distinguished musical career of his own in England.) By June of 1572 Alfonso returned to England, for at that time he appeared in a masque presented before the queen and the French ambassador. For some years thereafter he was 17quoted in G. E. P. Arkwright, "Ferrabosco," Grovets Diction- ary, III, 66.content to remain in the country of his adoption, Ya 1578 we find Ferrabosco once again embarking for Continental shores, It is possible in this instance that the official reason for his departure was to carry out a commission in the secret service of Queen Blisabeth, (Indeed, it is even possible that he may have been engaged in espionage activities as far back as bis days with Farnese in 1564.) A letter from the papal nuncio in Paris to the papal secretary of state warns of the musiciants dangerous character, claiming that Ferrabosco was only affecting a grudge against Elisabeth to further his comploteing ends, After leaving England he dined, on one oc- cation, with an English ambassador and received a gift from the Queen of 8000 crowns (42000); however, he afterwards still pro- fessed to be tired of her service, desiring only to return to Italy to live as a good Catholic and a Christian. Yet there is a suspicious mmificence in the Queen's largesse; it certainly suggests at least the possibility that Ferrabosco served England in more than purely musical capaciti Evidently Ferrab: complished duplicity, cultivated in Elisabeth’ © new turned his weapons of ac- service, against a good deal less temporary than Ferrabosco had declared, or Elizabeth the Queen herself; it seems the musician's absence w expected, There is evidence of her efforts to arrange that he be returned to England; fruitless negotiations to this end were59 carried through English enissaries even as far as the ears of the French queen mother, Queen Elizabeth, however, was not a wonan to be crossed with impunity} the proud monarch was able at a later date to recompense Ferrabosco for his faithlessuess. When a request came from the musician that his English progeny be allowed to join their repatriated father, the request was refused. Whatever may have been Glisabeth's real reason for al- lowing Ferraboseo to depart from England, she had lost irretriev- ably the services of her misician-spy. Far from returning to Albion's shores, he broke the terms of his indenture and went into service in Turin for the Duke ef Savoy, presumably remaining at this post until his death in 1588, And evidently he realized his expressed wish to live out his years in the Catholic faith, for his remains were interred in the convent of San Francisco in the city of his birth, Bologna, The In Nomines of Ferrabosco, who seems to have possessed a natural inclination toward compositions on a plain song cantus firmus, were almost certainly written before his final depart- ure from England in 1578.2 The available information suggests a possibility that it was through William Byrd, who himself there is a record of a friendly competition between the It- alian and the great William Syrd in which each composer made forty different settings of the serers. The resulting collection, called Medulla Musica, has unfortunately been lost to us.wrote at least seven In Nomines, that Ferrabosco's interest in the form may have been aroused, While direct contact bet~ ween the Italian and Tye may not seem very likely, the misic of the most prolific In Nomine compeser may well have been readily available to exert its influence both on Byrd and Ferrabosco. Thus we conclude our probe of biographical miscellany. The effort has at least pointed up some pertinent information of the about a second generation of sixteenth-century write In Nomine. There can be little doubt that the genre had estab- lished itself as a kind of test piece before the English musical careers of White and Ferrabosco hed ended. Further, it appears increasingly clear that the pioneer work had been accomplished earlier, and that, through the conbined circumstances of chronolo- gy, geography, and the sheer bulk of his In Nomines, Christopher Tye was the man largely responsible for the pioneering. We can assert with some confidence that not a single one of the conpos- ers discussed in this chapter is likely to have escaped the long musical shadow of the mighty composer of Cambridge, ily, and the chapel royal.CHAPTER Y THE IN NOMINES OF CHRISTOPHER TYE It would certainly be an advantage if we could consider the In Nomines, especially those of Christopher Tye, according to some reasonably well-defined and specific chronological se- quence, Lacking such information as would make this possible, we are nevertheless able to group many of th Pieces at least in terms of an earlier or later period of composition. Even this task is not without its difficulei however, and certain spectres of doubt will surely remain to haunt the pages of some of our more tentative conclusions, Basically, we have relied upon rhythmic and metrical criteria for separating the earlier from the later works. Even a fairly brief examination of the nineteen Tye pieces transcribed in our second volume will demonstrate the increasing metrical and rhythmic sophistication ef th: Placed toward the end of their grouping. To a considerable extent such sophistication coincides with what may be regarded as an inereasingly instrumentalized conception in the later works, Such other considerations as