Studying at York
Music & Patronage in 17th Century England - MUS00056C
- Department: Music
- Module co-ordinator: Prof. Jo Wainwright
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: C
- Academic year of delivery: 2022-23
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Summer Term 2022-23 |
Module aims
It is a truism to state that patronage was of vital importance to English musicians in the seventeenth century. A musician could not operate as an isolated individual at that time; he was utterly reliant upon institutional or noble patronage. An individual's personal advancement could only take place through the assistance of a well-placed and well-disposed patron or sponsor, and the patron-client relationship was an essential part the social mechanism of the seventeenth century. One only needs to look at the dedications in music publications of the period to see the debt musicians owed to royal or noble patrons. The greatest patron of all was, of course, the monarch, and the Royal Music will be a major case study in a wide-ranging project that examines the mechanics and structures of seventeenth-century English musical patronage. The musical patronage of men of lesser standing will also come under scrutiny in an attempt to add to our understanding of music in the cultural context of the Jacobean, Caroline, Commonwealth and Restoration eras.
Case studies will include:
- William Byrd's Roman Catholic Patrons
- Caroline Court Patronage
- Disruption and Isolation: the Effects of the Civil War and
- Commonwealth on the Structures of Musical Patronage
- Patronage Systems Renewed: The Restoration
- Purcell: Composer to the Court, Theatres and Church
Module learning outcomes
By the end of the project students should:
- have developed an overview of English 17th-century music set within an historical and cultural context;
- have an understanding of the patronage systems in which composers worked in the seventeenth century;
- have an understanding of recent academic research in aspects of English 17th-century music;
- have an understanding of hitoriographical issues relating to the period;
- have an understanding of performance practice relating to English 17th-century music.
First years: On completion of the module, in their independent work, students should demonstrate Learning Outcomes A1-A6, A9
Indicative assessment
| Task | Length | % of module mark |
|---|---|---|
| Essay/coursework 5000 word essay |
N/A | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
| Task | Length | % of module mark |
|---|---|---|
| Essay/coursework 5000 word essay |
N/A | 100 |
Module feedback
Report form, with marks to student no later than 6 weeks from submission of assessment
Indicative reading
- J. Caldwell, The Oxford History of English Music Volume 1: From the Beginnings to c.1715 (Oxford, 1991)
- J. Harley, Music in Purcells London (London, 1968)
- A.K. Holland, Henry Purcell, the English Musical Tradition (London, 1932; 2/1948)
- P. Holman, London: Commonwealth and Restoration, in Man & Music The Early Baroque Era, ed. C. Price (London, 1993), 305-26
- I. Spink ed., The Blackwell History of Music in Britain: The Seventeenth Century (Oxford, 1992)
- J.P. Wainwright, Musical Patronage in Seventeenth-Century England: Christopher, First Baron Hatton (1605-1670) (Aldershot & Vermont, 1997)
- J.P. Wainwright, The King and the Kings Music, in The Royal Image: Representations of Charles I, ed. Thomas Corns (Cambridge, 1999)
- W. Woodfill, Musicians in English Society from Elizabeth to Charles I (Princeton, NJ, 1953; repr. 1969)