Philippe de Vitry (31 October 1291 – 9 June 1361)
Philippe de Vitry, composer, poet, bishop, and correspondent of Petrarch, remains a pivotal but imperfectly understood figure in the cultural and musical history of the fourteenth century. No contemporary was praised so often nor from so many quarters: yet the terms in which we view him, his work, impact and reputation are shifting. Coinciding with his 733rd birthday, this seminar juxtaposes the perspectives and approaches adopted by two forthcoming books on Vitry, a figure whom it is hard to capture in a single study. Following brief presentations on each of these studies by Anna Zayaruznaya and Andrew Wathey, themes of common interest will be explored in discussion with Lawrence Earp, as will a number of conundra that continue to complicate and animate Vitry studies, including: historiography, biography, and his treatment in different disciplines; personal approaches to the subject; the span of Vitry’s intellectual universe; his role in fourteenth-century musical innovations; patronage and place; broad chronologies, and Vitry’s origins and early years.
Date: 31 October 2024, 17:00 (Thursday, 3rd week, Michaelmas 2024)
Venue: Venue to be announced
Speakers: Anna Zayaruznaya (Yale University), Andrew Wathey (The National Archives and Northumbria University)
Organising department: Faculty of Music
Organisers: Joseph Mason (University of Oxford), Margaret Bent (Oxford)
Organiser contact email address: all.souls.music.seminars@gmail.com
Part of: All Souls Seminars in Medieval and Renaissance Music
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: https://www.music.ox.ac.uk/all-souls-seminars-medieval-and-renaissance-music
Cost: Free
Audience: Public
Editor: Laura Howorth