DATE: c1540
Page measurements: 211 x 144 mm
Fragment in upright format, slightly smaller than folio. The scribe doesnot seem to be the same as any of those in the immediately adjacent pages,though differences between text and tablature hands may account for this discrepancy. Lacks rhythm signs and all but a few bar-lines, probablymarking phrase ends. A single leaf in a very large manuscript, folio 190 and itsverso.These are probably the earliest fragments of English lute music known to us, and they are rudimentary to say theleast. The tablature is French, but the music lacks any indication of rhythm,either inthe form of flags or of bar-lines. Ward realised and transcribed both the pieces,[2] though as his readers will see, he has not used the spacing of the notesas anyguide to rhythmic interpretation. Utilising the spacing implies a duple time-signature for the first piece, and not Ward's compound metre, also giving considerably more short notes and a bassline thatfollows the first half of the P.A. pattern.[3]His version of The six vysages is more believable, though he has had to add four bars to make thestrains equal in length. There are, of course, many other possible and equally plausible solutions.
The Winchester manuscript is a literary collection relating to the Bishops of Winchester (hence its title) whichalso contains two pieces for (apparently) the lute, and--in a latersection of the book--a group of songs or chansons. The two lute pieces are copied using thescribe'soriginal dry-point rulings for the stave, scratching out every seventhline to separate the six-line staves from each other. Although the copying lacks bar lines andrhythm signs and the spacing does not indicate relative note-lengths either, themusic hand is relatively neat and uniform. The music was probably intended onlyas anaide memoire rather than a comprehensive account of the music. They are both probably dance pieces, though the title of 'The Six Visages' may relate to a maske orplay. Itis likely that the music would fall into regular four-bar phrases to matchthe meter and set patterns of dance music.
The book is composed of both parchment leaves and paper gatherings ofvarious sizes. The principal scribe surrounding the lute music is William Way,but he does not appear to be the lute scribe. Way was one of the 'XII laye mento singe and serue in the Quere daylly' at Winchester. His name appears in theCathedral'Boke of Portyons' between 1541 and 1563. Way's copying dates from after 1559.[4] The earliest music hand dates from 1487, and is responsible for sevensongs onfolios 116v and 115v. It appears that Way was responsible for most of thelatersection of music. The music copied by him falls into three sections. The copying appears amateur,[5] but the texts themselves are interesting. Thereare three sections to this part of the copying. The first, 204v-208, ispolyphonic music in score, possibly for organ as there seem to be two more-or-lessequally moving upper parts, and one lower part notated in black dotted 'longs'.This comprises an incomplete set of variations on the ground bass 'Hugh Aston's Maske', dating from the mid 16th century.[6] The ground was also used by William Byrd, and this may represent Way'srather inadequate attempts to intabulate from the keyboard from consort parts.Way followed 'Hugh Aston's Maske' with a sequence of dance music (ff.209v-214) mostly also in three parts. One piece is headed 'Galiard', and it seems likely that most of theseshort pieces are pavan and galliard pairs. The final section, ff.221-2 is asequence of songs, 5 of which are canons.
Nothing so far has come to light to illuminate the origins of the lutepieces onfolios 190-190v. Fenlon, in the music part of the introduction to thefacsimilemakes no useful comment about the lute music, mistaking the deletion ofevery seventh line for 'rudimentary rhythm signs'. If they were copied by Way, which seemshighly unlikely after comparison of this music with his other copying, then theymust date from c1560. However the style of the music and copying would seem to imply a considerably earlier date. The music is in a substantially earlier stateof evolution than that in RA58, though that may have more to do with the scribe than the date. Thetitle La galantyne has not provided any clues either, unless it is a corruption ofEglantine, the name given to the white rose, emblem of Elizabeth I (1558-1603). If thisis thecase, then 1560 would not be unreasonable, though comparison of thesepieces andtheir copying with contemporary and earlier sources does imply a date closer to 1550 or even before, particularly as we know that music was being added to this collection ofpapers as early as 1487.
Bibliography: EdwardWilson and Iain Fenlon: Introduction to 'The Winchester Manuscript' [Facsimile] (Cambridge, 1981)
Craig 1992
Ward 1992
folio
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original
ascription
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title
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composer
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cons.
& cogs.
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| 190
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la
galantyne
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La
Galantyne
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| 190v
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The
six vysages
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The
Six Visages
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