Gilbert Reaney (11 January 1924 – 22 March 2008) was an English musicologist who specialized in
medieval and
Renaissance music,
theory and literature. Described as "one of the most prolific and influential musicologists of the past century",[1] Reaney made significant contributions to his fields of expertise, particularly on the life and
works of
Guillaume de Machaut, as well as
medieval music theory.
Reaney was long associated with the
American Institute of Musicology (AIM).[11] Knighton noted that during the mid 20th-century many English scholars of early music were closely associated with organizations in the United States, as they were the most prominent and developed in the field.[5] AIM's music journal Musica Disciplina was created in 1945, and in 1952 published two of Reaney's articles on Machaut.[5] He continued contributing articles to the journal throughout the 1950s, chiefly on ars nova topics.[5] In 1955, the institute's founder and editor of Musica Disciplina,
Armen Carapetyan, invited Reaney to become the associate editor of the journal.[11] After Carapetyan's death in 1992, Reaney became co-editor of Musica Disciplina with his UCLA colleague
Frank A. D'Accone.[2]
Scholarship
A prolific, influential and frequently cited scholar, Reaney wrote books, catalogues, articles and editions.[8] Musicologist
Ursula Günther characterizes his output as having a "characteristic objectivity, clarity of argument, a concise style and thorough knowledge of widely varying subjects".[12] His research spanned a variety of topics in
medieval and
Renaissance music,
theory and literature.[12] His most important contributions, however, are on the life and
works of Machaut, as well as
medieval music theory.[1][11] Beginning with his 1952 dissertation, Reaney published a variety of scholarship on the Machaut. This included studies on Machaut's formes fixes,[13][14][15][16]lais, performance, and numerous articles in encyclopedias such as Encyclopédie de la musique and Encyclopaedia Britannica.[17] By way of an interdisciplinary approach of both music and literature, he developed new theories on the performance of how medieval musicians performed Machaut's music, influencing the practices of early music groups such as
Gothic Voices led by
Christopher Page.[5] Much of his Machaut research culminated in
Guillaume de Machaut (1971), a book-length treatment of the subject for the Oxford Studies of Composers series.[17]
A prominent scholar on medieval music theory, by 1966 Reaney was the general editor for AIM's Corpus scriptorum de musica (CSM), which involved research on at least ten modern editions of medieval manuscripts, including new publications of music theory works by
Franco of Cologne and
Philippe de Vitry.[11][5] In particular, the 1974 edition of Franco's influential Ars cantus mensurabilis by Reaney and André Gilles remains the standard critical edition.[18] Also in 1966, Reaney became the editor for the
Répertoire International des Sources Musicales's series of early music manuscripts.[5] The latter series, which Reaney edited until 1969, was characterized by Knighton as "the bible for scholars of medieval music".[5] Other theorists who Reaney published modern editions on include
John Hothby.[19]
Personal life
Reaney never married;[6] he claimed, in the words of the obituarist John T. Good, "no wife would want a husband so constantly away from home".[20] Good also described him as a fine pianist with a substantial
repertoire.[21] He died in
Reading, Berkshire at the age of 84 on 22 March 2008.[11]
—— (1955b). "The Ballades, Rondeaux and Virelais of Guillaume de Machaut: Melody, Rhythm and Form". Acta Musicologica. 27 (1/2): 40–58.
doi:
10.2307/931552.
JSTOR931552.
—— (1956). "Voices and Instruments in the Music of Guillaume de Machaut (Continuation)". Revue belge de Musicologie / Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Muziekwetenschap. 10 (3/4): 93–104.
doi:
10.2307/3686158.
JSTOR3686158.
—— (1957). "The Greek Background of Medieval Musical Thought". Monthly Musical Record. 87: 124–130.
—— (1958). "Machaut's Influence on Late Medieval Music". Monthly Musical Record. 88: 50–58.
—— (1988). "The Musical Theory of John Hothby". Revue belge de Musicologie / Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Muziekwetenschap. 42: 119–133.
doi:
10.2307/3687105.
JSTOR3687105.
Others
Reaney, Gilbert (1952a). The Ballades, Rondeaux and Virelais Set to Music by Guillaume de Machaut (M. A.).
University of Sheffield.
OCLC966512433.
—— (1959). "Musica ficta in the works of Guillaume de Machaut". L'ars nova: recueil d'études sur la musique du XIVe siècle. Colloques de Wégimont, II, 1955. Paris:
Les Belles Lettres. pp. 196–213.
OCLC4401798.
—— (1959). "A Note on Conductus Rhythm". In
Abraham, Gerald (ed.). Bericht über den siebenten internationalen musikwissenschaftlichen Kongress: Köln 1958. Kassel:
Bärenreiter. pp. 219–221.
OCLC6881800.
—— (1963). "Modes in the 14th century, in particular in the music of Guillaume de Machaut". Organicae voces: Festschrift Joseph Smits van Waesberghe. Amsterdam: Institut voor Middeleeuwse Muziekwetenschap. pp. 137–144.
—— (1966). "The Performance of Medieval Music". In LaRue, Jan (ed.). Aspects of Medieval and Renaissance Music: a Birthday Offering to Gustave Reese. New York:
W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 704–722.
OCLC854429.
—— (1966). "Notes on the Harmonic Technique of Guillaume de Machaut". In
Tischler, Hans (ed.). Essays in Musicology: a Birthday Offering for Willi Apel. Bloomington:
Indiana University Bloomington. pp. 63–68.
OCLC180704.
—— (1978). "Sequence, Hocket, Syncopation and Imitation in Zacar's Mass Movements". In
Ziino, Agostino[in Italian] (ed.). L'Ars Nova italiana del Trecento, iv: La musica al tempo del Boccaccio e i suoi rapporti con la letteratura: Siena and Certaldo 1975. Certaldo: Edizioni Centro di Studi sull'Ars Nova Italiana del Trecento. pp. 345–363.
OCLC1124179468.
—— (1982). "La tonalité des ballades et des rondeaux de Guillaume de Machaut". Guillaume de Machaut: Poète et Compositeur. Colloque-Table Ronde organisé par l'Université de Reims (19-22 avril, 1978). Vol. 3. Paris: Klincksieck. pp. 295–300.
OCLC310644044.
—— (1983). "Intabulation techniques in the Faenza and Buxheim Keyboard Manuscripts". Schweizerisches Jb für Musikwissenschaft. Vol. 3. pp. 41–46.
—— (1984). "Musical and Textual Relationships among Early 15th-Century Manuscripts". In Dittmer, L.A. (ed.). Gordon Athol Anderson (1929-1981) In Memoriam von seinen Studenten, Freunden und Kollegen, Musicological Studies. Henryville: Institute of Mediaeval Music. pp. 495–504.
—— (2001). "Gaston Fébus, 3rd Count of Foix and 11th of Béarn". Gaston Fébus, 3rd Count of Foix and 11th of Béarn. Grove Music Online.
doi:
10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.10722.
D'Accone, Frank A. (2003–2008). "In Memoriam Gilbert Reaney". Musica Disciplina. 53. American Institute of Musicology Verlag Corpusmusicae, GmbH: 5.
JSTOR30249355.