Opera omnia. Vol. 2: Missa Bontemps, Missa Dominicalis, Missa Descendi in hortum, Missa Sinenomine by Antonii Brumel; Barton Hudson; Opera omnia. vol. 3: Missa Et ecce terrae motusby Antonii Brumel; Barton Hudson; Opera omnia. vol. 4: Missa de Beata Virgine, Missa Dedringhs, Missa A l'ombre d'ung buissonet, Missa Pro defunctis, Mass sections by AntoniiBrumel; Barton HudsonReview by: Edward R. LernerNotes, Second Series, Vol. 28, No. 2 (Dec., 1971), pp. 293-295Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/940396 .

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MUSIC REVIEWS Compiled and edited by JAMES W. PRUETT

MUSIC REVIEWS Compiled and edited by JAMES W. PRUETT

Monumenta monodica medii aevi. Bd. 3: Introitus-Tropen I. Ed. by Giinther Weiss. Kassel: Barenreiter-Verlag, 1970. [Commentary, notes, facsims., 42 p.; music, 376 p.; kritischer Bericht, pp. 378-470; thematic index of melodies, 48 p., cloth, DM 84.-]

Monumenta monodica medii aevi. Bd. 3: Introitus-Tropen I. Ed. by Giinther Weiss. Kassel: Barenreiter-Verlag, 1970. [Commentary, notes, facsims., 42 p.; music, 376 p.; kritischer Bericht, pp. 378-470; thematic index of melodies, 48 p., cloth, DM 84.-]

Tropes can occur before any or each of the several sections of the Introit-Anti- phon / Psalm verse (s) / Doxology / Antiphon -and sometimes occur within the anti- phon itself. Thus, the editor of this an- thology of Introit tropes categorizes the several sections as Introductory (E-T for Einleitungs-tropus) or Doxology-trope (G1 [oria]-T) and so on. Many of the items include troping material at all of these points. Recorded in a separate booklet for convenient collation with each of their several tropes, the Introit antiphons with the incipits of their psalms are divided into sections by capital letters which are also given at the relevant points in the trope melodies themselves. The user can fit the two together without difficulty. The Introits, as well as the tropes, are given alphabetically within modal categories.

The editor offers explanations in the Introduction for the phenomenon of dif- ferent modal assignations for Introits and tropes which ostensibly belong together, and records important variants and litur- gical occasions in the Kritischer Bericht. Major variants in sections of the tropes are included in the body of the book on parallel staves bracketed together. A dis- cussion of the texts, formally and in their relation to the liturgical occasion or text

Tropes can occur before any or each of the several sections of the Introit-Anti- phon / Psalm verse (s) / Doxology / Antiphon -and sometimes occur within the anti- phon itself. Thus, the editor of this an- thology of Introit tropes categorizes the several sections as Introductory (E-T for Einleitungs-tropus) or Doxology-trope (G1 [oria]-T) and so on. Many of the items include troping material at all of these points. Recorded in a separate booklet for convenient collation with each of their several tropes, the Introit antiphons with the incipits of their psalms are divided into sections by capital letters which are also given at the relevant points in the trope melodies themselves. The user can fit the two together without difficulty. The Introits, as well as the tropes, are given alphabetically within modal categories.

The editor offers explanations in the Introduction for the phenomenon of dif- ferent modal assignations for Introits and tropes which ostensibly belong together, and records important variants and litur- gical occasions in the Kritischer Bericht. Major variants in sections of the tropes are included in the body of the book on parallel staves bracketed together. A dis- cussion of the texts, formally and in their relation to the liturgical occasion or text

of the Introit, should have been attempted but is absent.

The edition has a clean appearance, with stemless noteheads on a five-line stave, plus a few diacritic marks denoting liquescent neumes. I find the pseudo- diplomatic script of the text unnecessary, although only the letter s is really dis-

turbing. However, a more serious visual fault arises from the failure to distinguish clearly where one trope ends and another

begins: the separation is marked only with a pair of this bar-lines, and some rather unobtrusive numbers denoting sources and folios.

But these are small criticisms of a collection which offers a large body of material of which only the texts have previously been published. Footnotes to the Introduction lead to a wealth of ar- ticles and earlier publications which would enable the reader to place the repertory in a larger context, and thirteen facsimiles give an immediate picture of the way these pieces are recorded in the sources. The way is now open for studies comparing the styles of tropes and the plainsongs which they expanded.

