ANTOINE BUSNOIS AS A COMPOSER OF CHANSONS. (3 VOLUMES)

368 Pages·019.034 MB·English

by  BROOKS, CATHERINE VIRGINIA

ld5907 15-£9954 L
P, 07 Brooks, Catherine Virginia, 1911- ^
1951 Anboine Busnoi3 as a composer of
>\nn Chansons •
*aat 3v.(195,332p.) illus.(music)
* Thesis (Ph.D.) - N.Y.U., Graduate
also School, 1951.
Film Bibliography:‘p.144-150.
ail§^ 'Jal. I-X cA»aiv*«r«s.
nega- ^l.Busnois, Antoine, d.1492.
tive 2.French ballads and songs. 3.Disserta­
tions , Academic - N.Y.U. - 1951.
o
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ANTOINE BUSNOIS
AS A COMPOSER OF CHANSONS
CATHERINE V, BROOKS,
A dissertation in the department of music sub­
mitted in partial fulfillment of the require­
ments for the degree df Doc’lor of Philosophy
at New York University
April, 1951.
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Frontispieces
Madame trop vous me aoremes
Perugia U£ 451, 79T-80r
Probably by Charles of Burgundy,
Busnois's most illustrious
pupil. See pp. ■: and 19.
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Statement of ouraose;
The purpose oi this uissect-xtioi* is
three-foia:
1. To n&ic evail&ole in roGerru transcription
the chansons ox Antoine ausnois.
£. To present o resuzie of his biography and
his poetical and musical bncigrcund.
?. To present sn analysis or his technique
of composition as evinced in the v’hhu.sens.
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Preface
Upon the completion of this dissertation, it is my very
great pleasure to express my gratitude to those who have helped
me along the way. First, of course, to Dr. Curt Sachs, my ever
kindly research adviser| then to Dr. Gustave fieese and Dr. Dragan
Plamenac, without whose help my problems would have been much
more perplexing. I owe especial thanks to Dr. Reese, not only
for ac£ess to his unpublished "Music in the Renaissance®, but
also for giving me freely of his time and experience, and to
Dr. Plamenac for aid in knotty transcription problems, as well
as for access to his microfilm collection. I wish also to ex­
press my appreciation to Mae. Genevieve Thlbault for helping me
to obtain some normally inaccessible French.material, to Dr.
Heinrich Besseler for his speedy and helpful answer to a request for
information in his special field, to Dr. Edward Lowinsky for in­
teresting discussions on muaica ficta. and to Dr. H. 2. Wood for
his assistance on the Latin texts.
My thanks are also due to the friends who have helped me
with the inevitable routine work that a study such as this one
entails, and to the Staff members of the Music Division of the
liew York Public Library and of th«. Graduate Music Library of
Hew York University.
Catherine Brooks
Sew York,
April, 1951.
i
L
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co&tmts
Toluse Is
Chapter I,..Biography.........................
Chapter II..Susnois*s poetical background 17
Chapter XlX.Susnois’s ausieal background......SO
Chapter IT..The chansons...,........ ?6
Supplement
Translations.............. 142
Symbols and Bibliography....................144
The Sources.............. 151
Concordance.............. .155
Transcription procedure......................185
Toluoe lit
Transcriptions end texts........... .1
Volume Ills
Transcriptions and texts? ........••••164
Index by Form....... ....827
Index by Title.............................ZZ1
I
I- *lsi
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CHAPTER I
Our blographloal Information about Anthoine de Buane,
" djt Buanols,* 1 is very aeagre. We have no knowledge of
his birthplace or lineage, the one lone clue being that he
bears the name of a little village in the north of France,
not far from Bdthune.2 The earliest ment-lon of him that
comes down to us is in one of his own works, written after
he was a mature musician already employed at the court at
which he was to spend almost his entire professional life.
In the course of a strange, pseudo-learned motet, entitled
In hvdraullawhioh Busnols addressed to Ockeghem, he re­
fers to himself as ''llluatrla conltla de Ghaulola lndlgnum
musloum." The. piece is undated, but must have been written
before the death of Philip the Oood.on June 15, 1467,^ for
at that time Charles, as son and heir, became the ^uke of
1. This fora of Busnols*s name comes from the register of
singers of the Burgundian court for the v«ar 1468, which
is given in.full in Marix H. (To save apace, references
in the footnotes to books, articles, and collections of
poetry and muaio will be made by symbols, The list of
symbols in the Supplement contains full bibliographical
information.)
■?. See Pirro H, 114. “*
3. Printed in DTO VII, 105. For a brief discussion of the
piece, see Sorren Q3, 22o fr.
4. >:arix H, 86,
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S Burgundy, and the title, Count of Ch&rolais, would therefore
■ no longer have been applicable, to him. Pirro suggesta that
H the occasion for the oomposltlon of the piece might have been
the meeting of French and Burgundian singers in 1461, when
Philip and his son attended the coronation of Louis XI.^
Ockegheo, who had long been In the service of Charles VII and
who was In great favor with Louis, was In the French court
chapel, and It might well be that Busnols dedicated a work
to him at that time. That Busnols was known and appreciated
at the French court is shown by the faot that in a music
book written for Louis XI vunhappily now lost; the first i i
j
two oleces were a Soil by Cokeghem and an Asperses se by
Busnols.^ ; j
The earliest official record of Busnols*a employment at ^
the Burgundian oourt Is contained in the register for the j
year 1468.? Marix notes that, while it shows Busnols, Basin,
and Hayne van Qhiseghes to have been paid as singers in that ^ j‘
|V
year, it does not list them as aotual members of the chapel.
About 1470, Compare wrote an Omnium bonorum plena8 based j 1
5. Pirro H, 114 :
6. Ibid.. footnote 2.
7. Printed in Harlx H, 260. Doorslaer K, 30, however, states
that Busnols entered the service of Charles in December,
146?, as *ohantre* and 'demi-chapelain1(i.e.. he served i
as chap&Aln for only half of the year). J
8. Printed in DTO VII, 111. For a brief disousslon of the
piece, see Borren QS* 230 ff. A translation of this and
other Latin texts will be found in the Supplement. Hayne'a !
chanson is printed in Hewitt 0, 263, among other places. j !
i
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- 3 -
on Hayne ran Ghlzeghem*ayDe tous blens plalne. Compare'a
motet, which may have been a ddploratlon on the death of Du­
fay, mentions In Its aecunda para a number of musicians, in­
cluding Busnols, for Whom the composer beseeches the Virgin
to pray:
Omnium be um plena,
feccato* i medioina,
Cuius pr priua crare
Est atque precea fundare.
Fro miserls peccantibus,
A Deo reeedentibue,
Funde preoes ad Fillum
Fro salute oanentluo.
Et prlso pro Cullelmo Dufay,
Fro quo me, Mater, exaudl.
Luna totius muslcae
Atque cantorum luaine,
Froque Dussart, Busnols, Caron,
Magistris oantilenarum,
Georget de Brelles, Tlnctorls,
Cimballs tul honoris,
Ao Okeghen, Despres, Corbet,
Henlart, Faugues et Molinet
Atque Regis omnlbusque
Canentlbus Siaul et me,
Lolset Compare, orate,
Fro ssgistris para sente,
Quorum mesor, virgo, vals,
Semper Gabrielis Awe. Amen
Busnols's name does not appear on the register for
1470, but on August, 1474, he is Included among the members
of the chapel and his name also appears in the list of June 7,
1477.9 Upon the death, In 1475,of Robert Morton, who had
been Charles's music teacher, Busnols replaced him in that
9. For these lists, see Marlx H, 261 ff.
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