Music Theory in Late Medieval Avignon: Magister Johannes Pipardi

Description

The manuscript Seville, Biblioteca Colombina y Capitular 5-2-25, a composite of dozens of theoretical treatises, is one of the primary witnesses to late medieval music theory. Its numerous copies of significant texts have been the focus of substantial scholarly attention to date, but the shorter, unattributed, or fragmentary works have not yet received the same scrutiny. In this monograph, Cook demonstrates that a small group of such works, linked to the otherwise unknown Magister Johannes Pipudi, is in fact much more noteworthy than previous scholarship has observed. The not one but two copies of De arte cantus are in fact one of the earliest known sources for the Libellus cantus mensurabilis, purportedly by Jean des Murs and the most widely copied music theory treatise of its day, while Regulae contrapunctus, Nota quod novem sunt species contrapunctus, and a concluding set of notes in Catalan are early witnesses to the popular Ars contrapuncti treatises also attributed to des Murs. Disclosing newly discovered biographical information, it is revealed that Pipudi is most likely one Johannes Pipardi, familiar to Cardinal Jean de Blauzac, Vicar-General of Avignon. Cook provides the first biographical assessment for him and shows that late fourteenth-century Avignon was a plausible chronological and geographical milieu for the Seville treatises, hinting provocatively at a possible route of transmission for the Libellus from Paris to Italy. The monograph concludes with new transcriptions and the first English translations of the treatises. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of figures List of tables Manuscript Sigla and Abbreviations Acknowledgments Prologue 1 The Seville Manuscript 2 The Practical Art of Measured Song 2.1 The Libellus cantus mensurabilis 2.2 De arte cantus 3 The Rules of Counterpoint 3.1 The Ars contrapuncti secundum Johannem de Muris 3.2 Regulae contrapunctus 3.3 Nota quod novem sunt species contrapunctus videlicet … 3.4 The Catalan notes 4 Introducing Johannes Pipardi 4.1 “In arte musice peritus” 4.2 The case of Alma polis religio/Axe poli cum artica 4.3 In the household of Jean de Blauzac 4.4 Johannes Pipardi: A conjectural biography 4.5 Sev revisited Epilogue Appendices Appendix 1: A preliminary list of members of Jean de Blauzac’s household Appendix 2: Texts and translations Appendix 2a: De arte cantus Appendix 2b: Regulae contrapunctus Appendix 2c: Catalan notes Appendix 2d: Nota quod novem sunt species contrapunctus videlicet … Works cited Index