governed our classification will be discussed as we deal with the individual In Nomines in turn, Before proceeding with the analysis itself, we should euphasize that we do not claim rhythmic and metrical complexity 6162 to be in all cases incontrovertible evidence of a more mature and therefore later musical style. At the same time, since this element in the In Nomines seems to accompany and be a part of the new, instrumental, chamber-music idiem, we cannot fail to assume a direct relation between chronology and complexity of style in this instance. Indeed, the creation of some of the more complicated models from the pen of Tye is unthinkable un- less we predicate the earlier completion of a number of pieces less involved in the mysteries of proportion, micro-rhythm, and the double tactus. The first Tye In Nemine in cur second volume presents some features which link it stylistically to its successors and others which set it quite apart. It 1s singular in being the only extant four-veice setting to come from the pen of its couposer.! Further, and this is most unusual, the cantus firmus here 1i among Tye's In Nomines, Adding to the special interest of this upper part is the fact that st times it lies a full two octaves in the top-most voice, again the only such instance n general it appears that the aixteenth-century composers Aol the thinner four-voice texture less preferable than that of five or more vol agtiue te thls preference may lie 1a the following quotati: tish scribe in British Museum MS. Add. 339531 "In Komine tal parts upon the plaine song and verray weill set." The piece referred to actually had. four parts, including the cantu: (The quotation, from f. 73 0: ¥S., can be found int Denis Stevens, Mulliner . p. 28.) Perhaps "iii parts* came to sound simply too tl63 above the moving lower voices; this alone would tend to identify the piece as an early, experimental venture. How much more, then, is our hypothesis warranted when we observe how clumsily the cantus leaps downward an octave--obviously for reasons of range--keeping this lower course for only seven breves before returning precipitously to its former diszy heights (see mm. 20-28 of our transeription).? While Tye frequently takes his treble viols up to at, in this one piece he exceeds this customary treble range by a minor third in the medius (uppermost) part (m. 13), again con- firming the tentative nature of this example. We infer further from the singularity of this instance that it was the result of @ mental lapse occasioned by Tyets unfamiliarity with the genre or the medium, or beth, Further confirming the amateur status of this piece is the fact that the seven-note passage in octave transposition (cited above) circumvents a need for carrying the cantus up to d't', a perfect fourth above the customary range of the treble viol. This too suggests a lapse, since the avoided note is only a major second higher than the c'!* al- ready required from the same instrument.> 2ye shall consistently refer to the music in terms of note values in the original sources; the reader must bear in mind that we have halved these values both in our transcriptions and cur musical exanpl Sthe evaded note would actually have been even easier than the git to age had the viol po: ed the octave fret recom- mended by Istopher Simpson in The Division Viol (2nd ede} London, 4667) pods64 In certain specific, important ways our first specimen shares a number of traits common among the In Nomines of Tyo. First, this piece, like several other examples by the composer, is monothematic, i.e., based upon a single point.* More impor- tant, especially in their instrumental implications, are the melodic leap of a tenth after only a minim rest in m, 11 of the bassus, and the uninterrupted ascending major seventh in m, 36 of the same part, The melodic interval of an ascending major ninth, with only a minim rest between, in mm, 23 and 24 of the tonor is also striking, as is the melodic diminished fourth between um, 27 and 28 of the same voice, Another noteworthy feature is the “long” suspension with ornamental resolution, quintus, mm, 41-42. No doubt Renaissance composers were aware of the tremendous advantage of interval and pitch accuracy furnished by the presence of frets on the fingerboard of the viol; this certainly accounts at least partly for the melodic freedom already exhibited in this early work. Similar considerations may also account in part for the not uncommon employment of the diminished triad in first inversion, This sonority appears in the resolution of the suspension figure in m. 165 interestingly enough, the fifth 4ye shall hereafter use the word "point® to refer simply to the themelike, contrapuntal points of imitation that are such an important structural feature of these works.65 of the chord is doubled in this instance. (We are quite self- conscious about grafting an eighteenth-century concept--"chord" --upon sixteenth-century msic, but will continue to do so for the seke of brevity.) Another interesting sonority arises out of a simultaneous cross-relation between the two upper voices of m. 42. Finally, we are obliged to call attention to the fore- shortening of the cantus firmus in this example; the device is one which characterizes by far the greater nunber of the composer's In Nomines, In fact, it is notably present in all but five of thems our numbers III, VI, VIII, X, and