Gilbert Reaney

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Gilbert Reaney
Born(1924-01-11)11 January 1924
Sheffield, England
Died22 March 2008(2008-03-22) (aged 84)
Known forWorks on the life and works of Guillaume de Machaut
Medieval music theory
Awards (1961)
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Sheffield
Academic work
DisciplineEarly music and music theory
InstitutionsUniversity of California, Los Angeles
Notable worksGuillaume de Machaut (1971)
New editions of works by Franco of Cologne and Philippe de Vitry
Numerous Grove articles

Gilbert Reaney (11 January 1924 – 22 March 2008) was an English musicologist who specialized in medieval and Renaissance music and theory.[1] Described as "one of the most prolific and influential musicologists of the past century",[2] 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.[2][3] He also wrote about medieval and Renaissance literature.[1] Among his notable publications are the book Guillaume de Machaut (1971) for the Oxford Studies of Composers series; new editions on various early music composers, particularly Baude Cordier; major new editions of works by music theorists Franco of Cologne and Philippe de Vitry; and at least 34 articles on a variety of subjects for The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and the subsequent Grove Music Online.

Born in Sheffield, Reaney studied French and music at the University of Sheffield, receiving a Master of Arts in 1951 with a dissertation on the formes fixes works of Machaut. After studying the Roman de Fauvel in Sorbonne, Reaney was a research fellow at both the University of Reading (1953–1956) and the University of Birmingham (1956–1959) as well as briefly a visiting professor the University of Hamburg (1959–1960). He became an associate professor at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1961 and a Professor of Music there in 1963 until his retirement in 1997. A long time associate of the American Institute of Musicology, he was associate editor (1955–1992) of their journal, Musica Disciplina, under Armen Carapetyan, and then co-editor (1992–2008) with Frank A. D'Accone.

Early life[]

Gilbert Reaney was born in Sheffield, England on 11 January 1924;[1] his father was an amateur musician.[4] From 1942 to 1943, he began studying music and French at the University of Sheffield.[1] He soon halted his studies, enlisting in the British army where he often performed at "camp concerts" with pieces such as the Warsaw Concerto.[4] He resumed study in 1946, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in 1984, and a Bachelor of Music in 1951.[1] Also in 1951, he took a Master of Arts, for which his dissertation was on the formes fixes (rondeaus, virelais and ballades) of Guillaume de Machaut,[1] the most significant poet-composer of the 14th-century.[5]

Career[]

Overview[]

Continuing his studies on the connection of poetry and music,[6] from 1950 to 1953—on a grant from the French government—he studied the ars nova medieval manuscript, Roman de Fauvel, in Sorbonne, Paris.[1] He then returned to England to be a research fellow, from 1953 to 1956, at the University of Reading and then at the University of Birmingham from 1956 to 1959.[1] While at Reading and Birmingham, Reaney founded and regularly directed the London Medieval Group;[4] at this time he also appeared on various early music programmes on BBC Radio 3.[1] Following a brief stint as professor at the University of Hamburg (1959–1960),[1] he taught at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as an associate professor in 1961.[1] He became a Professor of Music there in 1963,[1] and remained so until his retirement in 1997.[3] The music historian Tess Knighton notes that Reaney did not write a doctoral dissertation; this is standard to be promoted as a Professor of Music in the 21st-century, but was not at the time.[6] After his retirement he was made an emeritus professor.[6]

In 1961, he was the first recipient of the ,[7][8] an annual award for musicology offered by the Royal Musical Association (named for Edward Joseph Dent).[9]

He never married, as he believed, in the words of John T. Good, "no wife would want a husband so constantly away from home."[4]

American Institute of Musicology[]

