Oswald and the tradition of non-mensural polyphony
Oswald von Wolkenstein’s polyphonic output can roughly be categorised in two groups; one of them consists of contrafacta. The other has proved difficult to place and in past scholarship has been referred to by a diversified terminology applicable to sacred repertories, which includes the expressions ‘archaic’, ‘monastic’ (‘klösterlich’) and ‘organum-like’ (‘organal’).[1] One additional term, coined specifically for this group of Oswald’s secular polyphonic songs, was introduced in 1977 by Ivana Pelnar[2] and was designed to suggest an origin from local, possibly ‘oral’ practices: ‘bodenständig’. This term translates as ‘native’, ‘local’, or ‘down-to-earth’, and besides referring to an autochthonic repertory has implications of the ‘simple’, the ‘rural’ and the ‘rustic’. This term also hints at a ‘peripheral’ repertory, but at the same time dodges the question of provenance to some extent, since the assumed models would presumably have been unwritten and thus untraceable in manuscripts other than Oswald’s own codices. Within his codices the specimens would thus count as a ‘freak occurrence’ – a reasoning that carries the seeds of a circular argument. Furthermore, unlike the first group of polyphonic songs, the contrafacta, these songs were assumed to be Oswald’s own attempts at polyphonic composition, partly because their notation and counterpoint appear to be by a non-expert and partly because none of them (with one exception) have concordances outside his manuscripts. The question of Oswald’s musical training had been the subject of previous scholarship but could not ultimately be solved.[3] However, the fact that a substantial part of his polyphonic output consists of contrafacta while this remaining part appears to be of a humbler stylistic level paired with a lack of concordances, could point to Oswald’s authorship and level of musical training. This assumption is supported by the observation that the bulk of this particular repertory was added to Oswald’s first song collection (WolkA)[4] as a secondary layer only after a substantial repertory of contrafacta had been entered, probably in the wake of the Council of Constance.[5] Therefore, Oswald’s experiences at the Council appear to have triggered a boost of poetic and musical activity, resulting in new monophonic songs and contrafacta followed by a surge of own polyphonic works.[6]
In my previous work on Oswald’s polyphonic songs I have encountered the same difficulties as previous scholars in defining this special group of songs, and – at least regarding the terminology – have fallen in some of the same traps: while rejecting the term ‘bodenständig’ (‘native’) to describe it, I did use ‘archaic’ and embraced ‘organum-like’ (‘organal’). Yet, this group is essentially of the same category as the sacred repertories that have been characterised as ‘non-mensural polyphony’ (» A. Kap. Zum Begriff der nichtmensuralen Mehrstimmigkeit). It would, therefore, not represent an isolated repertory but could be seen as embedded in a common practice. The historical and theoretical background of this practice has first been discussed in English in Fuller 1978.
[1] On these sacred repertories, see » A. Klösterliche Mehrstimmigkeit: Grundlagen (Alexander Rausch), and » A. Klösterliche Mehrstimmigkeit: Arten und Kontexte (Reinhard Strohm).
[2] Pelnar 1978, and substantiated in Pelnar 1982, Textband.
[3] See, for example, Timm 1974.
[4] „WolkA“: A-Wn Cod. 2777 (?Vienna, c. 1425): „WolkB“: A-Iu o. Sign.
[5] See Lewon 2017, pp. 134–137.
[6] This assessment supports Pelnar’s statement (Pelnar 1982, Textband, p. 21) against a development from a more ‘primitive’ to a more ‘sophisticated’ counterpoint within Oswald’s œuvre: ‘Auf keinen Fall dürfen die Gruppen [‘bodenständig’ und ‘westlich’] chronologisch als Entwicklungsphasen aufgefaßt werden, wie es etwa Salmen bei seiner Datierung der Lieder macht’ (Under no circumstances should the categories [‘native’ and ‘Western’] be understood as chronological phases of a development, as Salmen did in his dating of the songs).
[1] On these sacred repertories, see » A. Klösterliche Mehrstimmigkeit: Grundlagen (Alexander Rausch), and » A. Klösterliche Mehrstimmigkeit: Arten und Kontexte (Reinhard Strohm).
[2] Pelnar 1978, and substantiated in Pelnar 1982, Textband.
[4] „WolkA“: A-Wn Cod. 2777 (?Vienna, c. 1425): „WolkB“: A-Iu o. Sign.
[5] See Lewon 2017, pp. 134–137.
[6] This assessment supports Pelnar’s statement (Pelnar 1982, Textband, p. 21) against a development from a more ‘primitive’ to a more ‘sophisticated’ counterpoint within Oswald’s œuvre: ‘Auf keinen Fall dürfen die Gruppen [‘bodenständig’ und ‘westlich’] chronologisch als Entwicklungsphasen aufgefaßt werden, wie es etwa Salmen bei seiner Datierung der Lieder macht’ (Under no circumstances should the categories [‘native’ and ‘Western’] be understood as chronological phases of a development, as Salmen did in his dating of the songs).
[7] Pelnar 1978, p. 275f.
[8] For a more comprehensive summary of the concept of ‘reference rhythm’, see Lewon 2012, 169–173.
[9] ‘Strichnotation’: see » K. A-Wn Cod. 5094: Souvenirs and Glossary.
[10] The main manuscript for the songs of the Monk of Salzburg, the Mondsee-Wiener Liederhandschrift (A-Wn Cod. 2856), is one of the first musical manuscripts that makes a clear division between secular and sacred songs with the rubrics “werltlich” and “geistlich”; see März 1999, pp. 367–368.
[11] ‘Kl’ numbers refer to the numeration in the standard text edition, Klein 2015 (and earlier).
[12] ‘W’ (‘weltlich’) numbers refer to the numeration in März 1999.
