Eric Rice | University of Connecticut (original) (raw)

Papers by Eric Rice

Current Musicology, 1998

Reviewed by Eric Rice The principal title of this book underscores its kinship with Harold Copema... more Reviewed by Eric Rice The principal title of this book underscores its kinship with Harold Copeman's Singing in Latin (1990), a pioneering work that has become an important resource for conductors and singers of Latin-texted music. Copeman painstakingly analyzes puns, spelling, and descriptions of phonology from various periods, offering suggestions for pronunciation in the performance of music along the way. While Copeman's book has been widely praised for its utility, it has also been criticized for "fall[ing] between two stools: it is neither a totally scholarly presentation of sources with an added commentary nor a practical handbook with guidelines to performers clearly set out" (Ledsham 1993). Singing Early Music, on the other hand, is designed primarily as a practical handbook for performers based on sound linguistic scholarship. It offers important advice to singers and choral conductors, and it is of interest to musicologists and literary scholars as well. Much of the information presented was not easily accessible to performers prior to the book's publication, and this information has been gathered and presented in a clear, concise, interesting, and, above all, convenient fashion. This is an eminently useful book, but it needs to be used with discretion. Easy access to information has clearly been an important criterion for the organization of the book. It is divided into sections dealing with regions of Western Europe: Germany and the Low Countries, Britain, France, the Iberian Peninsula, and Italy. Each of these sections contains a set of chapters dealing with languages, including Latin, spoken in the various regions. Mter some general remarks, most chapters present a brief summary of evidence for the pronunciations proposed; short bibliographies are provided for the benefit of those whose curiosity is less easily satisfied. Diachronic sound charts are provided so that one can see the changes in sound in relation to orthography that occurred over time, and sample texts from musical works are printed with transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). An introduction provides clear, concise overviews of phonetics and European languages, and a phonetic chart is provided at the end to help the reader interpret the symbols of

Current Musicology, 1998

Reviewed by Eric Rice The principal title of this book underscores its kinship with Harold Copema... more Reviewed by Eric Rice The principal title of this book underscores its kinship with Harold Copeman's Singing in Latin (1990), a pioneering work that has become an important resource for conductors and singers of Latin-texted music. Copeman painstakingly analyzes puns, spelling, and descriptions of phonology from various periods, offering suggestions for pronunciation in the performance of music along the way. While Copeman's book has been widely praised for its utility, it has also been criticized for "fall[ing] between two stools: it is neither a totally scholarly presentation of sources with an added commentary nor a practical handbook with guidelines to performers clearly set out" (Ledsham 1993). Singing Early Music, on the other hand, is designed primarily as a practical handbook for performers based on sound linguistic scholarship. It offers important advice to singers and choral conductors, and it is of interest to musicologists and literary scholars as well. Much of the information presented was not easily accessible to performers prior to the book's publication, and this information has been gathered and presented in a clear, concise, interesting, and, above all, convenient fashion. This is an eminently useful book, but it needs to be used with discretion. Easy access to information has clearly been an important criterion for the organization of the book. It is divided into sections dealing with regions of Western Europe: Germany and the Low Countries, Britain, France, the Iberian Peninsula, and Italy. Each of these sections contains a set of chapters dealing with languages, including Latin, spoken in the various regions. Mter some general remarks, most chapters present a brief summary of evidence for the pronunciations proposed; short bibliographies are provided for the benefit of those whose curiosity is less easily satisfied. Diachronic sound charts are provided so that one can see the changes in sound in relation to orthography that occurred over time, and sample texts from musical works are printed with transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). An introduction provides clear, concise overviews of phonetics and European languages, and a phonetic chart is provided at the end to help the reader interpret the symbols of

Liège, Belgium: Musique en Wallonie: MEW 1267, 2012

Shannon Canavin-soprano et direction Eric Rice-ténor et direction artistique Teresa Wakim-soprano... more Shannon Canavin-soprano et direction Eric Rice-ténor et direction artistique Teresa Wakim-soprano Thea Lobo-alto Aaron Russo-alto Jason McStoots-ténor Cameron Beauchamps-basse Brian Church-basse Darrick Yee-basse Sources Mangon Chorbuch II : Laudemus Dominum-fol. 192v-194r ; O spes afflictis-fol. 194v-195r ; O spes afflictis/In cythara/Dissolute in corpore-fol. 195v-199r ; Ave Maria-fol. 209v-210r ; In te, Domine, speravi-fol. 305v-313r ; Vigila super nos-fol. 349v-350r Mangon Chorbuch III : O rex orbis triumphator (polyphonie)-fol. 14v-15r ; Magnificat [primi/sexti toni]-fol. 58v-59r ; Salve regina super Doulce mémoire-fol. 106v-110r G 20 ("Antiphonaire de Franko") : Regali natus de stirpe, etc. (antiennes de l'office rimé)-p. 237/fol. 25r-v G 36 : Ad completorium : verset et répons : Converte nos ; psaume 4 : Cum invocarem, etc.-p. 246 G 38 : O rex orbis triumphator (plain-chant)-pp. 273-4 ; Gloria Patri-p. 530 G 42 : Capitule : Egredimini et videte ; oraison : Deus qui superhabundanti-p. 136 Toutes ces sources sont conservées au Domarchiv Aachen ; toutes les éditions ont été réalisées par Eric Rice.

