Fimm „Ütlendsker tonar" í Rask 98

Abstract

The manuscript Rask 98, also known as Melódía, was written c. 1660–1670 by an unknown scribe and contains 223 songs, each with musical notation. The manuscriptʼs heading states that it contains “foreign tones to Icelandic poetry.” Since none of the songs in Rask 98 carries an attribution, tracing their origins has proved to be an arduous task. This article identifies models for five “foreign tones” in Rask 98, thus greatly extending our knowledge of musical repertoire and transmission in 17th-century Iceland. They are a French chanson spirituelle (Didier Lupiʼs Susanne un jour), two German Tenorlieder (Paul Hofhaimerʼs Meins Traurens ist and Ludwig Senflʼs Pacientia muß ich han), an Italian canzona villanesca alla napolitana (Francesco Cortecciaʼs Madonn’io t’haggi amat’et amo assai), and an anonymous Christmas motet found in a German manuscript written in Wittenberg around 1560 (Gaudete psallentes). In Rask 98, the original texts have been replaced by Icelandic poetry. Three of these texts are paraphrases (Susanne un jour/Súsanna, sannan Guðs dóm; Pacientia muß ich han/Patientia er sögð urt; Gaudete psallentes/Frábæra, -bæra), while the secular texts for Corteccia and Hofhaimer have been replaced with newly written sacred contrafacta (Vera mátt góður; Úr djúpum mjög). While nothing is known of the potential audience for these songs in Iceland, they may be associated with the “discant singing” — i.e. four-part singing based on continental models — introduced by Eramus Villatsson, a schoolmaster at Skálholt from 1561–1564. The songs discussed here share certain similarities of musical style, possibly reflecting the performance practice of local musical ensembles. All are in four parts, largely homophonic in texture, and they do not make excessive demands on the performers. In each case, the Icelandic sources feature only tenor parts except Corteccia, for which Rask 98 provides the bass. Of the five songs discussed here, only Gaudete psallentes seems to have enjoyed wide circulation; it can also be found in Icelandic sources for a newly composed text, Vígð náttin. Its tenor part is notated in six manuscripts while at least 23 others present the Icelandic text without music. The youngest notated manuscripts show a radical simplification of the musical material, with reduction of ornamental flourishes, shortening and/or omission of repeated passages, and a change of mode from F major to D Dorian. Meins Traurens ist and Madonn’io t’haggi amat’et amo assai are only extant in Rask 98, while for Susanne un jour and Pacientia muß ich han there is one concordance among the Icelandic manuscripts (JS 138 8vo, an 18th-century hymnbook). It may be that the transmission of these songs was largely confined to the Latin schools, although this is difficult to assess given what appears to have been a substantial loss of contemporary sources.