XXI. Among the rly composers in this form Tye seems to have been unique in the extent to which and the frequency with which he abbrev- dated the melody. In the present example he omits two of the four g's just preceding the upward minor third leap to the c (the omission of at least one of these a's is common with him), and, more importantly, the thirty-fifth through the forty- fourth notes; the last eleven notes of the cantus are retained, although some of them are melodically embroidered. We shall close our discussion of our first Tye In Nomine by comparing it briefly with the Taverner model at the beginning of our second velume. The Taverner work, which serves as an interesting point of reference and comparison for all of the early In Nomines, certainly shows an essentially66 vocal character. Only in the added part (the tenor, placed immediately above the bassus) are there any hints of instru- mental intentions, as in m, 44, for example.” If, as seems pl model for old Dr. Tye, the melodic boldness (especially in the ble, it was this one Taverner piece that furnished the tenor and bass) of Tye’s music is certainly noteworthy. While the one work exemplifies a mere transcription for viols (with an added part) of vocal music, the other is already well on its way to an independent status as instrumental chamber music. The second Tye example, subtitled in MS 31390 "Weepe no more Rachel," is constructed along much the same lines as its predecessor; the Jn Nomine cantus, however, has already assumed its customary station among Tye's medels--in the medius or second voice of the texture, As with the first specimen, the appearance of a succession of semiminims in one part is general- ly accompanied in other voices by minims or notes of yet larger value, The same melodic freedom marking the first example is also exhibited here, notably in mm, 11 end 16 in the bassus and between mm, 7 and 8 in the quintus. A certain element of clumsiness reveals itself here, through the presence of unprepared six-four aonorities in mn, 29 and 41, More significant than these trifling oversights, however, is the over-all organization of the work. It could Sphis same added tenor part causes an unprepared six-four chord at the beginning of m. 46.67 be analyzed as having four distinct points of imitation (a marked contrast to its predecessor), Yet all of the points, with the exception of the one in dotted notes appearing first in the tenor of m, 31, are rhythmically related, being char- acterized by three minims beginning on an arsis. Especially significant is the second point, beginning in the bassus of m. 233 these three repeated notes on the same pitch will be se again in Tye's music. The major-seventh leap occurring at the beginning of m, 29 in the quintus is especially interesting. It reveals the comp rts effort to get a moving voice back above the cantus firmus, from whence it had gradually descended. kvident- ly it was Tye's intention here to avoid the domination of the texture by a too-prominent cantus in the uppermost voice. Also present in mm, 29 and 30 is a very interesting treatment of the suspension between ba: and soprano, We see here a curious ornament embellishing the suspension which we shall henceforth refer to as an interrupted suspension, It will recur in Tye’s ‘Ip Nomines and can also be found in the sacred music of both Taverner and Tye} the device does not appear in the Taverner In Nomine, hovever. For convenience we present an example re- duced to the essential quintus and bessus voices, Ex. 4. We may note in passing that this same kind of figure somtines appears in the texture without dissonantal significance.68 - 4. Tye, II, mm. 29-30, Interrupted Suspension. oe Mey The third In Nomine from the pen of Tye is unique in being the only extant six-voiced speciwen by its composer. It was evidently written for two bass viols and four trebles. in formal organisation it is somewhat similar to its predeces- sor, for the first point returns in modified form after the first digression, It returns again a second time after another digression; here it is still more modified, but yet bears a distinct relationship to its progenitor. A technique that adds additional structural strength to this piece consists in loosely relating the two digressive points. Again, the re- lationship is primarily a rhythmic one, consisting of three or more sinims, the first oceurring on the arsis after a minim rest. There is a melodic difference, however, for the first digri ive point begins (like the B point of No. II) with the three minims on the same pitch level. The second digressing point employs a line characterized by leaps rather than repetitions.69 Bar 24 of this example contains the interrupted suspen- sion figure again, this time between the second treble and the first bass. We call attention to what appears as a deliberate simultaneous cross-relation between the outer voices in m. 42. Finally, this piece, perhaps because the composer was here ex- ploring a six-voiced instrumental texture for the first time, eschews leaps which are extremely wide or are otherwise erratic. And while there is very little simultaneous movement in short notes in two or more parts, because this In Nomine appears to have a more tightly-knit structure than its predecessors ve are inclined to classify it as the third piece in the series. Our fourth example is monothematic in character, which