Naxos Records 8.579063, 2021

@ Chi passa per 'sta strada (from Il primo libro de villotte alla padoana con alcune napolitane) ... more @ Chi passa per 'sta strada (from Il primo libro de villotte alla padoana con alcune napolitane) *** (1557) 1:53

Young Choristers, 650-1700, 2008

Archival entries have provided music historians with a wealth of information on the education and... more Archival entries have provided music historians with a wealth of information on the education and administration of choirboys in the late Middle Ages and early modern period. Such information has traditionally been employed in studies of performance context in which an understanding of young performers' abilities and responsibilities contributes to an overall picture of ecclesiastical and musical life. Mostly unexplored is the experience of young singers as performers and, especially, as children — a social group seen by their elders as physically, intellectually, and emotionally immature. This paper addresses questions of the responsibilities and experiences of both ecclesiastical institutions and the young choristers who served them with recourse to the growing body of research on young singers in medieval and early modern Europe. Though the lives and roles of singers varied across time and place, a comparative approach can nonetheless reveal some commonalities in performance traditions and in experiences of childhood before 1700. The evidence suggests that despite young singers' formidable abilities and responsibilities, their experience — both as performers and as people — reflected conceptions of childhood as understood by the clerics who were their superiors.

Das Erzbistum Köln in der Musikgeschichte des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts — Kongressbericht Köln 2005, 2008

The liturgical books in Aachen’s cathedral archive preserve a rich musical heritage that is worth... more The liturgical books in Aachen’s cathedral archive preserve a rich musical heritage that is worth detailed examination — not only because it represents a multi-layered legacy of Carolingian liturgy and royalty, but also because of the geographical and political position of Aachen’s principal church within the Holy Roman Empire. Although Charlemagne granted his royal chapel exceptional status (which is often overly simplified as “Palatine Chapel”), he did not elevate it to a cathedral, but instead strengthened the importance of Liège as a bishopric and of Cologne as an archdiocese. In the centuries that followed, imperial palaces were generally built a long way from Aachen, and the city’s exceptional position was reduced as a result. In view of the declining importance of the basilica regalis, the canons sought to maintain and renew their unique traditions during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries — including the coronation of the German kings and the pilgrimage that takes place every seven years — with music as an essential element and a means of both preserving and reforming church traditions. On the one hand, the local rite chorale continued to be sung as it had been for centuries; on the other, its polyphonic decoration corresponded to the most modern standards. It is this intersection of old and new musical forms that made Aachen an important center of music during the Renaissance.

Young Choristers, 650-1700, 2008

The canons of Aachen’s Marienkirche recorded memorial endowments for services in the church’s tw... more The canons of Aachen’s Marienkirche recorded memorial endowments for services in the church’s two oldest necrologies. Beginning in the fourteenth century, these endowments provide the earliest evidence of polyphonic singing at the church, specify amounts paid to celebrating clerics and professional musicians, and even specify payments to choirboys. Canons’ wills also provide endowments for the performance of polyphony in annual memorial services and for high feast days, sometimes providing more: funds for the education and care of choirboys. This paper traces the evolution of Aachen’s memorial endowments, underscoring their importance for the maintenance of liturgico-musical traditions at the institution.

Yearbook of the Alamire Foundation , 2008

On 25 January 1414, the canons of the Collegiate Church of Saint Mary in Aachen gathered to witne... more On 25 January 1414, the canons of the Collegiate Church of Saint Mary in Aachen gathered to witness the dedication of a new addition to their basilica. This addition, a Gothic choir that had required sixty years to build, was the most profound physical change in the history of the church. The church's ordinals, liturgical books, and other surviving documents demonstrate the substantial performances of polyphonic music in the church, and it is possible to reconstruct where and how singers stood before and after the construction of the Gothic choir. This, along with acoustical tests performed during a building renovations with a wall separating the two spaces in place, allows for reconstruction of the acoustics as a factor in the performance of polyphonic music both before and after the construction of the choir.

Canons and Canonic Techniques, 14th-16th Centuries: Theory, Practice, Reception History - Proceedings of the International Conference, Leuven, 4-6 October 2005, 2007

An anonymous four-voice Missa L’Homme armé found in two manuscripts produced by Habsburg-Burgundi... more An anonymous four-voice Missa L’Homme armé found in two manuscripts produced by Habsburg-Burgundian scriptoria exhibits canonic technique that is unusual in conjunction with the famous melody. Rather than subjecting L’Homme armé to canon, the composer (who is thought to be Pierre de la Rue) employs it as a cantus firmus, alternating between inner voices in accordance with the tessitura of the quoted melody. Around this he composed free canon at the twelfth, with the discantus as dux and bassus as comes.
The essay argues that the canon’s intervallic content is meant to be exact. The combination of cantus firmus and canon often requires considerable emphasis on C on the part of the dux, with a resultant emphasis on F in the comes. The emphasis on F, in turn, triggers use of the soft hexachord that makes its way into the cantus firmus, thereby juxtaposing the dorian and mixolydian versions of L’Homme armé within the mass. Midway through the Credo, the dux is shifted from the discantus to the bassus voice, suggesting a theologically significant chiastic form. The remainder of the mass shifts the canon to various voices, and entrances employing canonic imitation serve to obscure the strict canon’s true location.