[13] The rubric to W 8 (Ich klag dir, traut gesell) by the Monk confirms this practice ex negativo: “Ain tenor von hübscher melodey als sy ez gern gemacht haben darauf nicht yeglicher kund übersingen” (A tenor with a pretty melody, the way they liked to make them. Not everyone was capable of singing an upper voice to this). See also » B. Kap. Ich klag dir traut gesell (David Murray).
[14] Lewon 2011; see the table on pp. 189-191. Not all of the remaining songs listed there are proven contrafacta, but their notation and counterpoint strongly suggest a model from contemporary polyphonic exemplars. There is one more piece that could be added to the list of twelve below: Kl 21 (Ir alten weib), a monophonic song that appears to be a cognate to the Neidhart song Der sawer kübell - Niemand sol sein trauren tragen lange (see Mark Lewon, ‘Oswald quoting Neidhart: Ir alten weib (Kl 21) & Der sawer kübell (wl)’ (2014), accessible online at: https://mlewon.wordpress.com/2014/06/30/oswald-quoting-neidhart/). Michael Shields (2011) has suggested that the third section of this Oswald song could contain a piece of hidden polyphony in the form of a fuga. Should this prove true, then Kl 21 could be another case of non-mensural polyphony, employing reference rhythm. Since the claim is hard to substantiate and canons are excluded from the list – most of them being contrafacta – I will, for the time being, leave this song aside.
[15] In WolkA, only Kl 79 was notated separately a few pages later, probably because it was added with a second layer of repertory. For the scribal layers of the manuscript, see Delbono 1977. In WolkB, song Kl 37/38 was separated from the block and notated in a monophonic version in the first half of the manuscript, while the other four were grouped together.
[16] A-Iu o. Sign. (?Basel, c. 1432).
[17] See chapter 5.3 ‘Oswald quoting Oswald: Crossing the Border to Polyphony’, in Lewon 2018, pp. 260–268.
[18] For an in-depth analysis of the modal shifts of Kl 101 in the different sources, see chapter 5.1 ‘“Wach auff, mein hort”: A Melody of Modal Ambiguity’, in Lewon 2018, pp. 241–53.
[19] A recording of this edition, though experimentally transposed to a D-mode, can be found on the album The Cosmopolitan – Songs by Oswald von Wolkenstein. Ensemble Leones (Christophorus, 2014), track 9. Other examples for a new edition of Oswald’s non-mensural polyphony can be found in Lewon 2016a, ‘Ach senliches leiden (Kl 51)’, pp. 35–37, and ‘Des himels trone (Kl 37)’, pp. 38–43.
[20] For a first proposal of this interpretation, see Lewon 2011, pp. 168–191 at pp. 182–184.
[21] In » Notenbsp. Wol auff, wol an, most melismas are in parallel fifths; the cadential melisma over the word ‘springen’ and a section of the final melisma of the clos, however, run in parallel sixths.
[22] März 1999. See also » B. The secular songs of the Monk of Salzburg (David Murray). The secular songs (‘W’ for weltlich), are edited in März 1999, the sacred songs (‘G‘ for geistlich), in Waechter-Spechtler 2004.
[23] Rubric: “Der tenor ist der tischsegen” (This tenor is [called] the benediction).
[24] Rubric: “Der tenor haizt der freüdensal nach ainem Lusthaws pey Salzburg […]” (This tenor is called the house of pleasure after a hunting lodge near Salzburg […]).
[25] Rubric: see n. 13 above.
[26] For a more formal definition of monophonic ‘tenores’, see März 1999, pp. 11–2, 14–19, 31–3 and 36–40. An extended interpretation of the use and function of such ‘tenores’ by Reinhard Strohm and myself is given in Lewon 2018, pp. 225–226.
[27] In fact, Lorenz Welker argued that the motet-like song W54* is an example of extemporised counterpoint, which needed to be written because it carries a text. In other circumstances the discantus would not have been notated, but extemporised: see Welker 1984/1985, p. 55.
[28] Melody rubric: “Das nachthorn, vnd ist gut zu blasen” (The night horn, and it is suitable for wind instruments); second voice rubric: “Das ist der pumhart dar zu” (This is the accompanying bombarde).
[29] Melody rubric: “Das taghorn, auch gut zu blasen, vnd ist sein pumhart dy erst note vnd yr ünder octaua slecht hin.” (The day horn, also suitable for wind instruments, and its bombarde is simply the first note down an octave).
[30] See Welker 1984/1985.
[31] Rubric: “Das kchühorn […]” (The cow horn […]).
[32] Melody rubric: “Das haizt dy trumpet vnd ist auch gut zu blasen. Das swarcz is er, das rot ist sy” (This is called the trumpet and it is also suitable for wind instruments. The black [notation and text] is him, the red [notation and text] is her). Second voice rubric: ‘Das ist der wachter dar zu’ (This is the watchman for this).
[33] See März 1999, p. 368.
[34] On the musical types trumpetum and tuba (‘trompetta music’), see Strohm 1993, pp. 108-111 and passim.
[35] See » E. Kap. Hornwerke, where it is now suggested that a Hornwerk may have existed in the 15th century on the tower of the Salzburg parish church or of the town hall.
[36] März 1999, pp. 12 and 368.
[37] Both of them feature a dialogue of two lovers in their main melody, accompanied by a running commentary in the second voice.
[38] März 1999, p. 375.
[39] A recording is » Hörbsp. Untarnslaf - Das kchúhorn (Ensemble Leones), https://musical-life.net/audio/untarnslaf-das-kchuhorn (2015), where I refer to this song as a ‘pseudo-’ or ‘peasant-motet’.
[40] A stylised semiminima is used as the custos throughout the section with polyphonic songs and monophonic ‘tenores’.
[41] See Welker 1984/1985.