word and music in medieval cornish drama 28 th annual university of california celtic studies...
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Word and Musicin Medieval Cornish Drama
28th Annual University of CaliforniaCeltic Studies Conference17 March 2006
Benjamin BruchHarvard University
Medieval Cornish DramaWord and Musicin Medieval Cornish Drama
Cornish
English
GlasneyCollege
c. 1400
Medieval Cornish DramaWord and Musicin Medieval Cornish Drama
Each day’s performance ends with music and dancing
Incidental music
Stage directions indicate hymns to be sung (in Latin or English) Words imported from English
Names of voice parts : dyscant, conternot trebyl, faborden
Musical terminology
Indigenous (?) Cornish terms pen can (Beunans Meriasek) pen pusorn (Resurrexio Domini)
Names of musical instruments
: the “agreeable variety” of verse forms in the Ordinalia “occasionally rises, in emphatic passages, to what must be felt, even now, as a musical recitation; producing the belief that such stanzas were sung, or at least declaimed in operatic style, and perhaps accompanied by music”(1859, 2:447).
Edwin Norris
Sung and Spoken Text
Was any of the dialogue in the dramas intended to be sung?
T.D. Crawford suggests that a number of metrically distinctive stanzas in Resurrexio Domini (lines 835-92) may represent “a scene set entirely to music” (1980-81, 175n46).
Sung and Spoken Text
This sequence includes some short-line stanzas
Sarum Missal : Seven boys sing the hymn Gloria Laus on Palm Sunday (Jenner, Longsworth, Bakere)
Textual and contextual evidence Pueri Ebreorum sequence in Passio Christi
Pilate refers to “an fleghys vs ow cane” (PC 432)
Norris (1859) and Crawford (1980-81) associate certain stanza types with musical performance
Formal and structural considerations
Unusual verse forms, such as the Type III (ababababCDDDC) stanzas in Passio Christi
Stanzas constructed of four-syllable lines
A sudden change in verse form may signal a shift from spoken to sung dialogue (Padel, Bennett)
Bewnans Ke The Life of St Ke
Life of St Ke (ff. 1-8)
Philip Bennett has suggested a parallel with musical interludes in medieval French drama
Surviving text can be divided into two sections (days?) Arthurian story (ff. 9-20)
Repetition of words, phrases, and lines in adjacent stanzas
Particularly common in the Arthurian section of the play
National Library of Wales MS. 23,849D Discovered in 1999
Incomplete late 16th century copy of a damaged early 16th century exemplar
‘English’ rhyming rule
Differs from other surviving medieval Cornish dramas More complex verse forms
Sequences of speeches using similar or identical verse forms, sometimes with a repeated ‘refrain’
AUGELUS
Ave pater Arthore lowena thys hag onerturba gentis futuræ a record the vonas flowr mer ew [t]he fvesthe vannath hath ryeldera ra the gorf in pelder nyth ankevyr byttyth brves
AUGELUS
Ave pater Arthore lowena thys hag onerturba gentis futuræ a record the vonas flowr mer ew [t]he fvesthe vannath hath ryeldera ra the gorf in pelder nyth ankevyr byttyth brves
77774777
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Repetition in Bewnans Ke
ABABcDDC
Type III
Bewnans Ke, stanza 222
77774777
MORRYDUS
Lowena thum arluth mas lowena then gwelha govrlowena the berhan ras lowena thys barth yth towr mer ew the fvesthe vannath hath ryeldera ra the gorf in pelder nyth ankevyr byttyth brves
Repetition in Bewnans Ke
ABABcDDC
Type III
Bewnans Ke, stanza 223
Repetition in Bewnans Ke
77774777
CADORUS
Lowena ha lvne rowath theso war ver lavarowrag bos in yth elonoyth ny ve genys the barow mer ew the fvesthe vannath hath ryeldera ra the gorf in pelder nyth ankevyr byttyth brves
ABABcDDC
Type III
Bewnans Ke, stanza 224
Repetition in Bewnans Ke
77774777
CADORUS
Lowena ha lvne rowath theso war ver lavarowrag bos in yth elonoyth ny ve genys the barow mer ew the fvesthe vannath hath ryeldera ra the gorf in pelder nyth ankevyr byttyth brves
ABABcDDC
Type III
Bewnans Ke, stanza 224
Repetition in Bewnans Ke
CADORUS