is to say that it really is based entirely upon one point of imitation, Interestingly, Tys is here experimenting throughout his work with the three-note rhythmic motive beginning on the arsis after a minim rest. We have seen this figure already twice before as a second or subsidiary feature in the organiza- tion of polythematic specimens. : Worthy of note in this piece is an instance of semi- minim movement in tenths in two voices simultaneously; the example is in m ‘20, between the tenor and quintus. On the second half of the first tactus of m. 36 occurs an interesting sonority presenting the simultaneous clash of a major and a minor second, involving the contra-tenor and bassus against the sustained note in the medius (cantus firmus), In the70 contra-tenor of the example just cited the offending g is doubtl tone in spite of its being introduced after a minim rest. regarded by the composer as an unaccented passing (Incidentally, the rest here is a rather patent device for avoiding parallel octaves between medius and contra-tenor.) A two-three suspension in m, 30 {s worth mentioning because of a comparative infrequency of this device up to this point. The subtitle of this specimen readst "Farewell my good 1. for ever.” The fifth In Nomine, subtitled "Rachels weepinge," is based on two motives, the first of which, starting again on an arsis and consisting of three or occasionally two beginning minims, outlines minor triads on g and d. Simple and compound two-three suspensions are rather frequent here. An unmistakable simultaneous cross-relation between medius and quintus in m, 6 is very interesting. The four-note point that furnishes variety here is a scale pattern that contrasts well with the opening chordal motive. It is first introduced in m, 41, quintus, on a thetic pul: We also call attention to the consonant fourth formed by the crossed voices of tenor and bassus; the consonant fourth, incidentally, is hardly @ stranger to these piece In Nomine No. VI has, like its predecessor, two con- one is scalar and involves a three-quarter trasting point: note figure, while the other involves disjunct movement in equal minims, More interesting by far, however, is an ap- parently new concept of freedom in instrumental writing,71 particularly as regards vertical sonority. In four instances the quintus moves boldly to a long, syncopated semibreve in- volving the interval of the minor seventh with other upper voices} in one of these cases (m. 27 of our transcription) this interval occurs simltaneously in relation to both tenor which have g's at the time the syncope, f, is first of the may have regarded the interval as a kind of and bassu: sounded, This relatively free u: renth suggests that Tye, at any rat quasi-consonance, Similar, slightly modified examples of this that already cited: mm. 17, 42, and 48, We shall have more to say about device occur in the following locations besid this later on. This piece also contains three instances (all involving the quintus) of the interrupted suspension of our Ex. 4. Two of these suspensions are nine-eight's, and the other is a seven-six, Of interest in connection with these is the fact that in each case the suspension dissonance occurs on the usual thetic pulse and is resolved on the customary arsis. This practice is subject to some modification in later works. We call attention to the parallel octaves between contra-tenor and quintus in m. 51. We have occasion here to justify an edition practice in our application of musiea ficta. A careful examination of mm, 37-49 may clarify our application of a natural-sign to the second note in the contra-tenor of m. 38. Basically, the72 consideration bearing most heavily on this issue is the direction of the melodic line, Since the note which succeeds the questionable f* of the contratenor is the d's below, the melodic diminished octave resulting earlier in the bar is more in keeping with the style of this genre than a chromatic inflection away from the subsequent note would be. Had we ap- plied the sharp to this doubtful upper tone, the result would be a chromatic "leading" tone that did not "lead." The presence of the long f° of the medius in m, 39 tends to con- firm the rectitude of our position. Additionally, the augmented triad specifically called for on the lest fourth of m, 38, the melodic diminished fourth of the quintus (f'' to c#''), and the imitation of the identical f-d-f figure beginning in the bassus of conclude our discussion of this In Nomine (subtitled “Blameles") we call attention to the briefly interrupted melodic ascending 38 all tend to buttress our position, To minor seventh of m. 43 of the contra-tenor. wenth In Nomine, "My death," is once again based upon the figure of three repeated notes of the same pitch, start- The ing on the arsis. The fourth note generelly descends by a tone or semitone and may be of longer or shorter value than its predecessory occasionally it too is a minim, however, There is only one briefly exploited contrasting point (involving a three-quarter note scalar figure) that first clearly appears in the bassus of m. 27; lacking this ene episode, the work73 would be monothematic, like No, IV, which it so closely resembles. MM. 37-38 instance once again (here between tenor and bassus) the interrupted suspension, this time over a change of ba The change of bass is quite commonly used in connection with this