The Dublin Virginal Manuscript is an important anthology of

keyboard music A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played using a keyboard, a row of levers that are pressed by the fingers. The most common of these are the piano, organ, and various electronic keyboards, including synthesizers and digital pianos. O ...

kept in the

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

, where it has been since the 17th century under the present shelf-list TCD Ms D.3.29.

History

The Manuscript was probably purchased by Archbishop

James Ussher James Ussher (or Usher; 4 January 1581 – 21 March 1656) was the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625 and 1656. He was a prolific Irish scholar and church leader, who today is most famous for his ...

, who from 1603 was sent to England on frequent voyages to buy books "to furnish the Library of the University of Dublin". The name "Dublin Virginal Manuscript" is modern, and there is no mention of any specific instrument for which the music was intended.

Description

The manuscript, consisting of 72 pages, is contained in a small oblong volume 5.5 x 7.4 inches. At some time it was bound together with the '' Dallis Lute Book'' (of perhaps 1583), but the two volumes are in different hands and the collection of keyboard pieces forms a separate and independent manuscript. The manuscript is undated and its 30 pieces are without titles apart from one, ascribed to a "Mastyre Taylere". All but four of the pieces are arrangements of popular song and dance tunes found in other, mainly

continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (album), an album by Saint Etienne * Continen ...

sources, such as

Tielman Susato Tielman (or Tylman) Susato (''c.'' 1510/15 – after 1570) was a Renaissance composer, instrumentalist and publisher of music in Antwerp. Biography While Susato's exact place of birth is unknown, some scholars believe that because of his na ...

, Adrian Le Roy and

Petrus Phalesius the Elder Petrus may refer to: People * Petrus (given name) * Petrus (surname) * Petrus Borel, pen name of Joseph-Pierre Borel d'Hauterive (1809–1859), French Romantic writer * Petrus Brovka, pen name of Pyotr Ustinovich Brovka (1905–1980), Soviet Belar ...

. From these, together with stylistic evidence, the manuscript can be dated to circa 1570. Most of the music is written in a neat

hand A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the Koala#Characteristics, koala (which has two thumb#O ...

on seven-line

stave Stave may refer to: Music * Stave (music), used in musical notation * Stanza * The Staves, an English folk rock trio People * Bruce M. Stave (1937–2017), American historian * Joel Stave (born 1992), American football quarterback Place ...

s. That for the right hand is written with a ''c''-

clef A clef (from French: 'key') is a musical symbol used to indicate which notes are represented by the lines and spaces on a musical staff. Placing a clef on a staff assigns a particular pitch to one of the five lines or four spaces, whic ...

placed on the first or second line from the bottom. Music for the left hand is written with an ''f''-clef, usually placed on the fourth or fifth line from the bottom. All repetitions are copied out, even if there is no change in the music. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript is important in the history of English keyboard music because of its date, being one of only five English secular keyboard sources that predate

William Byrd William Byrd (; 4 July 1623) was an English Renaissance composer. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native country and on the Continental Europe, Continent. He i ...

's ''

My Ladye Nevells Booke ''My Ladye Nevells Booke'' (British Library MS Mus. 1591) is a music manuscript containing keyboard pieces by the English composer William Byrd, and, together with the '' Fitzwilliam Virginal Book'', one of the most important collections of Rena ...

'' of 1591. It is also the second-oldest surviving English source (after

the Mulliner Book The Mulliner Book (British Library Add MS 30513) is a historically important musical commonplace book compiled probably between about 1545 and 1570, by Thomas Mulliner, about whom practically nothing is known, except that he figures in 1563 as ''m ...

) of early Almain tunes, of which it contains four. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript also represents an important step in the development of

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

English keyboard music from around 1530 to its golden age in the late 16th century, with examples of developing

counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

in some pieces. 'The History of Keyboard Music to 1700'', Willi Apel, Hans Tischler, trans. Hans Tischler, pp. 251–3, Indiana University Press, 1997, /ref>

The titles following are taken from other sources with analogous tunes: #Passing Measures Pavan #

Galliard The ''galliard'' (; ; ) was a form of Renaissance dance and Renaissance music, music popular all over Europe in the 16th century. It is mentioned in dance manuals from England, Portugal, France, Spain, Germany, and Italy. Dance form The ''gal ...

to the Passing Measures Pavan #Pavan "Mastyre Taylere" #Galliard to the pavan before #Pavan #Galliard to the pavan before #Pavan #Galliard to the pavan before #Variations on the

romanesca Romanesca is a melodic-harmonic formula popular from the mid–16th to early–17th centuries that was used as an aria formula for singing poetry and as a subject for instrumental variation. The pattern, which is found in an endless collection o ...

Divisions Division may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication * Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting of 10,000 t ...

on the Goodnight ground #The Earl of Essex Measure #Branle Hoboken #Was not good King Solomon #Dance #Almande du prince #Le Reprinse of the Almande du Prince #Galliard #Almande Le Pied de Cheval #Almande Bruynsmedelijn #

L'homme armé "L'homme armé" () is a secular song from the Late Middle Ages, of the Burgundian School. According to Allan W. Atlas, "the tune circulated in both the Mixolydian mode and Dorian mode (transposed to G)." It was the most popular tune used for mus ...

''alias'' Lumber me #Pavan #Galliard to the pavan before #Galliard #Like as the lark within the marleon's foot #Turkeylony #Pavan #Galliard to the pavan before #Dance #Dance #Variations on Chi passa

History

Description

Contents

See also

References

Further reading