Grantley McDonald | University of Oxford - Academia.edu

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Grantley McDonald

University of Oxford, Music, Post-Doc

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University of Oxford, Music, Post-DocUniversity of Vienna, Musicology, Post-Doc |

I am a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford. My research focusses on learned culture in the Renaissance, especially the links between musical thought, theology, philosophy and medicine.

My project at Oxford focusses on music at the courts of Frederick III and Sigmund Habsburg (www.malmecc.eu). I also direct a project on the chapel of Maximilian I Habsburg at the University of Vienna, which will comprise my Habilitationsschrift. I am also co-authoring a monograph on the sixteenth-century composer and Reformation polemicist Leonhard Paminger with David J. Burn (KU Leuven).

Besides my musicological work, I am writing a book about the sixteenth-century medical humanist and Hellenist John Clement, protégé of Thomas More and Thomas Linacre, a central figure in the early history of the London College of Physicians, Catholic resistance to the English Reformation, and the English diaspora in the Low Countries.

My PhD dissertation in musicology (University of Melbourne) focussed on the German reception of the musical thought of Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499). My PhD dissertation in history (Leiden) was a study of the political and cultural implications of the New Testament edition of Erasmus.

I have also been one of the editors of the online database Verzeichnis deutscher Musikfrühdrucke / Catalogue of early German printed music (www.vdm.sbg.ac.at) since its inception in 2012, and have published extensively on Renaissance music printing.

I also sing with various ensembles, such as Cappella Pratensis, which explores the possibilities of earlier modes of performance, such as singing from facsimiles of early choirbooks displayed on a central lectern (http://www.cappellapratensis.nl/en/).
Supervisors: John Griffiths (University of Melbourne) and Henk Jan de Jonge (Universiteit Leiden)

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Papers

Corvinus, Laurentius

Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy, 2020

Laurentius Corvinus was one of the foremost humanists in early sixteenth-century Silesia. His wri... more Laurentius Corvinus was one of the foremost humanists in early sixteenth-century Silesia. His writings introduced three important intellectual currents into the civic humanism of Breslau (Wrocław): first, the literary humanism of Conrad Celtis; second, a combination of the Franciscan spirituality of Bonaventure and the Renaissance Neoplatonism of Marsilio Ficino; and third, Lutheranism.

Vadianus, Joachim

Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy, 2020

Joachim Vadianus (von Watt) was a significant representative of Viennese humanism and Lutheran re... more Joachim Vadianus (von Watt) was a significant representative of Viennese humanism and Lutheran reformer of St Gallen. His writings fall roughly into two groups: literary and scientific works from Vienna, written in Latin for the university and the court; and Reformation writings from St Gallen, mostly in German.

Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy, 2017

John Claymond was a prominent representative of early Tudor humanism and the first president of C... more John Claymond was a prominent representative of early Tudor humanism and the first president of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. His most extensive scholarly work is a 20-volume commentary on the Natural History of Pliny the Elder (Corpus Christi College, Oxford, MSS 178–181; Basel, Universitätsbibliothek, MS K I 4). His commentaries on Plautus and Aulus Gellius are lost.

Editions and Translations of the Bible in the Renaissance

Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy, 2021

The invention of printing in the mid-fifteenth century greatly encouraged the dissemination and s... more The invention of printing in the mid-fifteenth century greatly encouraged the dissemination and study of the bible in the original Hebrew and Greek, in ancient translations (most importantly the Latin Vulgate), and, from the 1520s onward, a bewildering variety of translations into the European vernaculars. Increased access to the bible encouraged philological improvement of the text and new ways of reading and interpreting it, with profound implications for philosophy and theology of all kinds.

Censorship in the Renaissance

Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy, 2021

During the middle ages and renaissance, Western attitudes to censorship were determined principal... more During the middle ages and renaissance, Western attitudes to censorship were determined principally by Christianity, the hegemonic religious and political discourse in Europe. While the religions of the Hellenistic and Roman world, within which Christianity was born and developed, were concerned for the proper performance of religious ritual, the earliest documents of Christianity – like those of Judaism, from which it sprang – were even more deeply motivated by a concern to identify, articulate and maintain correct beliefs (“orthodoxy”). Accordingly, Christian censorship represents an attempt to control both inward beliefs and their outward expression. The word “censorship” can refer to customs or laws that prohibit the expression of certain opinions, to the legal processes through which conformity to such norms is achieved (whether before or after publication), or to the punishments imposed on those who refuse to conform. It is essentially an imposition of authority for the purpose of creating agreement or silencing dissent.
This article first explores medieval mechanisms of censorship, then describes the new institutions and practices of censorship developed in response to the invention of printing and the Protestant Reformation. Finally, it briefly describes some important medieval and renaissance thinkers and writers whose work was subject to ecclesiastical or state censorship.

