AMS Philadelphia 2009 Abstracts - American Musicological Society

86 Friday afternoon AMS Philadelphia 2009
renAissAnce itAly
leofranc holford-strevens, oxford, england, chair
RECONSIDERING DU FAY’S SUPreMUM eSt MortALiBUS BoNUM
Michael Phelps
New York University
It has long been established that Du Fay’s motet Supremum est mortalibus bonum was first
heard some time in the spring of 1433. Beyond that, scholars are still engaged in spirited debate
about the specific occasion for which it was commissioned. The motet was first connected
with the signing of a treaty in April 1433 between Sigismund, King of the Romans, and Pope
Eugene IV, subsequently known as the “Peace of Viterbo.” Although the treaty settled rancorous
political differences between Pope and King, only Sigismund was in Viterbo at the time,
while Eugene remained in Rome. This led David Fallows to suggest that the treaty’s signing
was an unlikely occasion for a performance of such an important commemorative piece and
that the motet was performed instead as part of the celebrations that began on 21 May 1433,
when Sigismund solemnly entered Rome, and culminated days later on Pentecost Sunday,
when Pope Eugene IV crowned him as Holy Roman Emperor. In this paper, I provide further
evidence linking Du Fay’s motet to the Roman festivities of May 1433, specifically to the actual
coronation on 31 May. Further, I address issues raised by some opponents of the “coronation
theory” who, for example, note that Sigismund is referred to as King, not Emperor, in the
motet’s text. It is my contention that Sigismund had yet to be crowned when Supremum est
mortalibus bonum was performed during the coronation liturgy.
Evidence in support of this is found in papal ordinals that specifically note that after the
singers (“cantores”) have sung (“decantata”) the Kyrie and Gloria, they are then to interpolate
(“interpolata”) a “cantilena” while the pontiff is engaged in other liturgical actions. That juncture
occurs before the actual anointing by the pope that confers title on the recipient. In other
words, at that point in the ceremony when the “cantilena” (in this case the motet) was being
sung, Sigismund, King of the Romans, had yet to become the Holy Roman Emperor. I also
offer evidence that the motet’s texts, “for peace [and] for two great luminaries of the world,”
were entirely appropriate for that moment in the coronation liturgy.
THE FAR-REACHING CONSEQUENCES OF
BASIRON’S L’HoMMe ArMé MASS
Jeffrey J. Dean
Royal Musical Association
The four-voice L’homme armé mass ascribed to “Philippon” (Philippe Basiron, c. 1450–
1491), called “new” in 1484, has been fairly well known to scholars since its publication in
score in 1948. But one of its most important features has gone undetected until now. I have
discovered that its final section, Agnus Dei III, is for five voices, embodying a simultaneous
retrograde canon on the “L’homme armé ” melody. The Tenor part in the unique source,
though necessary to the counterpoint, was added later to the manuscript by a different composer
and a different scribe.