The Magdalen Manuscript Audio

[Sandi Loisel]

In1996 a team of professors and student researchers and performers from The PeabodyConservatory of Music were awarded a mini-grant from the Subcommittee on the Electronic andDistance Education (SEDE) sponsored by the Provost of The Johns Hopkins University toproduce a CD-ROM-based multimedia learning environment for the study of Early Music. Thegoal was and is to encourage students to learn and to promote a greater understanding of musicwritten before the age of Bach. The study of Early Music provides a scaffolding for students onwhich they can build an understanding of the music of the Common Practice period (and allsubsequent periods).

This interactive multimedia tool in CD-ROM format was designed to supplement a course in theHistory of Music of the Medieval and Renaissance periods (a standard requirement at mostconservatories, colleges, and universities). Through this medium one can explore aspects ofmusical composition, music theory, the development of instrumental style, biographies ofcomposers and patrons, questions of performance practice, and discover interrelationshipsbetween musical and socio-historical events.

The CD-ROM draws upon various media, including audio and video performances by trainedconservatory musicians, together with digitized images of paintings and scores, and well-writtenand researched texts (see Figure 1: Artifacts). The disk consists of one small segment ofmusic history: in this case, France in the early 16th century (see Figure2: Time Map) and aparticular four-voice composition by Claudin de Sermisy, based on a traditional popular tune.

The program offers a comprehensive understanding and appreciation of Early Music by placing itin the precise socio-economic culture within which it flourished. The rationale for doing thisproject stemmed from an assessment, made over a number of years teaching the required coursein Medieval and Renaissance Music at Peabody, that the available texts, anthologies, andrecordings were woefully inaccurate, inadequate, and uninspired. When students are limited tothese materials alone, the majority loses interest in further pursuit of knowledge in this veryimportant part of our musical heritage. The classroom experience must be augmented by otheractivities including listening to newer and better recordings and viewing contemporaneousimages in order to help the student understand the cultural environment surrounding the musicalcompositions. Many paintings and literary works are in fact rich sources of informationconcerning performance practice in the periods prior to the Baroque era. As these periods are theleast familiar and perhaps the most mysterious to the majority of music students, it is particularlyimportant to enliven the materials.

Geography, language, and culture are interdependent and our program can be of use not only inthe teaching of music, but also in other disciplines, such as languages, the social sciences, and arthistory. This interdisciplinary approach is of increasing interest to educators at the secondary andprimary levels as well.

The project team was interdisciplinary, made up of musicologists, art historians, text scholars,socio-economic historians, computer experts, and students. There was also informal participationfrom colleagues outside of Peabody including web-site designers, art historians, historians, andmusicologists from institutions within Maryland as well as universities in this country andabroad. The project team included Susan F. Weiss, the project director and a member of theDepartment of Music History at the Peabody; Charles Kim, a graduate of the Computer MusicDepartment and a web designer; Ichiro Fujinaga, faculty member of the Computer MusicDepartment and Associate Director of Information Technology; Mark Cudek, Director of thePeabody Renaissance Ensemble; Webb Wiggins, faculty member of the Early Music Departmentand a vocal coach; Laura Parker, faculty member, Music Education Department; Joanne Riley,Homewood Academic Computing, The Johns Hopkins University; and Lisa Sheppley, graduatestudent assistant to Susan F. Weiss.

All performances were done by Peabody students, guided by faculty from the Early MusicDepartment. A member of the French department at The Johns Hopkins University helpedstudents arrive at correct pronunciation and syllabification of the poetic text prior to recordingthe vocal versions. The music library and other libraries of the university provided us withfacsimiles and some modern editions of the music. The Recording Arts and the Computer Musicfaculties of Peabody lent support with technical aspects of the project.