Viator, 2007

The identity of Aachen’s “royal basilica” was dominated by Charlemagne, it founder, but was also ... more The identity of Aachen’s “royal basilica” was dominated by Charlemagne, it founder, but was also bound up with a septennial pilgrimage and thus personal devotion. The church became an important center for the articulation of the Holy Roman Empire’s struggle against Protestantism, prompting liturgical changes during the last third of the sixteenth century. This article discusses two such changes between 1570 and 1580: the clear presentation of centuries-old plainchant melodies for the Feast of Charlemagne in up-to-date polyphonic settings by Johannes Mangon (ca. 1525–1578) and the construction of a new pulpit for vernacular preaching in close proximity to the former location of an ancient one. Each of these modifications updates an old or existing practice in a way that renews its relevance in light of the increase of Protestantism in the area. Such updates resonate with the Counter-Reformation goal of preserving and renewing the Catholic faith.

Federstrich - Liturgische Handschriften der ehemaligen Stiftsbibliothek, 2000

An article in an exhibition catalog describing music and musical practices for the Feast of Saint... more An article in an exhibition catalog describing music and musical practices for the Feast of Saint Charlemagne at the Collegiate Church of Saint Mary in Aachen during the Middle Ages as described in on-site manuscripts from the institution.

Revue de Musicologie, 1999

In 1570, Nicolas du Chemin of Paris published Les Meslanges de Maistre Pierre Certon, which conta... more In 1570, Nicolas du Chemin of Paris published Les Meslanges de Maistre Pierre Certon, which contains a déploration — a poetic lament set to music — on the death of Claudin de Sermisy. Although this piece has been mentioned briefly in discussions of déplorations, it has not been the subject of thorough study because it has never been printed in a modern edition. For this study, the five surviving parts were transcribed and the missing sixth part rewritten; the piece is included with the article. With the work now accessible, the essay examines the relationship of Certon's work to other known déplorations.
One feature of the déploration is emulation of the horned composer, and Certon's déploration makes use of some of Sermisy's compositional practices and material. The architectonic form of the piece is consciously modeled on Josquin des Prez's déploration in honor of Johannes Ockeghem, however. During Certon's lifetime, Josquin was revered as an "ancient" and composers often used musical material and techniques associated with him in their own works, engaging rhetorical strategies of imitate. Fine examples of this kind of emulation could serve to demonstrate a composer's superior skill. There are even indications that Certon was engaged in a kind of competition with Orlande de Lassus, who published a volume entitled Les Mellanges in 1560 and again in 1572.
Certon's use of Josquin's déploration procedures can also be seen as an attempt to place Sermisy and himself in a prestigious line of composers beginning with Ockeghem. Comparison of the two pieces reveals possible performance practices for both.

Journal of Musicological Research, 1999

This article examines one particular type of musical exoticism in Western music: representations ... more This article examines one particular type of musical exoticism in Western music: representations of janissary music or mehter (Turkish military music). Representations of this music as exoticism — a way of recasting the relationship between self and other — are shaped by, among other things, the circumstances of their composition and the prevailing conventions of musical representation. Some of the conventions for representing janissary music draw heavily upon elements of mehter itself, while others use different foreign sources or Western constructs.
After reviewing briefly janissary music's role both in Turkish military campaigns and as a symbol of Turkish culture for Westerners, the paper examines mehter in some detail for the purposes of comparison. The study then proceeds chronologically, examining representations of janissary music by Lully, Rameau, Gluck, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. The changes in conventions for representing this music over the period in question (1670-1824) involve, among other things, the degree to which composers will familiar with janissary music and attempted to be faithful to it. There is a discernible progression toward and then away from use of actual mehter elements in these musical representations. The article traces this progression and examines the circumstances surrounding the period in the second half of the eighteenth century during which the representations were more faithful to janissary music.

Conference Presentations by Eric Rice

4th Annual Historical Performance Institute Conference, Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, 2019

Concert programs by historically-informed performers often champion the obscure: we reproduce Bac... more Concert programs by historically-informed performers often champion the obscure: we reproduce Bach’s performing forces, but also those of his little-known contemporaries. Similarly, our impulse is to present works by composers who have been neglected because of their gender, faith, or race. An even fuller picture of early modern culture emerges when we also perform musical representations of non-Christians and/or people of color in addition to performing music written by them. If the current historical canon denies the very existence of people of color, does performance of works that represent them constitute an improvement, even if such representations include stereotypes that we reject as racist? Should such works be studied only by scholars rather than heard by the public?
Music audiences are particularly conditioned to view performances as celebrations not only of the composer’s creations, but of his/her mores and, by extension, the mores of the performer. This raises questions. Is any performance of music with a racist text ab initio a racist act? Do examples of such musical representations contain multiple meanings beyond their racism, including valuable ones? Does presentation of such music with sufficient regard for its original context and attention to current performance contexts lead to constructive dialogue? Can such performances and such dialogue constitute a path for inclusion of musicians who have long felt that early music is not relevant for people of color because it does not concern them? Should any music of this kind that has already been “canonized” be reexamined and perhaps “de-canonized”?