figure, and we are likely to find the interrupted suspension followed in chain by a conventional suspension-resolution figure, as we do here, In this piece we encounter again the minor seventh clash in upper voices. Actually, this figure can by uow be dignified with a labels calculated from the bass, it can be analysed simply as an idiomatic Tye use of the six-five sonority, Peculiar to Tye is the way in which the doubled sixth above the bass proceeds to the fifth in syncope, The dissonance of the syncope figure is then strengthened on the second half of the tactus by mov- ing the bass into a suspension relationship with the syncope. A musical illustration from m, 39 is pertinent here (Ex. 5). Ex. 5. Tye, VII, m, 35, Tye’s Six-five Use.74 In m, 40 we justify our application of the flat in the bassus by virtue of the preceding B-flat; see m. 20, quintus, where an exactly parallel situation arises. Also of interest in m. 40 is the cros: elationship in the same octave between the b and b-flat. In m, 29 an erroneous b-flat in the contra- tenor, last half of the bar, was changed to ah a. Finally, mm. 27 and 28 are worthy of special attention. We regard the basic sonority at the beginning of m, 28 as an open fifth: xb-r.6 this being the case, note the simultaneous rising and descending passing tones on the strong beat in the contre- tenor and bassus, respectively. We justify the transient ap- pearance of a root position diminished triad on the last quarter of this bar because the same figure that here forms the two-three suspension occurs elsewhere with an g-natural defin- itely indicated by the suspension context: see mm. 20, 30, and 35, tenor, and mm, 14 and 32, quintus, And here once again the note following the questionable tone has contributed to our edition of the parts. The eighth In Nomine lacks any subtitle; its motivic material is divided into three distinct points, the first of which reappears at the end of the piece in slightly altered form. The interrupted suspension oceurs in the quintus of Snecause of the f' in the quintus repeated from the preceding bar.75 mm, 11-12, 26-27, and 55, and in the tenor of mm, 15-16, In every instance except that occurring in the penultimate meas- ure the interrupted suspension is linked with another suspension (conventionally treated) immediately following. We illustrate the bassus snd quintus of mm, 26-27 (Ex. 6). Ex. 6. Tye, VIII, mm, 26-27, Interrupted Suspension in Link, tees ttn Finally, we have in this piece the quasi-consonant seventh occurring in syncope against a stationary bass; the device deserves illustration in full (Bx. 7). We present in illustration the suspension, its resolution, and the internal cadence of the following bar. We still find the free employ- ment of unusual meledie intervals like the ascending leap of @ major ninth, contra-tenor, m, 49.76 Ex. 7. Tye, VIII, mm. 46-47, Quasi-consonant Seventh, {ob Our next example, No. IX, represents a significant new treatment of the In Noming form. The piece is divided metric- ally into two parts, the first in the more commonplace duple alla breve meter with its simple background, and the second in a far less usual compound (triple) background. In the duple section Tye apparently develops his points in much his old way. But there are some features of special interest even here, Among them is the significant appearance of a short mn omm. 7 and suspension resolution. Note how the b-flat betw 8 passes to a semiminim a, consonant with the bass, but clash- ing with the sustained g of the contra-tenor. The suspensive note here never does receive conventional resolution treatment;7 the brief a carries the melody on down into luxuriant sixths with the ornamental long suspension formed by the medius. We present the passage (Ex. 8). Ex. 8 Tye, IX, m, 7-8, Short Suspension Resolution, Important too is the presence of the cantus firmus in the contra-tenor rather than the medius. The dislocation of the cantus in this case makes way for a kind of dialogue between the two topmost viols, a dialogue which, in the extent to which it is developed, is both significant and arresting. The sophistication of Tye's technique here is well illustrated78 in mm, 7-103 contrast the medius of mm. 7 and 8 and its re~ lation to the bassus with the quintus of the next two bars in its relation to the bass. We are a long way from an ap- prentice hand here} There are three points of imitation discernable in the duple section of this piece (which is, incidentally, subtitled *Rounde"), When however, the only thing resembling a unifying point is a six- arrive at the section in triple background, note figure in equal semiminins, sometimes scalar, sometimes in thirds or fourths, The In Nomine melody proceeds in breves and is unchanged in ite appearance during the section in triple meter, The voices moving in smaller note values in this section mibre’ employ blackened here as in other cases} since this practice is followed so consistently in th triple sections we note it here, rather than by means of the customary open brackets. Instances occur of the interrupted suspension (m. 14, medias, for example), And we shall close our discussion of this piece by calling special attention to the chromaticism of the medius, m, 38, and the hemiola in the bassus, mm, 37- 40. These two features tend emphatically to reinforce the con- clusion that we are dealing here with the music