Carlo Bosi
dates de séjour
discipline
Fonction d’origine
Institution d’origine
pays d'origine
projet de recherche
The Chansonnier de Bayeux : An Early 16th-Century Monophonic Source and its Polyphonic Relatives
The manuscrit de Bayeux (F-Pnm, français 9346) and F-Pnm, français 12744 (chansonnier A) are unique musical sources, given that they are the only two anthologies from around 1500 transmitting a secular monophonic repertoire, sharing about one third of it. Until recently, there were few studies dedicated to either one or both sources and some are already dated. Moreover, most of these studies have rather focussed on the two chansonniers as sources for polyphonic arrangements on ‘pre-existent’ tunes, far less in the monophonic songs as independent artistic products in themselves. Only Isabel Kraft’s recent pioneering work on chansonnier A has considered these songs and the manuscript on their own terms, and the applicant’s proposed monograph aims to achieve comparable results for Bayeux.
The monograph on Bayeux shall include a historical introduction, a codicological analysis of the source, a transcription of texts and melodies, with a parallel English translation of the texts, and a complete list of monophonic concordances and polyphonic arrangements. Additionally, particular attention will be devoted to songs shared by both monophonic chansonniers, including a detailed analysis of and comparison with polyphonic arrangements of these songs and to songs without a known polyphonic transmission, as well as to specific melodic formulas unique to Bayeux. It is also planned to devote some attention, in a final chapter, to the revival of some of these songs by modern folk-singers and singer-song writers.
It is finally envisaged to feed data concerning songs in Bayeux into the Ricercar Data Lab and include work on the manuscript in the digital infrastructure Cluster 6 Biblissima+. This will help spread knowledge and awareness on the relevance of monophonic song in the Renaissance and of this underrepresented repertoire. Additionally, the inclusion of Bayeux in the Cluster 6 Biblissima+ will enhance digital visibility of the manuscript.
biographie
Carlo Bosi's scholarly activity focusses on Franco-Flemish polyphony of the 15th/16th century, with a particular interest in historically grounded musical analysis. Another focus is the relationship between early Venetian opera libretti and the literature of members of the Accademia degli Incogniti (1637 to c. 1660). In this regard, he has been leading the FWF (Austrian Science and Research Fund) funded project “Early Venetian Opera and Literature of the Incogniti” since 2019. In connection to this research endeavour the website https://operaincogniti.org has been developed. Another research interest is the study of the connections between music and “magical” philosophy in the Renaissance. In this field, he has already published two essays on musical aspects in the philosophy of Giordano Bruno.
Between 2014 and 2018, Carlo Bosi led the FWF project “Borrowing and Quoting Monophonic Melodies in Secular and Sacred Polyphony around 1500”, a continuation of the FWF project “Borrowing and Quoting Monophonic Melodies in Song around 1500” led by Prof. Dr. Andrea Lindmayr-Brandl. Both projects resulted in the database https://chansonmelodies-sbg-ac.eu, which presents transcriptions with variants and concordances of all melodies and their texts. The two chansons projects cover a total repertoire of hundreds of chansons and masses that are based on monophonic French songs. The time period considered ranges from the Loire chansonniers of the 1470s to the German prints of the late 1540s. One of the main results of this second phase of the research project is a monograph on the Chansonnier de Bayeux (F-Pn, f. fr. 9346).
He had many years experience in university teaching (in Oxford, London, Salzburg, Vienna, Basel, Bologna and Saarbrücken) with a focus on the secular repertoire of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, on music analysis and on Italian opera.
