The Soldier, The Chapel, The Wedding and the Composer: Assessing the Works of Dufay and Saint Maurice of Savoy in the 15th Century

Abstract

This article explores two often poorly connected fields in a quite touchy symbolic conception. On one side is the complex ramification of the County of Savoy and its family therein at a period when Savoy become a Duchy under the protection of the German Holy Empire with the patronage of Saint Maurice, while on the other side is the complex and prolific secular compositions of Guillaume Dufay and its subtle style of performance. In many cases, little is known by Historians about medieval music. Therefore, Musicologists interested in metrics and comparison between manuscripts could easily obliterate the subtle diplomacy of the patrons of this period. To complicate even more, Savoy historians are in France and Italy (with most documents in Latin and French), and Dufay specialists are mainly in England and the United States. This essay also evocates a medieval Black saint, Maurice, considered a positive symbol, an idea not so evident in Savoy nowadays but probably also shortly after in the Protestant Alps, a period when visual representation could be easily destroyed. Hence this study enquires into this controversial subject and finds interesting new materials connected with music. This could be anecdotal if these pieces were not already so well-known and influential in the History of music.