Professional Documents
Culture Documents
MUSIC
HISTORY
Studies in
medieval and
earlv modern
music
EDITORIAL BOARD
W u L F A R L T , University of Base1
M A R G A R EB T E N T ,All Souls College, Oxford
LORENZO B I A N C O N University
I, of Bologna
B O N N I EJ . B L A C K B U R University
N, of Oxford
D A v I D F A L Lo w S, University of Manchester
F . A L B E R T o G A L L 0, University of Bologna
J A M E S H A A R , University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
K E N N E T HL E V Y ,Princeton University
L E w I s L Oc K w o o D, Harvard University
F R I T z R Ec K O W, Christian Albrecht University, Kiel
E D W A R DR O E S N E RNew , York University
C o L I N S L I M ,University of California at Irvine
R EI N H A R D S TR o H M , King's College, London
EARLY M U S I C H I S T O R Y 15
STUDIES IN MEDIEVAL
AND
EARLY M O D E R N M U S I C
Edited by
I A I NF E N L O N
Fellow of King's College, Cambridge
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CONTENTS
RICHARD J . A G E E(The Colorado College)
Costanzo Festa's Gradus ad Parnassum
M AR K E v E R I s T (University of Southampton)
T h e polyphonic rondeau c. 1300: Repertory and
context
B E T H L . G L I x 0 N (Lexington, Kentucky)
Scenes from the life of Silvia Galiarti Manni, a
seventeenth-century virtuosa
P AT R I c K M A c E Y (Eastman School of Music, University of
Rochester)
Galeazzo Maria Sforza and musical patronage in
Milan: CompCre, Weerbeke and Josquin 147
JAM Es W . M c K I NN 0 N (University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill)
Preface to the study of the Alleluia 2 13
REVIEWS
Facsimiles of the Squarcialupi MS and other sources
( T h e Lucca Codex, ed. J . Nhdas and A. Ziino; I1 Codice
Rossi 215, ed. N. Pirrotta; 11 Codice T.111.2, ed. A. Ziino;
Il Codice Squarcialupi, ed. F. A. Gallo)
MARGARET B ENT 25 1
M A R TI N A DA M S, H e n v Purcell: The Origins and Develop-
ment o f H i s Musical Style
REBECCAHERISSONE 270
Dedicated to the memory o f Thomas Walker
NOTES FOR CONTRIBUTORS
PRESENTATION
SPELLING
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
ABBREVIATIONS
NOTE NAMES
QUOTATIONS
NUMBERS
Numbers below 100 should be spelled out, except page, bar, folio
numbers etc., sums of money and specific quantities, e.g. 20
ducats, 45 mm. Pairs of numbers should be elided as follows:
190-1, 198-9, 198-201, 212-13. Dates should be given in the
following forms: 10 January 1983, the 1980s, sixteenth century
(16th century in tables and lists), sixteenth-century polyphony.
CAPITALISATION
ITALICS
Titles and incipits of musical works in italic, but not genre titles
or sections of the MassIEnglish Service, e.g. Kyrie, Magnificat.
Italics for foreign words should be kept to a minimum; in general
they should be used only for unusual words or if a word might
be mistaken for English if not italicised. Titles of manuscripts
should be roman in quotes, e.g. 'Rules How to Compose'. Names
of instititutions should be roman.
COSTANZO FESTA'S
GRAD US A D PARNASSUM*
* I would like to thank Msgr Richard J. Schuler for allowing me access to materials he
possessed on microfilm; I am also indebted to Tim Barnes, Jane A. Bernstein, Bonnie
J. Blackburn, the late Howard Mayer Brown, Herbert Kellman, Lewis Lockwood, Carol
L. Neel, Anthony A. Newcomb, Jessie Ann Owens, Richard J. Sherr and Claudio Simoni
for assistance, and to the Executive Committee of the Humanities at The Colorado
College for financial support. Earlier versions of this paper were presented during 1991
at a meeting of the Seventeenth Century Group of Colorado College; the Rocky Mountain
Chapter meeting of the American Musicological Society, University of Northern Colorado,
Fort Collins; the 26th Annual International Congress of Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo;
and the annual meeting of the American Musicological Society in Chicago.
' 'Intendere che se vole le mie oppere cio e li hymnj li magnificat chi0 non voglio
mancho de cento et cinquanta scutj et se vole le basse ducento in tutto et volendo
stampare potra meter li hymnj et li magnificat in un libro grande come quello de
le .15. mjsse per che tuttj li chorj se ne potranno servire le basse sono bone per
Imparare a cantar a comtraponto a componere et a sonar de tuttj li strumentj'; letter
of 5 September 1536, now in Florence, Archivio di Stato, Carte Strozziane, Ser. v,
1209, I, 84, reproduced and transcribed in my 'Filippo Strozzi and the Early Madrigal',
Journal of the American Musicological Societi, (hereafter JAMS), 38 (1985), pp. 232-4;
recently reprinted in Venice: A Documentary Histoyy, 145&1630, ed. D. Chambers and
B. Pullan with J. Fletcher (Oxford, U.K., and Cambridge, Mass., 1992), pp. 374-5.
Richard J. Agee
With humility Your Serenity is asked to deign to concede to the very
loyal and most virtuous domino Costantino Festa, musician and singer
of O u r Lord, that he be allowed to have printed his musical works -
that is, masses, motets, madrigals, basse, Eontraponti, lamentations and
any of his compositions - with a privilege [and] that anyone else, for
a period of ten years, may not print the aforesaid works, nor sell prints
[of them] in this city, nor in any other part of the territory or locations
of this Illustrious Dominion.'
Festa's mention of his musical compositions, such as hymns,
Magnificats, masses, motets, madrigals, and lamentations, seems
straightforward enough, but the identification of the basse and
contraponti has proven elusive.
Nevertheless, a theoretical source from the following century
provides valuable evidence about these mysterious, apparently
unpublished compositions by Festa. I n the second part of his
Prattica di musica of 1622, Lodovico Zacconi acknowledged the
long-departed Costanzo Festa for having supplied a cantus firmus
with which the theorist published a second voice in invertible
counterpoint at the tenth. Zacconi discussed the history of this
melody in his chatty way:
Note that the above cantus firmus, made of breves, is called 'Bascia'.
I could not have investigated why it is so called and has such a name,
were it not that one day, [when I was] discussing [this] with a professor
of music, he told me to notice that it must be a certain cantus
firmus on which the aforementioned Costanzo Festa once wrote 120
counterpoints. If students were able to get hold of them, it would be
very useful to put them into score to learn about many beautiful things
that must be contained and hidden therein3
An appendix to the supplication carries the date of 29 March 1538, and indicates
that on this day the Venetian Senate voted in favor of Festa's ten-year privilege, 125
for, 4 against, with 4 abstentions. The document may be found in Venice, Archivio
di Stato, Senato Terra, registro 30 (1538-9), fols. 9'-9" (30'-3OV), as transcribed by
Richard J. Agee in 'The Privilege and Music Printing in the Sixteenth Century',
diss., Princeton University, 1982, pp. 208-9: 'humilmente si supplica vostra serenita
si degni conceder a1 fidelissimo et molto virtuoso, Domino Constantino festa musico,
et cantore di Nostro Signore ch'el possi far stampar le sue opere di musica, cio 6 messe,
mottetj madrigali, basse, contraponti, lamentation, et qualunque delle composition sue,
con privilegio che alcun altro per anni .X. non possi imprimer, ne impresse vender
in questa cita o in qua1 si voglia delle terre, et luoghi di questo Illustrissimo Dominio
le opere preditte.' See also R. J. Agee, 'The Venetian Privilege and Music-Printing
in the Sixteenth Century', Early Music History, 3 (1983), p. 28; and another transcrip-
tion in M. S. Lewis, Antonio Gardano Venetian Music Printer, 153S1569, vol. r (New
York, 1988), p. 673.
'Nota che il superior Canto fermo fatto di Breue chiamandosi Bascia, non hb potuto
inuestigare per che lo chiami cosi, ed habbia tal denominatione, se non che; vn di
ragionando io con vn profossor [sic] di Musica mi disse, auertite, che debb'essere vn
certo Canto fermo, sopra il quale il predetto Costanzo Festa fece vna volta cento e
Constanzo Festa's Gradus ad Parnassum
However vexing the term 'Bascia' might have been for Zacconi,
the tune had been around for centuries and can easily be ident-
ified. This cantus firmus was a basse danse tenor, a musical line
on which to improvise or compose polyphonic elaborations. T h e
basse danse (It. bassadansa) had become popular in court circles
both in France and in Italy by the middle of the 1400s and
disappeared about a century later.4 Most of the music preserved
for the basse danse appears slow and monophonic, but scholars
now believe that instrumentalists would have improvised more
rapid counterpoints above this slow tenor cantus fir mu^.^ Zac-
coni's cantus firmus had been employed as the basis for elabor-
ation since the middle of the fifteenth century. The internationally
known melody existed incognito as (among other designations)
'La Spagna', 'Spanier tantz', 'Tenore del re di Spagna', 'Castille
la novele', and - more important for our purposes - 'La basse
dance de Spayn' and 'La bassa castiglya' (see Example
the papal singer and composer Giovanni Maria Nanino (c. 1545-
1607).8 In the dedication to his book of three- and five-voice
canonic motets of 1586 (RISM N24), Nanino expressed keen
admiration for the earlier composer's musical style: 'There exist
many [works] - both by that author most distinguished among
musicians, Constantius Festa, and by other such outstanding
men - carefully developed on some ecclesiastical theme.'g Nanino
followed the preface with his twenty-eight sacred motets, all
cantus-firmus works based on the basse danse tenor 'La Spagna.'
I t seems unlikely that Nanino, a singer in the papal chapel after
the reforms instituted under the auspices of the Council of Trent,
would have openly published a sacred motet collection that used
a secular tune as its foundation. Perhaps he was unaware of the
tune's secular origins, or maybe he simply lied in implying that
his cantus firmus was in reality an 'ecclesiastical theme'.
Over the centuries, Nanino's own reputation as a composer of
pieces based upon this cantus firmus gradually eclipsed Festa's
role in the popularisation of 'La Spagna' for written polyphonic
elaborations. T h e origins of a fanciful myth that eventually devel-
oped in this regard can be traced back to D. Romano Micheli,
in the preface to his Musica vaga, et artzJiciosa of 1615 (RISM
M2683, 16 153). Micheli mentioned only that the Spaniard Sebas-
tiano Raval, having arrived in Rome, considered himself the
greatest musician in the world until Nanino and Francesco Sori-
ano humbled him." Giuseppe Pitoni, one of Italy's first well-
tenor (see Gombosi, Compositione, p. lx). Rocco Rodio, in his Regole di musica (Naples,
1609 [colophon 161 I]; repr. Bologna, 1981: Bibliotheca Musica Bononiensis, sez. 11,
no. 56), pp. 6ff, employed 'La Spagna' as a cantus firmus for various original canons.
For a brief summary of Kanino's life and works, see A. A. Newcomb, 'Nanino,
Giovanni Maria', The N e w Grove Dictionary, vol. xrrr, pp. 20-1, or R. J. Schuler, ed.,
Giovanni Maria Nanino: Fourteen Liturgical Works, Recent Researches in the Music of
the Renaissance, 5 (Madison, Wisconsin, 1969), pp. vii-xi; for a more expansive view
of Kanino's role in the musical world of the late Renaissance, see R. J. Schuler, 'The
Life and Liturgical Works of Giovanni Maria Kanino (1545-1607)', 2 vols., diss.,
RISM S24, I-Bc exemplar, Cantus partbook, presents the text as follows: 'Extant
elaborata'. I would like to thank Prof. Carol L. Nee1 for her assistance in developing
'O
On A2' of Musica vaga et artzjciosa, D . Micheli related the incident as follows: 'non
rester6 dirui di quell'intelligentissimo musico Sebastiano Raual Spagnolo, il quale
Richard J. Agee
venne in Roma, attribuendosi di essere il primo musico del Mondo, non hauendo
trouato in alcuna parte d'Italia alcun suo pari: venendosi alle proue in Roma con li
Signori Francesco Soriano, e Gio: Maria Nanino, restb chiarito alla prima esperienza,
nondimeno volsero sentire tutto il suo sapere, si che detto Sebastiano Raual, non
chiamb mai li detti Signori Francesco Soriano, e Gio: Maria Nanino, che per nome
di Sig. Maestro, cib sentito da me mille volte, con l'occasione che eramo insieme in
Roma'.
