Music of the Paston Household: Case Studies of Circulation and Adaptation in the Lutebook GB-Lbl Add. MS 29247

Abstract

One of the largest and most valuable English collections of Elizabethan and Jacobean music belonged to Edward Paston (1550-1630), a Catholic gentleman from Norfolk. The collection primarily consists of continental music alongside some English repertory and is made up of a mix of vocal and lute manuscripts. To date, studies of the collection mainly surround the English music it contains – in particular, that of William Byrd – and little attention has been given to that of continental composers. This thesis presents a source study of the Paston lutebook GB-Lbl Add. MS 29247, and considers the music of three Flemish composers within the manuscript: Philippe de Monte, Orlande de Lassus, and Philip van Wilder. Using a selection of pieces as case studies, the key research question is: what can ultimately be learned about the collection, intabulation, and copying processes in Edward Paston’s household? Furthermore, the circulation of the composers’ music is examined through social networks – especially those with branches in England, and which include Edward Paston – as well as through comparative studies of text and notation of the Paston collection in order to understand more about the sources the Paston scribes used. As part of the investigation, some music is reconstructed from the tablature of GB-Lbl Add. MS 29247. Through the reversal of the process of arranging music for the lute, it is possible to engage with similar issues that the Paston intabulators would have encountered, thus allowing for a deeper exploration of the copying and intabulation processes.