The Segovia Manuscript: A European Musical Repertory in Spain, c. 1500

Essays illuminating a complex and sophisticated musical manuscript. The Segovia Manuscript (Cathedral of Segovia, Archivo Capitular) has puzzled musicologists ever since its rediscovery at the beginning of the twentieth century. It is unique: no other manuscript of the period transmits a comparable blend of late fifteenth-century music, consisting of 204 sacred works and vernacular pieces in Flemish, French, Italian, and Spanish. An important group of pedagogical pieces by French and Flemish composers may preserve transcriptions of instrumental improvisation. This summary might suggest a messy collection, but on the contrary the manuscript is arranged with care, copied by one proficient scribe (except perhaps for the Spanish texts), who obviously followed a predetermined master plan. But which plan, who designed it, and why was the person responsible so interested in this combination? The essays here aim to treat every dimension of this fascinating source. New discoveries help date the manuscript and explain how it came to Segovia; particular attention is paid to the main scribe, now determined to be Flemish, and his relation with northern composers and repertory, above all that of Jacob Obrecht, Alexander Agricola, and Henricus Isaac; and the vexed question of the conflicting attributions is considered afresh and found to affect only a few of the fascicles. The contributors also look at questions of ownership and function. Essays illuminating a complex and sophisticated musical manuscript.The Segovia Manuscript (Cathedral of Segovia, Archivo Capitular) has puzzled musicologists ever since its rediscovery at the beginning of the twentieth century. It is unique: no other manuscript of the period transmits a comparable blend of late fifteenth-century music, consisting of 204 sacred works and vernacular pieces in Flemish, French, Italian, and Spanish. An important group of pedagogical pieces by French and Flemish composers may preserve transcriptions of instrumental improvisation. This summary might suggest a messy collection, but on the contrary the manuscript is arranged with care, copied by one proficient scribe (except perhaps for the Spanish texts), who obviously followed a predetermined master plan. But which plan, who designed it, and why was the person responsible so interested in this combination? The essays here aim to treat every dimension of this fascinating source. New discoveries help date the manuscript and explain how it came to Segovia; particular attention is paid to the main scribe, now determined to be Flemish, and his relation with northern composers and repertory, above all that of Jacob Obrecht, Alexander Agricola, and Henricus Isaac; and the vexed question of the conflicting attributions is considered afresh and found to affect only a few of the fascicles. The contributors also look at questions of ownership and function.. WOLFGANG FUHRMANN is Professor of Musicology at Leipzig University; CRISTINA URCHUEGUÍA is Professor of Musicology at the University of Bern. Contributors: Bonnie J. Blackburn, Wolfgang Fuhrmann, Leofranc Holford-Strevens, Tess Knighton, Kenneth Kreitner, Honey Meconi, Emilio Ros-Fábregas, Cristina Urchueguía, Rob C. Wegman "The Segovia Manuscript (Cathedral of Segovia, Archivo Capitular, s.s.) has puzzled musicologists ever since its rediscovery at the beginning of the twentieth century. It is unique: no other manuscript of the period transmits a comparable blend of late fifteenth-century music, consisting of 204 sacred works and vernacular pieces in Flemish, French, Italian, and Spanish. An important group of pedagogical pieces by French and Flemish composers may preserve transcriptions of instrumental improvisation. This summary might suggest a messy collection, but on the contrary the manuscript is arranged with care, copied by one proficient scribe (except perhaps for the Spanish texts), who obviously followed a predetermined master plan. But which plan, who designed it, and why was the person responsible so interested in this combination? The essays here aim to treat every dimension of this fascinating source. New discoveries help date the manuscript and explain how it came to Segovia; particular attention is paid to the main scribe, now determined to be Flemish, and his relation with northern composers and repertory, above all that of Jacob Obrecht, Alexander Agricola, and Henricus Isaac; and the vexed question of the conflicting attributions is considered afresh and found to affect only a few of the fascicles. The contributors also look at questions of ownership and function"--Back cover List of Illustrations vii Notes on Contributors xi Abbreviations xiii Preambulum: A Source in Segovia 1 Cristina Urchueguía and Wolfgang Fuhrmann 1 In Search of Origins: The Afterlife of a Renaissance Manuscript / Cristina Urchueguía 7 2 New Light on the Segovia Manuscript: Watermarks, Foliation, and Ownership / Emilio Ros-Fábregas 37 3 Segovia’s Repertoire: Attributions and Datings (with Special Reference to Jacob Obrecht) / Wolfgang Fuhrmann 91 4 What Was Segovia For? / Kenneth Kreitner 129 5 The Latin Texts of the Segovia Manuscript / Leofranc Holford-Strevens 145 6 The Segovia Manuscript as Chansonnier / Honey Meconi 167 7 The Segovia Manuscript: Another Look at the ‘Flemish Hypothesis’ / Rob C. Wegman 193 8 The Segovia Manuscript: Speculative Notes on the Flemish Connection / Bonnie J. Blackburn 215 9 The Written Transmission of Polyphonic Song in Spain c. 1500: The Case of the Segovia Manuscript / Tess Knighton 231 10 Inventory of Segovia, Archivo Capitular de la Catedral, MS s.s. / Wolfgang Fuhrmann 271 Bibliography 307 Index of Compositions 323 General Index 335 Preambulum : a source in Segovia / Cristina Urchueguía and Wolfgang Fuhrmann -- In search of origins : the afterlife of a Renaissance manuscript / Cristina Urchueguía -- New light on the Segovia manuscript : watermarks, foliation, and ownership / EAmilio Ros-Fábregas -- Segovia's repertoire : attributions and datings (with special reference to Jacob Obrecht) / Wolfgang Fuhrmann -- What was Segovia for? / Kenneth Kreitner -- The Latin texts of the Segovia manuscript / Leofranc Holford-Strevens -- The Segovia manuscript as Chansonnier / Honey Meconi -- The Segovia manuscript : another look at the 'Flemish hypothesis' / Rob C. Wegman -- The Segovia manuscript : speculative notes on the Flemish connection / Bonnie J. Blackburn -- The written transmission of polyphonic song in Spain c.1500 : the case of the Segovia manuscript / Tess Knighton -- Inventory of Segovia, Archivo Capitular de la Catedral, MS s.s. / Wolfgang Fuhrmann Frontcover 1 Contents 6 List of Illustrations 8 Notes on Contributors 12 Abbreviations 14 Preambulum: A Source in Segovia 30 1 In Search of Origins: The Afterlife of a Renaissance Manuscript 36 2 New Light on the Segovia Manuscript: Watermarks, Foliation, and Ownership 66 3 Segovia’s Repertoire: Attributions and Datings (with Special Reference to Jacob Obrecht) 120 4 What Was Segovia For? 158 5 The Latin Texts of the Segovia Manuscript 174 6 The Segovia Manuscript as Chansonnier 196 7 The Segovia Manuscript: Another Look at the ‘Flemish Hypothesis’ 222 8 The Segovia Manuscript: Speculative Notes on the Flemish Connection 244 9 The Written Transmission of Polyphonic Song in Spain c. 1500: The Case of the Segovia Manuscript 260 10 Inventory of Segovia, Archivo Capitular de la Catedral, MS s.s. 300 Bibliography 336 Index of Compositions 352 General Index 364