" As found in G. 0. Pitoni's Notitia de' contrapuntisti e compositori di musica, ed. C. Ruini,
Studi e Testi per la Storia della Musica, 6 (Florence, 1988), p. 155.
l2
See the Carteggio inedito del P. Giambattista Martini coi pi3 celebri musicisti del suo tempo
(1888; repr. Bologna, 1969: Bibliotheca Musica Bononiensis, sez. v, no. 22), pp. 42-
3, 159.
l3
As related by G. Baini in Memorie storico-critiche della vita e delle opere di Giovanni Pierluigi
da Palestrina (Rome, 1828), vol. rr, pp. 39-40: 'Nel passaggio ch'ei [i.e. Raval] fece
per Roma, vi si trattenne, non saprei dir la ragione, parecchi mesi: e qui ne' ritruovi
de' musici attribuivasi il vanto di primo musico del mondo, non avendo trovato in
tutta Italia, com'ei diceva, alcun suo pari. V'ebbe finalmente chi nauseato di tanto
orgoglio gli propose di provarsi pur una volta con i due fratelli Nanini, e Francesco
Suriano maestri di Roma. Ed egli tosto sfidb il Nanini Gio. Maria come fratel
maggiore di Bernardino, ed il Suriani [sic] a comporre estemporaneamente sopra
temi da proporsi a vicenda. Fu accettata da' romani la disfida, e trovatisi tutti tre
insieme, e propostisi a vicenda i temi, mentre il Raval ancora studiavasi di accozzare
la prima idea, il Nanini, ed il Suriano gli presentarono compiute le respettive
composizioni adorne di tanti artifizi, e con tanta chiarezza disposti, che il Raval
impallidito dimandb loro perdono del suo ardire e manifestato avendo ai medesimi,
siccome quegli vollero ch'ei facesse, gli angusti limiti delle sue cognizioni, pregolli a
non escluderlo dalla loro scuola, e per tutto il tempo che continub a dimorare in
Roma, a1 dir di D. Romano Micheli, che trovossi presente a questa disfida non chiamb
mai li detti signori Francesco Suriano, e Gio. Maria Nanini, che per nome di signor maestro'
(italics original). Baini quoted D. Micheli Romano's letter as well on p. 40, n. 478.
Constanzo Festa's Gradus ad Parnassum
See G. Gaspari, Catalogo della Biblioteca Musicale G. B. Martini di Bologna, ed. N. Fanti,
0. Mischiati, L. F. Tagliavini, Studi e Testi di Musicologia, 1 (Bologna, 1961), vol.
1, pp. 301-2: 'Gio. Maria Nanino, e Francesco Suriano di Roma furono da Sebastiano
Raval Spagnuolo sfidati a comporre in musica. Francesco Suriano con centodieci
Contrappunti sopra I'Ave Maris Stella, e Gio. Maria Nanino con questi centocinquanta-
sette sopra un medesimo Canto Fermo superarono lo spagnuolo.'
I'
See F. X. Haberl, 'Giovanni Maria Nanino: Darstellung seines Lebensganges und
Schaffens auf Grund archivalischer und bibliographischer Dokumente', Kirchenmusikal-
isches Jahrbuch, sechster Jahrgang (1891), pp. 91, 95, although he incorrectly listed the
call number of Bologna C36 as C35. R. Giraldi, in 'Nanino, Giovanni Maria',
Enciclopedia Italiana di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti (Rome, 1934-43), vol. xxrv, p. 198,
mistakenly asserted that Bologna C36 was in the Liceo Musicale of Mantova. Casimiri
suggested 1592 as a possible date for the competition between the Spaniard and the
Italians (R. Casimiri, 'Sebastiano Raval musicista spagnolo del sec. XVI', Note
d'Archivio per la Storia Musicale, 8 (1931), pp. 1-2), but with scant justification.
l6
See 0 . Mischiati, La prassi musicale presso i canonici regolari de Ss. Saloatore nei secoli XVZ
e XVZZ e i manoscritti pol$onici della Biblioteca Musicale 'G.B. Martini' di Bologna, Istituto
di Paleografia Musicale, Documenti, 1 (Rome, 1985), pp. 81-2, where a full description
of the manuscript is given; p. [I321 presents a facsimile of the last two pages of
Balzani's portion of the manuscript, including the final rubric. Unfortunately, Mis-
chiati mistakenly identified all 157 compositions in Bologna C36 as canons. While
Nanino's published pieces are indeed canons, few of the remaining 129 compositions
are canonic; see the Appendix below.
See Haberl, 'Giovanni Maria Nanino', 95.
20
A number of letters survive from Nanino's journey to Mantua; see the transcriptions
from the papal archives in Schuler, 'The Life', vol. r, Appendix I , pp. 345ff.
'' Facsimiles of Nanino's writing may be found in Schuler, 'The Life', vol. I, pp. 346-76.
See Mischiati, La prassi, pp. 81-2.
23 ' C E N T 0 CINQVANTASETTE ( CONTRAPUNTI ( SOPRA DEL CANTO
FERMO INTITOLATO 1 LA BASE di Costanzo FESTA 1 OPERA DI ( Gioan
Maria ( NANINO 1 DA VALLERANO 11' .
8
Constanzo Festa's Gradus ad Parnassum
24
Gombosi, in Compositione, p. Ivii, suggested that Costanzo Festa may well have been
responsible for transforming the tune into a cantus firmus for contrapuntal exercises,
although he never questioned the attribution of all 157 counterpoints to Nanino. He
also related that Banchieri had termed the 157 counterpoints 'opera degna di essere
in mano di qual[siasi] musico e compositore' (p. lvii), but in truth Banchieri had
referred instead to published collections by Fulgenzio Valesi, Nanino and Cima -
'hanno in stampa [italics mine] vn libro per ciascuno di questi Contrapunti obbligati
sopra il Canto fermo in Canon, opere degne in mano di qualsiasi Musico, &
Compositore' (A. Banchieri, Cartella musicale nel canto jgurato fermo, @ contrapunto
(Venice, 1614; repr. Bologna, 1968: Bibliotheca Musica Bononiensis, sez. I t , no. 26),
p. 234). No doubt Banchieri was referring in part to the Nanino canonic motets
published in 1586 (RISM N24), the pieces which follow the first 125 compositions
of Bologna C36.
Richard J. Agee
works declines as more voices are added. Thus there are only
seventeen variations in five voices, three in six voices, one in
seven voices, and two in eight voices, followed by one eleven-voice
variation - 125 in all.25A distinct change occurs with Counter-
point 126, where we find Nanino's canons with sacred text
incipits. The three-voice canons proceed, at least initially, with
some regularity from the unison to the second, third and so
forth, much like the canons of Bach's Goldberg Variations, and the
five-voice pieces, not all canonic, conclude this portion of the
manuscript. I t is onl3, the canons from the three- and five-voice
series that Nanino published under his own name in the musical
print from 1586 previously mentionedeZ6
Unlike Nanino's compositions, the opening 125 counterpoints
of Bologna C36 exhibit techniques that clearly address Festa's
stated intention for his pedagogical works: 'The basse are good
for learning to sing in counterpoint, to compose and to play all
instruments.' In addition to employing virtually every possible
clef in this collection, the composer specifically designed certain
counterpoints to exercise a student's mastery of clef changes
(Counterpoints 2 and 83, where individual lines feature myriad
changes of clef), Other compositions address mensural problems,
with a few constructed to demonstrate particularly difficult pro-
portions (Counterpoints 79, 80, 84). Strict rhythmic stratification
of texture, a n important basis for Fux's formulation of species
counterpoint in the eighteenth century, also makes an appearance
(Counterpoints 12, 88). Additional techniques necessary for a
thorough contrapuntal education abound - these works address
the use of plainchant paraphrase (Counterpoints 93, 94, 95, 115),
25
Gombosi, in Compositione, pp. Ivii-lviii, also enumerated the contents of Bologna C36
as I have done here; but he casually assumed all 157 pieces to have been composed
by Nanino. Gombosi (p. Iviii) mistakenly transcribed a number of rubrics in the
manuscript - Counterpoint 129, rendered by Gombosi as 'canon ad subditonum',
should read 'canon in subdiatessaron'; Counterpoint 134, given as 'canon ad subsex-
tam', reads in the manuscript 'canon ad essacordum'; and for Counterpoint 151, a
double canon, Gombosi correctly transcribed 'canon ad unisonum' but neglected the
second rubric, 'canon in diapason'. See the Appendix, below, for a complete transcrip-
tion of all rubrics in the first 128 folios of Bologna C36.
26
The last four counterpoints in this portion of the manuscript, 154-7, although presum-
ably by Nanino, were not published in N24. Of these, only Counterpoint 156 is a
canon, while, unlike the twenty-eight canons in the motet book, the other three use
imitation alone. The publication concludes with two four-voice canons that have no
reference to any cantus firmus.
- Constanzo Festa's Gradus ad Parnassum
Figure 1 Bologna, Civico Museo Bibliografico Musicale, MS C36, fol. 1'. The first of
Festa's 125 pieces on the basse dame "La Spagna"; Counterpoint 1 for two voices
Richard J. Agee
'' For general comments on Festa's musical style and technical abilities, see Reese,
Music in the Renaissance, pp. 362-4; E . E. Lowinsky, The Medici Codex of 1518: A
Choirbook of Motets Dedicated to Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of C'rbino (Chicago and London,
1968), vol. I, pp. 42-51, 78; A. Main, 'Festa, Costanzo', The Nem Grove Dictionay,
vol. VI, pp. 501-2; Main, 'Costanzo Festa: The Masses and Motets', diss., New York
University, 1960, pp. 67-173; and H . Musch, Costanzo Festa als Madrigalkomponist,
Sammlung Musikwissenschaftlicher Abhandlungen, 61 (Baden-Baden, 1977), pp. 69-
147.
A modern edition of the mass may be found in Josquin des Prez, Missen, ii: Missa
*' See James Haar, 'Some Remarks on the Missa La sol f a re mi', Proceedings of the
International Josquin Festival-Conference, ed. E . E . Lowinsky and B. J. Blackburn (London,
1976), pp, 564-88.
Constanzo Festa's Gradus ad Parnassum
half of the sixteenth century, when Festa was active, and underwent
a decline in the second half of the century,30this particular subject
was used throughout the period. Most ofthe pieces based on la-sol-fa-
re-mi seem to have been written in the middle decades ofthe sixteenth
century, but the soggetto was used even by Froberger a century later.31
Consequently, other evidence aside, it is conceivable that either
Festa or Nanino might have composed this particular work. FVhile a
very young Festa might have actually met Josquin or even studied
with the old master, we have no evidence of Josquin's presence in
Italy in his later years. I t seems far more likely that Festa became
familiar with Josquin's reputation while a member ofthe papal choir
itself. Naturally Festa's sophisticated use of counterpoint, both in his
sacred works and here in Bologna C36, would suggest that he studied
with some great northern master: if not Josquin, then perhaps a suc-
cessor ofJosquin, such as M ~ u t o n . ~ ' Othe
n other hand, by the 1580s,
when Nanino published his canons on 'La Spagna', although Jos-
quin would no longer have been looked upon with the same awe as he
had been in previous decades, no doubt Nanino would have known or
at least heard ofJosquin's music in his position as a papal singer.
Some of the other textual and musical references in this collec-
tion, however, less ambiguously suggest the hand of Festa. For
instance, Counterpoint 104 weaves in two ostinato soggetti cavati
dubbed 'Ferdinandus' and 'Isabella', presumably the monarchs of
Spain who died in 1516 and 1504 respectively (see Example 3) .33
Nanino was born much later, c. 1544, and died in 1607;34however
famous the Spanish king and queen, one can only assume that they
30
As indicated by Gustave Reese in 'Josquin Desprez', The New Grove Dictionay, vol.
rx, p. 718.
31
Haar, in 'Some Remarks', pp, 583-8, documents the long history of this soggetto.
32
Main, in 'Costanzo Festa' (pp. 7-10), and Lowinsky, in The Medici Codex (pp. 49-
50), suggested the possibility that Festa had travelled north to France. In any case,
Main attributed Festa's mastery of the art of counterpoint to possible musical studies
with Josquin; while Lowinsky mentioned Josquin as a possibility, he favoured the
hypothesis of a period of study with another great northern master, perhaps Mouton.
33
See G. Reese, Music in the Renaissance, rev. ed. (New York, 1939), p. 578. Bonnie J.
Blackburn kindly pointed out to me that these themes were soggetti cauati. The soggetto
'Isabella' is formed in the natural hexachord on mi-ja-re-ia, that on 'Ferdinandus' in
the hard hexachord on re-mi-ja-ut. Gombosi, in Compositione, p. lviii, n. 1 , unaware
that these were soggetti cauati, misread the references to the Spanish monarchs as
'Rosa bella - Ferdinandus'!
