School of Music

Richard Rastall

Professor Emeritus

g.r.rastall@leeds.ac.uk

0113 3432581

MA MusB (Cambridge), PhD (Manchester), FSA

Richard Rastall read music at Christ's College Cambridge, followed by the MusB in Composition and Musicology; then he took a doctorate at Manchester University. He came to Leeds in 1967 as an Assistant Lecturer, and retired in 2006 as Professor of Historical Musicology. Among his senior administrative posts, he has been Dean of Learning and Teaching for the faculties of Arts and of Performance, Visual Arts and Communications.

Formerly a conductor of the LUUMS Chorus and Chamber Choir, and of the Leeds Guild of Singers, he now plays tenor viol in the Manton Consort, which he founded in 1992; and as a member of the performance group Trio Literati he performs regularly as actor and pianist. He is also the founding Chairman of the Leeds Baroque Choir and Orchestra.

Professor Rastall is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, the oldest of the learned societies.

• Musical sources, and editing early music
• Minstrels and minstrelsy in medieval Britain
• Music in early English drama
• The music of Byrd, Peerson, Milton and their contemporaries
• The analysis of early music

Richard Rastall has worked in three main areas:
(1) Musical sources and their notation and editing. This work has led to editions and reconstructions of music, as well as to a successful book on notation.
(2) Minstrelsy in late-medieval England. His work on instrumental usage has informed the performances of many recordings.
(3) Music in late-medieval religious drama. This work has helped to revolutionise the performance of late-medieval English plays.

Professor Rastall was appointed in 1967 to start a course in Musicology, and much of his research has been concerned with musical sources, their notation and interpretation, and the editing and reconstruction of their musical content. He was the first member of the then Department of Music with interdisciplinary interests, his research on minstrels and the medieval religious plays drawing on the related subjects of drama, art and social and documentary history. His work on minstrelsy in England has offered insights into instrumental usage in the late Middle Ages that has been used in many recordings of late-medieval music; and his ground-breaking exploration of music in late medieval English drama has helped to revolutionise the performance of the English religious plays of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Richard Rastall also has a strong interest in the music of William Byrd and his contemporaries, especially Martin Peerson (?1572-1651), whose complete works he is editing. Research on the performance-practices of the time has led to new understandings of the role of spatial separation in domestic consort-playing and an exploration of analytical techniques in music that has so far largely defied analysis.

Books (single authored)

• Secular Musicians in Late Medieval England (PhD diss.,1968)
• The Notation of Western Music (1983, 2/1998).
• Music in Early English Religious Drama, I: The Heaven Singing (1996); II: Minstrels Playing (2001).
• Two Fifteenth-Century Song Books (1990). Introduction.

Books (edited)

• (Ed.) Michel Toulouze, L'art et instruction de bien dancer (c. 1496; reprinted: 1973).
• The Drama of Medieval Europe: Proceedings of the Colloquium held at the University of Leeds 1013 September 1974. (1975. Repr. 1977.
• As General Editor and Academic Director of Boethius Press, 1973-80, all publications of Boethius Press in that period, with introductions written for many of them.

Contributions to books and conference proceedings

• Minstrels and Minstrelsy in Household Account Books: JoAnna Dutka, ed., Records of Early English Drama: Proceedings of the First Colloquium. 321. 1979.
• The Minstrel Court in Medieval England: R.L. Thomson, ed., A Medieval Miscellany in Honour of Professor John Le Patourel. 96105. 1982.
• Jane Oakshott and Richard Rastall, Town with Gown: an Account of the York Cycle of Mystery Plays at Leeds, 1975: David Teather, ed., Toward the Community University. 21329. 1982.
• Music in the Cycle: R.M. Lumiansky and David Mills, The Chester Mystery Cycle: Essays and Documents. 11164. 1983.
• The Music: Richard Beadle and Peter Meredith, The York Play. xlixlv. 1983.
• Alle Hefne Makyth Melody: Paula Neuss, ed., Aspects of Early English Drama. 112. 1983.
• 'Some myrth to his majestee': Music in the Chester Cycle: David Mills, ed., Staging the Chester Cycle. 7799. 1986.
• Music in the Cycle Plays: Marianne G. Briscoe and John C. Coldewey, eds, Contexts for Early English Drama. 192218. 1989.
• The Sounds of Hell: Clifford Davidson and Thomas H. Seiler, eds, The Iconography of Hell. 10231. Kalamazoo MI, Western Michigan University Medieval Institute Publications, 1992.
• The Musical Repertory: Clifford Davidson, ed., The Iconography of Heaven. 16296. 1994.
• William Byrd's String Fantasia 6/g1: Warren Drake, ed., Liber Amicorum John Steele. 13970. 1997.
• Music and Liturgy in Everyman: Some Aspects of Production: Catherine Batt, ed., Essays in Honour of Peter Meredith. 30514. 1998.
• The Construction of a Speaking Tube for Late Medieval Drama: Andre Lascombes and Sydney Higgins, eds. European Medieval Drama 4: Selected Papers from the Fourth International Conference on
• Chapter 4, From notation to sound. Colin Lawson, ed., The Cambridge Companion to the Orchestra. 2003.
• The Construction of a Speaking Tube for Late Medieval Drama. Andr Lascombes and Sydney Higgins, eds., European Medieval Drama 4 (2000): Selected Papers from the Fourth International Conference on 'Aspects of European Medieval Drama', Camerino, 58 August 1999. 2001. 23144.
• "Young Wives Played by Males: the Case of Percula in York Play 30". Denis Hüe, Mario Lontin and Lynette Muir, eds, Mainte belle oeuvre faicte: Études sur le théâtre médiéval offertes á Graham A. Runnalls (2005). 433 7.