The Chapel of Maximilian I: Patronage and Mobility in a European Context

Henricus Isaac (c. 1450/5–1517) Composition – Reception – Interpretation, ed. Stefan Gasch, Markus Grassl, and August Valentin Rabe (Vienna: Hollitzer Verlag, 2019): 9–23.

The wide geographical reach of the empire of Maximilian I Habsburg gave it a highly international... more The wide geographical reach of the empire of Maximilian I Habsburg gave it a highly international character. As a result, his court chapel included individuals drawn from many disparate regions, from the Low Countries to present-day Slovenia.Thanks to the complex structure of his court, members of the chapel could easily move into other branches of the imperial administration, such as the chancery and treasury. The close relationship between Maximilian’s court and two important institutions in Vienna – St Stephen’s and the university – provided further arenas of activity for members of his court chapel. Finally, this paper discusses some of the ways in which Maximilian’s right of presentation to benefices throughout the empire provided a way to promote members of his chapel and place them in locations where their experience and skills could be useful, and where they could disseminate the aesthetic habits and administrative practices of the court.

The reception of Marsilio Ficino’s work in the aesthetic and political philosophy of Nicolò Vito di Gozze

Renaissance Music in the Slavic World, ed. Marco Gurrieri and Vasco Zara (Turnhout: Brepols, 2019): 47–60

Previous research has identified Nicolò Vito di Gozze (Nikola Vitov Gučetić, 1549–1610) as one of... more Previous research has identified Nicolò Vito di Gozze (Nikola Vitov Gučetić, 1549–1610) as one of the outstanding philosophical writers of late sixteenth-century Croatia, especially in the area of aesthetics and politics. Gozze’s eclectic use of the work of Plato, Aristotle and the representatives of other ancient philosophical schools such as Stoicism and Neoplatonism was typical of the syncretic character of much sixteenth-century philosophy. The present paper attempts to assess Gozze’s intellectual character more closely by examining the way he used the work of the Renaissance Neoplatonist Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499). This will lead us to consider Gozze’s use of sources more generally.

Gaspar van Weerbeke as a member of the Burgundian chapel

Gaspar van Weerbeke: New Perspectives on His Life and Music, ed. Andrea Lindmayr-Brandl and Paul Kolb (Turnhout: Brepols, 2019): 79–85, 2019

Like many singers and composers around 1500, Gaspar van Weerbeke found that the skills he had lea... more Like many singers and composers around 1500, Gaspar van Weerbeke found that the skills he had learned as a boy in the Low Countries opened doors at princely courts around Europe. Court chapels were generally desirable workplaces for singers and composers—even if financial stability and employment security could be uncertain—since they allowed close access to sources of patronage. The turnover of personnel in such bodies could also forge contacts with other courts or important churches, and further patrons. This chapter, included in a collective volume investigating the life and work of Gaspar van Weerbeke, provide a general account of the Burgundian court chapel, one of the most splendid in Europe, during Gaspar’s period of service, and the kinds of opportunities it presented for professional and artistic development.

The songbooks of Peter Schöffer the Younger and Arnt von Aich: a typographical assessment

by Grantley McDonald and Sanna Raninen

Senfl-Studien III, ed. Stefan Gasch and Sonja Tröster (Vienna: Hollitzer Verlag, 2019): 29–53

In this paper we argue that the song book printed by Arnt von Aich probably during the second dec... more In this paper we argue that the song book printed by Arnt von Aich probably during the second decade of the sixteenth century, an important source for early sixteenth-century German song, is a woodcut facsimile of at least two lost originals printed from movable type by Peter Schöffer the Younger. Many details in Arnt’s woodcut show a clear dependence on Schöffer’s typographical habits. However, the presence of features not evident in Schöffer’s surviving song books suggests that the originals copied by Arnt predated Schöffer’s extant Lied collections. Furthermore, Arnt’s book seems to provide important evidence of an element of experimentation in Schöffer’s typographical technique which was already resolved by the time he printed the collections that now survive.

In: Senfl-Studien III, ed. Stefan Gasch and Sonja Tröster (Vienna: Hollitzer Verlag, 2019): 19–27

This paper discusses newly-discovered archival documentation relating to the two wives of the six... more This paper discusses newly-discovered archival documentation relating to the two wives of the sixteenth-century Swiss composer Ludwig Senfl. These documents locate these women in their milieu: one in a wealthy shipping family from Passau, the other in a family with close links to the Habsburg and Wittelsbach courts. They also illuminate the social class in which this Renaissance court composer moved and into which he might expect to marry.

McDonald—The Reception of Ficino’s Theory of World Harmony in Germany

‘The reception of Ficino’s theory of world harmony in Germany.’ In: Sing Aloud Harmonious Spheres: Renaissance Conceptions of Cosmic Harmony, ed. Maude Vanhaelen and Jacomien Prins (London: Routledge, 2018): 162–184.

