John Hothby

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John Hothby (* around 1430 in England ; † October or November 1487 there ) was an English music theorist and composer of the early Renaissance who had traveled to many European countries and received international recognition for his work.

Live and act

Almost nothing is known from the available sources about the early years of John Hothby. He was a monk of the Carmelite Order and is perhaps identical to the Oxford convent members John Otteby , which at December 18, 1451 Subdiakonatsweihe received. Several references in his writings suggest that he traveled to Germany, France, Spain and Italy; in Padua he was a fellow student or schoolmate ("condiscipulus") of Johannes Gallicus . A stay in Florence before 1467 is considered certain .

In February 1467 he received a call to the Cathedral of San Martino in Lucca as "Maestro di canto e Cantore"; At the same time, it was his job to teach music, grammar and arithmetic at the cathedral school there. He gained high recognition for his work, which was expressed in several increases in his income as early as 1469 and through the acquisition of benefits .

The English King Henry VII (reign 1485–1509) called him back to his homeland in March 1486. The "Signorina von Lucca" gave Hothby a letter of introduction in which the special appreciation of his person is expressed and in addition the promise was contained that his previous position would be kept open for him for 18 months.

Nothing is known about the circumstances of Hothby's return to England; it is only documented that his death was reported to Lucca in November 1487.

meaning

The transmission of the writings of John Hothby, partly in Latin and partly in Italian, is conspicuously inconsistent. This indicates an extensive teaching activity that encompassed almost all areas of music theory. There are no great treatises by him, but many scattered records; It is difficult to differentiate between these whether they are authentic texts, written excerpts or student transcripts. The music theory teaching of John Hothby follows the technical tradition of his epoch and is therefore conservative in principle; it thus sets itself in opposition to his contemporary Spanish counterpart Bartolomé Ramos de Pareja . However, it is so independent in its methodology and conceptual details that, regardless of its elusive tradition, it is one of the most important music-theoretical testimonies of its time.

Works

  • Musical works (vocal music)
    • “Cupid” to three votes
    • “Ave sublime triumphale” to three voices
    • “Diva panthera” with three voices
    • Kyrie - Christe - Kyrie to three votes
    • Magnificat (in Tempus imperfectum) to three voices
    • Magnificat (in Tempus perfectum) to three voices
    • “Ora pro nobis” to three votes
    • “Quae est ista” to four votes
    • “Tard il mio cor” to three votes
  • Music theory writings
    • Writings against Ramos de Pareja
      • Excitatio quaedam musice artis per refutationem
      • Dialogus Johannis Octobi Anglici in arte musica
      • Epistola [...]. "Io sono obligato a la Vostra paternita"
    • Writings on the doctrine of contrapunctus
      • Regule contrapuncti Iohannis Octobi [...]. "Nota quod contrapunctus"
      • Regole Dil Contrapuncto. "Prima deve sapere le consonantie"
      • Spetie tenore del contrapunto prima [...]. "Ogni contrapunto de 'cominciare"
      • Regule Hothbi supra contrapunctum. "Quamvis species sive consonantie"
      • Regule contrapuncti secundum predictum magistrum
    • Writings on mensural music
      • Regule cantus mensurati eiusdem Ottobi. "Octo sunt partes prolationis"
      • De cantu figurato secundum [...] Johannem Hothbi [...]. "Octo sunt figure"
      • Regule Magistri Johannis Hoctobi anglici cantus figurati. "Figure cantus figurati sunt octo"
      • [Regule cantus mensurati secundum Johannem Otteby]. "Figure enim cantus choralis sunt 8"
      • [Del canto afigurato.] "Notta che nel canto afigurato sono octo figure"
    • Writings on the theory of proportions
      • Regule fratris Jo. Hothbi super proportes [...]. "Omnis numerus dead have partes"
      • Incominciano certi preambuli [...] da [...] Giovanni Hocthobi [...] necessarii alle proportioni. "Ogni numero ha aunt parti"
      • De proportionibus. "Proportio est habitudo vel respectus duorum"
      • "Quid est proportio?"
    • Writings on elementary and choral teaching
      • La Calliopea legale reducta in brevita per maestro Giovanni Ottobi Anglico carmelita
      • 'Tractatus complex': Tractatus quarundam regularum artis musice; Ars plane musice Iohannis Octobi; De musica intervallosa; Regule [...] Johannis octobj [...] "Constitutiones cantilenarum sunt due"
      • "Iste est modus et ordo faciendi monocordum antiquum"
      • "Questo e il modo da fare il monocordo"
      • "Voces differentes quid forma septem sunt"

literature

  • Edmond de Coussemaker : La Calliopée légale par Jean Hothby. In: Histoire de l'harmonie au moyen âge. Paris 1852. Reprint Hildesheim 1966, pages 205–349.
  • Utto Kornmüller : Johann Hothby. A study of the history of music in the 15th century. In: Church Music Yearbook. No. 8, 1893, pages 1-23.
  • Albert Seay: The Dialogus Johannis Ottobi Anglici in arte musica. In: Journal of the American Musicological Society. No. 8, 1955, pp. 86-100.
  • Albert Seay: Florence. The City of Hothby and Ramos. In: Journal of the American Musicological Society. No. 9, 1956, pages 193-195.
  • Alfred Brotherston Emden: A Biographical Register of the University of Oxford to AD 1500. Oxford 1958.
  • Klaus-Jürgen Sachs: The Contrapunctus in the 14th and 15th centuries (= archive for musicology . Supplement 13). Stuttgart 1974.
  • Gilbert Reaney: The Manuscript Transmission of Hothby's Theoretical Works. In: MD Grace (Ed.): Festschrift for A. Seay. Colorado Springs 1982, pp. 21-31.
  • Gilbert Reaney: The Musical Theory of John Hothby. In: Revue belge de musicologie. No. 42, 1988, pages 119-133.
  • Timothy L. McDonald: The musica plana of John Hothby. Dissertation. Rutgers University of New Jersey, New Brunswick 1990. Ann Arbor 1990 (University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, Michigan).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Music in Past and Present (MGG), Person Part Volume 9, Bärenreiter Verlag Kassel and Basel 2003, ISBN 3-7618-1119-5
  2. ↑ Marc Honegger, Günther Massenkeil (ed.): The great lexicon of music. Volume 4: Half a note - Kostelanetz. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau a. a. 1981, ISBN 3-451-18054-5 .
personal data
SURNAME Hothby, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hothbi, John; Hoctobi, John; Ottobi, Giovanni; Octobi, Johannes; Otteby, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English music theorist and composer of the early Renaissance
DATE OF BIRTH around 1430
PLACE OF BIRTH England
DATE OF DEATH October 1487 or November 1487
Place of death England