My paper
A composer of great influence and fame during his lifetime, John Dunstable (c. 1390-1453) influenced several contemporaries of his time, and changed the course of Western music forever. By examining his life, his musical style, and his effect on his admirers, it is possible to gain insight into the changing musical period in which he lived, and the developments that took place at the time.
Very little is known about the early life of John Dunstable (sometimes spelled Dunstaple). The year postulated for his birth is fairly arbitrary and based upon the fact that the earliest works that can be attributed to him with a fair amount of certainty appear to be written around 1410-1420 (Grove 1). In addition to being a noted composer during his lifetime, Dunstable appears to have enjoyed equal fame as an astronomer, astrologer and mathematician (Choir and Organ 1). While he appeared to have no substantially independent ideas about these subjects, the few manuscripts that have survived with his name ascribed to them demonstrate a high level of competence (Grove 1).
As a musician, John Dunstable's life is an excellent example of the changing role of music in Western culture: he was not almost certainly not trained in the monastic tradition of the Catholic Church like many composers of the Middle Ages, as the parish in which he lived during the early part of his life contained women with the surname of Dunstable (Grove 2). Alternately he appeared to have attached himself to a few different courts within his lifetime, though it is not always easy to tell which ones. The first of these, in all likelihood, appears to be the Duke of Bedford (died 1435), who effectively ruled the town of Dunstable in Bedfordshire (Grove 1) but was also, more or less, the ruler of France, with substantial estates in Normandy (Oxford 421). Dunstable's own epitaph lists him as a “musician with the Duke of Bedford”, and after his lord's death one of these estates passed to Dunstable, who almost surely travelled frequently to the continent (Grove 1).
This service either ended in about late 1427, or overlapped with service to Queen Joan of Navarre, who supported Dunstable probably through her death in 1437 (Grove 1). Tax records indicate that during the prime of his life he received significant income from properties in Cambridge, Essex, and London, as well as from Queen Joan. After her death he was connected with the Duke of Gloucester (Grove 1), so all and all he appears to have been well-respected as well as taken care of during his lifetime. Indeed, while his fame may have receeded from it's peak after his death, (Thomas Morley, a later English composer, once produced a small excerpt from a Dunstable motet only to describe it as “...one of the greatest absurdities which I have seen committed in the dittying of music...” (Oxford 423)), he was still described as, “another Michalus, this new Ptolemy, this younger Atlas supporting the arc of the heavens...” in one of the two most ascribed epitaphs abput him(Grove 2).
Dunstable's musical contributions were, and are, important, but it is sometimes difficult to ascertain how many were his and how many were simply attributed to him by his contemporaries (Ars Nova, 184). His music seems to have been copied more often than his contemporaries, and it has been suggested that the “contenance angloise” (roughly, “English aire”) for which his compositions were so admired was not solely his own invention (Oxford 422). He, seemingly, enjoyed more popularity on the mainland than in the isles, (of the nearly 60 compositions attributed to him, only 22 at the most were copied in England), which suggests that while he may have been a great composer in the English style, he probably didn't, at least single-handedly, invent the English style
(Grove 4). Still, the style of composition he made popular in the 15th century eclipsed works of the French for years, and for the first time there was a pan-European musical style (Oxford 422).
This “contenance angloise” that Dunstable made popular shied away from the unprepared, strong beat dissonances of the ars nova period, and only a few prepared dissonances (Ars Novs 185). More obvious to most listeners today is Dunstable very consistent use of “imperfect consonances”, or simply major and minor thirds and sixes(Choir and Organ 2). It would be hundreds of years before most theorists would suggest the familier system of major and minor tonality was definatively in place, but it probably isn't an understatement to suggest that Dunstable's compositions that influenced so many composers of later generations began the gradual shift away from more linear composing methods toward an equal emphasis on functional harmonies and vertical considerations (Choir and Organ 1).
These characteristics, along with a preference for triple meter and the modes of C and G major (along with a and d minor), were considered specific characteristics of Dunstable's music at the time, though research later attributes them rather to conventional English style; several musical examples from contemporaries (and not neccesarily specific admirers) show extreme similiarity to Dunstable's compositions. (Ars Nova-185-186). Some examples show such similiarity that many different compositions cannot be attributed to anyone, because the style is so conventional. For many years scholars believed Leonel Power (died 1445) and Dunstable were the same person, as well as John Benet (died c. 1450) and Dunstable (Grove 4).
Dunstable's influence on later composers was great, probably because his style seems to have remained consistent from the beginning of his compositional career, with few signs of growth from the beginning to the later part of his life (Ars Nova 184). Such a consistency, as well as can be ascertained from a group of works whose exact dates are hard to identify, provided a solid basis of compositional style that influenced the same way constantly for many years (Ars Nova 184). While he had no apparent heir to his position as the leading composer of Europe, through analysis, both current and historical, it is apparent that, among others, he influenced musical theorist Tinctorus (who maintained, rather arrogantly, that any piece of music written before 1437 was worthless), Gilles Binchois, and Guillaume Du Fay (Oxford 423).