of a man who was both practiced and assured in his compositional techniques by the time he essayed this "Rounde,” Our next specimen, subtitled "Follow me," is one ofcl our hauntingly doubtful pieces, and is assigned its number on the basis of considerations that do not spring immediately to the attention, The most important of these is the interesting manner in which the dotted minim is used in combination in various voices to keep a semiminim background in evidence for measures st atime. We note that this is accomplished largely through the superposition of dotted-nete figures, There is also a rather advanced form of the six-five sonority in m. 10, where the quintus leaps up to join the fifth; this entire meas- ure is a colorful one, Mm. 29 and 30 of our transcription will reveal a most interesting complex of sonorities, with striking non-harmonic material; the texture here contains closely spaced cross re- ations and a "long" suspension with an ornamental resolution, We illustrate the superimposed dotted-note figure (Ex. 9). Our eleventh specimen, "Free from All," poses some very difficult problems, but presents some extremely interesting answers to other problems by way of compensation. The chief difficulty arises in connection with musica ficta application, as in ma, 28-30, Because of the g-sharp on the last quarter of the medius, m. 28, the editor felt the addition of the natural sign over the tenor to be necessary. Perhaps we are being too conservative in assuming that a root position arrange- ment of the tones of the later French sixth was too tense dissonance to be permitted he: nevertheless the diminished80 sound above the bass (a rarity) plus an augmented sixth above it to add to the irregularity--all this seemed too extreme to be in the style. Ex. 9. Tye, X, mm, 31-34, Superimposed Dotted Patterns. | Laps. Ed = Further jor questions arise concerning the application of musica ficta in relation to the first point--which can here be called a "theme" without doing violence to that concept. We note that the chromatic inflection is carefully specified and then cancelled in the first appearance of the point that forms81 the basis for this piece. At the second entrance (in the contra-tenor) the cancellation is omitted, though the original chromatic is retained. Because of context ve have here, and in subsequent appearances of this same phenomenon, retained the cancellation, At the sixth entrance, quintus, m. 11, the chromatic itself is omitted. This we feel to be a deliberate omission, intended to give added interest and variety to the work. In general, and with the exception of the point of cancellation eccurring after the chromatic just discussed, a rather close adherence to the alterations given in the MS. sees to be called for. Ultimately, application of chromaticiem large- ly as specified in the MS. produces a work the most interesting aspect of which is the variety achieved by the juxtaposition of major and minor sonorities and inflected versus uninflected meledie tones in the subject. Of considerable harmonic interest here is the fact that the context of the music, even in instances where no edit- ing was required or even possible, specifically called for the @ugmented fifth; mm. 7 and 9, quintus and contra-tenor, respect- in point, While on the subject of harmonic ent mm, 24-25, which certainly merit il- tvely, are ca: content, we will pri lustration as well contemplation, Perhaps the "Free from All" refers to the bold overthrew of conventional sixteenth- century concepts of consonance and dissonance (Ex. 10).82 ix. 10, Tye, 11, mm, 24-25, Uaprepared Dissonance. as +f In conclusion we call attention to two additional significant features, The first of these is the considerable of movement in running semiminims in two voices simultancous- ly. This piece certainly exhibits this technique to a gr degree than any of those previously analysed. The second curiously bold stroke involves the mest unusual approach to the interrupted ren-six suspension of mm, 43-44 on a short syncope, As we leave this work we call attention to the parallel octaves between quintus and contra-tenor, m. 11.83 We will next present examples from two In Nomines published in edition and transcription by Denis Stevens.” Both of these pieces are in the hature of rhythmic or metrical ex- periments, and that is the most interesting aspect of them. The transcriptions by Stevens agree substantially with our own. Concerning the subtitle of the first of these pieces there is a difference of opinion, some authors giving “Trye" and others "Crye." We agree with Stevens in choosing the latter name, since the repeated notes suggest the cry of a street vend- or. (It may be noted in passing that the In Nomine cantus served as the basis for a similar work, which combined instruments and voices, of somewhat later date.