Death and Musicology: How a Dispute around Medieval Music Led to One Scholar’s Passing

A Tale of Two Friends

Who knew drama could transpire in the world of musicology, not in the least something as droll as medieval musicology? But that’s exactly what happened in a dispute between two musicologists, Pierre Aubry and Jean Baptiste Beck.

Aubry and Beck had befriended each other in 1905 out of a shared interest in the music of the Middle Ages. Around six years prior, Aubry had worked on his dissertation on the rhythms in songs written in the 12th and 13th centuries. If you’re wondering why this was significant, it’s because Medieval musical notation–neumes–did not reliably indicate the rhythm of a piece. 

Apparently, this was a hot topic for French medieval musicologists, as Beck was working on the same subject in his dissertation in 1904. This was likely why the two hit it off as friends and also why the two later hit it off as rivals to the death. 

Just one year later, Beck discovered Aubry had published an article that departed substantially from his previous ideas and borrowed from Beck’s without crediting him. Beck cried, “plagiarism.” Aubry, who couldn’t care enough to not carry on, published his book Trouveres et Troubadou two years later with Beck’s ideas. Nonetheless, Beck persisted with the accusation so much so that a public trial was involved. The jury of French scholars sided with Beck, much to Aubry’s dismay, as his academic reputation was virtually demolished. 

Whodunit?

Embarrassed, Aubry challenged Beck to a duel, which he would eventually lose, succumbing to Beck’s sword wounds and passing away.

Or so the rumor goes. 

In actuality, there was no evidence that the two had ever dueled or that they ever crossed paths after the trial’s conclusion, although the rumors weren’t that far from the truth. Aubry really did succumb to sword wounds from a duel, but not from Beck. 

An experienced fencer, Aubry participated in a match that would lead to his “accidental” death. I put quotation marks, as sources hint that the incident may have been a disguise for suicide. According to one of Aubry’s friends, the musicologist suffered a nervous breakdown following the trial and was possibly looking for ways to end his life. With neglect for procuring proper protective equipment, Aubry entered his fatal match. One source writes:

“Aubry was thus willfully not taking precautions to protect himself.”

And so ends this strange footnote in the history of musicology.