34
Schuler, in 'The Life', vol, I, pp. 43-4, mentions a lost inscription indicating Nanino
to be about sixty-three years old at his death, thus placing the year of his birth at
c. 1544.
Richard J. Agee
Example 2. Counterpoint 36, from Bologna C36
Richard J. Agee
Example 3. Counterpoint 104, from Bologna C36
Iloll = 0
Constanzo Festa's Gradus ad Parnassum
Example 3 (cant.)
Richard J. Agee
*-
2 .
-...
+
. ---a
-d
' *.?-j ,if"TF ::4!+7? g?%=$j?'Fz;::
a .
z:~-.-. - ' > 7 --
:3 +
?.J,
-
+'
-*
8 .
Y ,
*$r;7y;f
-1 1
;2$$$-+- S F -.y!57?~=;.=-&~2 ;,
-* - ..- - .
*-- -.-- -
-
~
.PC- . -
,-
- 5 ,-
-y-.-w-- -4--s --
a *
-. ,+Lh..;Td*4-?
- , : . , '
7
-
,
--: ,
t . 1 : .
, *% xr?@+i*p-:- PI--- -&-I
.z d
4
gJb -
1y,j.,~3c$jt$t$+ I
.-
--
I . , 1
2
--f ~;;3p~*ii.-..,. -
,
- . m-:-m-
--> - .
*::&
-4-T- *-I;
,
--
-- - . :
.-: ,- .
--*= .
-
".------I
+-*-
~ ~ -
%F-~
-. --
.= - * r s
.. -:-*-- - -------=:-%-~
-
-=-: _ . -3eyr 7:
-* .... .
---------- -
~
.; z T ; l-
.
-
:. ; :. . ,
* , . ~
- - -2
*-
-. - -
3; ; *.--*--~
lz%e+
-
- ~ --7:
.'- g
7--,
,+-- - -4-
- ' --
--
.- i
I , . , " ;"b
% jdi-&-;--,-Y;?++ ,
Richard J. Agee
Example 4. Counterpoint 96, from Bologna C36
IHl = 0
Constanzo Festa's Gradus ad Parnassum
Richard J. Agee
Example 5. Superius line from Counterpoint 98 in Bologna C36
Raggion b ben
Vostra fui.
41 The Missa carminum a 4; see Costanzo Festa, Opera Omnia, Corpus Mensurabilis
Musicae, 25, i, ed. A. Main (N.p., 1962), pp. viii-ix. See also Main, 'Costanzo Festa',
pp. 16-17.
22
Constanzo Festa's Gradus ad Parnassum
banish secular elements from sacred works. The council was con-
vened around the same time that Festa died and Nanino was born.
Nanino's works in the Bologna collection have no textual references
at all to secular pieces or subjects, and those published in his print
of 1586 carry only sacred texts. As previously mentioned, the quote
from the preface to that collection would suggest either that Nanino
was not aware of the secular origins of the cantus firmus on which
he based his twenty-eight sacred canons, or that he deliberately
misled the public by suggesting that his secular cantus firmus was
an 'ecclesiastical theme'. O n the other hand, the first 125 pieces
do contain, as we have seen, secular themes - such as those from
Arcadelt madrigals and soggetti cavati based on the names or actio.ns
of monarchs, a poet, and possibly a patron - as well as sacred
quotations in the paraphrases of plainchant.
The treatment of the cantus firmus also differs considerably
between the first 125 pieces and the last 32, thus strongly suggest-
ing the hand of a different composer. Diminution of the cantus
firmus never occurs in the first 125 counterpoints, yet it is used
seven times in the last 32 pieces (in Counterpoints 126, 129, 131,
132, 136, 140, and 145).42Such diminution from breves to semi-
breves as is found in Nanino's compositions clearly exhibits the
rhythmic inflation seen later in the sixteenth century. I n contrast,
cantus-firmus augmentation appears four times in the first 125
variations, all near the end of this section of the manuscript (in
Counterpoints 1 16, 117, 1 18, 12l ) , but not at all in Nanino's com-
positions that follow. I n addition, one finds only two transpositions
of the cantus firmus in the first 125 variations, and those are pre-
sumably to facilitate the combination of the cantus firmus with
other fragments at their original tonal position (in Counterpoint
99 with incipits from Arcadelt madrigals, and in Counterpoint 98
with a text and scrambled incipit yet to be identified). O n the
other hand, a total of twelve transpositions of the cantus firmus
may be found in the last 32 pieces; the composer of the first 125
works just seems to have been less willing to manipulate the cantus
firmus in this fashion. Retrograde of the cantus firmus appears
only once in the first part, at number sixty-two, almost exactly
42
In Counterpoint 147, each note of the cantus firmus appears as a pair of semibreves
tied across the bar. I have not included this among the examples of diminution.
Richard J. Agee
43
In the last section, at the final Counterpoint 157, the cantus firmus does appear
once in retrograde inversion.
44
This cadence was already archaic even in Festa's day. Anthony Newcomb advised
me that Festa's contemporary, Pietro Aaron, no longer included the octave-leap
cadence in his theoretical writings. See, for instance, the facsimile edition of Aaron's
Toscanello in Musica of 1529, ed. W. Elders, Bibliotheca Musica Bononiensis, sez. 11,
no. 10 (Bologna, 1969), cap. XVIII, or P. Aaron, Toscanello in Music, Book II, Chapters
I-XXXVI, trans. P. Bergquist, Colorado College Music Press Translations, 4 (Colorado
Springs, 1970), pp. 30-1.
45
AS noted in a perusal of Festa, Opera Omnia, Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae, 25,
i-viii, ed. A. Main and A. Seay (N.p., 1962-78).
Constanzo Festa's Gradus ad Parnassum
Example 6a. Excerpt from Counterpoint 10 (bars 36-7) in Bologna C36
Ildl = 0
46
See Schuler, 'The Life', vol. 11, passim; Schuler, Giovanni Maria Nanino, passim; and
Luigi Torchi, L'arte musicale in Italia dal secolo X I V a1 X V I I I (?1898-1907; repr. 1968,
Milano), vol. 11, pp. 1-30.
47
I recorded 239 instances of notated sharps in the first 125 pieces, and 102 instances
in the last 32 - in other words, an average of slightly less than two sharps per piece
in the first section to somewhat more than three sharps in each of the closing pieces
(any sharp used in place of a natural sign was excluded from these calculations).
48
Although the motet is anonymous in its source (Rome, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana,
Cappella Sistina 20), both Seay (Festa, Opera Omnia, Motetti, i, p. vii) and Main
('Costanzo Festa', p. 39) argue persuasively if not definitively for Festa as its composer.
Constanzo Festa's Gradus ad Parnassum
Example 7a. Excerpt from Counterpoint 11 1 in Bologna C36
Iloll = 0 Y
Richard J. Agee
Example 7b. Excerpt from Costanzo Festa, Sancto disponente spiritu, secunda pars; from
Opera Omnia, ed. A. Seay, Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae, 25, iii: Motetti, i, pp. 84-5
Iloll = 0 95 100
where an editorial accidental had to be added. Obviously this would not have been
the case during Festa's generation.
Richard J. Agee
Example 8. Counterpoint 148, from Bologna C36
Constanzo Festa's Gradus ad Parnassum
Example 8 (cont.)
Richard J. Agee
reinforcement of the incessant regularity of the breve motion in the
cantus firmus.
The evidence, then, for Festa's authorship of the first 125
counterpoints on a cantus firmus in the manuscript Bologna C36
can be summarised as follows:
(1) Festa himself searched for a publisher and applied for a
printing privilege for his counterpoints. Zacconi's testimony gives
their number as 120, even though it seems as if the theorist had
never seen the works. Thus it is conceivable that Festa's collection
consisted of 125 pieces in all, as in the first section of Bologna
C36.
(2) Contrary to the testimony of Zacconi and the title page ofBol-
ogna C36 (a later addition to the manuscript), Festa did not compose
this cantus firmus. Festa's link to the collection almost assuredly
must be as composer of the first 125 works. T h e names given to the
cantus firmus, 'La Base', 'Bascia' and 'Basse', all appear to be cor-
ruptions ofwhat was originally a reference to the tune's descent from
the basse danse tenor 'La Spagna'.
(3) Nanino keenly admired the works of Festa, as he claimed in
the preface to his canonic motet book of 1586. I n this publication,
he printed only 28 of the last 32 pieces from the opening 157
counterpoints contained in Bologna C36. IYhy didn't Nanino pub-
lish any of the first 125 pieces, many of which are excellent - and
better than Nanino's own? Quite simply put, the testimony of later
commentators notwithstanding, Nanino did not publish them
under his name because they were not his compositions.
(4) Finally, the music itself implies through its clear pedagogical
intent (reinforced by Festa's own words in his letter to Filippo
Strozzi in 1536), the nearly symmetrical ordering in the number of
voices, the retrograde cantus firmus halfway through, biographical
references, various archaic musical features, and general stylistic
traits that the first 125 pieces form a separate collection altogether,
one likely written earlier than the last 32 works, and in all prob-
ability composed by Festa himself.
Thus, the first 125 compositions of Bologna C36 almost certainly
constitute Festa's legacy for the teaching of counterpoint - his very
own Gradus ad Parna~surn.'~Palestrina, of course, had been the pri-
My edition of Festa's 125 counterpoints will be published in the series Recent Researches
in the Music of the Renaissance, A-R Editions, Madison, Wisconsin.
Constanzo Festa's Gradus ad Parnassum
mary. representative
- of the Roman school in the renewal of Catholic
church music that followed the conclusion of the Council of Trent
in 1563. The pure, detached contrapuntal style of Palestrina's
sacred compositions served as the perfect conservative model for
Catholic church music from the sixteenth century, through the
Palestrina-inspired Gradus ad Parnassum of Fux in the eighteenth
century, to the present day.51Nevertheless, Roman counterpoint
did not begin with Palestrina; if the first 125 counterpoints of Bol-
ogna C36 indeed represent the work of Festa, as they almost assur-
edly do, then quite literally one can see in the ascending number
of voices the steps to Parnassus taken by Festa in Rome a full
generation or two before Palestrina realised the flowering of his
own contrapuntal genius. Too, we can rejoice in the discovery of
125 'lost' works written by the first great Italian composer of the
High Renaissance.
The Colorado College
j'
The counterpoints are numbered according to the scheme in the manuscript itself. Since the music is copied across
from verso to recto, a piece occasionally begins on a recto page but continues on the facing verso; however, the
'Folios' column simply gives the first and last pages on which each composition is found. Voices are referred to
by clef; voices using the same clef are distinguished by letters according to positions in the score, with 'Cla' above
'Clb' and so on. The cantus firmus (= c.f.) begins in the first bar of each piece and proceeds in single breves
unless indicated below to the contrary. Unless specific mention is made of the c.f., comments under 'Mensuration
and procedures' refer only to the additional voices.
To simplify typesetting, some mensuration signs are rendered schematically: the circle and 'semicircle' appear as
0 and C, the barred versions as 01 and CI; the semicircle enclosing a dot is C-
No. Folios Initial clefs Annotations Mensuration and procedures
1 1' C4a [Below C4a] Prima CI; free counterpoint against the c.f.
C4b(c.f.)
2 C3 [Below C3] Seconda CI; a clef and metre exercise - the added voice changes clef
C4(c.f.) 24 times, among C1, C2, C3, C4, F4; the metre changes
from CI to 3 and back.
3 2'3' Cla [Below C l a ] Terza CI; imitative counterpoint.
Clb
C4(c.f.)
4 3'+ Cla [Below C l a ] Quarta CI; imitative counterpoint.
Clb
C4(c.f.)
[Below C2] Trigesima cI; non-imitative counterpoint with rhythmic stratification;
Sesta F4 carries the motive la-sol-fa-re-mi(the subject of Josquin's
famous Mass) in ostinato; another unidentified ostinato
figure, fa-mi-la-mi-sol-la, dominates C2; C2 and F4 move
mostly in breves with occasional smaller values, while C4a,
apparently the only freely written voice, moves considerably
faster.
[Below C2] Trigesima CI; non-imitative counterpoint; C2 carries a brief ostinato
settima figure, f '-el-df-6'-b-6'-d' with occasional rhythmic variation;
after opening, F4 moves mostly in breves.
[Below C 11 Trigesima CI; mixed key signature, with one b in C1, C4a, F4, but
Nona none in C4b; freely imitative counterpoint.
[Below C4b] CI; c.f. now moves to the lowest voice as the range of all
Quadragesima voices stays within a n extremely limited compass; imitative
counterpoint.
