HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Mary Remnant
OR:
Mary Remnant on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Mary Teresa Elizabeth Remnant (13 January 1935 – 15 May 2020), was an English musician, scholar,
musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...
and
medievalist The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vo ...
. She was a leading figure in the
Early music revival :''See Historically informed performance for a more detailed explanation of this topic.'' The general discussion of how to perform music from ancient or earlier times did not become an important subject of interest until the 19th century, when E ...
in the United Kingdom.


Background

She was the only daughter of Joan Lovegrove, a music teacher, and Eustace Remnant, architect and art historian. While studying piano and violin at the
Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including performanc ...
, she was awarded the Tagore Gold Medal. She went on to specialise in Early Music. A Graduate of the
Royal Schools of Music The ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) is an examination board and registered charity based in the United Kingdom. ABRSM is one of five examination boards accredited by Ofqual to award graded exams and diploma qualification ...
and an Associate of the Royal College of Music in London, she completed her
DPhil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
on Bowed instruments at St Anne's College,
Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...
. She taught piano and violin, and was for a time, demonstrator of historic early keyboard instruments in the RCM Museum. She was awarded a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship in 1967, and was able to study in detail and bring back to life the early musical instruments portrayed in carvings and on the walls of churches along the Camino de Santiago in
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
and elsewhere in
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
.


Career

Remnant was elected a Fellow of the
Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...
in 1989, having come to prominence as a world renowned scholar and enthusiast of early music and early musical instruments. She was an acknowledged expert in her field and is quoted in various subsequent works of reference. As a session musician, she participated in broadcasts from the early 1960s, for instance, playing the
vielle The vielle is a European bowed stringed instrument used in the medieval period, similar to a modern violin but with a somewhat longer and deeper body, three to five gut strings, and a leaf-shaped pegbox with frontal tuning pegs, sometimes with a ...
and organetto with ''Pro Musica Sacra'' and
Ian Partridge Ian Partridge (born 12 June 1938) is a retired English lyric tenor, whose repertoire ranged from Monteverdi, Bach and Handel, the Elizabethan lute songs, German, French and English songs, through to Schoenberg, Weill and Britten, and on to conte ...
. Remnant featured in numerous recordings of
David Munrow David John Munrow (12 August 194215 May 1976) was a British musician and early music historian. Early life and education Munrow was born in Birmingham where both his parents taught at the University of Birmingham. His mother, Hilda Ivy (né ...
's
Early Music Consort The Early Music Consort of London was a British music ensemble in the late 1960s and 1970s which specialised in historically informed performance of Medieval and Renaissance music. It was founded in 1967 by music academics Christopher Hogwood ...
, variously playing organ, fiddle, tabor and drums. She also played fiddle, alto
crumhorn The crumhorn is a double reed instrument of the woodwind family, most commonly used during the Renaissance period. In modern times, particularly since the 1960s, there has been a revival of interest in early music, and crumhorns are being pla ...
and
tambourin The tambourin is a low-pitched tenor drum of Provence, which has also lent its name to a Provençal dance accompanied by lively duple meter music. The dance is so named because the music imitates the drum (''tambour'' being a generic French term ...
with John Stewart Beckett and Michael Morrow's ensemble,
Musica Reservata In music history, ''musica reservata'' (also ''musica secreta'') is either a style or a performance practice in '' a cappella'' vocal music of the latter half of the 16th century, mainly in Italy and southern Germany, involving refinement, exclusivi ...
in recitals of Guillaume de Machaut and the music of
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
, broadcast by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
during 1967–8. As part of her many popular lecture-recitals, including at the
Purcell Room The Purcell Room is a concert and performance venue which forms part of the Southbank Centre, one of central London's leading cultural complexes. It is named after the 17th century English composer Henry Purcell and has 370 seats. The Purcell Roo ...
on London's South Bank, she played early music on reconstructed instruments, often made to order by the instrument maker, Alan Crumpler. She would describe and play a wide range of early instruments, including the harp, psaltery,
rebec The rebec (sometimes rebecha, rebeckha, and other spellings, pronounced or ) is a bowed stringed instrument of the Medieval era and the early Renaissance. In its most common form, it has a narrow boat-shaped body and one to five strings. Origi ...
,
organistrum The organistrum is an early form of hurdy-gurdy. Generally considered the ancestor of all subsequent hurdy-gurdies, the organistrum differs substantially from later instruments in that it was played by two individuals: one turned the crank while ...
,
pipe Pipe(s), PIPE(S) or piping may refer to: Objects * Pipe (fluid conveyance), a hollow cylinder following certain dimension rules ** Piping, the use of pipes in industry * Smoking pipe ** Tobacco pipe * Half-pipe and quarter pipe, semi-circular ...
,
shawm The shawm () is a conical bore, double-reed woodwind instrument made in Europe from the 12th century to the present day. It achieved its peak of popularity during the medieval and Renaissance periods, after which it was gradually eclipsed by th ...
,
horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...
, chime bells and
percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...
. She would demonstrate the sound of an instrument by playing a tune and illustrate it with pictures of the instrument from carvings, paintings, or engravings. Her organistrum was based on the one found on the '' Portico de la Gloria'' in Santiago Cathedral. She travelled widely across
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and was the author of several books and numerous articles on Medieval music. Like her father before her, Remnant was a member of many academic societies, and was a stalwart member of the National Early Music Association. She was an active member of the ''Catholic Writers Guild''. Between 1973 and 2014 Mary Remnant participated in the musical formation of the junior choir at
Brompton Oratory Brompton Oratory is a large neo-classical Roman Catholic church in the Knightsbridge area of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. Its full name is the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, or as named in its Grade II* archite ...
. In recognition of her lifelong work for the Roman Catholic Church in England, in 2016 she was invested by bishop John Sherrington as a Papal Dame of the
Order of St. Gregory the Great The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great ( la, Ordo Sancti Gregorii Magni; it, Ordine di San Gregorio Magno) was established on 1 September 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election as Pope. The order is one of ...
at her local church, Our Lady of Dolours, Chelsea.


