Journal of the Alamire Foundation

Among the most distinctive visual aspects of the Alamire manuscripts are the initials that incorporate grotesque male heads. Although they have been linked to the Alamire scriptorium, the relationship between the producers of these grotesque initials, the scribes, and the miniaturists has thus far not been determined. This article offers an art-historical analysis of the grotesque initials, the decorated initials, the border decorations, and the miniatures in the entire Alamire corpus. An investigation of stylistic evidence, including the division of work between the painters of the grotesque initials, the miniatures, and the painted borders, leads to the conclusion that the grotesque initials were produced by professional illuminators. Two main stylistic groups can be discerned. One of these was probably produced by artists under the direction of Jacques Scoon, who signed one of the grotesque initials in MechAS s.s., and who may well have organized the illumination of the choirbooks. Several illuminators from the circle of the Master of the Prayer Books of around 1500 participated in the execution of the minor illustrations, strewn borders, and decorated initials that appear in conjunction with the grotesque initials. The miniatures and borders on the major opening pages were usually ordered from the Master of the Baudeloo Missal, who worked independently from the workshop that provided the grotesque initials.

In this article, I argue that Pope Leo X may not have been the first owner of the Alamire manuscript Vatican, Capella Sistina 160 [VatS 160]. The pronounced presence of music by Obrecht in the manuscript, the virtual absence of compositions by La Rue, the use of Flemish, and indicative heraldry suggest that the manuscript’s first owner may have been Lord John III of Bergen op Zoom. The conversion of VatS 160 into a gift for the pope further suggests a contextual connection with the Mechelen choirbook [MechAS s.s.], which is seen here as a gift to Maximilian, in the expectation that he, not Giovanni de’Medici, would be elected Pope in 1513.

Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Musica Ms. F [MunBS F] is significant for being one of the earliest surviving collections of parody masses, and for being the only manuscript in the Alamire complex to contain parody masses almost exclusively. An examination of these masses shows the wide variety of parody techniques used in these early works. The French royal chapel has long been hypothesized to be the birthplace of the sixteenth-century parody mass. Although MunBS F was produced in the Low Countries, the three identifiable composers of the masses that it transmits (Pierre Moulu, Mathieu Gascongne, and Jean Richafort), as well as the four identifiable composers of the models that are being parodied (Josquin Desprez, Loyset Compère, Antoine Févin, and Pierre de la Rue), can all be associated in some way with the royal court of France during various years between 1481 and 1518. This provides clear support for this thesis and shows how the Alamire scriptorium preserved and propagated a good portion of the sacred French court repertory of the early sixteenth century.

Dedicated to Anna, queen of Bohemia and Hungary between 1528 and 1534, the partbooks Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Mss. Palatini Latini 1976-79 have received relatively little attention among the Alamire complex of manuscripts. A survey of the structure of the motet collection as well as study of scribal interventions and diplomatic peculiarities of select works are outlined. Moreover, the essay reopens inquiry into the sponsor of the partbooks, while also attempting to narrow the date of the collection. Herbert Kellman has proposed Mary of Hungary as the commissioner of the partbooks, but Margaret of Austria, who kept an eye on the Austrian branch of the Habsburgs, may be a stronger candidate for the sponsor of the compilation. Select motets seem to point to Archduke Ferdinand’s coronation as King of the Romans in 1531 as an impetus for the compilation, but new light is brought to the question of how other circumstances of the Habsburg nobility might also be suggested in the partbooks.

The careful selection of repertoire in many of the Alamire manuscripts is well-known. Far from being haphazard collections of music, many manuscripts display evidence of conscious choice of content in terms of genre, underlying theme, or composer. For at least one recipient of multiple manuscripts, Frederick the Wise, repertoire was also carefully monitored to avoid duplication among his manuscripts. Still to be determined, however, is whether much thought was given to the performing forces (other than number of voices) that a collection might require, specifically in regard to the range of the written notation. Investigation into this question shows that, while Alamire and his scribes paid some attention to notated range while copying music, other factors took precedence in preparation of their productions. One of these was the re-use of repertorial pods: clusters of compositions that appeared in multiple manuscripts. Further consideration of these pods suggests that the problematic Mechelen choirbook, despite remaining in the city where it was produced, may have been intended for the Emperor Maximilian to mark the attainment of his grandson’s majority.

An invaluable source for the secular works of Josquin, Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Ms. Mus. 18746 is also the first known manuscript collection of music for five parts, and one of the few Alamire manuscripts laid out in partbook format. The use of this layout has significant implications for the notation and performance of canons, of which the manuscript contains many examples, mostly of the fuga-type. A careful look reveals several discrepancies in the presentation of these canons. First, the use of signa congruentiae by the various scribes seems to be inconsistent. Furthermore, whereas the resolutions of canons are rarely written out in the Alamire choirbooks, they are almost always present in VienNB Mus. 18746. The notation of resolutions almost always contains small rhythmic or melodic variations between the original dux part and the resolved comes part. Finally, some of the fuga-canons reveal unusual notational features that seem almost absurd considering the layout in separate parts. Analyzing the notation of these canons raises questions concerning the role of the scribes in editing this important manuscript.

This study sketches the background of instrumental music in the late fifteenth century, pointing out that instrumentalists were mainly active in three spheres: as trumpeters, players of soft instruments, or as members of wind bands. The patronage of instrumental music in Flanders is explored with emphasis on the city of Mechelen. This city provided substantial support for instrumentalists from the late fourteenth century onward, but benefitted significantly from its position as the primary residence of both Philip the Fair and Margaret of Austria. The Habsburg connection provided a conduit for significant changes, as performers such as Augustine Schubinger, the pre-eminent cornettist of his time, and Master Leonhardt, a superb lutenist, were among the German players who brought new concepts to the Flemish region. Finally, the contributions of Petrus Alamire and his manuscript workshop to instrumental performance practice and repertory are explored.

The printer and composer Tylman Susato is known also to have been a scribe, but no manuscript written by him has formerly been identified. Lucca, Biblioteca Statale, Ms. 775 [LucBS 775] and the major portion of Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Mus. Ms. 260 [MunBS 260] are probably in a single hand, most likely that of Susato. An examination of their repertories suggests that MunBS 260 was linked partly with the Confraternity of Our Lady in Antwerp and partly with the Antwerp town band, to both of which Susato was closely connected. Susato obtained some of his repertory from Italy, most probably Gardane in Venice. The common repertory between Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Ms. Mus. 18832 from the Alamire workshop and MunBS 260 is re-examined; both manuscripts seem to have drawn on a single collection of pre-prepared duo material, probably used by the Antwerp town band. Susato’s probable involvement in the preparation of Whalley, Stonyhurst College, Ms. B.VI.23 (an important diplomatic gift from the Habsburg courts) is explored, which in turn links Susato in some way to a group of later manuscripts from the Low Countries.