Lowena ha lvne rowath theso war ver lavarowrag bos in yth elonoyth ny ve genys the barow mer ew the fvesthe vannath hath ryeldera ra the gorf in pelder nyth ankevyr byttyth brves
MORRYDUS
Lowena thum arluth mas lowena then gwelha govrlowena the berhan ras lowena thys barth yth towr mer ew the fvesthe vannath hath ryeldera ra the gorf in pelder nyth ankevyr byttyth brves
Bewnans Ke, stanza 223Bewnans Ke, stanza 222
AUGELUS
Ave pater Arthore lowena thys hag onerturba gentis futuræ a record the vonas flowr mer ew the fvesthe vannath hath ryeldera ra the gorf in pelder nyth ankevyr byttyth brves
AUGELUS
Ave pater Arthore lowena thys hag onerturba gentis futuræ a record the vonas flowr mer ew the fvesthe vannath hath ryeldera ra the gorf in pelder nyth ankevyr byttyth brves
AUGELUS
Ave pater Arthore lowena thys hag onerturba gentis futuræ a record the vonas flowr mer ew the fvesthe vannath hath ryeldera ra the gorf in pelder nyth ankevyr byttyth brves
MORRYDUS
Lowena thum arluth mas lowena then gwelha govrlowena the berhan ras lowena thys barth yth towr mer ew the fvesthe vannath hath ryeldera ra the gorf in pelder nyth ankevyr byttyth brves
CADORUS
Lowena ha lvne rowath theso war ver lavarowrag bos in yth elonoyth ny ve genys the barow mer ew the fvesthe vannath hath ryeldera ra the gorf in pelder nyth ankevyr byttyth brves
Bewnans Ke, stanza 222Bewnans Ke, stanza 223Bewnans Ke, stanza 224
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ABABcDDC
Type III
Repetition in Bewnans Ke
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SEPTIMUS LEGATUS
Lowena theugh a vyghterne hag onors drys an tasowthe yskerans a dres spern mara meryth in fasow sertan heb mara pes syrryshath voth terrys nyth wortesa gwyls na whar
SEPTIMUS LEGATUS
Lowena theugh a vyghterne hag onors drys an tasowthe yskerans a dres spern mara meryth in fasow sertan heb mara pes syrryshath voth terrys nyth wortesa gwyls na whar
ABABcddC
Type IIId
Bewnans Ke, stanza 264
Stanzas 256-70
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OCTAVUS LEGATUS
Lowena thys myghtern stowt in vhelder in the se pob ath wormol nynges dowt hedre vo bys in e le ha suer heb mar a pes syrryshath voth terrys nyth wortesa gwyls na whar
ABABcddC
Type IIId
Bewnans Ke, stanza 265
Stanzas 256-70
OCTAVUS LEGATUS
Lowena thys myghtern stowt in vhelder in the se pob ath wormol nynges dowt hedre vo bys in e le ha suer heb mar a pes syrryshath voth terrys nyth wortesa gwyls na whar
Bewnans Ke, stanza 265
OCTAVUS LEGATUS
Lowena thys myghtern stowt in vhelder in the se pob ath wormol nynges dowt hedre vo bys in e le ha suer heb mar a pes syrryshath voth terrys nyth wortesa gwyls na whar
SEPTIMUS LEGATUS
Lowena theugh a vyghterne hag onors drys an tasowthe yskerans a dres spern mara meryth in fasow sertan heb mara pes syrryshath voth terrys nyth wortesa gwyls na whar
Bewnans Ke, stanza 264
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ABABcddC
Type IIId
Stanzas 256-70
ABABddcCABABcddC
ABABddC
Stanzas 256-70 Overall Structure
Stanza 258: King Arthur
ABABcddC
Stanza 256: First Legate Stanza 257: Second Legate ABABcdd
CababcdedecABABcddCABABcddCABABcddC
Stanza 259: Third Legate Stanza 260: Fourth Legate Stanza 261: Fifth Legate Stanza 262: Sixth Legate ABABcdd
C Stanza 263: King Arthur ababcdedecABABcddCABABcddCABABcddCABABcddCABABcddC
Stanza 264: Seventh Legate Stanza 265: Eighth Legate Stanza 266: Ninth Legate Stanza 267: Tenth Legate Stanza 268: Eleventh Legate Stanza 269: Twelfth Legate ABABcdd
C Stanza 270: King Arthur
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EXCERCES REX ITURIORUM, SECUNDUS REX
Lowena thys ser Lucyow arluth emperor worthy ny re deth thys gans an gerthe sogys hath wostoyth onbyth lowaneys the golan ath yskar na berth awher arluth worthyme Excercesew gverror fers ha myghtern in Inury
EXCERCES REX ITURIORUM, SECUNDUS REX
Lowena thys ser Lucyow arluth emperor worthy ny re deth thys gans an gerthe sogys hath wostoyth onbyth lowaneys the golan ath yskar na berth awher arluth worthyme Excercesew gverror fers ha myghtern in Inury
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Stanzas 338-52
AABCCBdeeD
Type III.10e
Bewnans Ke, stanza 340