Confraternity of St James

She was a founding member of The Confraternity of St James (CSJ), which began on 13 January 1983 in her house in
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
, on her birthday with a gathering of six early English pilgrims. As a committee member for many years she supported the fledging organisation in various ways, including setting up the CSJ choir which continued for some thirty years. This gave an opportunity to revive both medieval pilgrim songs and many ancient hymns. Among pilgrim groups on the
Continent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas t ...
, CSJ was known as the ''singing association''. The choir sang at pilgrim weddings, funerals, on feasts of St James and on the platform of the
Paris Métro The Paris Métro (french: Métro de Paris ; short for Métropolitain ) is a rapid transit system in the Paris metropolitan area, France. A symbol of the city, it is known for its density within the capital's territorial limits, uniform architec ...
. It performed at several of her lecture recitals in The Purcell Room, at a benefit concert in
11 Downing Street 11 Downing Street (sometimes referred to as just Number 11) is the official residence of Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer (who traditionally also has the title of Second Lord of the Treasury). The residence, in Downing Street in London, ...
, in the ruins of Merton Abbey, in Canterbury Cathedral and in
Reading Abbey Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in the centre of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It was founded by Henry I in 1121 "for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, m ...
and the adjoining Church of St James. Remnant died on the
Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...
in May 2020.


Selected publications

* Remnant, M. 1965. ‘The gittern in English medieval art’, ''
Galpin Society The Galpin Society was formed in October 1946 to further research into the branch of musicology known as organology, i.e. the history, construction, development and use of musical instruments. Based in the United Kingdom, it is named after the emin ...
Journal'', vol. 18, 104–9. * Remnant, M. "The Use of Frets on Rebecs and Medieval Fiddles" ''Galpin Society Journal'', 21, 1968, p. 146. * Remnant, M. "The Gittern in English Art", ''The Galpin Society Journal'', 17 (1976), 104–09 (pp. 105, 108). * Remnant, M., and Marks, R. 1980. ‘A medieval “gittern”’, British Museum Yearbook 4, Music and Civilisation, 83–134. * Remnant, M. "Musical Instruments of the West". 240 pp. Batsford, London, 1978. Reprinted by Batsford in 1989 . Digitized by the University of Michigan 17 May 2010. * * * Remnant, M. (ed.) "Plays by women". Volume 8 edited and introduced by Mary Remnant. London: Methuen, 1990, * Remnant, M. "Survey of Medieval Instruments" in Davidson, Clifford, "Material Culture & Medieval Drama" (1999). All Books and Monographs by WMU Authors. 546. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/books/546 * Remnant, M., "Fiddle edylle, ffidil, ffythele, fiele, fithele, phidil, vithele etc., ''
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...
'', second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001.


Selected discography



''Music of the Age of Chivalry'', Mary Remnant, Petronela Dittmer, Matthew Hart Dyke – Strumenti Del Medioevo Per Audiofili; Label: Audiophile Sound – AUD 046, Metronome Recordings – AUD 046; Format: CD; Country: Italy; Released: 2004; Genre: Classical; Style: Medieval


References


External links


"The Fairie Round" from ''Pavans, Galliards, Almains and other short aeirs'', 1599" by David Munrow/Early Music Consort of London
{{DEFAULTSORT:Remnant, Mary 1935 births 2020 deaths Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford English writers about music People from Chelsea, London Dames of St. Gregory the Great English musicologists Associates of the Royal College of Music English Roman Catholics Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London British performers of early music Founders of early music ensembles Historically informed performance 20th-century English musicians English multi-instrumentalists Women performers of early music English classical musicians 20th-century English non-fiction writers 21st-century English writers English music critics Classical music critics 20th-century British musicologists