[Below C3] Quadragesima CI; mixed key signature, with one b in both C3, F4;
seconda non-imitative counterpoint; in C3, cadential-like ostinato,
6'-dry'-el-dr-cr-bb/bh-c' (in one statement the entire motive is
transposed to begin on f '), with varied rhythms.
[Below C3] Quadragesima CI; imitative counterpoint on the same three-minim upbeat
Terza subject throughout.
Appendix (cont.)
No. Folios Initial clefs annotation.^ Mensuration and procedures
[Below C4a] CI; c.f. once again in the lowest voice; imitative
Quadragesima quarta counterpoint within a restricted range.
[Below C4a] CI; ostinato of the opening motive re-mi+-sol used in both
Quadragesima sesta C4a and C4b throughout, in varied rhythms; F4 imitates
the ostinato a t the opening before it assumes a largely
non-imitative role.
[Below C4a] CI; C 3 employs the motive sol-sol-(sol)-mi$-sol as an
Quadragesima settima ostinato with melodic and rhythmic variation; C4a and F3
use the ostinato figure as the basis for imitative
counterpoint.
[Below C4a] CI; c.f. again moves to lowest position, and the initial
Quadragesima Ottava imitative counterpoint takes place within a very restricted
range; the last half of the piece consists mostly of
non-imitative counterpoint.
[Below C3] Quadragesima CI; imitative counterpoint.
Nona
[Below C4] Sessagesima CI; free imitative counterpoint in a low range; lethargic
Prima motion consists mostly of breves and semibreves.
[Below C2] Sessagesima CI; c.f. returns to the Tenor, but in retrograde (for the only
seconda time in the first group of 125 counterpoints); non-imitative
counterpoint.
[Below C4a] Sessagesima CI; imitative counterpoint; again lethargic rhythmic motion,
quarta mostly breves and semibreves with the exception of decorated
suspended cadences.
[Below C4a] Sessagesima CI; imitative counterpoint based on a motive of falling thirds.
Ottava
[Above C3a] Ressolutio CI; simultaneous canon in inversion between F5 and the
[below C3a] Settuagesima resolution in C3a a t the upper major third two octaves
Prima removed; C3b remains a free contrapuntal line.
[Below C3] Settugesima CI; canon of the c.f. material a t the upper fifth, distance of
[sic] quarta 1 bar, C4b (dux), C3 (comes); only the rests added in bars
14-16 of C 3 and seven subsequent changes in mensuration
in the same voice enable the counterpoint to work; the
other two voices engage in free imitation of one another.
[Below C3al Settuagesima CI; the same motive continually returns in all three added
quinta voices, re-fa-sol-la-mi-sol-re; the motive acts as a virtual
ostinato in F4.
[Below C3] Settuagesima CI; ostinato figure of ut-re-mi in both soft and natural
Sesta hexachords, with rhythmic variation, in C4a; the remaining
two voices imitate one another freely.
[Below C3] Settuagesima CI; F4 states six ostinato figures, each repeated a number
Ottava of times before moving on to the next; C1 also exhibits a
few such figures, but they are not used as strictly or
consistently as those in F4; C 3 engages in free counterpoint.
[Below C4a] Settuagesima CI; imitative counterpoint; after 9 bars, the piece becomes a
Nona mensural exercise in all added voices with numerous, and
sometimes bizarre, proportions, such as 1/4, 5/4, and 8/2.
112 93'-94' C1 [Below C I ] Centesima CI; very free imitation; C1 presents all double breves
C3 Duodecima almost in the manner of a second c.f., but the irregular
C4a contour of the melody suggests that it was not prius factus.
C4b(c.f.)
F4
113 94'-95' C3 [Below C3] Centesima CI; imitative counterpoint; opening imitative motive,
C4a Terxadecima ut-mi-mi-sol-re, is used as an ostinato in F4.
C4b
C4c(c.f.)
F4
114 94:-95' C1 [Above C I] Ressolutio CI; canon a t the upper eleventh, distance of 1 bar, F4
C3 [below C I ] Centesima (dux), C I (comes); remaining voices mostly non-imitative.
C4a Quartadecima
C4b(c.f.)
F4
115 95"-96' Cla [Below C l a ] Cente- CI; extremely free paraphrase of the hymn Ut quuent laxis
Clb sima quintadecima (LU1504) in C l b; C l a presents the natural hexachord in
C4a [below C l b] Ut stepwise ascending motion with various rhythms
C4b(c.f.) queant laxis throughout; otherwise, mostly non-imitative or freely
F4 imitative counterpoint.
116 96'-98' C1 [Below C 11 Centesima CI; augmentation of c.f. in double breves in C4b, so that
C3 sesta Decima this piece and the next two (which present the c.f. in
C4a augmentation) are longer than most of the others; imitative
C4b(c.f.) counterpoint; F4 presents a series of four ostinato figures,
F4 repeating each several times before moving on to the next.
117 97'-99' C1 [Below C l ] Centesima C ( ; again, augmentation of c.f. in double breves; imitative
C3 Decima settima counterpoint.
C4a
C4b(c.C)
F4
118 99"-101' C1 [Below C 11 Centesima CI; once again, augmentation of c.f. in double breves;
C3 Decima Ottava imitative counterpoint.
C4a
C4b(c.f.)
F4
119 101"-102' C4(c.f.) [Below C41 Centesima CI; c.f. returns to breve values; first six-voice piece in the
F3a Decima nona collection; imitative counterpoint; a single cadential-style
F3b motive acts as an ostinato in F3a, F3b, and F4.
F4
F5a
F5b
120 102'-103' C1 [Below C 11 Centesima CI; like the c.C, F4 also moves in steady breves; remaining
C3 Vigesima voices are freely imitative.
C4a
C4b
C4c(c.f.)
F4
121 103'105" C1 [Below C 11 Centesima CI; each pitch of c.f. is now augmented to triple-breve
C3 Vigesima Prima values, making this piece the longest in the collection;
C4a imitative counterpoint.
C4b(c.C)
F4a
F4b
122 106'107' C1 [Below C 1] Centesima CI; the only seven-voice piece in the collection; C1 sustains
C3 Vigesima seconda an a' whenever it is harmonically possible, but otherwise it
C4a rests; imitative counterpoint among the other voices.
C4b
C4c(c.f.)
F4a
F4b
[Below C 11 Centesima C ( in C1, C in C3a, C3b; diminution of c.f. to semibreves;
Vigesima sesta [below 3a] canon a t the unison, distance of 1 bar, C3a (dux), C3b
C3b] Letamini in 1586 (RISM N24); the Latin rubric below C3b and all
Domino those following in this inventory (except for those that give
publication.
[Below G21 Centesima CI; the c.f. returns to breve values; canon a t the lower
Vigesima Ottava [below C2 (dux), C1 (comes); published in N24 with motet text
Vigesima Nona [below C1; canon a t the lower fourth, distance of a half-bar, C2
expunged] Trigesima
[below C3] Canon in
Diatessaron Remissum
[below C4] Miserere mihi
domine
Appendix (cont.)
No. Folios Initial clefs Annotations Mensuration and procedures
Trigesima Prima [below bars 4-5, where the word 'Maria' may be found in N24, in
C31 Canon in imitation of the two canonic voices; canon a t the lower
C3] Canon a d
Essacordum [below
C41 Exultent et
letentur
[Below G21 Centesima CI; c.f. is transposed up a n octave from its usual position,
Trigesima quinta [below to a'; canon at the upper minor seventh, distance of 1 bar,
T H E P O L Y P H O N I C R O N D E A U C. 1 3 0 0 :
REPERTORY AND CONTEXT*
* Earlier versions of this article were read at the Humboldt Universitat, Berlin, June
1994, and at a Conference on Medieval and Renaissance Music, Glasgow, July 1994. It
forms part of larger study of the emergence of polyphonic song in the early fourteenth
century. The sources that might be considered in such a study were outlined in M.
Everist, 'The Origins of Polyphonic Song 11: Sources and Repertories', colloquium, King's
College London, 19 October 1988, and some methodological problems were adumbrated
in Everist, 'The Origins of Polyphonic Song I: Citation, Motet, Rondeau', Colloque: La
musique a Auignon au XIV siicle, Abbaye de Royaumont, 8-12 July 1988. I am grateful to
Margaret Bent, Lawrence Earp and Sylvia Huot for reading drafts of this article and
for their comments on the text.
' The wide range of genres that would constitute such an inquiry are discussed in
(Paris, 1872), pp. 207-35 and, more recently, N. Wilkins, ed., The Lyric Works of Adam
([Rome], 1967), pp. 49-59. Texts alone are found in G . Raynaud, ed., Recueil de
motets fran~ais des xii' et xiii' siicles publib d'apris les manrcrcrits, avec introduction, notes,
R Hildesheim and New York, 1972; R Geneva, 1974), vol. 1 1 , pp. 108-14, and N. H .
J . van den Boogaard, Rondeaux et refrains du xi? siBcle au dibut du xive: Collationnement,
introduction, et notes, Bibliothtque Franqaise et Romane, D:3 (Paris, 1969), pp. 51-6.
The dating of the manuscript is problematic. A secure terminus post quem is provided
by a reference in the Dis du Vrai Aniel ( F - P n fr. 25566, fols. 232-235) to the capture
of Acre by Moslem forces under Sultan al-Ashraf on 18 May 1291 after six weeks
of siege (S. Runciman, A History of the Crusades, 3 vols. (Cambridge, 1954; Harmonds-
Mark Everist
Adam's grands chants, jeux partis, motets and rondeaux, as well as
to other compositions that did not involve music directly, and
works of which Adam was not the a ~ t h o r . ~
This immaculate presentation of Adam's polyphonic rondeaux
is at once fortunate and problematic: fortunate because we have
apparently the complete works in the genre by one of the few
named composers from the end of the thirteenth century, and
possibly in a format that could have been authorised by the
composer himselc4 problematic because the works of Adam not
only dominate our view of the polyphonic rondeau of this period
but are almost the only representatives of the genre.5 O n the
basis of an analogy with his highly idiosyncratic motets, for
worth, 1971), vol. 111, pp. 412-23: page numbers refer to the 1971 edition); the
manuscript must therefore have been copied after that date. The editor of the Roman
de Renart, Henri Roussel, further noted that the full-page miniature of the Wheel of
Fortune ( F - P n fr. 25566, fol. 175') was decorated with the arms of Guy de Dampierre,
Count of Flanders, and those of the Hangest family. If such a conjunction of arms
represented cordial relations between the Hangest and Dampierre families, these
could not have lasted beyond 1297. Although this latter date is more speculative
than the former, together they seem to imply a time between 1291 and 1297 (H.
Roussel, ed., Renart le nouvel par Jacquemart Gielee publii d'ap?es le manuscrit La Vallidre,
SociCtt des Anciens Textes Franqais (Paris, 1961), pp. 8-9).
Summary lists of contents in C. Segre, ed., L i Bestiaires d'amours di Maistre Richart de
Fomival e L i Response du Bestiaire, Documenti di Filologia, 2 (Naples and Milan,
1957), pp. xxxiii-xxxvii, and G. Reaney, Manuscripts of PolyPhonic Music (11th-Early
14th Centuryl, Repertoire International des Sources Musicales, BIV, (Munich and
Duisberg, 1966), pp. 395-40 1.
Such a position is familiar from work on the Machaut manuscripts. See S. J. Williams,
'An Author's Role in Fourteenth-Century Book Production: Guillaume Machaut's
"Livre ou je met toutes mes choses"', Romania, 90 (1969), pp. 433-34. See also S.