ANDREW HUGHES

University of Toronto

of the Introit, should have been attempted but is absent.

The edition has a clean appearance, with stemless noteheads on a five-line stave, plus a few diacritic marks denoting liquescent neumes. I find the pseudo- diplomatic script of the text unnecessary, although only the letter s is really dis-

turbing. However, a more serious visual fault arises from the failure to distinguish clearly where one trope ends and another

begins: the separation is marked only with a pair of this bar-lines, and some rather unobtrusive numbers denoting sources and folios.

But these are small criticisms of a collection which offers a large body of material of which only the texts have previously been published. Footnotes to the Introduction lead to a wealth of ar- ticles and earlier publications which would enable the reader to place the repertory in a larger context, and thirteen facsimiles give an immediate picture of the way these pieces are recorded in the sources. The way is now open for studies comparing the styles of tropes and the plainsongs which they expanded.

ANDREW HUGHES

University of Toronto

Antonii Brumel: Opera omnia. Vol. 2: Missa Bontemps, Missa Domini- calis, Missa Descendi in hortum, Missa Sine nomine; vol. 3: Missa Et ecce terrae motus; vol. 4: Missa de Beata Virgine, Missa De dringhs, Missa A l'ombre d'ung buissonet, Missa Pro defunctis, Mass sections. Ed. by Barton Hudson. N. p.: American Institute of Musicology, 1970. [Score, xix, 100 p.; xi, 79 p., xix, 130 p.; paper, $16.00, $14.00, $19.00]

293

Antonii Brumel: Opera omnia. Vol. 2: Missa Bontemps, Missa Domini- calis, Missa Descendi in hortum, Missa Sine nomine; vol. 3: Missa Et ecce terrae motus; vol. 4: Missa de Beata Virgine, Missa De dringhs, Missa A l'ombre d'ung buissonet, Missa Pro defunctis, Mass sections. Ed. by Barton Hudson. N. p.: American Institute of Musicology, 1970. [Score, xix, 100 p.; xi, 79 p., xix, 130 p.; paper, $16.00, $14.00, $19.00]

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The most numerous and significant works of the Renaissance master Antoine Brumel (ca. 1460-ca. 1525) were composed for sacred use. Accordingly, the three volumes of masses (Vols. II, III, IV) edited (1970) by Barton Hudson for the Amer- ican Institute of Musicology are particu- larly welcome. Brumel's fourteen extant Masses offer a cross section of virtually all the types current in his time: 1) the cyclic tenor Mass (L'Homme Arme); 2) the chant paraphrase (Missa de Beata Virgine); 3) the hexachord Mass (Missa Ut re mi fa sol la); 4) the parody (Missa De dringhs); 5) the canonic Mass (Missa A l'ombre d'ung buissonet); 6) cycles of both the Proper and Ordinary (Missa pro defunctis). Fi- nally, Brumel composed a 12-voice Missa Et ecce terrae motus, a unique specimen among his own and the works of his great contemporaries.

Hudson's three volumes comprise nine of the fourteen complete masses plus nine mass sections. The music is painstakingly edited and clearly printed, all making for easy reading and singing. The underlay of the text is highly competent so that the reader, besides having before him a singable text, can immediately recognize the orig- inal from the added words. The editor customarily reduces the original note val- ues by half for signatures in tempus per- fectum and tempus imperfectum, and by four for "diminutum" mensurations.

In one exception not explained in the Critical Notes, several movements of the Missa Descendi in hortum in tempus im- perfectum dirninutum are reduced to only half their original values, while others (Sanctus, Agnus) in tempus perfectum (without diminution) are reduced to the same degree. Many editors of 16th-century music transcribe C and ( with the same rhythmic values, but the singular case of Descendi in hortum in this edition can only be confusing to the reader.

The editor's knowledge of the manu- scripts and printed sources is everywhere manifest and I add three manuscripts that escaped his attention only for possible re- visions the transcriptions may require. In MS Bartfa of Budapest, Magyar nezeti muzeum, are copies of three Brumel Masses: Missa de Beata Virgine (fol. 38), Missa [Sine nomine] (fol. 70), and Missa Descendi in hortunm (incorrectly ascribed

to Heinrich Isaac on fol. 79). In MS Bartfa 24 of the same library is another copy of Missa Descendi in hortum while MS 1226 of the Bibliothek der Annenberg at Anna- berg includes on pp. 120-43 a copy of Brumel's Missa Bon temps.