This paper explores the reception of Marsilio Ficino’s theories of world harmony in the works of ... more

McDonald—The Debate over Church Music between Jacob Andreae and Théodore de Bèze

‘The Debate over Church Music between Jacob Andreae and Théodore de Bèze at the Colloquy of Montbéliard (1586).’ In: French Renaissance Music and Beyond: Studies in Memory of Frank Dobbins, ed. Marie-Alexis Colin (Turnhout: Brepols, 2018): 455–479.

This paper examines the debate over the place of music and musical instruments in church, which c... more This paper examines the debate over the place of music and musical instruments in church, which constituted part of a wider formal debate held at Montbéliard in 1586 between the Lutheran theologian Jacob Andreae and the Calvinist leader Théodore de Bèze. It includes an appendix with transcription of the published Latin text of the relevant sections, with annotated English translation.

Leonhard Paminger’s public image

Music and Theology in the European Reformations, ed. David J. Burn, Grantley McDonald, Joseph Verheyden, and Peter de Mey (Turnhout: Brepols, 2019): 255–282.

The present article discusses the careful way in which the Passau composer Leonhard Paminger sele... more The present article discusses the careful way in which the Passau composer Leonhard Paminger selected the works he published, in order to present himself as an orthodox Lutheran teacher and musician, as well as the ways in which this image was amplified after his death by his sons. It also shows how Paminger was open to many streams in contemporary biblical scholarship and exegesis, including Erasmus and Luther.

McDonald—Leonhard Paminger’s Liederbuch.pdf

The Bavarian State Library in Munich preserves the Quinta vox partbook of a collection of German ... more The Bavarian State Library in Munich preserves the Quinta vox partbook of a collection of German songs by the Passau composer Leonhard Paminger (1495–1567). This source is particularly important because it is one of only two autograph manuscripts of Paminger’s music. It is also important because Paminger’s huge published output contains very few vernacular songs. Although the loss of all but one of the partbooks of Paminger’s songs makes it impossible to reconstruct these pieces, this autograph manuscript nevertheless adds much to what we might otherwise be able to conclude about Paminger’s vernacular polyphony merely on the basis of his published work. Yet the book as it has come down to us is not simply an important repository of otherwise unknown music by a prolific (if little-known) sixteenth-century composer. Later alterations to the partbook by Leonhard Paminger’s son Sophonias reflect the latter’s desire to project an exaggerated image of his late father as a staunch defender of Lutheran orthodoxy. The book as it has come down to us thus bears traces of the purposes of Leonhard Paminger, its original author and scribe, and of Sophonias Paminger, its later editor.

The cult of Luther in music

Early Music Printing in German-Speaking Lands, ed. Andrea Lindmayr-Brandl, Elisabeth Giselbrecht and Grantley McDonald (London: Routledge, 2018): 199–224.

The subject of “Luther and Music” never fails to make an appearance in any account of sixteenth-c... more The subject of “Luther and Music” never fails to make an appearance in any account of sixteenth-century music history. Invariably it is addressed from a blandly hagiographical perspective, reflecting dated notions of the liberation of the individual conscience and the increasing self-determination of the laity in early modern society. Excessive use of such ideas by earlier scholars too often played into an uncritical lionisation of Luther, the reformation and its musical consequences. For example, while the reformers’ ostensible valorisation of congregational monophony seems to represent a retrograde step in romantic narratives of the progress of western music history, this apparent eschewal of musical complexity is often depicted as a necessary precondition of later and greater developments, receiving redemption and apotheosis at the hands of J. S. Bach.
The present paper tries to escape from such narratives by attempting something a little different. It focuses on several pieces that reflect on Luther as a man, from the diametrically opposed perspectives of friends and enemies of the Lutheran reformation. The song "Ad Martinum Lutherum captivum lamentatio" reflects the mood of despair that surrounded the secret abduction of Luther in 1521. "Eyn erschreglicher Gesangk" attacks Luther’s doctrine of the priesthood, depicting it as a diabolical perversion. The "Epithalamia Martini Lutheri" parodies Luther’s marriage to Katharina von Bora in 1525. Caspar Othmayr’s "Heiliger Vater" and Leonhard Kettner's "Nu hört jr Christen newe meer" enshrine Luther’s reported last words in music. We shall examine these latter setting as a polemical response to Roman Catholic depictions of Luther’s last minutes as the moment when his diabolic nature was finally revealed.
All of these pieces are biased, and all present a partisan picture of a man whose open combat with the Roman Catholic church provoked extreme reactions, both positive and negative. However, it will be argued that taking account of the polemical context of these pieces provides a way out of the denominational bias that often distorts discussions of the music of the reformation. Consideration of the persistent imagery of saints and demons in the texts provides insight into the perceived cosmic consequences of Luther’s rebellion, on both sides. Consideration of the various musical genres of these pieces provokes further reflection on the various registers of reformation polemic. Finally, consideration of the printed form of the pieces—whether broadsheets, pamphlets or part of extensive collections of polyphony—also suggests conclusions about the intended audience for these pieces, and the circumstances of their performance.