64th Annual Meeting of the Renaissance Society of America, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2018

Haus aus Licht: Herrschergrab – Kirchenraum – Gottesdienst – Symposium zum Chorhallenjubiläum, 2014

International Medieval Society Paris Annual Conference, Paris, France, 2014

Nostalgia for Charlemagne’s reign was at the heart of the identity of Aachen’s Marienkirche, whic... more Nostalgia for Charlemagne’s reign was at the heart of the identity of Aachen’s Marienkirche, which he constructed and endowed. After his death, the institution developed enduring ways of expressing his legacy and the power of his successors, the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. The most important among these were the church’s role as the coronation site of German kings (from 936 to 1531); the veneration of the church as the site of Charlemagne’s interment and, eventually, of the ruler as a saint (from 1165); and the display in a septennial pilgrimage (beginning in 1349) of the so-called Great Relics, which Charlemagne had procured for the church.
In creating rituals for these three expressions of Charlemagne’s legacy, the canons of Aachen’s Marienkirche, some of whom were educated in Paris, were conscious of the ruler’s legacy in France, and this paper explores the ways in which some Aquensian rituals were designed to emulate or even to compete with parallel French rituals. While the coronation rites seem to have endured much as they had always been, liturgical melodies and reliquaries associated with Charlemagne’s sainthood betray a French influence. The twelfth-century sequence for Charlemagne’s feast day is a contrafact of a melody by Adam of Saint Victor. A fourteenth-century bust reliquary containing the ruler’s cranium displays the fleur-de-lis above the imperial eagle and looks distinctly like one that contained the head of Saint Louis. Even the pilgrimage, a relatively late development in the church’s activities that was essentially centered on the Shift of the Virgin, can be viewed as a response to the pilgrimage of Chartres, the focus of which was a Marian veil. I argue that all of these responses to French traditions are self-conscious efforts to bolster the importance of Aachen’s Marienkirche in the face of waning prominence.

Book Reviews by Eric Rice

Renaissance Quarterly 62/1, 2009

Current Musicology, 1998

Reviewed by Eric Rice The principal title of this book underscores its kinship with Harold Copema... more Reviewed by Eric Rice The principal title of this book underscores its kinship with Harold Copeman's Singing in Latin (1990), a pioneering work that has become an important resource for conductors and singers of Latin-texted music. Copeman painstakingly analyzes puns, spelling, and descriptions of phonology from various periods, offering suggestions for pronunciation in the performance of music along the way. While Copeman's book has been widely praised for its utility, it has also been criticized for "fall[ing] between two stools: it is neither a totally scholarly presentation of sources with an added commentary nor a practical handbook with guidelines to performers clearly set out" (Ledsham 1993). Singing Early Music, on the other hand, is designed primarily as a practical handbook for performers based on sound linguistic scholarship. It offers important advice to singers and choral conductors, and it is of interest to musicologists and literary scholars as well. Much of the information presented was not easily accessible to performers prior to the book's publication, and this information has been gathered and presented in a clear, concise, interesting, and, above all, convenient fashion. This is an eminently useful book, but it needs to be used with discretion. Easy access to information has clearly been an important criterion for the organization of the book. It is divided into sections dealing with regions of Western Europe: Germany and the Low Countries, Britain, France, the Iberian Peninsula, and Italy. Each of these sections contains a set of chapters dealing with languages, including Latin, spoken in the various regions. Mter some general remarks, most chapters present a brief summary of evidence for the pronunciations proposed; short bibliographies are provided for the benefit of those whose curiosity is less easily satisfied. Diachronic sound charts are provided so that one can see the changes in sound in relation to orthography that occurred over time, and sample texts from musical works are printed with transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). An introduction provides clear, concise overviews of phonetics and European languages, and a phonetic chart is provided at the end to help the reader interpret the symbols of

Current Musicology, 1998

Reviewed by Eric Rice The principal title of this book underscores its kinship with Harold Copema... more Reviewed by Eric Rice The principal title of this book underscores its kinship with Harold Copeman's Singing in Latin (1990), a pioneering work that has become an important resource for conductors and singers of Latin-texted music. Copeman painstakingly analyzes puns, spelling, and descriptions of phonology from various periods, offering suggestions for pronunciation in the performance of music along the way. While Copeman's book has been widely praised for its utility, it has also been criticized for "fall[ing] between two stools: it is neither a totally scholarly presentation of sources with an added commentary nor a practical handbook with guidelines to performers clearly set out" (Ledsham 1993). Singing Early Music, on the other hand, is designed primarily as a practical handbook for performers based on sound linguistic scholarship. It offers important advice to singers and choral conductors, and it is of interest to musicologists and literary scholars as well. Much of the information presented was not easily accessible to performers prior to the book's publication, and this information has been gathered and presented in a clear, concise, interesting, and, above all, convenient fashion. This is an eminently useful book, but it needs to be used with discretion. Easy access to information has clearly been an important criterion for the organization of the book. It is divided into sections dealing with regions of Western Europe: Germany and the Low Countries, Britain, France, the Iberian Peninsula, and Italy. Each of these sections contains a set of chapters dealing with languages, including Latin, spoken in the various regions. Mter some general remarks, most chapters present a brief summary of evidence for the pronunciations proposed; short bibliographies are provided for the benefit of those whose curiosity is less easily satisfied. Diachronic sound charts are provided so that one can see the changes in sound in relation to orthography that occurred over time, and sample texts from musical works are printed with transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). An introduction provides clear, concise overviews of phonetics and European languages, and a phonetic chart is provided at the end to help the reader interpret the symbols of