The editor of these masses was ill-ad- vised to limit his chant sources to modern publications such as the Liber Usualis. In the Critical Notes of the Missa Dom- inicalis he is puzzled that both Sanctus and Agnus use the came cantus firmus and "that an [individual] Agnus melody was not selected for the final movement." He certainly could not find the answer to this problem in modern chant books where Agnus melodies do not generally repeat the tune of the preceding Sanctus. The practice was quite common, however, in the early sixteenth century. In fact the Sanctus and Agnus underlying Brumel's Missa Dominicalis finds its chant counter- part on folios 188V-189R of the Graduale Pataviensis (Vienna, 1511) a source con- temporaneous with Brumel's mass. Besides helping editors correct wrong notes in a cantus firmus and improving the under- lay of the text, the old sources frequently tell us much about chant practice and indirectly clear up enigmas in Renaissance polyphony. They should be used wherever possible in editing medieval and Renais- sance music.

The small details dwelt upon in discuss- ing this edition should not be interpreted as derogatory of its over-all excellence. Hudson is to be commended for his accu- rate reading of the manuscripts and prints. In his Foreword he notes that "this fourth volume...brings to an end the edition of the composer's fourteen masses and of mass sections." At this writing Vol. I in- cludes only two masses (L'Homme arme' and Je nay dueul) edited in the 'fifties by Armen Carapetyan. Presumably the last three of the five projected for this initial volume are to appear shortly. It is not clear from the Foreword whether Hudson plans to publish his own versions of the five masses in Vol. I or merely to add three works to those already printed. A recent announcement of the American Institute of Musicology however suggests a com- pletely new version of Vol. I by Hudson. In view of the importance of these works we can only welcome this announcement

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and anticipate that these compositions will dead masterpieces to life once again for be edited with the same care as the vol- our pleasure and enlightenment. umes under review. As in the past the EDWARD R. LERNER American Institute of Musicology is to be Queens College, congratulated for bringing these hitherto City University of New York

Peter Philips: Select Italian Madrigals. Transcribed and ed. by John Steele. (Musica Britannica, 29.) London: Stainer and Bell; U.S.A.: Galaxy Music Corp., New York, 1970. [Introd., facsims, 23 p.; score, 202 p.; sources and texts, pp. 203-]4; paper, $27.50]

and anticipate that these compositions will dead masterpieces to life once again for be edited with the same care as the vol- our pleasure and enlightenment. umes under review. As in the past the EDWARD R. LERNER American Institute of Musicology is to be Queens College, congratulated for bringing these hitherto City University of New York

Peter Philips: Select Italian Madrigals. Transcribed and ed. by John Steele. (Musica Britannica, 29.) London: Stainer and Bell; U.S.A.: Galaxy Music Corp., New York, 1970. [Introd., facsims, 23 p.; score, 202 p.; sources and texts, pp. 203-]4; paper, $27.50]

Peter Philips (1560?-1628) was one of those English composers who were unwill- ing to abjure their Catholic faith and who, as a result, migrated to the continent to take service with Catholic princes. Philips, who left England in 1582, spent the early part of his new life in travel, at one time in the service of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese at Rome and slightly later with Lord Thomas Paget in Italy, France, and Belgium. His most permanent position was as chaplain-musician to the Archduke Albert in Brussels, a place as- sumed in 1597 and held until the Arch- duke's death in 1621. The last years of his life seem to have been spent as a church official; he is named in 1623 as Canon of Bethune.

Nearly all of Philips's compositional out- put is from the time after his departure from England. Although best known as a composer of keyboard pieces through in- clusion of a few of them in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, his career was primarily that of a vocal composer, to judge by the prints that came from the presses of Pierre Phalese in Antwerp between 1591 and 1641. In all, these sources present three books of madrigals, two books of choral motets, three books of motets with basso continuo, litanies, and a collection of har- monized folk-tunes. Some other works ap- pear in collective prints from the same publisher. There may have been other works in manuscript; if so, war and natu- ral disaster seem to have obliterated per- manently all traces of them.