McDonald—Beckman, Otto.pdf

‘Beckman, Otto.’ In: Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation, ed. Mark Lamport (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017): 61–63.

This article from the Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation (2017) provides a brief o... more This article from the Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation (2017) provides a brief overview of the life and career of Otto Beckman, a humanist at the University of Wittenberg. Luther counted Beckman as one of his closest friends in the years around his “Reformation breakthrough,” but Beckman subsequently turned away from Luther and returned to the Roman Catholic Church. Beckman thus represents one of several forward-looking German intellectuals initially attracted by Luther, but ultimately unwilling to follow him in his rebellion from the church.

“Burned to dust”: Censorship and repression of theological literature in the Habsburg Netherlands during the 1520s

In: Church, Censorship and Reform in the Early Modern Habsburg Netherlands, ed. Violet Soen, Dries Vanysacker and Wim François. Bibliothèque de la Revue d’histoire ecclésiastique 101 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2017): 27–52.

The present paper explores the repression of Lutheran and evangelical theological writings and bi... more The present paper explores the repression of Lutheran and evangelical theological writings and bibles in the Habsburg Low Countries during the 1520s, in the aftermath of the Edict of Worms. The way in which different jurisdictions dealt with a work entitled “Summa der Godliker Scrifturen” (“The Sum of the Holy Scripture”) provides material for a comparative analysis of techniques of repression. This paper also examines the rise of predecessors of the Index of Forbidden Books, and provides a facsimile of a previously unknown such list, the earliest yet identified, promulgated in the diocese of Vienna in 1528.
The first appendix identifies the mysterious “Ioannes Zel” censored in the 1529 Brussels proto-index as the Antwerp printer Jan van Ghelen.
A second appendix provides the first accurate and comprehensive bibliography of the editions of the “Summa der Godliker Scrifturen,” including recently recovered photographs of the title page and colophon of an edition of which the last known copy was destroyed during WWII.

McDonald—Reformation in Augsburg

‘Augsburg.’ In: Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation, ed. Mark Lamport (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017): 43–46.

This article from the Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation (2017) provides a brief o... more

McDonald—Luther, Ein neues Lied wir heben an

‘New Song we Raise, A (‘Ein neues Lied wir heben an’)’. In: Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation, ed. Mark Lamport (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017): 553–555.

This article from the Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation (2017) explores the origi... more This article from the Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation (2017) explores the origins, composition and afterlife of Martin Luther‘s first song, “Ein neues Lied wir heben an”, a polemical account of the trial and execution of two Augustinians found guilty of spreading his ideas in the Low Countries.

McDonald—Reformation in Breslau

‘Breslau (Wrocław).’ In: Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation, ed. Mark Lamport (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017): 89–91.

This article from the Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation (2017) traces the course ... more

Corvinus, Laurentius

Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy, 2020

Laurentius Corvinus was one of the foremost humanists in early sixteenth-century Silesia. His wri... more Laurentius Corvinus was one of the foremost humanists in early sixteenth-century Silesia. His writings introduced three important intellectual currents into the civic humanism of Breslau (Wrocław): first, the literary humanism of Conrad Celtis; second, a combination of the Franciscan spirituality of Bonaventure and the Renaissance Neoplatonism of Marsilio Ficino; and third, Lutheranism.

Vadianus, Joachim

Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy, 2020

Joachim Vadianus (von Watt) was a significant representative of Viennese humanism and Lutheran re... more Joachim Vadianus (von Watt) was a significant representative of Viennese humanism and Lutheran reformer of St Gallen. His writings fall roughly into two groups: literary and scientific works from Vienna, written in Latin for the university and the court; and Reformation writings from St Gallen, mostly in German.

Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy, 2017

John Claymond was a prominent representative of early Tudor humanism and the first president of C... more John Claymond was a prominent representative of early Tudor humanism and the first president of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. His most extensive scholarly work is a 20-volume commentary on the Natural History of Pliny the Elder (Corpus Christi College, Oxford, MSS 178–181; Basel, Universitätsbibliothek, MS K I 4). His commentaries on Plautus and Aulus Gellius are lost.

Editions and Translations of the Bible in the Renaissance

Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy, 2021

The invention of printing in the mid-fifteenth century greatly encouraged the dissemination and s... more The invention of printing in the mid-fifteenth century greatly encouraged the dissemination and study of the bible in the original Hebrew and Greek, in ancient translations (most importantly the Latin Vulgate), and, from the 1520s onward, a bewildering variety of translations into the European vernaculars. Increased access to the bible encouraged philological improvement of the text and new ways of reading and interpreting it, with profound implications for philosophy and theology of all kinds.

