The Dublin Virginal Manuscript is an important anthology of keyboard music kept in the

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Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, 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 scholar and church leader, who today is most famous for his iden ...

, 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 * Continent, the major landmasses of Earth * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (a ...

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 Adrian Le Roy (c.1520–1598) was an influential French music publisher, lutenist, mandore player, guitarist, composer and music educator. Life Le Roy was born in the town of Montreuil-sur-Mer in northern France to a wealthy family. Very little i ...

and

Petrus Phalesius the Elder Peeter van der Phaliesen, Latinised as Petrus Phalesius, French versions of name Pierre Phalèse and Pierre de PhaleysSusan Bain and Henri Vanhulst, "Phalèse Family", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by S ...

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

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on seven-line staves. 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 stave. Placing a clef on a stave assigns a particular pitch to one of the five lines, which defines the pit ...

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 composer of late Renaissance music. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native England and those on the 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 Renai ...

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

Almain An ''allemande'' (''allemanda'', ''almain(e)'', or ''alman(d)'', French: "German (dance)") is a Renaissance and Baroque dance, and one of the most common instrumental dance styles in Baroque music, with examples by Couperin, Purcell, Bach ...

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 ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

English keyboard music from around 1530 to its golden age in the late 16th century, with examples of developing counterpoint 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'' (; french: gaillarde; it, gagliarda) was a form of Renaissance dance and music popular all over Europe in the 16th century. It is mentioned in dance manuals from England, Portugal, France, Spain, Germany, and Italy. Dance f ...

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 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" (French for "the armed man") 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 ...

''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