Reaney was long associated with the American Institute of Musicology (AIM),[3] in part from the United State's more prominent and developed early music organizations and opportunities.[6] AIM's music journal, Musica Disciplina,[a] was created in 1945, and its 1952 edition included an article by Reaney based on his master's thesis.[6] He continued publishing articles in the journal throughout the 1950s,[6][b] and in 1955, the institute's founder, and editor of Musica Disciplina, Armen Carapetyan, requested Reaney become the associate editor of the journal.[3] By the 1960s, Reany had become an established authority on early music.[6] He became the general editor for Corpus scriptorum de musica;[1] Knighton characterizes the CSM publications from 1966 to 1969 as "the bible for scholars of medieval music".[6] After Carapetyan's death in 1992, Reaney became co-editor of Musica Disciplina with his UCLA colleague Frank A. D'Accone.[1]

Publications[]

Reaney was a prolific scholar;[2] musicologist Ursula Günther characterizes his output as having a "characteristic objectivity, clarity of argument, a concise style and thorough knowledge of widely varying subjects".[1] Among his most significant works, are new editions of music theory works by Franco of Cologne and Philippe de Vitry.[2]

Noted for his publications on the life and works of Guillaume de Machaut, Reaney's contributions were unique in their interdisciplinary evaluation of both Machaut's music and poetry.[2]

Selected bibliography[]

As author[]

  • Reaney, Gilbert (1971). Guillaume de Machaut. Oxford Studies of Composers. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-315218-2.

Journal articles[]

  • Reaney, Gilbert (1952). "A Chronology of the Ballades, Rondeaux and Virelais Set to Music by Guillaume de Machaut". Musica Disciplina. American Institute of Musicology Verlag Corpusmusicae, GmbH. 6 (1/3): 33–38. JSTOR 20531841.
  • —— (1953). "Fourteenth Century Harmony and the Ballades, Rondeaux and Virelais of Guillaume de Machaut". Musica Disciplina. American Institute of Musicology Verlag Corpusmusicae, GmbH. 7: 129–146. JSTOR 20531864.
  • —— (1954). "The Manuscript Chantilly, Musée Condé 1047". Musica Disciplina. American Institute of Musicology Verlag Corpusmusicae, GmbH. 8: 59–113. JSTOR 20531876.
  • —— (1955). "The Manuscript Oxford, Bodleian Library, Canonici Misc. 213". Musica Disciplina. American Institute of Musicology Verlag Corpusmusicae, GmbH. 9: 73–104. JSTOR 20531889.
  • —— (1955). "The Ballades, Rondeaux and Virelais of Guillaume de Machaut: Melody, Rhythm and Form". Acta Musicologica. 27 (1/2): 40–58. doi:10.2307/931552. JSTOR 931552.
  • —— (1956). "A Postscript to 'The Manuscript Chantilly, Musee Conde 1047'". Musica Disciplina. American Institute of Musicology Verlag Corpusmusicae, GmbH. 10: 55–59. JSTOR 40468213.
  • —— (1958). "The Manuscript London, British Museum, Additional 29987 (Lo)". Musica Disciplina. American Institute of Musicology Verlag Corpusmusicae, GmbH. 12: 67–91. JSTOR 20531900.
  • —— (1959). "The Poetic Form of Machaut's Musical Works: I: The Ballades, Rondeaux and Virelais". Musica Disciplina. American Institute of Musicology Verlag Corpusmusicae, GmbH. 13: 25–41. JSTOR 20531910.
  • —— (1964). "The Question of Authorship in the Medieval Treatises on Music". Musica Disciplina. American Institute of Musicology Verlag Corpusmusicae, GmbH. 18: 7–17. JSTOR 20531977.

Grove articles[]

Grove Music Online. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. 2001 (subscription or UK public library membership required)

As editor[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ The journal was briefly known as Journal of Rennaisance and Baroque music in its early years.[6]
  2. ^ See #Journal articles

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Günther 2001.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Knighton 2008, p. 503.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d D'Accone 2003–2008, p. 5.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Good, John T. (16 June 2008). "Gilbert Reaney". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  5. ^ Arlt 2001.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i Knighton 2008, p. 504.
  7. ^ Knighton 2008, pp. 503–504.
  8. ^ Journal of the Royal Musical Association 2009, p. 162.
  9. ^ Journal of the Royal Musical Association 2009, p. 161.

Sources[]

External links[]

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