Censorship in the Renaissance

Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy, 2021

During the middle ages and renaissance, Western attitudes to censorship were determined principal... more During the middle ages and renaissance, Western attitudes to censorship were determined principally by Christianity, the hegemonic religious and political discourse in Europe. While the religions of the Hellenistic and Roman world, within which Christianity was born and developed, were concerned for the proper performance of religious ritual, the earliest documents of Christianity – like those of Judaism, from which it sprang – were even more deeply motivated by a concern to identify, articulate and maintain correct beliefs (“orthodoxy”). Accordingly, Christian censorship represents an attempt to control both inward beliefs and their outward expression. The word “censorship” can refer to customs or laws that prohibit the expression of certain opinions, to the legal processes through which conformity to such norms is achieved (whether before or after publication), or to the punishments imposed on those who refuse to conform. It is essentially an imposition of authority for the purpose of creating agreement or silencing dissent.
This article first explores medieval mechanisms of censorship, then describes the new institutions and practices of censorship developed in response to the invention of printing and the Protestant Reformation. Finally, it briefly describes some important medieval and renaissance thinkers and writers whose work was subject to ecclesiastical or state censorship.

The Chapel of Maximilian I: Patronage and Mobility in a European Context

Henricus Isaac (c. 1450/5–1517) Composition – Reception – Interpretation, ed. Stefan Gasch, Markus Grassl, and August Valentin Rabe (Vienna: Hollitzer Verlag, 2019): 9–23.

The wide geographical reach of the empire of Maximilian I Habsburg gave it a highly international... more The wide geographical reach of the empire of Maximilian I Habsburg gave it a highly international character. As a result, his court chapel included individuals drawn from many disparate regions, from the Low Countries to present-day Slovenia.Thanks to the complex structure of his court, members of the chapel could easily move into other branches of the imperial administration, such as the chancery and treasury. The close relationship between Maximilian’s court and two important institutions in Vienna – St Stephen’s and the university – provided further arenas of activity for members of his court chapel. Finally, this paper discusses some of the ways in which Maximilian’s right of presentation to benefices throughout the empire provided a way to promote members of his chapel and place them in locations where their experience and skills could be useful, and where they could disseminate the aesthetic habits and administrative practices of the court.

The reception of Marsilio Ficino’s work in the aesthetic and political philosophy of Nicolò Vito di Gozze

Renaissance Music in the Slavic World, ed. Marco Gurrieri and Vasco Zara (Turnhout: Brepols, 2019): 47–60

Previous research has identified Nicolò Vito di Gozze (Nikola Vitov Gučetić, 1549–1610) as one of... more Previous research has identified Nicolò Vito di Gozze (Nikola Vitov Gučetić, 1549–1610) as one of the outstanding philosophical writers of late sixteenth-century Croatia, especially in the area of aesthetics and politics. Gozze’s eclectic use of the work of Plato, Aristotle and the representatives of other ancient philosophical schools such as Stoicism and Neoplatonism was typical of the syncretic character of much sixteenth-century philosophy. The present paper attempts to assess Gozze’s intellectual character more closely by examining the way he used the work of the Renaissance Neoplatonist Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499). This will lead us to consider Gozze’s use of sources more generally.

Gaspar van Weerbeke as a member of the Burgundian chapel

Gaspar van Weerbeke: New Perspectives on His Life and Music, ed. Andrea Lindmayr-Brandl and Paul Kolb (Turnhout: Brepols, 2019): 79–85, 2019

Like many singers and composers around 1500, Gaspar van Weerbeke found that the skills he had lea... more Like many singers and composers around 1500, Gaspar van Weerbeke found that the skills he had learned as a boy in the Low Countries opened doors at princely courts around Europe. Court chapels were generally desirable workplaces for singers and composers—even if financial stability and employment security could be uncertain—since they allowed close access to sources of patronage. The turnover of personnel in such bodies could also forge contacts with other courts or important churches, and further patrons. This chapter, included in a collective volume investigating the life and work of Gaspar van Weerbeke, provide a general account of the Burgundian court chapel, one of the most splendid in Europe, during Gaspar’s period of service, and the kinds of opportunities it presented for professional and artistic development.

The songbooks of Peter Schöffer the Younger and Arnt von Aich: a typographical assessment

by Grantley McDonald and Sanna Raninen

Senfl-Studien III, ed. Stefan Gasch and Sonja Tröster (Vienna: Hollitzer Verlag, 2019): 29–53

In this paper we argue that the song book printed by Arnt von Aich probably during the second dec... more In this paper we argue that the song book printed by Arnt von Aich probably during the second decade of the sixteenth century, an important source for early sixteenth-century German song, is a woodcut facsimile of at least two lost originals printed from movable type by Peter Schöffer the Younger. Many details in Arnt’s woodcut show a clear dependence on Schöffer’s typographical habits. However, the presence of features not evident in Schöffer’s surviving song books suggests that the originals copied by Arnt predated Schöffer’s extant Lied collections. Furthermore, Arnt’s book seems to provide important evidence of an element of experimentation in Schöffer’s typographical technique which was already resolved by the time he printed the collections that now survive.