°) The piece is monothematic, basically, and is divided into sections of simple and compound backgrounds in the latter the original eight semiminims of the point are reduced to three. Zven in the first section the number of repeated semiminims occasionally requires reduction to fit the context. Our musical cxample presents two bars of the first section and the opening measure of the second (compound background) section. Note the groups of four, six, eight, and eventually three short repeated tones (Ex. 11). ae Nomine, ed, Denis Stevens (Kassel, 1956), pp. 14-19. soe 3 Frederick Bridge, Lendon (London, 1921), yp. 40-45, The work veretfor rote the famous example by lando Gibbons.84 In “Crye" we surely have an In Nomine that reaches far into the area of idiomatic instrumental writing. We are com- pelled to call inte question Mr. Stevens's edition of the musica {icta in this piece, for in m, 80 he eliminates two f-sharps in the quintus and one in the tenor, and later a g- sharp in the contra-tenor that would cause a simultaneous cross relation with a g-natural in the quintus, Rx. 11, Tye, XII, mm, 21-22, 63, Example from "crye." RA pe85 We have assigned the In Nomine, "Trust," to the thir- teenth place in our sequence because of its quintuple meters this suggests an advancement in concept over the previously discussed work. A noteworthy consideration, bespeaking a growing mastery by the composer, is the relatively frequent incidence of simultaneous movement in semiminims in two or three voices. Lastly, creeping somewhat surreptitiously into ‘Tye's musical texture for the first time is the figure of the dotted semiminim followed by the fusa, In our exqmple we will present a portion illustrating several features discussed above. Note especially the tenor's dotted pattern in the last two me ures (Ex. 12). Of significance about the In Nemine named "Beleve me" is the first very brief use of the sign of diminution ( 9) in these Tye pieces, followed by the insertion of one blackened semibreve under the sign of color prolationis (@) before the part (the centus in the modius part) returns to the previous alla breve signature, This seems a first, timorous effort to employ complicated notation almest for its own sake, since the entire piece could have been worked out far more easily in white-note values without tampering with the meter signa- ture.86 Ex. 12, Tye, XIII, mm, 1-2, 21-22, Example from "Trust." There is greater musical significance in the manner in which suspension and r. lution are treated in this piece. There are several examples of the "long" suspension with ornamental resolution (see the contra enor of mm, 8-9, for example) and, even more interesting, a ¢urious suspension with & "short resolution.” Two examples of the latter occur in mm, 24-25 and 25-26. Note also the cambiata in the last bar (tenor) of our example (Ex. 13).87 13, Tye, XIV, mm, 8-9, "Short" Resolution, We should not leave the subject of this fourteenth In Nomine without mentioning the repetition-tones of the rhythmic pattern on which it is built. We have once again the arsic beginning of a thr note pattern, used in this instance mono- thematically throughout the pie; 3 by this time it is surely a familiar motive. Our fifteenth In Nomine has only one point, which consists basically of an upward leap of a fourth or fifth in minims followed by two descending semiminim scalar tones. We call attention to the rhythmical background of this piece. It seems strongly to favor a semiminim movement, Since the contra-88 puntal lines are characterized by movement rather than note repetition the piece would present a correspondingly greater technical difficulty; for this reason only a moderate tempo is indicated from the character of the parts. Significant here is the diminution of movement generally. Suspensions, for example, can begin on the fourth quarter of the alla breve measure and be resolved on the last eighth of the same bar; an instance can be found in the tenor, m. 27. There is also a curiously altered nota cambiata in the quintus, m. 35. The simultaneous cross relation is still very much with us (see the medius and quintus of m. 9) and bold melodic leaps remain too, The piece is certainly not lacking in striking and brilliant effect: mm, 9-12 contain some fine examples. We call attention to the specified chromatic movement in the quintus, m, 16. This In Nomine bears the subtitle, “Surrexit non est Hiec." With No. XVI, whose subtitle is "Re la re," we arrive at a piece in which simltaneous movement in semiminims in two voices is the rule rather than the notable or adventurous ex- ception to the style. This piece, in compound background, also gives certain evidence of experimentation in another direction, however, Its most interesting aspects are the rather drastic abbreviation of the cantus firmus and the curious combinations of values sounding against each other, which produce a complex microrhyth.89 No doubt the experimentation with dotted values is partly responsible for the early abandonment of the original point, Beginning around m, 15 the complicated aicrorhythms begin their curious juxtaposition with the cantus firmus as well as with each other, The last half of the quintus and contra-tenor parts of m, 21 and the first half of m. 22 will serve to dramatise the whole problem of edition practice with respect to the musica ficta. The reader will note that the sign of alteration is evidently valid for more than the note in front of which it first appears. We can only justify our supplemented alterations in the contra-tenor on the grounds of the music's context; we cannot presume to lay down a hard- and-fast principle. We present (Ex. 14) the voices and part- measures referred to. Note how the scribe has furnished a renewed inflection sign after the interposition of several new notes in the quintus, Ex. 14, Tye, XVI, mm, 21-22, The Fieta Problem. pany Ee90 The seventeenth In Nomine, bearing the subtitle, "I