Professor Steele gives this new collec- tion thirty madrigals, only two of which were available in modern sources. The majority are for six voices, twenty-two items, with one for four, one for five and the rest for eight, two of these as full, with four for double quartet. The earliest

Peter Philips (1560?-1628) was one of those English composers who were unwill- ing to abjure their Catholic faith and who, as a result, migrated to the continent to take service with Catholic princes. Philips, who left England in 1582, spent the early part of his new life in travel, at one time in the service of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese at Rome and slightly later with Lord Thomas Paget in Italy, France, and Belgium. His most permanent position was as chaplain-musician to the Archduke Albert in Brussels, a place as- sumed in 1597 and held until the Arch- duke's death in 1621. The last years of his life seem to have been spent as a church official; he is named in 1623 as Canon of Bethune.

Nearly all of Philips's compositional out- put is from the time after his departure from England. Although best known as a composer of keyboard pieces through in- clusion of a few of them in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, his career was primarily that of a vocal composer, to judge by the prints that came from the presses of Pierre Phalese in Antwerp between 1591 and 1641. In all, these sources present three books of madrigals, two books of choral motets, three books of motets with basso continuo, litanies, and a collection of har- monized folk-tunes. Some other works ap- pear in collective prints from the same publisher. There may have been other works in manuscript; if so, war and natu- ral disaster seem to have obliterated per- manently all traces of them.

Professor Steele gives this new collec- tion thirty madrigals, only two of which were available in modern sources. The majority are for six voices, twenty-two items, with one for four, one for five and the rest for eight, two of these as full, with four for double quartet. The earliest

composition included is from 1591, the Melodia Olyrnpica, a composite print from Phalese, the latest from his own Secondo Libro de Madrigali of 1603. The other prints represented are the Paradiso Mu- sicale of 1596, the Primo Libro de Madri- gali of the same year, and the Madrigali a Otto Voci of 1598; this last source should be inserted as a sub-head in the Table of Contents (p. xi) before No. 25, "Questo, che co' begl' occh'." One should note here just how much of Philips's compositional activity is concentrated in but a dozen years or so.

Philips, as Steele so rightly points out, reflects the conservative Italian tradition that he gained through his presence in Rome. One does not run generally into extensive use of chromaticism and disso- nance as a means of underlining the text; accidentals are most often used to change the color of a chord, not as expressive alterations. The range of madrigalisms is normally quite a limited one, seldom going past the stereotypes set up by composers of fifty years earlier. One looks in vain for special flourishes on such words as "foco," "riso," "correndo," and the like. There is almost never contrast between "vita" and "morte." In texture, the pieces are most often quite full, with all voices involved; high-low contrast is not a domi- nating element. Contrapuntal sections are neatly balanced off by homophonic ones, giving a nice sense of contrast and variety. Philips, by the evidence, was a thoroughly trained craftsman and his music reflects an extremely high level of competence, this in the Italian manner. Although proud of his ancestry, Philips is not an Englishman in his music.

The texts set by Philips are, in the main, of his own time. The authors of about half the poems have been identified

composition included is from 1591, the Melodia Olyrnpica, a composite print from Phalese, the latest from his own Secondo Libro de Madrigali of 1603. The other prints represented are the Paradiso Mu- sicale of 1596, the Primo Libro de Madri- gali of the same year, and the Madrigali a Otto Voci of 1598; this last source should be inserted as a sub-head in the Table of Contents (p. xi) before No. 25, "Questo, che co' begl' occh'." One should note here just how much of Philips's compositional activity is concentrated in but a dozen years or so.

Philips, as Steele so rightly points out, reflects the conservative Italian tradition that he gained through his presence in Rome. One does not run generally into extensive use of chromaticism and disso- nance as a means of underlining the text; accidentals are most often used to change the color of a chord, not as expressive alterations. The range of madrigalisms is normally quite a limited one, seldom going past the stereotypes set up by composers of fifty years earlier. One looks in vain for special flourishes on such words as "foco," "riso," "correndo," and the like. There is almost never contrast between "vita" and "morte." In texture, the pieces are most often quite full, with all voices involved; high-low contrast is not a domi- nating element. Contrapuntal sections are neatly balanced off by homophonic ones, giving a nice sense of contrast and variety. Philips, by the evidence, was a thoroughly trained craftsman and his music reflects an extremely high level of competence, this in the Italian manner. Although proud of his ancestry, Philips is not an Englishman in his music.

The texts set by Philips are, in the main, of his own time. The authors of about half the poems have been identified

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