Liège, Belgium: Musique en Wallonie: MEW 1267, 2012

Shannon Canavin-soprano et direction Eric Rice-ténor et direction artistique Teresa Wakim-soprano... more Shannon Canavin-soprano et direction Eric Rice-ténor et direction artistique Teresa Wakim-soprano Thea Lobo-alto Aaron Russo-alto Jason McStoots-ténor Cameron Beauchamps-basse Brian Church-basse Darrick Yee-basse Sources Mangon Chorbuch II : Laudemus Dominum-fol. 192v-194r ; O spes afflictis-fol. 194v-195r ; O spes afflictis/In cythara/Dissolute in corpore-fol. 195v-199r ; Ave Maria-fol. 209v-210r ; In te, Domine, speravi-fol. 305v-313r ; Vigila super nos-fol. 349v-350r Mangon Chorbuch III : O rex orbis triumphator (polyphonie)-fol. 14v-15r ; Magnificat [primi/sexti toni]-fol. 58v-59r ; Salve regina super Doulce mémoire-fol. 106v-110r G 20 ("Antiphonaire de Franko") : Regali natus de stirpe, etc. (antiennes de l'office rimé)-p. 237/fol. 25r-v G 36 : Ad completorium : verset et répons : Converte nos ; psaume 4 : Cum invocarem, etc.-p. 246 G 38 : O rex orbis triumphator (plain-chant)-pp. 273-4 ; Gloria Patri-p. 530 G 42 : Capitule : Egredimini et videte ; oraison : Deus qui superhabundanti-p. 136 Toutes ces sources sont conservées au Domarchiv Aachen ; toutes les éditions ont été réalisées par Eric Rice.

Naxos Records 8.579063, 2021

@ Chi passa per 'sta strada (from Il primo libro de villotte alla padoana con alcune napolitane) ... more @ Chi passa per 'sta strada (from Il primo libro de villotte alla padoana con alcune napolitane) *** (1557) 1:53

Young Choristers, 650-1700, 2008

Archival entries have provided music historians with a wealth of information on the education and... more Archival entries have provided music historians with a wealth of information on the education and administration of choirboys in the late Middle Ages and early modern period. Such information has traditionally been employed in studies of performance context in which an understanding of young performers' abilities and responsibilities contributes to an overall picture of ecclesiastical and musical life. Mostly unexplored is the experience of young singers as performers and, especially, as children — a social group seen by their elders as physically, intellectually, and emotionally immature. This paper addresses questions of the responsibilities and experiences of both ecclesiastical institutions and the young choristers who served them with recourse to the growing body of research on young singers in medieval and early modern Europe. Though the lives and roles of singers varied across time and place, a comparative approach can nonetheless reveal some commonalities in performance traditions and in experiences of childhood before 1700. The evidence suggests that despite young singers' formidable abilities and responsibilities, their experience — both as performers and as people — reflected conceptions of childhood as understood by the clerics who were their superiors.

Das Erzbistum Köln in der Musikgeschichte des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts — Kongressbericht Köln 2005, 2008

The liturgical books in Aachen’s cathedral archive preserve a rich musical heritage that is worth... more The liturgical books in Aachen’s cathedral archive preserve a rich musical heritage that is worth detailed examination — not only because it represents a multi-layered legacy of Carolingian liturgy and royalty, but also because of the geographical and political position of Aachen’s principal church within the Holy Roman Empire. Although Charlemagne granted his royal chapel exceptional status (which is often overly simplified as “Palatine Chapel”), he did not elevate it to a cathedral, but instead strengthened the importance of Liège as a bishopric and of Cologne as an archdiocese. In the centuries that followed, imperial palaces were generally built a long way from Aachen, and the city’s exceptional position was reduced as a result. In view of the declining importance of the basilica regalis, the canons sought to maintain and renew their unique traditions during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries — including the coronation of the German kings and the pilgrimage that takes place every seven years — with music as an essential element and a means of both preserving and reforming church traditions. On the one hand, the local rite chorale continued to be sung as it had been for centuries; on the other, its polyphonic decoration corresponded to the most modern standards. It is this intersection of old and new musical forms that made Aachen an important center of music during the Renaissance.

Young Choristers, 650-1700, 2008

The canons of Aachen’s Marienkirche recorded memorial endowments for services in the church’s tw... more The canons of Aachen’s Marienkirche recorded memorial endowments for services in the church’s two oldest necrologies. Beginning in the fourteenth century, these endowments provide the earliest evidence of polyphonic singing at the church, specify amounts paid to celebrating clerics and professional musicians, and even specify payments to choirboys. Canons’ wills also provide endowments for the performance of polyphony in annual memorial services and for high feast days, sometimes providing more: funds for the education and care of choirboys. This paper traces the evolution of Aachen’s memorial endowments, underscoring their importance for the maintenance of liturgico-musical traditions at the institution.

