On the Transmission of Iberian Polyphonic: Music in the Early Decades of the Sixteenth Century: Some Philological Issues Revisited

In the late fifteenth century and the early decades of the sixteenth century, opportunities for musical exchange between Portugal and the Spanish kingdoms were multifarious. As with musicians, repertories of polyphonic music also travelled across the border. Our common understanding is that manuscripts made a one-way route from Spain to Portugal, and that Portuguese sources contain versions far removed from the Spanish exemplars, resulting from unique and often late transmissions. The case studies offered in this article show a different and more complex picture: that in some cases music arrived quite early; that versions in Portuguese sources are sometimes closer to their archetypes than those in most of the surviving Spanish manuscripts; and that the patterns of transmission were not different from those found elsewhere in Europe. Additionally, a new dating for the original layer of manuscript P-Ln CIC 60 is proposed.