Early Polyphony Study Day in Oxford, 20th Jan

PMMS Study Day
Polyphonic Music of the Late Middle Ages from England and the Continent. Sources, Context and Court Culture

Magdalen College, Oxford - Saturday, 20th January 2018

The 2018 PMMS study day accompanies the exhibition “Fragments of note: the afterlives of medieval manuscripts” at Magdalen College, Oxford, which examines the numerous medieval manuscript fragments held at Magdalen, largely medieval books that have been dismantled in the early modern period and re-used as binding waste or covers. The main exhibition focuses on fragments featuring musical notation and is complemented by a selection of contemporary watercolour, collage, and paper-pulp relief works by fine artist Janet Boulton.

The day starts at 10am with talks by Margaret Bent (Oxford), Lisa Colton (Huddersfield), Karl Kügle (Oxford/Utrecht) and Elizabeth Nyikos (Oxford), accompanied by live performances from the Magdalen Academical Clerks. At 12.15 there will be an opportunity to visit Fragments of Note. The Afterlives of Medieval Manuscripts (Magdalen College Old Library) with the curators to see the medieval music manuscript fragments from the College Collections, which include the famous fragments of the 15th-c. ‘Lost Royal Choirbook', copied possibly for the Chapel Royal of King Henry VI. At 14.30, a memorial service for Prof. David Wulstan will be held in  St Peter’s College Chapel. Members of the Plainsong and Medieval Music Society are cordially invited to attend. There will be refreshments afterwards.

Programme

Magdalen College - Summer Common Room

09:30 - Arrival, coffee and opening

10:00 - Elizabeth Nyikos (Oxford)
            Medieval and modern reconstructions of the Worcester Fragments

10:30 - Lisa Colton (Huddersfield)
            Music, ceremony, and civic display in the commemoration of Sir Hugh Wiche and Dame Alice Wiche

11:00 - Karl Kügle (Oxford–Utrecht)
            Courtly perils vs eternal salvation: Reading Degentis vita/Cum vix artidici

11:30 - Margaret Bent (Oxford)
            The fragmentary royal choirbook: an update

            With live illustrations by the Magdalen Academical Clerks

Magdalen College - Old Library

12:15 - Tour of 'Fragments of Note: The Afterlives of Medieval Manuscripts'.
An exhibition of medieval music manuscript fragments from the College collections by curators Giovanni Varelli and Daryl Green.

13:00 - Lunch [Council meeting]

St Peter’s College - College Chapel (New Inn Hall Street, Oxford, OX1 2DL)

14:30 - Prof. David Wulstan Memorial Service
https://www.spc.ox.ac.uk/event/david-wulstan-memorial-service

Registration

Registration is free. A voluntary donation will be collected at the end of the morning. We suggest a donation of £10 (waged); £5 (PMMS member/student/unwaged) or £3 (PMMS student member). Lunch is not provided, but can be purchased for a modest cost at the College Buttery or Old Kitchen Bar in Magdalen.

Please email Dr Giovanni Varelli (giovanni.varelli@music.ox.ac.uk) by Saturday 13th January, indicating whether you would like to attend the Study Day and/or the Memorial Service.

http://plainsong.org.uk/events/