Come," solves magnificently the problem of achieving siml- taneous movement in semiminims in more than one voices in fact, most of the time there is such movement in at least three of the five parts. Numerous examples are to be found of dotted semiminims followed by fu suspensions, most of which begia on the fourth quarter of the The piece abounds in short alla breve measure, (Some can be found beginning on each of the other quarters, however.) No normal suspensions (prepared on @ semibreve and resolved in a minim) cecur in this piece. The interrupted suspension linked to another (conventional) suspension immediately following is present her wnt (Ex. 15) the quintus alvays in diminished values, however, We pri and bassus of mm, 21-22 in illustration ef the device. Since the alla breve sign appears at the beginning of each instrumental part for this piece, we cannot but assume that the tempo was probably modified to allow for the technical difficulties arising from the diminished values. We should also call attention to the remarkable quintus of m, 14 before leaving our discussien of this work.91 Ex. 15, Tye, XVII, mu. 21-22, Interrupted, Diminished, Linked Suspension. Our next specimen, "Saye so," the eighteenth work in our series, is once again in compound background (triple back- ground), It {a interesting for the foreshortening of the first point with each successive entrance in the various parts; see mn. 1-3, The high-note law, s0 scrupulously respected in the style of Palestrina, is broken here repeatedly and in some in- stances spectacularly (see m. 15, quintus).? We see in the tenor (cantus) part sone use of diminution (beginning with the second note of m. 6 and ending at m, 10, where color prolationis is resumed), There is enough hemiola in the bass to warrant mentions in fact, this piece largely employs the color pro- agate doptertys dt Serie of Ealerteine tod she, bagonance f the interrupted suspension from the works of Josquin, and Issac see pp. 267-269,92 Lationis in the manner implied by its symbol--as a tempus im perfectum cum prolatione perfecta, which is to say duple-compound meter. In leaving this piece we call attention to the parallel fifths between contra-tenor and medius, m. 9. The nineteenth Tye specimen, “Hold fast,” has a cantus firmus which finds itself on the familiar soil of the medius part to begin with, but is displaced in its rhythmic relation- ship to the other parts as to create a most interesting counter- point of rhythm alone, To add to this effect is a curious and unique two notes of Vorimitation in the contra-tenor at the very beginning of the piece. The actual point of initation, 4 scalar motive that ascends and again descends in samiminins, is necessarily abandoned around m, 29, where the composer takes up again his experiments of a Picforthian order. It is a pity that we cannet establish the dates for Picforth, and something of the mants biography as well; it is certain that one of these men was influenced by the other--quite likely Picforth by Tye. We present a musical example (ix. 16 (A) and (B)) to show the similerities.94 Ex. 16 (A). Tye, XIX, mm, 30-31; (B). Picforth, In Nomine, mm, . It can readily be seen that in beth these pieces (but by far to the greater extent in Picforth's) the rhythmic in- terest is achieved through adherence to a rather rigid formula. In such a case suspensions and various other devices possible in a less cireumscribed rhythmic milieu are quite out of the question, Neverthele: old friend, gr the interrupted suspension, by now an Sus as we reach the end of Tye's excursion » We should net leave this piece fail- ing to mention the rapid movement of voices simltaneously, the inte proportion formul, short suspension on the fourth beat of m. 12 (quintus and tenor, which in this instance is the real bass), or the implied parallel octaves between tenor and quintus, m. 7, as vell as the real ones between contra-tenor and quintus, m. 26.95 ‘The twentieth specimen of the In Nomine by Tye is as- signed the subtitle, "Seldom sene." It begins in a deceptively simple fashiong the point is in large note values and the entrances follow one another in a sedate, almost dull manner, There are long suspensions with ernamentation in semiminims, however, to add harmonic interest to the texture, and the: are also hints of diminution and double diminution of the end of the point that sugg s the accomplished hand of a master. Atm. 29 of our transcription three of the voices move inte # proportional section, Only the contra-tenor and the medius (bearing the cantus firmus) escape proportional treatment altogether. Once again the cross-rhytha-by-formula technique compels the compeser to abandon his customary rather scrupulous adherence to points of imitation. The indeterminate value in the original manuscript of some of the minims rendered this piece difficult to transcribes we mention this fact only to prepare the reader for certain conelusions to be summarized in a later chapter. The final In Nomine, No. XXI, "Reporte," reveals the truly master hand of its composer in several ways. A double tactus, one in duple and the other in triple meter. is pursued throughout. The use of proportional signatures as such is abandoned. The first point is clearly stated, abandoned in favor of other recognisable points, and finally resumed toward the end of the piece, reveeling a strong formal design. To