In a long medieval poem “The Champion of Ladies,” (Le Champion des Dames, 1442), Martin Le Franc devoted a few stanzas to discussing the music of his time. Though the French poet vilified the English as oppressors, he reserved a few respectful words for at least one Englishman: John Dunstable. Le Franc refers to the French composers Binchois and Guillaume Dufay, who adopted “la contenance / Angloise”—the English countenance. These composers, Le Franc said, “followed Dunstable / Because of which wonderful delight / Makes their song joyful and remarkable.” Le Franc wrote during the Hundred Years’ War, when national animosity ran high. It is a testament to Dunstable’s skill and reputation that he could transcend local hatreds.
Though Le Franc wrote a massive 24,000-line poem about Joan of Arc, historians consider value his brief musical reflections to be more important. He wrote that Dunstable, Binchois, and Dufay invented a “new method” in music, governed by “fresh harmony / In music both high and low.” So what was this method developed by the first great English composer?
the illustrated manuscript "Le Champion des Dames." PD-US
Composing for Royalty
One of the few facts known about John Dunstable was that he died on Christmas Eve, 1453. He was likely born in the late 14th century, but the exact date is speculative. What little else we know consists of records that link Dunstable’s name with the House of Plantagenet, the dynasty that ruled England for over three centuries. The Plantagenets are best known today through Shakespeare’s history plays that chronicle the War of the Roses, but Dunstable lived in the generation before this tumultuous period.His first known patron was King Henry V’s younger brother, John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford. After the King’s untimely death in 1422, Bedford was named regent of France until the infant Henry VI was old enough to assume the duties of the English crown. Upon Bedford’s death, he granted Dunstable lands in France, proving the composer spent time there. Given Dunstable’s influence on French composers, this makes sense. Dunstable probably accompanied Bedford to France during his regency. During this time, musicians often served multiple administrative duties at court, but we do not know what role Dunstable played during the unraveling of English rule in France, or if he witnessed the rise of Joan of Arc.
English Consonance
The “English countenance” that Martin Le Franc described in his poem (also translated as “habit” or “quality”), refers to the preference of consonance over dissonance. This was achieved by using sonorities that moved in parallel motion, a third and a sixth below the lowest note. Perfect intervals in fifths, common in medieval music up to this time, were avoided. This resulted in the sweet-sounding “fresh harmony” that Le Franc alluded to.While this was a common feature of English music by Dunstable’s time, he developed this style to a level of complexity not seen before, adding in triads of thirds. Around 60 pieces of church music are attributed to him: masses, motets, and every other sacred genre of the time.
He wrote most of his works for three voices. His greatest motet, though, was for four: “Veni Sancte Spiritus-Veni Creator.” A relatively early work, it was first performed in a ceremony at Canterbury Cathedral in 1416. On this date, King Henry V gathered with the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund during the Feast of Pentecost to celebrate his 1415 victory over the French at Agincourt.
For such a grandiose occasion, only an equally grand composition would do. Dunstable’s motets have been compared with the successive arches that form the foundations of gothic cathedrals, and no motet provides such a sweeping architectural effect as “Veni Sancte.” It sets the melody of a beloved hymn within a complex harmony.
The four voice parts sing through three sections, proportioned with a ratio of 3:2:1 tempo. The tenor begins singing long, sustained notes in the first section. The song is then repeated at one-and-a-half times the original speed in the next section, and a final time twice as fast. Through each section, he gradually speeds up to approximately the pace of the upper parts that weave the harmony. If this were not complicated enough, the upper three voice parts each sing from three different Latin texts, an allusion to the Trinity.
Posthumous Influence
A few years after Dunstable’s death, civil war erupted between the Houses of Lancaster and York, plunging England into a generation of bloodshed. Perhaps because of the chaos, Dunstable’s memory was largely neglected in his own country. Nearly all English music preserved from the 15th century has come down to us through manuscripts scattered across the European continent.It was in continental Europe that Dunstable was remembered. The “Burgundian school” of musicians considered his work to be their foundation. Burgundy, at this time, was a loose and complex kingdom made up of Northeastern France and various neighboring European territories. At the height of its power during the reign of Philip the Good (1419–1467), lucrative patronage attracted Europe’s best musicians. We do not know whether Dunstable ever visited the court himself, but amid this international mingling of talents, his “English countenance” came to wield supreme authority. He continued to influence an entire generation of composers even after his own music fell out of fashion.