Dunstable's compositions are generally divided into 7 different non-exclsuive categories: The English descant, the ballade (also called the “free-treble style”), “gymel”-structured works (derived from a Latin word meaning “twin” and noted for parallel 3rds and/or 6ths), isorythmic motets (pairing patterns of rythem and tone in repeating sequence), chant harmonized in faburden style (2 improvised parts with an embellished or simple cantus firmus), the declamation motet (freely moving voices with an emphasis on a clear text, often not poly-textual), and the double structure (a freely composed or borrowed tenor with a predominant treble voice) (Ars Nova 186-187). In true Dunstable style, none of the above styles involved extreme manipulation of a cantus firmus to the point of impossible identification like many of his contemporaries, opting instead for a clearer, vertical approach (Ars Nova 187).
In paticular, his motets are probably some of the most influential compositions he ever attempted. In most every instance of his preserved works, his borrowed cantus
firmus takes on the spirit of a freely composed line, a very English tradition (Ars Nova 187). In addition to his technical developments in music, Dunstable began another slow shift away from music as a strictly intellectual exercise ( the ars subilitor) towards creating a musical enviroment for emotional response (Choir and Organ, 1).
The most substantial number of works that have survived from Dunstable fall into the second category listed, the ballade, composed with tonal melodies and very little imitation between voices. While polyphony remained, and continues to remain, an important musical texture, Dunstable's music is often heterophonic, a musical texture familier to listeners today but less familier at the time (Ars Nova 188). There is doubt as to whether or not Dunstable was the first composer to embrace such a texture substantially, but, as with many other innovations that have been credited to his name before, he was the composer who made it popular (Grove 5).
It is generally accepted that Dunstable wrote a fair number of English carols, which for their permanance alone bear mentioning. As a master of the English traditon, if not the inventor of it, it follows that Dunstable participated in this tradtion; however, not unlike plainchant, such compositions are typically laudations to God; it was and occaisionally still is considered inappropriate to attribute them(Grove 4). This, combined with scant historical records of the time, make it nearly impossible to tell which carols were his, or which were falsely attributed to him posthumously (Grove 4).
While very little is known about John Dunstable's life that isn't prone to scrutiny, but what is certain from the writings and developments of the time is that he was very influencial. He was certainly credited with musical innovations he wasn't personally responsible for, and perhaps still is, but it remains substantiated that he refined and influenced Western music for generations after him. By bringing the traditions of England to the continent, he bridged an important musical gap between two contrasting styles, and influenced music forever.
Wow, I'll bet no one read all that. I'm just so proud. Just a Bibliography and some citation fixes and I am done.
Very little is known about the early life of John Dunstable (sometimes spelled Dunstaple). The year postulated for his birth is fairly arbitrary and based upon the fact that the earliest works that can be attributed to him with a fair amount of certainty appear to be written around 1410-1420 (Grove 1). In addition to being a noted composer during his lifetime, Dunstable appears to have enjoyed equal fame as an astronomer, astrologer and mathematician (Choir and Organ 1). While he appeared to have no substantially independent ideas about these subjects, the few manuscripts that have survived with his name ascribed to them demonstrate a high level of competence (Grove 1).
As a musician, John Dunstable's life is an excellent example of the changing role of music in Western culture: he was not almost certainly not trained in the monastic tradition of the Catholic Church like many composers of the Middle Ages, as the parish in which he lived during the early part of his life contained women with the surname of Dunstable (Grove 2). Alternately he appeared to have attached himself to a few different courts within his lifetime, though it is not always easy to tell which ones. The first of these, in all likelihood, appears to be the Duke of Bedford (died 1435), who effectively ruled the town of Dunstable in Bedfordshire (Grove 1) but was also, more or less, the ruler of France, with substantial estates in Normandy (Oxford 421). Dunstable's own epitaph lists him as a “musician with the Duke of Bedford”, and after his lord's death one of these estates passed to Dunstable, who almost surely travelled frequently to the continent (Grove 1).
This service either ended in about late 1427, or overlapped with service to Queen Joan of Navarre, who supported Dunstable probably through her death in 1437 (Grove 1). Tax records indicate that during the prime of his life he received significant income from properties in Cambridge, Essex, and London, as well as from Queen Joan. After her death he was connected with the Duke of Gloucester (Grove 1), so all and all he appears to have been well-respected as well as taken care of during his lifetime. Indeed, while his fame may have receeded from it's peak after his death, (Thomas Morley, a later English composer, once produced a small excerpt from a Dunstable motet only to describe it as “...one of the greatest absurdities which I have seen committed in the dittying of music...” (Oxford 423)), he was still described as, “another Michalus, this new Ptolemy, this younger Atlas supporting the arc of the heavens...” in one of the two most ascribed epitaphs abput him(Grove 2).
