Vitry in the Rhineland: New discoveries

Abstract

The front and rear pastedowns of a collection of sermons preserved at the Landeshauptarchiv in Koblenz (Middle Rhine) contain previously unknown concordances of two Ars Nova motets: Firmissime fidem teneamus / Adesto sancta trinitas from the Roman de Fauvel, probably composed by Philippe de Vitry, and the anonymous Mater formosa / Gaude virgo, previously known from the rotulus Brussels, Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België/Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, Ms. 19606. This article investigates the history and provenance of the fragments in the context of late medieval music culture in the Rhine valley, and traces previously unnoticed connections between the Rhineland, the southern Low Countries, northern France and Paris as mediated through the studia of the Carmelites and other orders. The chant underlying the tenor of Mater formosa / Gaude virgo is identified for the first time.