Huot, From Song to Book: The Poetics of Writing in Old French Lyric and Lyrical Narrative
Poetry (Ithaca, N.Y., and London, 1987).
j
In this respect, the position is similar to the organa quadrupla ascribed to Perotinus
by Anonymous I V (F. Reckow, ed., Der Musiktraktal des Anonymus 4, 2 vols., Beihefte
zum Archiv fur Musikwissenschaft, 4-5 (Wiesbaden, 1967) vol. I, p. 46. Indeed, the
absence of any comparative material has meant that the chronological implications
of the dates apparently associated with these works (see most recently M. Everist,
Polyphonic Music in Thirteenth-Century France: Aspects of Sources and Distribution (New York
and London, 1989), pp. 5-6) have been hotly debated. See, for a representative
sample of this argument, H . Tischler, 'The Dates of Perotin', Journal of the American
Musicological Society, 16 (1963), pp. 240-1; idem, 'Perotinus Revisited', Aspects of Medieval
and Renaissance Music: A Birthday Offering to Gustave Reese, ed. J . LaRue (Oxford, 1967),
pp. 803-17; E. Sanders, 'The Question of Perotin's Oeuvre and Dates', Festschrift fur
Walter Wiora Zum 30. Dezember 1966, ed. L. Finscher and C.-H. Mahling (Kassel etc.,
1967), pp. 241-9. At the time of writing, a further contribution to the question is
forthcoming (S. Pinegar, 'Between Pope and Monarch: A Return to Dating Ptrotin's
organa quadrupla', American Musicological Society Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, 26-
30 October 1994).
60
The polyphonic rondeau c. 1300
Adam de la Halle's motets - edited in Wilkins, Lyric Works, pp. 58-69 - have received
less attention than they deserve. They exhibit large stylistic inconsistencies both
within the group and between Adam's works and the rest of the thirteenth-century
motet repertory. For a view of the texts of Adam's motets, see S. Huot, 'Transform-
ations of Lyric Voice in the Songs, Motets and Plays of Adam de la Halle', Romanic
Review, 78 (1987), pp. 148-64.
' The poems were edited in Raynaud, Recueil de Motets, vol. rr, pp. 94-107. Friedrich
Ludwig mentioned them briefly (Repertorium organorum recentioris et motetorum vetustissimi
stili, vol. I , part 2, pp. 616-171, and Friedrich Gennrich published as much of the
musically related material as was known in 1921 (Rondeaux, Virelais und Balladen, vol.
r, pp. 74-87). F. Ludwig, Repertorium organorum recentioris et motetorum vetustissimi stili, 2
vols.: vol. r, part 1, Halle, 1910; R ed. L. A. Dittmer, Musicological Studies, 7
(Brooklyn, N.Y. and Hildesheim, 1964); vol. 1, part 2, pp. 345-456, ed. F. Gennrich,
Summa Musicae Medii Aevi, 7 (Langen bei Frankfurt, 1961; including reprint of
Ludwig, 'Die Quellen der Motetten altesten Stils', Archiu fur Musikwissenrchaft, 5 (1923),
pp. 185-222 and 273-315); vol. I, part 2, pp. [345-4561, [457-783, R e d . L. A. Dittmer,
Musicological Studies, 26 (Binningen, 1978); vol. 11, pp. 1-71, ed. F. Gennrich, Summa
Musicae Medii Aevi, 8 (of which pp. 65-71 in page proof only) (Langen bei Frankfurt,
1962); R pp. 1-155 (of which pp. 65-71 corrected), ed. L. A. Dittmer, Musicological
Studies, 17 (Brooklyn, N.Y., and Hildesheim, 1972). F. Gennrich, Rondeaux, Virelais
und Balladen aus dem Ende des xii., dem xiii., und dem ersten Drittel des xiv. Jahrhunderts
mit den iiberlieferten Melodien, 3 vols.: vol. I, Gesellschaft fur Romanische Literatur, 43
(Dresden, 1921); vol. rr, Gesellschaft fur Romanische Literatur, 47 (Gottingen, 1927);
vol. rtr (titled Das altfranzbj.ische Rondeau und Virelai i m 12. und 13. Jahrhundert), Summa
Musicae Medii Aevi, 10 (Langen bei Frankfurt, 1963). Both Ludwig (Repertorium,
vol. I, part 2, p. 616) and Gennrich (Rondeaux, Virelais und Balladen, vol. 11, p. 90)
noted that the music for these lyrics would have been in three parts. The poetry is
also edited, with no indications of music, in van den Boogaard, Rondeaux et Refains,
pp. 81-90. The dating of the manuscript is much less specific than that of F-Pn fr.
25566. The early fourteenth-century date advanced in L. Walters, 'ChrCtien de Troyes
and the Romance of the Rose: Continuation and Narrative Tradition' (Ph.D. diss.,
Princeton University, 1986), pp. 363-87, is based on a private consultation with
Franqois Avril of the Bibliothkque Nationale. This dating cannot be supported by
the decoration in the manuscript (because it was never executed), and is therefore
based mostly on precarious paleographical assessments. Raynaud (Recueil de Motets,
vol. rr, p. xii) places the manuscript at the end of the thirteenth century.
Mark Everist
62
T h e polyphonic rondeau c. 1300
The scribe has left 16mm for the notation of the monophonic refraiw and 48mm for
The section of F - C A 1328 devoted to the four polyphonic rondeaux by Adam has little
to do with the rest of the manuscript, for which see I. Lerch, Fragmente aus Cambrai:
Ein Beitrag zur Rekonstruktion einer Handschrift mit spatmittelalterlicher Polyphonic, 2 vols.,
previous accounts of the subject. Coussemaker, Histoire de l'harmonie au moyen age (Paris,
1852; R Hildesheim, 1966), p. xxxi, gives a facsimile of the recto of the leaf on which
'Li dous regars' is found, and a transcription on p. xxxv. Both versions of the
l3
In Example 1, all three voice-parts have been reduced to a single stave for each
version of the piece, and doublings are not noted (hence the apparent mixture of
two- and three-part sonorities). The reduction also filters out middleground voice-
leading and foreground ornamentation; it is in these domains that the two versions
differ greatly. The criteria for executing such a reduction as this are problematic in
mode I1 compositions, even (as here) where the text declamation follows the modal
rhythms of the music. Example 1 uses sonorities on the longa for its principal entries,
and those on the second brevis for its single subsidiary entry. What the graph does
not show, for reasons of space, is a comparison between the two versions that takes
account of all the sonorities on the second brevis. Differences between the two versions
Mark Everist
Figure 1 Comparison of F-Pn fr. 25566, fol. 34', and F-Pn fr. 12786, fol. 78'
spill over into this dimension. Users of the edition in Wilkins, Lyric Works, p. 50,
should note that the final pitch in the top part of the version from F-Pn fr. 25566
is given as d (thus creating a 6-5 sonority). The manuscript evidence that it should
be f is clear. See pp. 93-5 below for a consideration of the tessitura of the voice
parts in the two versions.
The polyphonic rondeau c. 1300
mon orcr c
mat)uQm
F-CA 1328
k d
(F-Pn fr. 25566 and F-CA 1328) they may occur in a further pair
of sources (F-Pn fr. 25566 and 12786) where the surviving mater-
ial does not allow exact verification. Although the versions of
the Adam rondeaux shared between F-Pn fr. 25566 and fr. 12786
may have exhibited the same sorts of variants found between
F-Pn fr. 25566 and F-CA 1328, they would have been essentially
the same compositions.
The immediate significance of the rondeaux in F-Pn fr. 12786 is
that they increase the number of such works that are known to
have existed: the total of 16 works - all by Adam de la Halle -
should be enlarged to 47. Furthermore, the context in which these
compositions are found - as part of an anonymous anthology - at
least leaves open the possibility that other composers might have
been involved in composing these works. Table 1 gives infor-
mation about the entire repertory, beginning with the works by
Adam and moving on to the texts in F-Pn fr. 12786.14
In the table, a number is assigned to each work in the left-hand
column. The second column gives the incipit of the work; the
third indicates the work's poetic structure (R,, R, and so on
standing for rondeau simple, rondeau tercet etc.). I n the last column,
concordances in other manuscripts are noted; the four pieces that
appear in both the principal manuscripts are listed twice, once
in F-Pn fr. 25566 and once in F-Pn fr. 12786 (thus no. 20, 'Bonne
Amourete', is the same as no. 14).
l4
The table also includes, for the sake of completeness, the well-known rondeau by
Jehannot de L'Escurel and the two less well-known anonymous works in Paris,
Bibliothkque Nationale, Collection de Picardie 67; the latter are edited in Gennrich,
Rondeaux, Virelais und Balladen, vol. 11, pp. 262-4. They are excluded from the current
discussion because, despite their superficial similarity to the works by Adam de la
Halle, they exhibit different patterns of texting and, in one case, an initial polyphonic
melisma that invites comparison with later fourteenth-century chansons. They are
important witnesses in an ongoing study of the emergence of polyphonic song in the
early fourteenth century.
The polyphonic rondeau c. 1300
Table 1 (cont.)
- - -
author corpus
L i gieus de Robin et de Marion fols. 39'49'
Le Jeu de la Feuillie fols. 49r-59"
Le Roy du Sezile fols. 59"-65'
L i vers d'amours fols. 65'-66'
L i congies Adan fols. 66"-67'
L i uers de le mort fols. 67L68'
text = centre
of MS
Les I V Evangelistes fols. 179'-182'
L i Tournoiemens Antecrist fols. 182'-207"
L i Consaus d'Amours [Richard de Fournival] fols. 207'-2 17'
L i III Mors et li III Ms [Baudouin de fols. 217'-218'
Condi]
L i I I I Mors et li 111 Vis [Nicole de Margival] fols. 218'-219"
L a Chace du Cerf fols. 221'-223'
L i III Mors et li III Vis fols. 223"-224'
Le Roi qui racata le laron fols. 225'-227'
De le Homme fols. 227"-229"
Des Trois Signes fols. 229"-231'
D u Honteus Menestrel fols. 23 1'-232'
Le Dis du Vrai Aniel fols. 232'-235'
Le Dis de la Lampe fols. 235'-237'
De le Brebis des Reubee fols. 237"-239"
Des Eskies fols. 239"-241"
Dou Faucon fols. 242'-244'
Le Cointise fols. 244'-245'
L i Dis dou Pre fols. 245'-247'
D u Courtois Donneur fols. 247'-248
D u Sot le Conte fols. 248"-250"
Le Songe dou Castel fols. 250"-253'
L i Congies d'Arras [Baude Fastoul] fols. 253'-258'
L i Poissance d'Amours [Richard de fols. 258'273'
Fournival]
L i Honneurs et li Vertus Wean Petit d'Arras] fols. 273"-278'
Dit d'Amours [Nevelos d'Amiens] fols. 278'-280'
L i Congie Wean Bode1 d'Arras] fols. 280'-283'
70
The polyphonic rondeau c. 1300
Ibid., p. 70 (whence most of the ideas in this paragraph are also taken). The suggestion
that these lines were part of the conjunction of these two texts in this manuscript
alone was made in E. Langlois, ed., Le jeu de Robin ef .Marion par Adam le Bossu,
20
Huot, From Song to Book, p. 73 n. 37.
Mark Everist
'I Ibid., p. 7 3 .
'' Ibid.
23 The frame ruling of the manuscript is consistent throughout the manuscript
(155mm X 200mm), although three different internal ruling patterns are found: verse
in columns, prose in columns, and presentation across the full width of the written
block; this latter format is found in the Fournival Bestiaire (fols. 31-42) and in the
rondeau collection (fols. 76-82). The handwriting is also consistent: i is dotted in
minim groups and in isolation; double I is joined at the top but not crossed; a is in
two compartments.
24
The quiring is as follows: r8, II', III', rv6 (lacks 7 and 8), v-rx8, x5 (lacks 4-6), XI-
x11r8.
The polyphonic rondeau c. 1300
25
E. Langlois, Les manuscrits du Roman de la rose: Description et classement, Travaux et
MCmoires de I'Universit6 de Lille, Nouvelle Serie, I: Droit, Lettres, 7 (Lille, 1910),
pp. 49-52.
26
'' L. Pannier, Les lapidairer ran~aisdu moyen Bge des xi?, xiii' et xiu' riicles, Bibliothique
de ~ ' B c o ~des d
e Hautes tudes, 52 (Paris, 1882), pp. 291-7, gives the text of the
lapidary and observes (ibid., p. 289) that the text is 'incomplet du dernier feuillet'.
However, F. Sue ('Contribution ii l'itude des lapidaires anonymes en prose fran~ais',
Ph.D, diss., kcole National des Chartes, 1975), pp. 20, 371-2 and 393-4) shows that
it is possible to view the version of the text in F-Pn fr. 12786 as complete. I a m
grateful to Dr Sue for discussing this matter with me in March 1994.
2R
Bibliographical orientation for these texts is in Segre, Bertiaires d'amours, pp, xxxix-xl.
The polyphonic rondeau c. 1300
29
The Roman de la poire is a typical case. Of its three manuscript sources, F-Pn fr.
12786 leaves space for the refrains, F-Pn fr. 2186 supplies stave-lines for the refrains,
and F-Pn fr. 24431 supplies notation for the three refrains that survive in this fragmen-
tary source.
31
Both Segre (Bestiaires d'amours, p. xxxix) and Huot (From Song to Book, p. 16) make
this error.
32
Sanz decevoir,
De moi retraire
De la deboneire
The conventions governing the composition of French texts to newly composed and
reworked motets are outlined in Everist, French Motets, pp. 43-54.