The project consisted of one small segment of music history: France in the early 16th century anda particular four-voice composition by Claudin de Sermisy, based on a traditional tune. At onelevel a student could select "Music at Court --16th Century-Paris." This first level includes textand pictures describing basic historical and social conditions; subsequent learning paths include astudy of musical forms, more information about the contemporary figures in literature and thearts, as well as an in-depth study of the music itself. Readings are taken from primary andsecondary sources, including the latest research and scholarship (see the Selected Bibliography, below). A time linescrolls through the period highlighting important contemporary cultural and historical events (see Figure 3: Time Line).

The student has opportunities to learn about the Parisian chanson. After looking at a number ofscores and hearing them performed, the student can draw conclusions about style and form and isthen able to apply the knowledge gained to a musical problem. For example, in the painting bythe Master of Female Half-Lengths, referred to as The Concert or Three Musicians, the trio ofmusicians is shown reading music and performing a vocal and instrumental composition that hasbeen identified as "Jouissance vous donneray" by the 16th-century Parisian chanson composerClaudin de Sermisy. The vocalist, a soprano we assume, is accompanied by a lute and transverseunkeyed flute. All three musicians are reading from two music books. The student will havelearned that during this period (1500-1530), four-part frottole, chanson, and lieder are oftenperformed as voice and lute duets. The student would need to determine which parts were playedby which musicians in this particular painting. They could make choices and hear them played inall the possible combinations. After a period of study and discovery -- including watching anumber of video performances of the piece as a duo, as a trio, as a quartet of voices orinstruments, or as combination of voices and instruments -- the student could come to certainconclusions about performance practice not only as revealed in the paintings (each of which isslightly different from the other), but about performance of 16th-century secular music ingeneral. Other aspects of music and culture are revealed through an in-depth study of thispainting (and four other very similar ones by the same artist; see Figure4: Five Paintings).

At any point in the program, the students can move to another category. Should they wish toknow more about the composer Sermisy or his poet Marot they could click on to the "People"icon or they could opt to retrieve more information on other examples of music and musicalperformance in other very similar, but not entirely identical paintings (see Figure5: People Page). A student might wish to learn more about the original notation and about part-books inprinted and manuscript sources. At this point a comparison between the original facsimile scoreand any of the modern transcriptions would shed light on issues of editing early music(see Figure 6:Music Page). The program stimulates critical and creative thinking by encouraging the studentsto assimilate information from different, but related disciplines. Music students can see therelevance of their subject within the broader context of other academic areas and non-musicstudents can gain accessible information on a period of music that is usually considered out-of-reach.

The process of having the students and faculty engaged in the research and performance practiceefforts, learning to work cooperatively, created institutional enthusiasm and energy as the projectevolved. Students in the undergraduate required course in Medieval and Renaissance Music havebeen testing the program both as learners and as critics.

At the end of the spring semester, we presented a pilot study to the students for the purpose ofgetting initial feedback and helpful suggestions. The results were extraordinarily positive.Students have been able to see the practical application to studying music within a culturalcontext. The class of 45 students was divided, based largely on self-selection into three groups:the first (15 students: 7 females, 8 males) chose to use the CD-ROM program only; the second(20 students: 12 females, 8 males) chose to use the required text and recordings; the third (7students: 1 female, 6 males) elected to use text, recordings, and the CD-ROM program. For thefinal exam, the students were expected to answer a series of questions based on their reading,listening, or experience with the CD-ROM. Questions were geared both to general knowledgeand to specific points requiring the use of visual and aural memory. The result of the examshowed that the third group (CD-ROM and standard materials) scored higher than the othergroups, followed by the first group (CD-ROM only). Among the comments, many wrote that thegraphics were beautiful and that CD-ROM is a fun and effective way to learn and to supplementmusic history and performance practice. All enjoyed the audio and video, the magnificentimages, and the time line that provided them with a chronological framework, often missing intextbooks. A similar evaluation process including a Likert-type scale survey, is planned for thisnew project. We also expect evaluative comments and criticism from other faculty at Peabodyand scholars around the world over the Internet when this material becomes available on theWeb.

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