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ALPHATINA REX HIJSPANIE, TERTIUS REX
Hail thewhy ha lowenany re dueth theugh thum ena the wostoyth an gvlasow pelArthor rag e the venyaef a verew kyn tremena kyn fe vyth mar ver e nyel ny scap rum penea tristyough thynme Alphatyn myghtern Spain an deg the sen
AABCCBdeeD
Type III.10e
Bewnans Ke, stanza 341
Stanzas 338-52
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MICYPPA REX BABILONIÆ, QUARTUS REX
Lowena thum arluth masny re dueth a lyas gwlas pan glowsyn the vos serrysgenegy rag syngy caspen the yskar ren ow thas in ol hast a vith terrys der vras colanme Micyppaew gwerryor da ha myghtern in Babylon
AABAABcddC
Type IIIA.10d
Bewnans Ke, stanza 342
Stanzas 338-52
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MICYPPA REX BABILONIÆ, QUARTUS REX
Lowena thum arluth masny re dueth a lyas gwlas pan glowsyn the vos serrysgenegy rag syngy caspen the yskar ren ow thas in ol hast a vith terrys der vras colanme Micyppaew gwerryor da ha myghtern in Babylon
AABAABcddC
Type IIIA.10d
Bewnans Ke, stanza 342
MICYPPA REX BABILONIÆ, QUARTUS REX
Lowena thum arluth masny re dueth a lyas gwlas pan glowsyn the vos serrysgenegy rag syngy caspen the yskar ren ow thas in ol hast a vith terrys der vras colanme Micyppaew gwerryor da ha myghtern in Babylon
Stanzas 338-52
ALPHATINA REX HIJSPANIE, TERTIUS REX
Hail thewhy ha lowenany re dueth theugh thum ena the wostoyth an gvlasow pelArthor rag e the venyaef a verew kyn tremena kyn fe vyth mar ver e nyel ny scap rum penea tristyough thynme Alphatyn myghtern Spain an deg the sen
ALPHATINA REX HIJSPANIE, TERTIUS REX
Hail thewhy ha lowenany re dueth theugh thum ena the wostoyth an gvlasow pelArthor rag e the venyaef a verew kyn tremena kyn fe vyth mar ver e nyel ny scap rum penea tristyough thynme Alphatyn myghtern Spain an deg the sen
7777774447
AABCCBdeeD
Type III.10e
Bewnans Ke, stanza 341
Stanzas 338-52
EXCERCES REX ITURIORUM, SECUNDUS REX
Lowena thys ser Lucyow arluth emperor worthy ny re deth thys gans an gerthe sogys hath wostoyth onbyth lowaneys the golan ath yskar na berth awher arluth worthyme Excercesew gverror fers ha myghtern in Inury
7777774447
7777774447
AABCCBdeeD
Type III.10e
Bewnans Ke, stanza 340
EXCERCES REX ITURIORUM, SECUNDUS REX
Lowena thys ser Lucyow arluth emperor worthy ny re deth thys gans an gerthe sogys hath wostoyth onbyth lowaneys the golan ath yskar na berth awher arluth worthyme Excercesew gverror fers ha myghtern in Inury
Stanzas 338-52
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MICYPPA REX BABILONIÆ, QUARTUS REX
Lowena thum arluth masny re dueth a lyas gwlas pan glowsyn the vos serrysgenegy rag syngy caspen the yskar ren ow thas in ol hast a vith terrys der vras colanme Micyppaew gwerryor da ha myghtern in Babylon
AABAABcddC
Type IIIA.10d
Bewnans Ke, stanza 342
Stanzas 338-52
AABCCBdeeD
AABCCBdeeD
Stanzas 256-70 Overall Structure Stanza 258: Emperor AABCCBde
eD Stanza 256: First King Stanza 257: Second King AABCCBde
eD
AABCCBdeeDAABCCBdeeDAABCCBdeeDAABCCBdeeD
Stanza 259: Third King Stanza 260: Fourth King Stanza 261: Fifth King Stanza 262: Sixth King AABCCBdee
D Stanza 263: Emperor AABCCCB
AABCCBdeeDAABCCBdeeDAABCCBdeeDAABCCBdeeDAABCCBdeeD
Stanza 264: Seventh King Stanza 265: First Duke Stanza 266: Second Duke Stanza 267: Third Duke Stanza 268: Fourth Duke Stanza 269: Fifth Duke
Stanza 270: Emperor
Stanzas 338-52
Conclusions
Music to accompany dancing after the play
Both vocal and instrumental music played a role in medieval Cornish drama
Content
Some Cornish dialogue may have been sung rather than spoken
Hymns sung (in Latin or English) as part of performance
Repetition
Repetitive scenes in Bewnans Ke may have been sung to music
Context Form
— Pueri sequence in Passio Christi, derived from hymn
— speeches that describe characters as singing
— some stanza types may be associated with music Structure— speeches grouped in larger patterns that suggest
a musical form
— ‘refrains’ and textual parallels used to link adjacent stanzas in Bewnans Ke
Musical terminology appears in the dialogue