Periodical articles

• Aspects of European Medieval Drama, Camerino, 58 August 1999. 23144. 2001.
• "The Minstrels and Trumpeters of Edward IV: some further thoughts". Plainsong and Medieval Music 13/2 (2004), 1639.
• Tunes, Textures and Tonalities: Some Thoughts on Structure in English Consort-Music. The Viol 5 (2006 7). 8 15, plus appendices.
• Benjamin Rogers (161498): Some Notes on his Instrumental Music. Music & Letters 46/3. 23742. 1965.
• The Minstrels of the English Royal Households, 25 Ed I1 Hen VIII: an Inventory. Royal Musical Association Research Chronicle 4. 141. 1967.
• Minstrelsy, Church and Clergy in Medieval England. Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association 97. 8398. 1971.
• Some English Consort-Groupings of the Late Middle Ages. Music & Letters 55/2. 179202. 1974.
• Ann-Marie Seaman and Richard Rastall, The Music of Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Lincoln College Latin 89. Royal Musical Association Research Chronicle 13. 95101. 1976.
• Vocal Range and Tessitura in Music from York Play 45. Music Analysis 3/2. 18199. 1984.
• Female Roles in All-Male Casts. Medieval English Theatre 7/1. 2550. 1985.
• Spatial effects in English instrumental consort music, c. 15601605. Early Music 25/2. 26988. 1997.
• Music for a Royal Entry, 1474. Musical Times 1612. 4636. 1977. (Commissioned for the Royal Jubilee issue.)

Contributions to encyclopaedias

Articles for Encyclopaedia Britannica, Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, The Oxford Companion to Music, The Garland Encyclopaedia of Medieval England and The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, in addition to those listed above.

Reviews

Many reviews of books, editions, recordings and performances.

Editions (critical & other)

• Martin Peerson. Complete Works I: Latin Motets. 2003. x + 94 pp. (Cantus part reconstructed.)
• Martin Peerson. Complete Works II: Private Musicke (1620). (2007). xvi + 64 pp. (score), with six partbooks.
• (Reconstructions) Fantasia 4/G and Dances by William Byrd, reconstructed for viol consort á 4. 2007. Score, i + 11 pp., with four partbooks.
• Benjamin Rogers: the Complete Keyboard Works. 18 pp. 1973.
• Two Coventry Carols. 6 pp. 1973.
• Edition of the music in Cambridge, University Library, Add. MS 5943:
• Four French Songs from an English Song Book. 9 pp. 1976.
• Ann-Marie Seaman and Richard Rastall, eds. Six Fifteenth-Century English Songs. 9 pp. 1979.
• Four Songs in Latin from an English Song Book. 7 pp. 1979.
• Richard Rastall and Ann-Marie Seaman, eds. Four Fifteenth-Century Religious Songs. 9 pp. 1979.
• Six Songs from the York Mystery Play The Assumption of the Virgin. 8 pp. 1985.
• William Byrd: Pavans and Galliards in Five Parts. Edition and reconstructions. Score, with critical introduction, xii + 33 pp.; seven partbooks, each 8 pp. 1998

Radio / TV broadcasts

BBC Radio 3 talks on Humour in Music; Nielsen's 6th symphony and royal entries.

Keynote & invited lectures

3 public lectures in the University of Leeds; 2 at the public library, Accrington; 1 for the Lake District Festival; 1 for the Wakefield Festival.

Conference papers (oral)

Professor Rastall has given invited conference papers regularly since 1971, many of them resulting in published book-chapters.

Other

• Articles in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. Second edition. London, Macmillan, 2001:
  • (i) authored:
    • Chester Plays; Coventry Plays; London (Music at Court) II, 2 (i) Minstrelsy (replacing own material); Medieval Drama III, 3 (vi) The Low Countries; York Plays.
  • (ii) revised/reviewed:
    • Peerson, Martin.
    • Notation III, III, 46; Abbreviations; Alt, in; Bar-line; Blanche; B molle; Brace; Breve; Brillenbass; Common time; Compound time; Crotchet; Cue; Dal segno; Demisemiquaver; Direct; Dot; Dot-way; Dragma; Duplet; Eye music; Flat; Hemidemisemiquaver; Huitieme de soupir; Intabulation; Intavolatura; Key signature; Large; Leger line; Long; Measure (ii); Medius; Middle C; Minim; Natural; Note values; Partbooks; Partitura; Pitch nomenclature; Prefatory staff; Presa (i); Quadruplet; Quaver; Quintuplet; Rest; Semibreve; Semiquaver; Sextolet, Sextuplet; Sharp; Signature; Simple time; System; Table-book; Tenor C; Tie; Tablature; Time signature; Triplet.
    • Medieval Drama IIII, 3 (v), IVV; Aucassin et Nicolette; Fleury Playbook; Guilds; Magi, Play of; Marienklage; Passion play; Planctus; Quem queritis; Visitatio sepulchri.
    • Minstrel; Wait (own article); Stadtpfeifer; Turmmusick.
• Article for Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 2nd edn:
  • 'Peerson, Martin'

Abstract

Secular Musicians in Late Medieval England is a study of minstrelsy in England in the period 1292-1509. Its central purpose is an examination of the royal household accounts the Wardrobe Books which give information on the royal minstrels, when they worked, how much they were paid, and how they were organised. A background study also explores minstrelsy in general, including the fraternities and minstrel courts that controlled their activities. A study of the town waits revises the commonly-accepted (but erroneous) account of their genesis.

The thesis includes extensive calendars of the royal household accounts, and of accounts from the household of the king of Scots, Lord Howard (Duke of Norfolk) and other households.

link to thesis (word format)