In: Senfl-Studien III, ed. Stefan Gasch and Sonja Tröster (Vienna: Hollitzer Verlag, 2019): 19–27

This paper discusses newly-discovered archival documentation relating to the two wives of the six... more This paper discusses newly-discovered archival documentation relating to the two wives of the sixteenth-century Swiss composer Ludwig Senfl. These documents locate these women in their milieu: one in a wealthy shipping family from Passau, the other in a family with close links to the Habsburg and Wittelsbach courts. They also illuminate the social class in which this Renaissance court composer moved and into which he might expect to marry.

McDonald—The Reception of Ficino’s Theory of World Harmony in Germany

‘The reception of Ficino’s theory of world harmony in Germany.’ In: Sing Aloud Harmonious Spheres: Renaissance Conceptions of Cosmic Harmony, ed. Maude Vanhaelen and Jacomien Prins (London: Routledge, 2018): 162–184.

This paper explores the reception of Marsilio Ficino’s theories of world harmony in the works of ... more

McDonald—The Debate over Church Music between Jacob Andreae and Théodore de Bèze

‘The Debate over Church Music between Jacob Andreae and Théodore de Bèze at the Colloquy of Montbéliard (1586).’ In: French Renaissance Music and Beyond: Studies in Memory of Frank Dobbins, ed. Marie-Alexis Colin (Turnhout: Brepols, 2018): 455–479.

This paper examines the debate over the place of music and musical instruments in church, which c... more This paper examines the debate over the place of music and musical instruments in church, which constituted part of a wider formal debate held at Montbéliard in 1586 between the Lutheran theologian Jacob Andreae and the Calvinist leader Théodore de Bèze. It includes an appendix with transcription of the published Latin text of the relevant sections, with annotated English translation.

Leonhard Paminger’s public image

Music and Theology in the European Reformations, ed. David J. Burn, Grantley McDonald, Joseph Verheyden, and Peter de Mey (Turnhout: Brepols, 2019): 255–282.

The present article discusses the careful way in which the Passau composer Leonhard Paminger sele... more The present article discusses the careful way in which the Passau composer Leonhard Paminger selected the works he published, in order to present himself as an orthodox Lutheran teacher and musician, as well as the ways in which this image was amplified after his death by his sons. It also shows how Paminger was open to many streams in contemporary biblical scholarship and exegesis, including Erasmus and Luther.

McDonald—Leonhard Paminger’s Liederbuch.pdf

The Bavarian State Library in Munich preserves the Quinta vox partbook of a collection of German ... more The Bavarian State Library in Munich preserves the Quinta vox partbook of a collection of German songs by the Passau composer Leonhard Paminger (1495–1567). This source is particularly important because it is one of only two autograph manuscripts of Paminger’s music. It is also important because Paminger’s huge published output contains very few vernacular songs. Although the loss of all but one of the partbooks of Paminger’s songs makes it impossible to reconstruct these pieces, this autograph manuscript nevertheless adds much to what we might otherwise be able to conclude about Paminger’s vernacular polyphony merely on the basis of his published work. Yet the book as it has come down to us is not simply an important repository of otherwise unknown music by a prolific (if little-known) sixteenth-century composer. Later alterations to the partbook by Leonhard Paminger’s son Sophonias reflect the latter’s desire to project an exaggerated image of his late father as a staunch defender of Lutheran orthodoxy. The book as it has come down to us thus bears traces of the purposes of Leonhard Paminger, its original author and scribe, and of Sophonias Paminger, its later editor.

The cult of Luther in music

Early Music Printing in German-Speaking Lands, ed. Andrea Lindmayr-Brandl, Elisabeth Giselbrecht and Grantley McDonald (London: Routledge, 2018): 199–224.

