The purpose of this thesis is to bring to light some of the music written for, or especially adaptable to, brass ensembles before the close of the eighteenth century. This study must concern itself with the music which has been preserved and is available, and with such music as can be played on modern instruments. It must be stated that some of the music mentioned herein was not written specifically for brass instruments, but the style and general character of the music make it adaptable for a brass instrumentation.

Le corpus du projet repose sur les Cartapácios de Coimbra, un ensemble de manuscrits du milieu du XVIIe siècle, résolument passionnants et pratiquement inédits, issus de Santa Cruz et conservés à la Bibliothèque Générale de l’Université de Coimbra. Le présent travail s’inscrit dans un projet de recherche multidisciplinaire en cours à l’Université de Coimbra (Mundos e Fundos | CECH), et se concentre sur l´un des seize manuscrits de cette collection : le manuscrit musical 51 (MM 51). Il constitue la première étude détaillée d’un cartapácio comportant également son édition critique complète. Cette étude monographique engage également une confrontation permanente avec les quinze autres cartapácios et avec son contexte spécifique portugais et ibérique.D’après notre étude philologique, le MM 51 s’avère un cahier d’usage personnel d’un musicien à l’œuvre. Il contient un répertoire très varié regroupant des œuvres sur textes latins et sur textes vernaculaires. Les propositions polyphoniques que le manuscrit offre sont multiples et variées, souvent au sein d’une même œuvre, et appartiennent à un langage typiquement ibérique. La majorité de la musique est écrite à huit voix, toujours en polychoralité et accompagnée d’un guião, avec divers contrastes produits notamment par un style concertato.Le travail est fondé sur une approche positiviste, philologique et critique, le tout enrichi par une expérimentation analytique et sensible du répertoire, grâce au laboratoire musicale de la Capella Sanctae Crucis.Notre thèse espère ainsi contribuer à enrichir les fondements d’une meilleure connaissance de l’activité musicale du XVIIe siècle portugais. / This study is based on Cartapácios de Coimbra, an ensemble of practically unstudied seventeenth century music manuscripts preserved at Coimbra’s University Library (Biblioteca Geral da Universidade de Coimbra). It is part of a multidisciplinary research project currently in progress at University of Coimbra (Mundos e Fundos | CECH). The research is concentrated on one manuscript among the sixteen that constitute this collection: musical manuscript 51 (MM 51). This study is the first ever detailed study over one cartapácio including its complete critical edition. Although focussing primarily on one cartapácio, a comparative analysis with the respect to the other fifteen cartapácios was also conducted, and located in the specific Portuguese and Iberian context.According to our philological study, the MM 51 seems to be a notebook for private use of a working musician. It contains a very diverse repertoire comprising both vernacular and Latin works. The polyphonic settings in the manuscript are multiple and varied, often within the same work, and belong to a typically Iberian language. The majority of the music is written for eight voices, always in polychorality and accompanied by a guião, with various contrasts produced in particular by a concertato style.A positivist, philological and critical approach was taken in the research, which was supplemented by an experimental performance of the repertory, thanks to the musical laboratory Capella Sanctae Crucis.It is hoped that this thesis study will substantially enrich the knowledge base of Portuguese seventeenth century musical activity.

This thesis develops an analytical approach to the instrumental music of Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625) based on close readings of historical theory sources, primarily by Thomas Morley, John Coprario and Thomas Campion. Music of the early seventeenth century can be difficult to analyse, since it falls between the more extensively studied and theorised practices of classic vocal polyphony and common-practice tonality. Although English music theory of this period is recognised as strikingly modern in many respects, innovative aspects of English compositions from the same period receive little attention in standard accounts of the seventeenth century. I argue that concepts taken from this body of historical theory provide the basic terms of a technical vocabulary for analysis, which should be further refined through application to real compositions. Successive chapters deal with common counterpoint models or patterns, imitative invention and disposition, cadential progressions, and overall tonal structure. I argue that these analyses show Gibbons's music to be a contribution to new ways of conceiving of instrumental polyphony and tonal structure, which deserves re-evaluation in the context of broader seventeenth-century trends. In particular, Gibbons's use of extended cadential expectations as an expressive element, fascination with sequential progressions, and sectional structuring by harmonic area have clear parallels with later practices. At the same time, early seventeenth century style allows the composer considerably more freedom of harmonic procedures and implications than the musical styles which immediately followed it. Analysis grounded in historical theory provides the best approach to understanding and appreciating this unique musical language.