Yearbook of the Alamire Foundation , 2008

On 25 January 1414, the canons of the Collegiate Church of Saint Mary in Aachen gathered to witne... more On 25 January 1414, the canons of the Collegiate Church of Saint Mary in Aachen gathered to witness the dedication of a new addition to their basilica. This addition, a Gothic choir that had required sixty years to build, was the most profound physical change in the history of the church. The church's ordinals, liturgical books, and other surviving documents demonstrate the substantial performances of polyphonic music in the church, and it is possible to reconstruct where and how singers stood before and after the construction of the Gothic choir. This, along with acoustical tests performed during a building renovations with a wall separating the two spaces in place, allows for reconstruction of the acoustics as a factor in the performance of polyphonic music both before and after the construction of the choir.

Canons and Canonic Techniques, 14th-16th Centuries: Theory, Practice, Reception History - Proceedings of the International Conference, Leuven, 4-6 October 2005, 2007

An anonymous four-voice Missa L’Homme armé found in two manuscripts produced by Habsburg-Burgundi... more An anonymous four-voice Missa L’Homme armé found in two manuscripts produced by Habsburg-Burgundian scriptoria exhibits canonic technique that is unusual in conjunction with the famous melody. Rather than subjecting L’Homme armé to canon, the composer (who is thought to be Pierre de la Rue) employs it as a cantus firmus, alternating between inner voices in accordance with the tessitura of the quoted melody. Around this he composed free canon at the twelfth, with the discantus as dux and bassus as comes.
The essay argues that the canon’s intervallic content is meant to be exact. The combination of cantus firmus and canon often requires considerable emphasis on C on the part of the dux, with a resultant emphasis on F in the comes. The emphasis on F, in turn, triggers use of the soft hexachord that makes its way into the cantus firmus, thereby juxtaposing the dorian and mixolydian versions of L’Homme armé within the mass. Midway through the Credo, the dux is shifted from the discantus to the bassus voice, suggesting a theologically significant chiastic form. The remainder of the mass shifts the canon to various voices, and entrances employing canonic imitation serve to obscure the strict canon’s true location.

Viator, 2007

The identity of Aachen’s “royal basilica” was dominated by Charlemagne, it founder, but was also ... more The identity of Aachen’s “royal basilica” was dominated by Charlemagne, it founder, but was also bound up with a septennial pilgrimage and thus personal devotion. The church became an important center for the articulation of the Holy Roman Empire’s struggle against Protestantism, prompting liturgical changes during the last third of the sixteenth century. This article discusses two such changes between 1570 and 1580: the clear presentation of centuries-old plainchant melodies for the Feast of Charlemagne in up-to-date polyphonic settings by Johannes Mangon (ca. 1525–1578) and the construction of a new pulpit for vernacular preaching in close proximity to the former location of an ancient one. Each of these modifications updates an old or existing practice in a way that renews its relevance in light of the increase of Protestantism in the area. Such updates resonate with the Counter-Reformation goal of preserving and renewing the Catholic faith.

Federstrich - Liturgische Handschriften der ehemaligen Stiftsbibliothek, 2000

An article in an exhibition catalog describing music and musical practices for the Feast of Saint... more An article in an exhibition catalog describing music and musical practices for the Feast of Saint Charlemagne at the Collegiate Church of Saint Mary in Aachen during the Middle Ages as described in on-site manuscripts from the institution.

Revue de Musicologie, 1999

In 1570, Nicolas du Chemin of Paris published Les Meslanges de Maistre Pierre Certon, which conta... more In 1570, Nicolas du Chemin of Paris published Les Meslanges de Maistre Pierre Certon, which contains a déploration — a poetic lament set to music — on the death of Claudin de Sermisy. Although this piece has been mentioned briefly in discussions of déplorations, it has not been the subject of thorough study because it has never been printed in a modern edition. For this study, the five surviving parts were transcribed and the missing sixth part rewritten; the piece is included with the article. With the work now accessible, the essay examines the relationship of Certon's work to other known déplorations.
One feature of the déploration is emulation of the horned composer, and Certon's déploration makes use of some of Sermisy's compositional practices and material. The architectonic form of the piece is consciously modeled on Josquin des Prez's déploration in honor of Johannes Ockeghem, however. During Certon's lifetime, Josquin was revered as an "ancient" and composers often used musical material and techniques associated with him in their own works, engaging rhetorical strategies of imitate. Fine examples of this kind of emulation could serve to demonstrate a composer's superior skill. There are even indications that Certon was engaged in a kind of competition with Orlande de Lassus, who published a volume entitled Les Mellanges in 1560 and again in 1572.
Certon's use of Josquin's déploration procedures can also be seen as an attempt to place Sermisy and himself in a prestigious line of composers beginning with Ockeghem. Comparison of the two pieces reveals possible performance practices for both.

Journal of Musicological Research, 1999

This article examines one particular type of musical exoticism in Western music: representations ... more This article examines one particular type of musical exoticism in Western music: representations of janissary music or mehter (Turkish military music). Representations of this music as exoticism — a way of recasting the relationship between self and other — are shaped by, among other things, the circumstances of their composition and the prevailing conventions of musical representation. Some of the conventions for representing janissary music draw heavily upon elements of mehter itself, while others use different foreign sources or Western constructs.
After reviewing briefly janissary music's role both in Turkish military campaigns and as a symbol of Turkish culture for Westerners, the paper examines mehter in some detail for the purposes of comparison. The study then proceeds chronologically, examining representations of janissary music by Lully, Rameau, Gluck, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. The changes in conventions for representing this music over the period in question (1670-1824) involve, among other things, the degree to which composers will familiar with janissary music and attempted to be faithful to it. There is a discernible progression toward and then away from use of actual mehter elements in these musical representations. The article traces this progression and examines the circumstances surrounding the period in the second half of the eighteenth century during which the representations were more faithful to janissary music.

