| There are times in the history of human endeavor when an idea or form of expression seems to bloom out of place and season, to spring prematurely from an inhospitable soil, to flourish briefly under a winter's sun, only to expire, leaving behind it no certain traces of any direct influence upon that which follows. But the historian knows that the subtle needs of new forms and concepts may lie hidden in the expression of any given age or place. Who among the vendors of Irottol in the streets of fifteenth-century Italy could have foreseen the ultimate resurgence of the splendid madrigals of, say, Marenzio from such humble parentage?
And so the instrumental chamber ensemble of the early Renaissance in England appears to have existed in relative isolation, having been but slightly influenced by Continental models, and having apparently influenced the succeeding music of the Continent even less. Yet there is considerable significance in the English fancy, more specifically the In Nomine instrumental fantasia, because through it England can claim with Italy the equal title to the creation of the first real instrumental chamber music.
The consequence of the In Nomine in English musical history can be adduced in part from the fact that about 140 of these ensemble pieces have come down to us, many of them recurring in several MSS of the period. Of further significance is the fact that in these pieces, the earliest of which were evidently written about the middle of the sixteenth century, it is possible to discern the gradual evolution of idiomatic instrumental ensemble writing, as contrasted with the vocal polyphonic style that characterized the earliest efforts in the form.
In the light of this information it seems strange that only about thirty of these pieces have been published to date and that no detailed study has ever been devoted to this specific topic. Indeed, of the twenty-one complete In Nomines by Christopher Tye, in which alone considerable development can be traced, only two have been published. In the realm of literature about the subject the situation is much the same. There is an early study by Ernest Meyer, a later one by gustave Reese, a jointly-written article by Robert Donington and Thurston Dart, and a very brief one by Dom Anselm Hughes. The authors of the last three of these cited references claim independent discoveries of the source of the In Nomine – the Benedictus of Taverner’s Mass, Gloria Tibi Trinitas. (Hughes, however, advances no personal choice for this distinction as Reese and Messrs. Donington and Dart do; he rather credits the discovery to a certain Dom Placid Wilcox.)
Because of the importance of the In Nomine in the development of a truly instrumental idiom, and because of the interesting light to be shed on this subject by some of the earlier examples of this genre, the writer has undertaken to transcribe, study, and analyze in detail some forty ensemble In Nomines written before the turn of the seventeenth century.
Of central importance in this study are, of course, the Tye In Nomines, which far outnumber those of any other composer. What is probably the first In Nomine, the instrumental transcription from the Taverner mass already referred to, will be included, as will also the two unpublished examples by Thomas Tallis, who was of the same generation as Taverner and Tye.
Other composers who will be represented in this study are: White, Ferrabosco (senior), William Mundy, Parsley, Parsons, Thorne, and Woodcoke. As well as could be determined, all of these men were either deceased or retired from music before the turn of the century, although several of them (White, Ferrabosco, Mundy, Parsons) were of a younger generation than Tallis, Taverner, and Tye.
Two MSS, containing between them almost two-thirds of all existing In Nomines, form the basis for this study. They are: a set of part books from the Oxford Bodleian Library, numbered 212-216, which include seventy-three In Nomines in four and five parts; the British Museum MS Additional 31390, which is written in table music form, and contains forty-two In Nomines in five to seven parts. The Sibley Music Library owns microfilms of both MSS.
It will be necessary to examine the turbulent politico-religious backgrounds of this amazing age, which found a John Taverner writing Masses in Latin, later repenting of having written “popish ditties,” and ultimately retiring from music to devote his full energies to the persecution of Catholics. Incidentally, it is interesting to note in passing that the identical section of the Mass, Gloria Tibi Trinites, which formed the basis for the first In Nomine also furnished the music for two different English anthem settings.
Biographical information concerning the In Nomine composers will be examined in an effort to bring to light any personal or musical contacts and connections that may have existed among them. The analysis of the music itself sheds some light on this same aspect of the problem. In addition, the brilliant discovery, probably first made by Reese, of the musical origins of this form has given rise to further tantalizing questions concerning the “why” of this genre; some of these we shall attempt to answer in the course of this study. Among these matters is the question of the basis for the subtitles appended to so many of the Tye works in MS 31390, and the more important issue of certain possible religious implications that may have helped to account for the inception of the genre.
In summary, this study aims to illuminate further one small and colorful area of that sprawling, kaleidoscopic, fascinating time which was the early Renaissance, when so many concepts which we of today consider “modern” were first shaped in the curious and inquiring mind of man. |