36
anciens chansonniersfranqais (xi? si2cle) publiCs d'aprks tous les manuscrits (Paris, 1870;
38
Although the two poems are isometric - heptasyllabic in 'Por vous douz viaire cler',
decasyllabic in 'Puis qu'en moi' - the refrain in 'Por vous douz viaire cler' uses, as
3g
The leaf at the beginning of the quire in which the rondeau collection and prefatory
pieces are found is only half filled, with a large amount of white space at the top
of the page. Once the first two (incomplete) pieces are reconstructed, it is clear that
this leaf would originally have been filled with text and (if the manuscript had been
completed) with music. That still leaves open the question of why the top part of
fol. 76 was erased. There is still the possibility that, after reaching the stage of
construction at which the manuscript was abandoned, someone thought that fol. 76
might be a good place for an elaborate half-page miniature, and that this quire
should begin the manuscript. The fact that such a procedure damaged the first two
pieces might well have triggered the decision to abandon work on the book.
The polyphonic rondeau c. 1300
at least one of the texts in each of the first two major sections -
the lapidary and the bestiary - has more in common with these
technical texts than does the rondeau collection. T h e musical texts
in the manuscript are evenly divided among the three sections:
the lyric insertions in the Roman de la poire (clearly designed to
be provided with music) in the first, and the rondeau collection
in the third. The son poiteuin that separates the Bestiaire d'amours
from the Roman de la rose in the second major section is poetically
analogous - it is presumably a lyric for singing - but, because
it was demonstrably copied without the intention of supplying
music, it stands apart from the music of the rondeaux or the
Roman de la poire.
The rondeaux in the codex F-Pn fr. 12786 have a special place
in the history of manuscript compilation around 1300. They also
invite comparison with the polyphonic rondeaux by Adam de la
Halle, to see if the latter are typical of rondeau composition around
1300, or if they are the idiosyncratic caprices of one of the
most imaginative musical and poetic minds of the late thirteenth
century.
Given that Adam de la Halle's rondeaux form part of an opera
omnia in F-Pn fr. 25566, it is likely that those pieces in F-Pn
fr. 12786 which have no concordances in Adam's work are the
work of another composer. In addition to the concordances
already discussed, one work in F-Pn fr. 25566 survives as a
monody in the so-called Vatican Chansonnier, Rome, Biblioteca
Apostolica-Vaticana, Reg. Lat. 1490 (I-Ruat Reg. Lat. 1490). T h e
concordance-base for the rondeau collection in F-Pn fr. 12786 is
similar. There are certainly more unica in F-Pn fr. 12786 - twenty-
seven out of thirty-four, or 79% - than in F-Pn fr. 25566, where
seven out of sixteen (only 44%) are unique; this may be nothing
more than a reflection of the subsequent fate of concordant source
material. F-Pn fr. 12786 also has concordances in I-Ruat Reg.
Lat. 1490, and adds two concordances from the poetry anthology
Oxford, Bodleian Library, Douce 308.
Both collections of rondeaux exhibit similar patterns of preference
in terms of poetic and musical structure. Table 1 gives the
musico-poetic structure of each rondeau by identifying rondeaux
simples, tercets and quatrains, as well as freer structures that do
not reflect these conventions. T h e rondeau simple is the most
Mark Everist
Problems of reconstruction abound in these freer structures. In 'Diex, vez les ci' and
'Trop me regardez', both from F-Pn fr. 12786, it is far from clear exactly how the
incipits for the refraim should be realised; in the latter case there is disagreement as
to how to interpret the lines of five and ten syllables. Gennrich (Rondeaux, Virelais
und Balladen, vol. I , p. 86) emends to create a ten-line rondeau, without comment (ibid.,
vol. 11, p. 98), whereas van den Boogaard (Rondeaux et refains, p. 89) leaves a poem
with refain lines of ten syllables and additamenta lines of five. I n the case of Adam
de le Halle's 'Dieus soit', Wilkins (Ljric Works, pp. 58-9) and Raynaud (Recueil de
motets, vol. 11, pp. 113-14) disagree radically over the structure of the poem. Neither
Falck's description of this poem as a 'ballade with initial refrain' nor his identification
of 'Fines amouretes' as a virelai has anything to recommend it apart from the dubious
authority of Gennrich (Rondeaux, Virelais und Balladen, vol. 11, p. 85, where he chastises
Raynaud for not having recognised 'den Bau der Ballade'). Nevertheless, this view
is still duplicated in L. Earp, 'Lyrics for Reading and Lyrics for Singing in Late
Medieval France: The Development of the Dance Lyric from Adam de la Halle to
Guillaume de Machaut', The Union of Words and Music in Medieval Poetv, ed. R. A.
Baltzer, T . Cable and J. I . Wimsatt (Austin, T X , 1991), p. 103. 'Fines amouretes'
consists of four complete statements of a refrain separated by three four-line sections
that constitute the additamenta. Of the two remaining freer poems, 'Qu'ai je forfet'
lacks an internal statement of the refrain, and 'Li jors m'a trovt', although its refrain
functions normally, has new lines grouped in threes.
41
Earp, 'Lyrics for Reading and Lyrics for Singing', p. 109.
80
The polyphonic rondeau c. 1300
This summary is an excellent point of departure for a contex-
'Ovrez moi' is not perhaps a text that Machaut would have set
81
Mark Everist
In the case of 'Dame, or sui', the one rondeau by Adam de la
Halle that is also found in a monophonic form in I-Rvat Reg.
Lat. 1490, the melody is that of the middle voice of the polyphonic
version, although there are melodic differences between the two
versions (Example 2). The fact that the pitches of the monody
cannot be fitted to the polyphony is typical of cases where
single voices of polyphonic compositions circulate independently.
'Dame, or sui' is a typical example of the slightly rarer type of
mixed-modal declamation found in Adam's rondeaux. I n some
perfections, the declamation follows the mode I1 patterns of the
musical superstructure, whereas in others, the declamation is on
the longa perfects. The monophonic version of 'Dame, or sui' is
transmitted in a rhythmically neutral notation, and this is
reflected in the transcription. Clear differences exist in perfection
6 of the polyphony (the first two syllables of the word 'l'ocoison'),
where the ornamental differences spill over into a structural
43
I t is for these sorts of reasons that the reconstructions in Gennrich, Rondeaux, Virelais
und Balladen need to be treated with a degree of circumspection.
" Motet voices are identified according to the listings in Gennrich, Bibliographic der
altesten franzosischen und lateinischen Motetten.
'' Motets with French tenors are discussed in Ludwig, Repertorium, passim, and usefully
collected together in T. Walker, 'Sui tenor francesi nei motetti del '200', Schede
Medievali: Rassegna dell'0f'jcina di Studi Medievali, 3 (July-December 1982), pp. 309-36.
Mark Everist
Example 3 . (872) 'Dame bele et avenant' - (873) 'Fi, mari de vostre amour' - 'Nus
n'iert ja jolis' (U.I.) in F-MO H 196, fols. 300"-301': comparison of first seven bars with
rondeau 'Fi, maris' in F-Pn fr. 25566, fols. 33'-33", and with rondeau 'Nus n'iert ja jolis'
in F-Pn fr. 12786, fol. 79'
MOTET, F-VO
H 1116. S ~ ~ l ~ 3 O ~ l v - 3 O l ~
46
The differences in function and presentation between intertextual and intratextual
refrains are discussed in Everist, French Motets, pp. 54-66. It must be stressed, however,
that this difference is not generic but functional (and this distinction has been recently
criticised verbally as being a poor generic description, though it was never intended
as such). In other words, the same refrain (text and/or music) can behave intertextually
(being present in two or more different poems) or intratextually within the same poem.
The great value of this distinction is epistemological: the methods of identification of
refrains are different for the two types.
The polyphonic rondeau c. 1300
47
T h e compositions in which this technique is found are sometimes known as motets
enti's. See ibid., pp. 77-89, for a critique and an alternative interpretation.
Mark Everist
Table 4 A d a m de la Halle, rondeaux 5, 6, 11, 12 and 14: refrains
and concordances in F-Pn fr. 25566 and F-MO H 196
Rondeau Refrain Motet
5 12 (834) 'Aucun se sont lot' - (835) ' A Dieu que-
ment' - 'Super te orta est' (U.I.):
F-MO H 196 fols. 288-290; F-Pn fr.25566 fols.
34"-35'
6 746 (872) 'Dame bele et avenant' - (873) 'Fi, mari,
de vostre amour' - 'Nus n'iert' (U.I.):
F-MO H 196 fols. 300"-301'; I-Rvat Reg. Lat.
1543 fol. 1b'
11 823 (884) 'Bien met amours' - (885) 'Dame, alegits
ma grevance' - 'A Paris' (U.I.):
F-MO H 196 fols. 330'-331"
(878) 'Theoteca, virgo geratica' - (879) 'La pour
qoi' - 'Qui prandroit' (U.I.):
F-MO H 196 fols. 348'349'
12 496 (33) 'De ma dame' - (34) 'Dieus, coumant porroie' -
'Omnes' (M1 ):
F-MO H 196 fols. 311'314; F-Pn fr.25566 fol.
35"
14 289 (1073) 'Bone amorete m'a soupris':
F-Pn fr.844 fol. 5'
Cha'tillon, Jakemart Giblb et leur temps: Actes du colloque de Lille, Octobre 1978, ed. H .
Roussel and F. Suard, Bien dire et bien aprendre: Bulletin du Centre d'gtudes
Identification of sources for Renart le nou~elfollows Roussel, Renart le nouael, pp. 7-9.
Mark Everist
Table 5 Adam de la Halle, rondeaux 1, 3, 6-8, and 14: refrains
and concordances in Renart le nouvel
Rondeau Refrain Line C L F V
1 1074 6670 x
3 784 6698 x x x
6 746 6864 x x
7 430 6824 x
8 156 6718 x x x
14 289 2552 x
Key: C: F-Pn fr. 372 L: F-Pn fr. 1581 F: F-Pn fr. 1593 V : F-Pn fr. 25566
der - which are all found in the V text - use exactly the same
music as the refrains of the rondeaux. I n so far as it is possible to
make any comparison with the concordances between Renart le
nouvel and the rondeaux in F-Pn fr. 12786, textual readings suggest
that those works share as much with the F and L texts of the
romance as they do with the V text. As in the case of the motets,
the rondeaux in F-Pn fr. 25566 have a closer relationship with the
refrains in the version of Renart le nouvel preserved in the same
manuscript (the V text) than with those in other versions. Con-
versely, the rondeaux in F-Pn fr. 12786 do not exhibit this
characteristic.
The discussion of 'Fi, maris' and 'Nus n'iert ja jolis' and their
associated motet prompts more general questions as to how Adam
de la Halle and the anonymous composer(s) of the works in
F-Pn fr. 12786 composed polyphonic rondeaux. What is still the
most extensive discussion of Adam's rondeaux, and implicitly of
those in F-Pn fr. 12786, was presented by Jacques Handschin in
1927; Gustave Reese gave Handschin's account much greater
prominence with his commentary in Music in the Middle Ages.''
Handschin was interested in Adam's rondeaux because he regarded
some works as having the 'main melody' in the middle voice
rather than in the lowest.j2 Handschin's position can be explained
G. Reese, Music in the Middle Ages with an Introduction on the Music of Ancient Times
(London, 1941), p. 322; J. Handschin, 'tiber Voraussetzungen, sowie Fruh- und
Hochblute der mittelalterlichen Mehrstimmigkeit', Schweizerisches Jahrbuch fur Musikwis-
senschaft, 2 (1927), pp. 29-30.
j2
53
The monophonic rondeau 'Dame, or sui' that is concordant in F-Pn fr. 25566 (and is
presumably by Adam de la Halle) is unattributed in its monophonic form in I-Rvat
Reg. Lat. 1490.
j4
55
Rondeau 7 exhibits a single example of crossing between voices I and 11, and rondeau
9 one crossing of voices I and 111; these are ignored in Table 6 for reasons of clarity.
The different voice ranges in rondeau 2 may be compared with the contrapuntal
summary of this piece in Example 1. This is one of the two pieces in which all three
voices cross, and it is especially interesting that this is a characteristic of both the
versions in F - P n fr. 25566 and F - C A 1328, further reinforcing the claim that, despite
superficial differences, the two works share the same structure. Table 6 also suggests
that the voice parts in rondeau 3 may have been swapped at some stage since I1 is
so obviously higher than I. Although this is common in motet sources, where voices
are notated in parts, it is far from clear what textual disturbances could have
generated this transposition in a composition notated in score.