4th Annual Historical Performance Institute Conference, Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, 2019

Concert programs by historically-informed performers often champion the obscure: we reproduce Bac... more Concert programs by historically-informed performers often champion the obscure: we reproduce Bach’s performing forces, but also those of his little-known contemporaries. Similarly, our impulse is to present works by composers who have been neglected because of their gender, faith, or race. An even fuller picture of early modern culture emerges when we also perform musical representations of non-Christians and/or people of color in addition to performing music written by them. If the current historical canon denies the very existence of people of color, does performance of works that represent them constitute an improvement, even if such representations include stereotypes that we reject as racist? Should such works be studied only by scholars rather than heard by the public?
Music audiences are particularly conditioned to view performances as celebrations not only of the composer’s creations, but of his/her mores and, by extension, the mores of the performer. This raises questions. Is any performance of music with a racist text ab initio a racist act? Do examples of such musical representations contain multiple meanings beyond their racism, including valuable ones? Does presentation of such music with sufficient regard for its original context and attention to current performance contexts lead to constructive dialogue? Can such performances and such dialogue constitute a path for inclusion of musicians who have long felt that early music is not relevant for people of color because it does not concern them? Should any music of this kind that has already been “canonized” be reexamined and perhaps “de-canonized”?

64th Annual Meeting of the Renaissance Society of America, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2018

Haus aus Licht: Herrschergrab – Kirchenraum – Gottesdienst – Symposium zum Chorhallenjubiläum, 2014

International Medieval Society Paris Annual Conference, Paris, France, 2014

Nostalgia for Charlemagne’s reign was at the heart of the identity of Aachen’s Marienkirche, whic... more Nostalgia for Charlemagne’s reign was at the heart of the identity of Aachen’s Marienkirche, which he constructed and endowed. After his death, the institution developed enduring ways of expressing his legacy and the power of his successors, the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. The most important among these were the church’s role as the coronation site of German kings (from 936 to 1531); the veneration of the church as the site of Charlemagne’s interment and, eventually, of the ruler as a saint (from 1165); and the display in a septennial pilgrimage (beginning in 1349) of the so-called Great Relics, which Charlemagne had procured for the church.
In creating rituals for these three expressions of Charlemagne’s legacy, the canons of Aachen’s Marienkirche, some of whom were educated in Paris, were conscious of the ruler’s legacy in France, and this paper explores the ways in which some Aquensian rituals were designed to emulate or even to compete with parallel French rituals. While the coronation rites seem to have endured much as they had always been, liturgical melodies and reliquaries associated with Charlemagne’s sainthood betray a French influence. The twelfth-century sequence for Charlemagne’s feast day is a contrafact of a melody by Adam of Saint Victor. A fourteenth-century bust reliquary containing the ruler’s cranium displays the fleur-de-lis above the imperial eagle and looks distinctly like one that contained the head of Saint Louis. Even the pilgrimage, a relatively late development in the church’s activities that was essentially centered on the Shift of the Virgin, can be viewed as a response to the pilgrimage of Chartres, the focus of which was a Marian veil. I argue that all of these responses to French traditions are self-conscious efforts to bolster the importance of Aachen’s Marienkirche in the face of waning prominence.

Renaissance Quarterly 62/1, 2009

Current Musicology 64, 2001

Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Music 7, Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK: Boydell and Brewer, 2008

Young singers played a central role in a variety of religious institutional settings: urban cathe... more Young singers played a central role in a variety of religious institutional settings: urban cathedrals, collegiate churches, monasteries, guilds, and confraternities. The training of singers for performance in religious services was so crucial as to shape the very structures of ecclesiastical institutions, which developed to meet the need for educating their youngest members; while the development of musical repertories and styles directly reflected the ubiquitous participation of children's voices in both chant and polyphony. Once choristers' voices had broken, they often pursued more advanced studies either through an apprenticeship system or at university, frequently with the help of the institutions to which they belonged.

This volume provides the first wide-ranging book-length treatment of the subject, and will be of interest to music historians - indeed, all historians - who wish to understand the role of the young in sacred musical culture before 1700.

Beiträge zur Rheinischen Musikgeschichte 174, Kassel, Germany: Merseburger Verlag, 2009

With the vocal ensemble TENET, he has performed at the Festival Casals de Puerto Rico as well as ... more With the vocal ensemble TENET, he has performed at the Festival Casals de Puerto Rico as well as at Berkshire Bach in Massachusetts. Last season he also appeared with the Portland Baroque Orchestra, Chicago's Baroque Band, and New York Baroque Incorporated. He attended Yale University, where he received a BA in history and an MM in cello, and he graduated from the inaugural class of Juilliard's historical performance program. Described by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as "a dignified and beautiful singer," Paul Max Tipton, bass-baritone, has soloed under such notable figures as Leonard Slatkin, Matthias Pintscher, Nicholas McGegan, and Martin Katz. Recent performances include Britten's War Requiem, all the masterworks of J. S. Bach, and a recording of Nicolaus Bruhns's solo cantatas for bass with Masaaki Suzuki for the BIS label. He studied on full fellowships at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and Yale University. Robert Wiemken pursued modern brass for 18 years. Eventually he became inexplicably enamored of double-reed instruments and began playing early reeds in the Collegium at the University of Pennsylvania. That began a love affair with early doublereed instruments that has only crescendoed over the past 27 years of playing, exploring, studying, maintaining, servicing and, above all, making reeds for shawms, dulcians, bassoon, crumhorns and more, for himself and many others. As Artistic Co-Director of Piffaro, The Renaissance Band, he has performed worldwide, recorded extensively, built over 100 programs of Renaissance and early Baroque music and commissioned new works for early winds and chorus.

