Presenter: Lucia Marchi (University of Trento)

Title: The long life of the Trecento repertory

Discussants: Blake Wilson (Dickinson College, PA) and Lachlan Hughes (Trinity College, Cambridge)

In 1461, the manuscript Chantilly, Bibliothèque du Musée Condé, 564 was donated by Francesco d’Altobianco degli Alberti to the three daughters – aged 9 to 14 – of the Florentine banker Tommaso Spinelli. The gift of a seemingly outdated manuscript of complex polyphonic music to young girls (and not to a professional musician, as had happened with the Squarcialupi codex) seems surprising, and raises the question of how long the Trecento repertory could have survived into the next century.

A new source contains a long capitolo ternario about the seven joys of the Virgin Mary, written by the Dominican theology master Simone d’Angelo dei Bocci da Siena (1438-1509). The poem is dated 1486 and is dedicated to a lady of the Sienese aristocracy, Madonna Perna degli Ugurgieri, for her spiritual instruction.

Towards the end of the poem, the description of the Assumption into heaven is particularly musical, mirroring the classic late-medieval iconography of angels playing instruments and singing around the Virgin. In the tradition of the quodlibet or incatenatura, the verses are built around a series of quotations of musical incipits. In this paper, I propose an identification of many of them (hoping also to gather suggestions from my audience!). The results provide a view on the repertory known to the Sienese upper classes at the end of the 15th century. The presence of many Trecento pieces testifies that – similarly to the Spinelli a few years before – an aristocratic lady such as Madonna Perna was ready to catch the musical references to a dated, but still familiar repertory among the theological subtleties of the poem

About the series: This long-running series of seminars, convened by Dr Margaret Bent, considers all aspects of medieval and renaissance music. It runs on Zoom in Michaelmas and Hilary Terms and generally attracts a large international audience. Usually, a presenter speaks for around 30 minutes and then engages with invited discussants for another half an hour. The floor is then open for questions and lively general discussion.

Free to attend, register via the the main series page.

Presenters: Anna Zayaruznaya (Yale University) and Andrew Wathey (The National Archives and Northumbria University)

Title: Philippe de Vitry (31 October 1291 – 9 June 1361)

Discussion moderated by Lawrence Earp (University of Wisconsin, Madison)

Philippe de Vitry, composer, poet, bishop, and correspondent of Petrarch, remains a pivotal but imperfectly understood figure in the cultural and musical history of the fourteenth century.  No contemporary was praised so often nor from so many quarters: yet the terms in which we view him, his work, impact and reputation are shifting.  Coinciding with his 733rd birthday, this seminar juxtaposes the perspectives and approaches adopted by two forthcoming books on Vitry, a figure whom it is hard to capture in a single study.  Following brief presentations on each of these studies by A. Zayaruznaya and Andrew Wathey, themes of common interest will be explored in discussion with Lawrence Earp, as will a number of conundra that continue to complicate and animate Vitry studies, including: historiography, biography, and his treatment in different disciplines; personal approaches to the subject; the span of Vitry’s intellectual universe; his role in fourteenth-century musical innovations; patronage and place; broad chronologies, and Vitry’s origins and early years.

About the series: This long-running series of seminars, convened by Dr Margaret Bent, considers all aspects of medieval and renaissance music. It runs on Zoom in Michaelmas and Hilary Terms and generally attracts a large international audience. Usually, a presenter speaks for around 30 minutes and then engages with invited discussants for another half an hour. The floor is then open for questions and lively general discussion.

Free to attend, register via the the main series page.

Professor Jane Humphries, London School of Economics, will be conducting the Annual Public Lecture of the Royal Economic Society entitled:

Do economists care? The struggle to value caring work.

Abstract:

While Adam Smith defined economics in terms of wealth creation, for Alfred Marshall it concerned ‘the ordinary business of life’. Ever-present and universal, caring work is very ordinary, but it adds to wellbeing, and enhances productivity. Yet commercialised caring is neglected and undervalued, while unpaid care work is judged ‘beyond the production boundary’, so that although market equivalents suggest its value reaches a whopping 20-60 per cent of GDP, depending on country and attribution methodology, it remains outside National Income Accounts. Economic historians have done no better in recognising unpaid household work, despite its importance in the less-commercialised past. Inspired by researchers who have assigned value to caring and housework in today’s economies, I value the work performed unpaid at key dates in British history. A historical account enhances our understanding of ordinary life but also nuances interpretations of Smithian enrichment.

Booking Details:

The event is free to attend via Zoom, please follow the link to the Eventbrite page for booking.

For further information, please contact: tanya.wilson@glasgow.ac.uk