Mark Everist
A SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY
VIRTUOSA*
* The archival research for this article was made possible by grants from the National
Endowment for the Humanities and the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation. An earlier
version of this paper was read at the South Central Chapter of the American Musicological
Society, Maryville College, Maryville, Tennessee, April 1993, and the 1993 Conference
of the Society for Seventeenth-Century Music, St Louis, April 1993. I would like to
thank Karen Carter-Schwendler, Jonathan Glixon, Wendy Heller, Colleen Reardon, Ellen
Rosand and two anonymous readers for their valuable comments on earlier drafts of this
article, as well as Irene Alm, Wendy Heller, Robert Holzer, Robert Kendrick and Ellen
Rosand, who consulted materials unavailable to me in a number of libraries. I am also
indebted to Sylvia Dimiziani, Frederick Hammond, Robert Holzer and Margaret Murata
for their expertise on music in Rome; to Robert Kendrick for music in Milan; to Monica
Chojnacka, Stanley Chojnacki and Guido Ruggiero for Venetian social history; and to
Nello Barbieri for his assistance with some of the translations.
' Archivio di Stato di Venezia [hereafter 'ASV'], Scuola Grande di San Marco [hereafter
'SGSM'], busta [hereafter 'b.'] 188 and b. 194. For a bibliography concerning these
and other materials that constitute the 'Faustini papers' in the Archivio di Stato, see
note 107 below.
Beth L. Glixon
98
Scenes from the life of Silvia Gailarti Manni
to Florence for his instruction (1627), while Girolamo Zampetti studied in Rome first
' with Johann Hieronymus Kapsberger (1626) and then with Stefano Landi (1627).
Venice, Biblioteca Civica Correr, PDC 1055, fol. 385: 'San Moist: Un putello et una
putella d'anni 9 in circa valorissisimi' (letter of Lorenzo di Vico, 29 December 1665).
In the transcriptions of Italian manuscript documents, abbreviations have been silently
expanded, and punctuation, accents and capitalisation have been modernised; spelling
has been left as in the original. Printed sources have not been altered.
O n Francesca Caccini and her daughter see S. Cusick, "'Thinking from Women's
Lives": Francesca Caccini after 1627', in Rediscovering the Muses: Women's Musical
Traditions, ed. K. Marshall (Boston, 1993), pp. 206-25.
O n Basile's career see A. Ademollo, La 6ell'Adriana ed altre virtuose del suo tempo alla
corte di Mantova (Citti di Castello, 1888), and S. Parisi, 'Ducal Patronage of Music
in Mantua, 1587-1627: An Archival Study' (Ph.D. diss., University of Illinois, 1989).
O n Francesca Caccini, see C. Raney, 'Francesca Caccini, Musician to the Medici,
and Her Prima Libra (1618)' (Ph.D, diss., New York University, 1971); J. Bowers,
'The Emergence of Women Composers in Italy, 1566-1700', in Women Making Music:
The Western Art Tradition, 115&1950, ed. J . Bowers and J. Tick (Urbana and Chicago,
1986), pp. 116-61 (esp. 123-4); W.Kirkendale, The Court Musicians in Florence During
the Pn'ncipate of the Medici, Historiae Musicae Cultores Biblioteca, 61 (Florence, 1993),
pp. 308-29. See also S. C . Cook and T . K. LaMay, Virtuose in I t a h 160&1640: A
Reference Guide (New York, 1984).
'O
T . J. McGee, 'Pompeo Caccini and Euridice: New Biographical Notes', Renaissance and
Reformation, new series, 14 (1990), pp. 81-99 (esp. 82-7).
Beth L. Glixon
Silvia, born around 1629, was the daughter of the Roman gentle-
man Silvestro Gailarti, of whom we know nothing, and the
Roman singer Dionora or Leonora Luppi, who led an extraordi-
nary life.'* Luppi's artistic activities in Rome are as yet
uncharted, as are other particulars concerning her family, but
by 1633 she was married to Lorenzo Presciani.13 Luppi later
described how her husband, who spent much of that year away
from Rome, had sent money intended for her to the palace of
Don Taddeo Barberini in Rome.14 Barberini, who held many
titles including that of Prefect of Rome, was the nephew of Pope
Urban V I I I , and his family enjoyed great power and wealth
and had a love of the arts.15 Although the nature of the Prescian-
I'
E. Strainchamps, 'The Life and Death of Caterina Martinelli: New Light on Montever-
di's "Arianna" ', Early Music History, 5 (1985), pp. 155-86 (esp. 157-61); see also
Parisi, 'Ducal Patronage of Music in Mantua, 1587-1627', p. 457.
In Luppi's will (to be discussed below) she calls herself the daughter of Giovanni
Battista of 'Reggio di Lombardia' (i.e. Reggio Emilia). I t is unclear whether she was
born in Rome or merely moved there at an early age for professional reasons.
Nonetheless, in Venetian sources she is always described as 'Romana'.
l3
ASV, Archivio Notarile, Atti Simon Bariletti, b. 984, 9 January 1643 (more z~eneto
1642), fol. 97. (The Venetian calendar began on 1 March, rather than 1 January.
Hereafter, all dates are given in modern style.) The document states that 'il signor
Lorenzo suo marito parti di Roma del 1633'; presumably Lorenzo was her husband
in 1633. The surnames of Silvia and her mother are found in a number of different
spellings (Gaillardi, Gailardi, Gailarti, Galearti; Persiani, Presciani, Pressiani,
Bressani). On the relationship between Luppi and Silvestro Gailarti, see pp. 116-18
below.
l4
In 1633, letters containing convertible funds were sent in care of a certain Steffano
del Giudice. Luppi's wording suggests that Barberini himself turned the letters over
to del Giudice, who then gave them to Luppi: 'erano inviate a1 Signor Steffano del
Giudice le lettere, et detto signor Steffano I'andava a pigliare a1 Pallazzo dal Signor
Don Tadeo Barbarino, essendole a lei poi state consignate'. I6id.
l5
On the Barberini and their palaces, see P. Waddy, Seventeenth-Century Roman Palaces:
Use and the Art of the Plan (Kew York, Cambridge, Mass., and London, 1990); and
J . B. Scott, Images of Nepotism: The Painted Ceilings of Palazzo Barberini (Princeton,
1991). Taddeo Barberini sponsored the opera Enninia sul Giordano; see M. Murata,
Operasfor the Papal Court 1631-1668 (Ann Arbor, 1981), pp. 23, 249. O n the Barberini
brothers' patronage of music, see Hammond, 'More on Music in Casa Barberini',
and C. Moore, The Composer Michelangelo Rossi: A 'Diligent Fantasy Maker' in Seuenteenth-
Scenes from the life of Silvia Gailarti Manni
is' connection with Barberini is unclear, Luppi must have been
part of the musical world in Rome, for the composer Francesco
Manelli and the singer Antonia Viglietta knew her there; they,
and Maria de Curti (also a singer?), later asserted that she had
gone to Venice around 1639.16 She may have done so in order
to sing in opera (or to raise her daughter in a city where she
in turn might sing in public opera), but of this we have no
evidence.
Luppi first comes to our attention in Venice during August
1642, when she appealed (on both Silvia's and her own behalf)
to the Council of Ten, the government body charged with main-
tenance of state security and public morality, to hear a case
involving her and her daughter." Luppi (using the name Leonida
Presciani) accused the musician Giovanni Carlo del Cavalieri of
seducing her thirteen-year-old daughter, Silvia, and then planning
both to kidnap Silvia and to poison Luppi herself. The dossier
compiled by the Council of Ten included a statement by Luppi;
testimony by Silvia, a female servant (Francesca Seraffini), a
tailor (Francesco Fiorentini), two Venetian noblemen (Nicolb
Gabriel and Matteo Dandolo), and one Antonio Pessina; and
physical evidence comprising two letters written by Cavalieri and
a flask (the last item no longer extant).''
Silvia's passionate testimony (taken on 20 August 1642) is too
lengthy to be quoted in full, but even a few excerpts convey the
flavour of the proceedings. She began:
I am called Silvia Gailarti, daughter of the late Signor Silvestro, a
Roman gentleman. My mother, who is alive, is called Leonida, and
we live in this city in the parish of San Cassiano.lg
20
'[UJn guidone, un furfante voleva tossicare mia madre, che io per6 non sapevo
niente'. ASV, CCD, Suppliche.
Scenes from the life of Silvia Gailarti Manni
would have to go away with him secretly so that my mother would
not become aware of it.21
I t seems that at first Silvia was willing to go away with her
teacher. She informed him, however, that it would be impossible
to do so without her mother hearing them, because unlocking
and locking the door made so much noise. Cavalieri said that
she should leave everything to him, that he would give Luppi a
sleeping potion so that she would hear nothing. This development
made the girl uneasy. Cavalieri continued to insist that they
'Li mesi passati, avanti carnovale, capitb in casa nostra per mezo d'un tal Marc'An-
tonio Vasari, che fa il medico, un tal Giovanni Carlo del Cavaliere musico, disse
essere da Melfi, citti vicino a Napoli, con intentione di impararmi a cantare e sonare,
facendone noi professione tant'io quanto la signora madre. Onde con il lungo pratticare
comincib a mostrarmi segni d'affetto, con dire che se havessi acconsentito alle sue
voglie, m'harebbe presa per moglie, che lui era gentilhuomo e signore di gran qualiti
in que' paesi, et che mi harebbe messo in corte d'un Duca di Celenza, citti pur
sotto Napoli, con provisione di 200 scuti I'anno, tanto a me quanto a lui, senza
l'altre cose che mi haverebbe poi data lui come sua moglie, che non mi sarebbe
mancato mai il pane in vita, che sarei vessuta da gentildonna, che in fine tante
promissioni che non mi raccordo I'ameti. Ond'io, alletata da tante promissioni, et
con fermo proponimento che mi prendesse per moglie, acconsentii lasciandomi persua-
dere alle sue voglie, et quando fu passato il carnevale, che il tempo precis0 non mi
raccordo. Et poi, poco doppo che mi hebbe levato I'honore, mi disse che voleva
dimandarmi per moglie alla signora madre, ma andava portando avanti, et un giorno
mi mostrb certe lettere che diceva esser le venute dal suo paese. Kon so se fosse
fintione o da vero, et mi disse che g i i il male era fatto, et che haveva da dirmi una
cosa che gli rincresceva, persuadendomi ad haver patienza, et che quelli ch'era fatta
non poteva tornar piu in dietro, et finalmente mi disse che haveva moglie et che lui
non mi poteva pic pigliare per moglie, ma perb che non dubitassi, che mai m'haver-
ebbe mancato, che mi harebbe menato in casa di questo Duca, et se non m'havesse
piacciuta star 18, m'haverebbe condota alla corte della Vice Regina di Kapoli, overo
m'haverebbe preso ivi casa dove sarebbe pratticati principi cavalieri per la mia virth,
massime non essendovi di presente in quella citta altre virtuose, con la Dreana
hormai fatta vecchia. Sentendo io questo, mi misse a piangere, nC altro facevo tutto
il giorno, vedendomi priva del mio honore, e che lui non poteva pigliarmi per moglie.
In cappo a certo tempo, vedendo che io havevo la febre, et che ogni giorno stavo
male, mi disse che conosceva che ero gravida, et che bisognava che io andassi via
seco in ascoso, per che la Signora Madre non s'accorgesse.' ASV, CCD, Suppliche.
That Cavalieri was living in Luppi's house is evident from the testimony of the
servant, Francesca: 'la Signora Leonida mi disse che andassi a pigliare li drappi di
Giovanni Carlo nella sua camera che dormiva per farli lavare, come era solita fare;
andai a pigliarli' (Signora Leonida told me to get Giovanni Carlo's clothes from the
room where he slept in order to wash them, as it was usual to do; I went to get
them).
Carnival was understood to begin on 26 December and to end on Shrove Tuesday;
the opera season more or less coincided, though opera performances sometimes began
earlier. See B. L. Glixon and J. E. Glixon, 'Marco Faustini and Venetian Opera
Production in the 1650s: Recent Archival Discoveries', Journal of Musicology, 10 (1992),
pp. 48-73. At times an opera might be revived during Ascensiontide; and by the end
of the century there were other opera seasons as well.
Beth L. Glixon
must flee, saying that her mother would kill her once she knew
of her pregnancy. Though Cavalieri had planned their escape
for 18 July, Silvia insisted that she did not want her mother to
be drugged. O n the appointed day, Cavalieri became angry at
Silvia's resistance, said he wanted to go to Milan, took his boots,
and left the house, but not before frightening Silvia with menacing
remarks.