The subject of “Luther and Music” never fails to make an appearance in any account of sixteenth-c... more The subject of “Luther and Music” never fails to make an appearance in any account of sixteenth-century music history. Invariably it is addressed from a blandly hagiographical perspective, reflecting dated notions of the liberation of the individual conscience and the increasing self-determination of the laity in early modern society. Excessive use of such ideas by earlier scholars too often played into an uncritical lionisation of Luther, the reformation and its musical consequences. For example, while the reformers’ ostensible valorisation of congregational monophony seems to represent a retrograde step in romantic narratives of the progress of western music history, this apparent eschewal of musical complexity is often depicted as a necessary precondition of later and greater developments, receiving redemption and apotheosis at the hands of J. S. Bach.
The present paper tries to escape from such narratives by attempting something a little different. It focuses on several pieces that reflect on Luther as a man, from the diametrically opposed perspectives of friends and enemies of the Lutheran reformation. The song "Ad Martinum Lutherum captivum lamentatio" reflects the mood of despair that surrounded the secret abduction of Luther in 1521. "Eyn erschreglicher Gesangk" attacks Luther’s doctrine of the priesthood, depicting it as a diabolical perversion. The "Epithalamia Martini Lutheri" parodies Luther’s marriage to Katharina von Bora in 1525. Caspar Othmayr’s "Heiliger Vater" and Leonhard Kettner's "Nu hört jr Christen newe meer" enshrine Luther’s reported last words in music. We shall examine these latter setting as a polemical response to Roman Catholic depictions of Luther’s last minutes as the moment when his diabolic nature was finally revealed.
All of these pieces are biased, and all present a partisan picture of a man whose open combat with the Roman Catholic church provoked extreme reactions, both positive and negative. However, it will be argued that taking account of the polemical context of these pieces provides a way out of the denominational bias that often distorts discussions of the music of the reformation. Consideration of the persistent imagery of saints and demons in the texts provides insight into the perceived cosmic consequences of Luther’s rebellion, on both sides. Consideration of the various musical genres of these pieces provokes further reflection on the various registers of reformation polemic. Finally, consideration of the printed form of the pieces—whether broadsheets, pamphlets or part of extensive collections of polyphony—also suggests conclusions about the intended audience for these pieces, and the circumstances of their performance.

McDonald—Beckman, Otto.pdf

‘Beckman, Otto.’ In: Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation, ed. Mark Lamport (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017): 61–63.

This article from the Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation (2017) provides a brief o... more This article from the Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation (2017) provides a brief overview of the life and career of Otto Beckman, a humanist at the University of Wittenberg. Luther counted Beckman as one of his closest friends in the years around his “Reformation breakthrough,” but Beckman subsequently turned away from Luther and returned to the Roman Catholic Church. Beckman thus represents one of several forward-looking German intellectuals initially attracted by Luther, but ultimately unwilling to follow him in his rebellion from the church.

“Burned to dust”: Censorship and repression of theological literature in the Habsburg Netherlands during the 1520s

In: Church, Censorship and Reform in the Early Modern Habsburg Netherlands, ed. Violet Soen, Dries Vanysacker and Wim François. Bibliothèque de la Revue d’histoire ecclésiastique 101 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2017): 27–52.

The present paper explores the repression of Lutheran and evangelical theological writings and bi... more The present paper explores the repression of Lutheran and evangelical theological writings and bibles in the Habsburg Low Countries during the 1520s, in the aftermath of the Edict of Worms. The way in which different jurisdictions dealt with a work entitled “Summa der Godliker Scrifturen” (“The Sum of the Holy Scripture”) provides material for a comparative analysis of techniques of repression. This paper also examines the rise of predecessors of the Index of Forbidden Books, and provides a facsimile of a previously unknown such list, the earliest yet identified, promulgated in the diocese of Vienna in 1528.
The first appendix identifies the mysterious “Ioannes Zel” censored in the 1529 Brussels proto-index as the Antwerp printer Jan van Ghelen.
A second appendix provides the first accurate and comprehensive bibliography of the editions of the “Summa der Godliker Scrifturen,” including recently recovered photographs of the title page and colophon of an edition of which the last known copy was destroyed during WWII.

McDonald—Reformation in Augsburg

‘Augsburg.’ In: Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation, ed. Mark Lamport (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017): 43–46.

This article from the Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation (2017) provides a brief o... more

McDonald—Luther, Ein neues Lied wir heben an

‘New Song we Raise, A (‘Ein neues Lied wir heben an’)’. In: Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation, ed. Mark Lamport (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017): 553–555.

This article from the Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation (2017) explores the origi... more This article from the Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation (2017) explores the origins, composition and afterlife of Martin Luther‘s first song, “Ein neues Lied wir heben an”, a polemical account of the trial and execution of two Augustinians found guilty of spreading his ideas in the Low Countries.

McDonald—Reformation in Breslau

‘Breslau (Wrocław).’ In: Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation, ed. Mark Lamport (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017): 89–91.

This article from the Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation (2017) traces the course ... more

McDonald—Review of Reforming Music: Music and the Religious Reformations of the Sixteenth Century

Notes: the Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association, 2019

Grantley McDonald, Review of Reforming Music: Music and the Religious Reformations of the Sixteen... more

Pabel—Review of Grantley McDonald, Biblical Criticism in Early Modern Europe: Erasmus, the Johannine Comma, and Trinitarian Debate (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016)

Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 2018

Dirk van Miert—Review of Grantley McDonald, Biblical Criticism in Early Modern Europe: Erasmus, the Johannine Comma, and Trinitarian Debate (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016)

by Grantley McDonald and Dirk van Miert

Renaissance Quarterly, 2017

J. K. Elliott, Review of Grantley McDonald, Biblical Criticism in Early Modern Europe: Erasmus, the Johannine Comma and Trinitarian Debate (2016)