Dunstable's musical contributions were, and are, important, but it is sometimes difficult to ascertain how many were his and how many were simply attributed to him by his contemporaries (Ars Nova, 184). His music seems to have been copied more often than his contemporaries, and it has been suggested that the “contenance angloise” (roughly, “English aire”) for which his compositions were so admired was not solely his own invention (Oxford 422). He, seemingly, enjoyed more popularity on the mainland than in the isles, (of the nearly 60 compositions attributed to him, only 22 at the most were copied in England), which suggests that while he may have been a great composer in the English style, he probably didn't, at least single-handedly, invent the English style
(Grove 4). Still, the style of composition he made popular in the 15th century eclipsed works of the French for years, and for the first time there was a pan-European musical style (Oxford 422).
This “contenance angloise” that Dunstable made popular shied away from the unprepared, strong beat dissonances of the ars nova period, and only a few prepared dissonances (Ars Novs 185). More obvious to most listeners today is Dunstable very consistent use of “imperfect consonances”, or simply major and minor thirds and sixes(Choir and Organ 2). It would be hundreds of years before most theorists would suggest the familier system of major and minor tonality was definatively in place, but it probably isn't an understatement to suggest that Dunstable's compositions that influenced so many composers of later generations began the gradual shift away from more linear composing methods toward an equal emphasis on functional harmonies and vertical considerations (Choir and Organ 1).
These characteristics, along with a preference for triple meter and the modes of C and G major (along with a and d minor), were considered specific characteristics of Dunstable's music at the time, though research later attributes them rather to conventional English style; several musical examples from contemporaries (and not neccesarily specific admirers) show extreme similiarity to Dunstable's compositions. (Ars Nova-185-186). Some examples show such similiarity that many different compositions cannot be attributed to anyone, because the style is so conventional. For many years scholars believed Leonel Power (died 1445) and Dunstable were the same person, as well as John Benet (died c. 1450) and Dunstable (Grove 4).
Dunstable's influence on later composers was great, probably because his style seems to have remained consistent from the beginning of his compositional career, with few signs of growth from the beginning to the later part of his life (Ars Nova 184). Such a consistency, as well as can be ascertained from a group of works whose exact dates are hard to identify, provided a solid basis of compositional style that influenced the same way constantly for many years (Ars Nova 184). While he had no apparent heir to his position as the leading composer of Europe, through analysis, both current and historical, it is apparent that, among others, he influenced musical theorist Tinctorus (who maintained, rather arrogantly, that any piece of music written before 1437 was worthless), Gilles Binchois, and Guillaume Du Fay (Oxford 423).
Dunstable's compositions are generally divided into 7 different non-exclsuive categories: The English descant, the ballade (also called the “free-treble style”), “gymel”-structured works (derived from a Latin word meaning “twin” and noted for parallel 3rds and/or 6ths), isorythmic motets (pairing patterns of rythem and tone in repeating sequence), chant harmonized in faburden style (2 improvised parts with an embellished or simple cantus firmus), the declamation motet (freely moving voices with an emphasis on a clear text, often not poly-textual), and the double structure (a freely composed or borrowed tenor with a predominant treble voice) (Ars Nova 186-187). In true Dunstable style, none of the above styles involved extreme manipulation of a cantus firmus to the point of impossible identification like many of his contemporaries, opting instead for a clearer, vertical approach (Ars Nova 187).
In paticular, his motets are probably some of the most influential compositions he ever attempted. In most every instance of his preserved works, his borrowed cantus
firmus takes on the spirit of a freely composed line, a very English tradition (Ars Nova 187). In addition to his technical developments in music, Dunstable began another slow shift away from music as a strictly intellectual exercise ( the ars subilitor) towards creating a musical enviroment for emotional response (Choir and Organ, 1).
The most substantial number of works that have survived from Dunstable fall into the second category listed, the ballade, composed with tonal melodies and very little imitation between voices. While polyphony remained, and continues to remain, an important musical texture, Dunstable's music is often heterophonic, a musical texture familier to listeners today but less familier at the time (Ars Nova 188). There is doubt as to whether or not Dunstable was the first composer to embrace such a texture substantially, but, as with many other innovations that have been credited to his name before, he was the composer who made it popular (Grove 5).
It is generally accepted that Dunstable wrote a fair number of English carols, which for their permanance alone bear mentioning. As a master of the English traditon, if not the inventor of it, it follows that Dunstable participated in this tradtion; however, not unlike plainchant, such compositions are typically laudations to God; it was and occaisionally still is considered inappropriate to attribute them(Grove 4). This, combined with scant historical records of the time, make it nearly impossible to tell which carols were his, or which were falsely attributed to him posthumously (Grove 4).
While very little is known about John Dunstable's life that isn't prone to scrutiny, but what is certain from the writings and developments of the time is that he was very influencial. He was certainly credited with musical innovations he wasn't personally responsible for, and perhaps still is, but it remains substantiated that he refined and influenced Western music for generations after him. By bringing the traditions of England to the continent, he bridged an important musical gap between two contrasting styles, and influenced music forever.
Wow, I'll bet no one read all that. I'm just so proud. Just a Bibliography and some citation fixes and I am done.