Nu bitten wir den heiligen Geist à 5 Walter (Strophes 1, 2, & 4) Gospel (John 12:31-36) Luther Wi... more Nu bitten wir den heiligen Geist à 5 Walter (Strophes 1, 2, & 4) Gospel (John 12:31-36) Luther Wir gleuben al an einen Gott à 4 Walter (Strophes 1, 2, & 3) Verba testamenti and Preface Luther

The ensemble kindly requests that you silence electronic devices before the performance begins. W... more The ensemble kindly requests that you silence electronic devices before the performance begins. While applause is welcome after any piece, it is especially welcome at the conclusion of each set. Thank you. 15 the repertory was originally produced and heard. He was Artistic Director of the Connecticut Early Music Festival from 2007 to 2015, selecting nationally and internationally known ensembles to perform as well as conducting concerts by the Connecticut Early Music Ensemble. He was music director and tenor in the Boston-based ensemble Exsultemus from 2003 to 2009. Exsultemus's 2012 CD release, "O rex orbis," his reconstruction of Vespers and Compline services for the feast of Saint Charlemagne as it might have been heard in Aachen in 1582, was "highly recommended on all counts" by Fanfare and received four stars from Belgium's Le soir, which hailed it as "Magnificent and austere music, sensual in its fervor, performed with rigor by its American interpreters." Described by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as a dignified and beautiful singer, Paul Max Tipton, bass-baritone, performs internationally to acclaim in repertoire ranging from Schütz and Monteverdi to Britten and Bolcom. He solos under such notable figures as

Musicologist and conductor Eric Rice is a specialist in the history and performance of music comp... more Musicologist and conductor Eric Rice is a specialist in the history and performance of music composed before 1750. He is Head of the Music Department at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, where he teaches music history, notation, and historical performance. He has published extensively on medieval and Renaissance music of the Western liturgy and its relationship to architecture, politics, and secular music. He directs Ensemble Origo, which presents concerts of early music reflecting the context in which the repertory was originally produced and heard. He was Artistic Director of the Connecticut Early Music Festival from 2007 to 2015, selecting nationally and internationally known ensembles to perform as well as conducting concerts by the Connecticut Early Music Ensemble. He was music director and tenor in the Boston-based ensemble Exsultemus from 2003 to 2009. Exsultemus's 2012 CD release, "O rex orbis," his reconstruction of Vespers and Compline services for the feast of Saint Charlemagne as it might have been heard in Aachen in 1582, was "highly recommended on all counts" by Fanfare and received four stars from Belgium's Le soir, which hailed it as "Magnificent and austere music, sensual in its fervor, performed with rigor by its American interpreters." Kurt-Owen Richards is an accomplished performer in a wide range of styles, from chant to experimental music-theater. Well-known for his beautiful, warm and lyric "basso cantante" sound, he is a founding member of Lionheart, the renowned American men's vocal ensemble dedicated to the exploration of medieval and Renaissance chant and polyphony. In addition to over three decades of work with Pomerium, he has appeared as soloist with such distinguished ensembles as The American Bach Soloists, Anima Antiqua, The Bach Ensemble, Concert Royal, New York's Ensemble for Early Music, Tafelmusik, and the Waverly Consort. Mr. Richards has recorded widely, including solo work in Heinrich Schütz's Kleine geistliche Konzerte with New York Baroque and Schütz's Musikalisches Exequien and Bach's Cantata 4, Christ lag in Todesbanden, with the American Bach Soloists. He can also be heard on all of Lionheart's recordings, including their most recent release, "John The Revelator," a modern mass written by Phil Kline for Lionheart and the post-classical string quartet Ethel. Soprano Sarah Yanovitch is a recent graduate of the Yale Early Music Voice program through the Institute of Sacred Music and currently works out of both the Boston and New Haven areas. Recent solo engagements have included BWV 140, Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme with the Handel and Haydn Society conducted by Laurence Cummings, Handel's Messiah with Ian Watson and Arcadia Players, Handel's Judas Maccabaeus and Beethoven's Mass in C Major with the Yale Schola Cantorum and Maestro David Hill, and Brahms's Ein deutches Requiem with the Yale Glee Club conducted by Jeff Douma. This spring, she will appear with Maestro Toshi Shimada and the Eastern Connecticut Symphony as soloist in the Fauré Requiem and Elgar's Coronation Ode, with the Manchester Symphony in Stravinsky's Mass conducted by Kevin Mack, and with Arcadia Players, conducted by Ian Watson, as soloist in the Mozart Requiem. Sarah currently studies with Michael Meraw and is a former student of James Taylor.