J. K. Elliott, Review of Grantley McDonald, Biblical Criticism in Early Modern Europe: Erasmus, t... more

McDonald—Review of Hyun-Ah Kim, The Renaissance Ethics of Music (2015)

Review of Hyun-Ah Kim, The Renaissance Ethics of Music: Singing, Contemplation and Musica Humana ... more

V. Soen, D. Vanysacker and W. François (ed.), Church, Censorship and Reform in the Early Modern Habsburg Netherlands, Turnhout, Brepols, 2017.

by Violet Soen, Renaud Adam, Wim François, Grantley McDonald, Els Agten, and Michal Bauwens

In recent years, historiography has come to rethink and reformulate the traditional account of a ... more In recent years, historiography has come to rethink and reformulate the traditional account of a Counter-Reformation in the early modern Habsburg Netherlands that was said to be State-backed. As such, the resilience and persistence of Catholicism has long been attributed
to the strategies and patronage of the Habsburg dynasty. The religious convictions of Emperor Charles V (1515-1555), King Philip II (1555-1598) and the Archdukes Albert and Isabella (1598-1621) were too easily thought to account for the actual development of Catholicism during the tumultuous events sparked by the Reformation in the first half of the
sixteenth century and the Revolt in its second half. At this moment when most of the ‘grand narratives’ of the Reformation and the Revolt are being rewritten, the contributions in this volume equally bear witness to the multi-faceted process of the repressive policies towards
the Reformation and the revival of Catholicism, revealing the many actors and motives behind these complex processes.
Hence, this volume takes a refreshing perspective on the themes of Church and Reform in the area of the Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt delta from the late fifteenth century onwards, dealing both with repression of heterodoxy as well as with the impulses for reform. The first part interrogates the dynamics of repression and censorship in matters of religion. Six chapters in this first part underline that this censorship was executed by a multitude of officials, both inside and outside of Church and State administrations. Throughout the ancien régime, this resulted in an institutionally and regionally fragmented policy, opening margins of manoeuver for those concerned in the Low Countries. A second part focuses on more internal impulses for Catholic Reform, especially those created by the Council of Trent (1545-1563). As such, this volume helps to contextualise the Counter-Reformation and the Catholic Reform of the seventeenth century by providing a long-term perspective, identifying new actors and motives behind the Catholic revival.

Conference: Das musikalische Erbe der Reformation

by Grantley McDonald, Moritz Kelber, and Susanne Endres

Vor nunmehr 500 Jahren soll Martin Luther seine 95 Thesen an die Tür der Schlosskirche in Wittenb... more Vor nunmehr 500 Jahren soll Martin Luther seine 95 Thesen an die Tür der Schlosskirche in Wittenberg genagelt haben. Luthers Kritik am Ablasshandel, die in dieser legendären Handlung zum Ausdruck kommt, wurde von den nachfolgenden Generationen als Beginn der Reformation gesehen. Im 16. Jahrhundert unterschieden sich die Lutheraner von anderen kontinentaleuropäischen Richtungen des Protestantismus unter anderem durch ihre ausgiebige Musikpflege. Auch aufgrund der persönlichen Neigung des Reformators zum zeitgenössischen Musikleben an deutschen und italienischen Höfen knüpften lutherische Musikinstitutionen bewusst an die traditionelle Musik der vorreformatorischen Epoche an. Die Lutheraner betrachteten Musik ‒ insbesondere das deutsche Kirchenlied ‒ weit über die Reformationszeit hinaus nicht nur als essentiellen Teil ihrer Liturgie, sondern auch als Schlüsselelement des Schulunterrichts und des täglichen Lebens. Mehrstimmige lateinischsprachige Musik, unter anderem von Josquin des Prez und Ludwig Senfl, wurde von Martin Luther und seinen Nachfolgern intensiv rezipiert und weit verbreitet. In lutherischen Gymnasien konnten junge Menschen eine fundierte musiktheoretische und musikpraktische Ausbildung erwerben. Sie sangen nicht nur regelmäßig im Kirchendienst, sondern auch in ihrer Freizeit. Der hohe Stellenwert, den Musik ‒ alte und neue, lateinische und volkssprachliche, geistliche und weltliche ‒ im frühen Luthertum einnahm, formte die Kultur mehrerer Generationen entscheidend mit.
Anknüpfend an zahlreiche weitere Veranstaltungen, die sich 2017 mit Luthers Erbe beschäftigen, will diese Konferenz die Auswirkungen des Luthertums auf das Musikleben der vergangenen 500 Jahre beleuchten.

Das Symposium wurde organisiert von Franz Körndle (Universität Augsburg), Grantley McDonald (Universität Wien), Alanna Ropchock (Shenandoah University) und Moritz Kelber (Universität Salzburg).

Corrigenda to McDonald, Biblical Criticism in Early Modern Europe (2016)

A list of corrigenda to the published version of Grantley McDonald, Biblical Criticism in Early M... more