By this time, events had reached a critical point. O n 17 July,
Luppi had been warned by an acquaintance of sinister events
occurring in her household, and she could see, the following day,
that Silvia had been reduced to tears. When Nicolb Gabriel,
Luppi's and Silvia's noble protector (many singers, especially
women, had noblemen who acted in their behalf), came to visit,
Luppi asked him to learn the reasons behind Silvia's behaviour.
He found the young girl writing in her room. Silvia finally
confided in him (Matteo Dandolo, in his statement, referred to
Gabriel as the oldest friend of the household), and together they
approached Luppi, who did not take kindly to the behaviour of
Cavalieri and her daughter. Gabriel testified:
I told her everything, and she became irritated; then, returning to
herself, she burst into a great fury of tears, wanting to inflict harsh
punishment on the girl. I said that I had sworn that I wouldn't let
anything unpleasant happen. Thus I calmed her down, and she prom-
ised not to do anything ~ n p l e a s a n t . ~ ~
Cavalieri, meanwhile, had not gone to Milan, for he returned to
the Luppi household while Gabriel was talking with Luppi and
Silvia, as the nobleman revealed:
The said Giovanni Carlo knocked a t the door. Seeing him, the girl
said, 'Oh, dear sir, send him away.' So I went down to the door and
told him to remove himself from that house and not return. H e became
all confused and went away.23
22
'[Lli dissi il tutto, lei se n'andb in fastidio, e poi ritornata in s t proruppe in gran
furia di pianto. Volendo anco far dimostrationi rigorose contra la putta, io li dissi
che I'havevo fidata sopra di me che non le sarebbe stato fato spiacere. Onde I'aquetai,
facendomi promettere di non li far dispiacere.' ASV, CCD, Suppliche.
23
'[Ill detto Giovanni Carlo battt alla porta, et la puta vedutolo disse, "Ah, caro
signor, mandala via", e cosi andai da basso alla porta, et gli dissi che si scostasse
da quella casa, n t pic li capitasse, costui restb tutto confuso et si parti'. ASV, CCD,
Suppliche.
Scenes from the life of Silvia Gailarti Manni
Cavalieri sought refuge at the home of Matteo Dandolo and
asked two favours: that Dandolo give him lodging for the night,
and that he help to smooth over a certain unpleasantness (disgusto)
that had occurred between himself and Luppi and because of
which Gabriel had ordered him to leave Luppi's house.24H e told
the nobleman that Luppi had originally consented to allow him
to take Silvia to Naples and then had changed her mind. H e
went on to say that he had then persuaded Silvia to run away
with him, and thus had begun the actions that led to the loss
of her virginity (and the plans for their escape). Dandolo said
that as a friend of the family he could not offer hospitality to a
man who had offended the honour and reputation of a young
girl, and who had planned to drug an unknowing victim. The
musician returned the next morning bearing two unsealed letters,
one each for Luppi and Silvia, and asked that Dandolo have
them delivered. Dandolo instead gave the letters to Gabriel, who
after reading them became even more convinced of Cavalieri's
evil intentions.
The letter to Luppi, the longer of the two, ranged over a
number of topics but basically asked for her forgiveness and
suggested that she act prudently; Cavalieri wrote, for example,
'May you see, my dear Signora, that knowing how to restrain
one's anger is the greatest virtue that one can have.'25 The letter
is, in fact, rather vague in its message: Cavalieri was, undoubt-
edly, unsure as to how much Luppi knew about the proceedings
of the past months and days, so that he had to couch his prose
in rather general terms. In melodramatic, even operatic language,
he wrote:
Thus, though scorned, I return to your feet. I seek your pardon, I ask
mercy, and if you consider yourself offended by me or know me to be
worthy of death, here I am, ready to receive it; kill me with your
hands, for I am not going to move at
24
' . . . che essendoli sucesso un accidente, era capitato da me per ricercarmi due favori,
l'uno che volesse alloggiarlo per quella sera, l'altro che volesse accomodar con la
Signora Leonida certo disgusto passato tra loro, per il quale 1'Illustrissimo Gabriel
l'haveva mandato via da quella casa'. ASV, CCD, Suppliche.
25
'Veda, cara mia Signora, che '1 saper rafrenarse nell'ire t la maggior virth che possa
mai haver l'huomo.' ASV, CCD, Suppliche.
26
'Ritorno dunque a' suoi piedi, ben chi disprezzato. Cerco perdono, dimando misericor-
Beth L. Glixon
Cavalieri's letter to Silvia stated that her love for him would
now be tested; he suspected that the maid Francesca had betrayed
them (Cavalieri knew that Silvia had confided in her about their
relationship). He enclosed a sheet of paper so that Silvia might
write to him of developments (did he presume that her writing
paper would have been confiscated?). Perhaps most important,
the letter bore instructions that Silvia should go to a window
near the storeroom and destroy the flask she would find hidden
there. However, Silvia never saw the letter. Nicol6 Gabriel sub-
sequently found the flask, had the contents visually examined,
and then tested them on a pigeon bought expressly for the
purpose. The bird became ill and died shortly thereafter, convinc-
ing the onlookers that the contents were indeed poisonous.
The reports of Silvia, Gabriel and Dandolo provide us with
information beyond the crimes of defloration and attempted
murder. They allude, if only briefly, to musical entertainments
hosted by Luppi. Gabriel stated that he went to Leonida's house
'many times for the opportunity of [hearing] the music'.27 Dan-
dolo testified, 'For some time I have frequented the house of
Signora Leonida Romana, delighting sometimes in the musical
entertainment.'28 It is unclear how long these entertainments had
been offered, and who specifically provided the music. We can
assume that during much of 1642 the performers included Luppi,
Cavalieri and, probably, Silvia; but Cavalieri's predecessors, if
any, remain unknown. T h e names of guests other than Gabriel,
Dandolo and one Antonio Pessina (who reported 'finding myself
at the house of Signora Leonida Romana in [the parish of] San
Cassiano, where it was my habit to go sometimes for
entertainment')29 are absent. Predictably, the testimony centres
instead on the charges of seduction and attempted murder. Issues
such as musical aesthetics and repertoire are sadly lacking;
indeed, one wishes the witnesses had been more prolix in their
30
O n Lorenzo Presciani, see below. Elizabeth Cohen has pointed out to me in a private
communication that Presciani's absence from the case may be attributed to his
position as Silvia's stepfather, i.e., that it might have been inappropriate for him to
act in this matter. Still, had he been in the house during those days it seems that
his presence would have been mentioned by Silvia, Francesca, Gabriel or Dandolo.
3'
E. Rosand, 'Barbara Strozzi, virtuosissima cantatrice: The Composer's Voice', Journal of
the American Musicological Sociep, 31 (1978), pp. 241-81 (esp. 245).
32
34
'[Iln quella casa conobbi Giovanni Carlo deto il Cavalieri, et per esser persona perita
nella profession di componer di rnusica, li mostrai qualche segno d'affetto'. ASV,
CCD, Suppliche.
35
'[Mla so bene che quelle lettere sono di proprio suo pugno, havendo io cognitione
del suo carattere per haver veduti libri scritti da lui'. ASV, CCD, Suppliche.
36
' . . . poiche dando ad intendere alla tenera incautissima figliuola esser egli gentil-
huomo principalissimo di Melfi sua patria, et che di momento in momento atendeva
quantita d'oro'. ASV, CCD, Suppliche.
37
'[Dliceva di essere della citta di Melfi, et che era un prencipe, et molto ricco, che
in casa sua vi era gran servitu'. ASV, CCD, Suppliche.
38
Basile's dates are usually cited as c. 1580 (Posillipo) - c. 1640 (Rome); however, the
singer left Rome for Naples in November 1640. See J. Lionnet, 'Andre Maugars:
Risposta data a un curioso sul sentimento della musica d'Italia', Nuova Rivista Musicale
Italians, 19 (1985), pp. 681-707 (esp. 697-9).
Scenes from the life of Silvia Gailarti Manni
in a book that praised the talents of the most famous and
honoured singer in Venice at this time, Anna Renzi. The volume,
Le glorie della Signora Anna Renri Romana, published in 1644 by
some members of the influential Accademia degli Incogniti, con-
tains several types of poems by a variety of authors, some of
which commemorate Renzi's portrayals of specific roles. Cava-
lieri's contribution celebrated the singer's performance in Vin-
cenzo Nolfi's and Francesco Sacrati's Bellerofonte, mounted during
the 1641142 Carnival. The sonnet is signed 'Signor Cavalier
Giovanni Carlo del Cavalieri Romano'. Since we know that
Cavalieri hailed from the region of Naples, he must have had
some Roman connection that he or others wished to emphasise.
The inclusion of Cavalieri's sonnet demonstrates that his circle
of acquaintances probably extended beyond the friendship of
Gabriel and Dandolo, and the title 'Cavalier' would indicate a
fairly high social status, although the musician may not have
technically been a knighte3' Cavalieri could have become familiar
with Renzi's performance either as a spectator or as a musician
participating in the production; most of the contributors to Le
glorie, however, were not musicians, but intellectuals and con-
noisseurs of music.40Apparently the editors of the volume decided
to publish Cavalieri's contribution despite the offence it might
cause to Luppi and Silvia two years after Silvia's s e d ~ c t i o n . ~ '
O'
Giovanni Battista Settimo, for instance, corresponded with Loredano and was the
author of several books of poetry as well as several novelle published by the Incogniti;
Francesco Maria Gigante was the dedicatee of I1 Bellerofonte; Girolamo Brusoni was
a prolific writer of romanri. Many of the poems are signed only with initials rather
than full names; one of the authors so identified was probably the librettist Giacomo
Badoer. Cavalieri's contribution and the title 'Cavalier' may lend credence to his
claims of wealth, or at least to the perception in Venice of his wealth or high
standing. O n Le glorie della Slgnora Anna Renri Romana, see C. Sartori, 'La prima diva
della lirica italiana: Anna Renzi', Nuova Rivista Musicale Italiana, 2 (1968), pp. 430-
52; L. Bianconi and T. Walker, 'Dalla Finta p a r f a alla Veremonda: Storie di Febiarmon-
ici', Rivista Italiana di Musicologia, 10 (1975), pp. 379-454 (esp. 417-18, 442); and,
most recently, Ellen Rosand, Opera in Seventeenth-Century Venice: The Creation of a Genre
(Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1991), pp. 228-35, 385. The poems commemorating
specific roles were probably written close to the dates of the performances.
41
I t is reasonable to assume that many associated with the Incogniti - particularly
those with an interest in music - would have known of Silvia's and Luppi's ordeal,
especially owing to the connection with Dandolo. Venice was a particularly insular
community, and news of scandal, as well as of the activities of the Council of Ten,
often travelled quickly.
Beth L. Glixon
42
O n the Esecutori contro la Bestemmia, see R. Derosas, 'Moralita e giustizia a Venezia
nel '500-'600, gli Esecutori contro la Bestemmia', in Stato, societci e giustizia nella
repubblica veneta (sec. xv-xviii), ed. G. Cozzi (Rome, 1980), pp. 431-528. O n defloration
in Rome in the early 1600s, see E. S. Cohen, 'No Longer Virgins: Self-presentation
by Young Women in Late Renaissance Rome', in Rejguring Woman: Perspectives on
Gender and the Italian Renaissance, ed. M . Migiel and J. Schiesari (Ithaca and London,
1991), pp. 169-91.
43
ASV, Esecutori contro la Bestemmia, Raspe 1627-1692, b. 68, fols. 122'-122" (10
November 1650).
44
ASV, Archivio Notarile, Atti Giorgio Emo, b. 5504, fol. 124.
45
'Concludo: che la prudenza e la secretezza acconcia molte cose che esposte a1 public0
sono poi irremediabili, e che in un si et in un no nasce la morte e la pfrdita
dell'honore.' ASV, CCD, Suppliche.
Scenes from the life of Silvia Gailarti Manni
Gary Towne and Suzanne Cusick have suggested to me that Silvia might have had
a baby that she turned over to a foundling institution. Still, it seems significant that
Luppi did not cite Silvia's impregnation, which would have lent even greater weight
to her accusations.
47
Indeed, one of the chapters in Guido Ruggiero's book on sex crime and sexuality in
Renaissance Venice is entitled 'Fornication and Then Marriage'. See Ruggiero, The
Boundaries of Eros, Chapter Two.
48
O n the complex reading of cases involving love, witchcraft and magic in Renaissance
Venice, see G. Ruggiero, Binding Passions: Tales of Magic, Marriage, and Power at the
End of the Renaissance (New York and Oxford, 1993).
49
50
See McGee, 'Pompeo Caccini and Euridice', pp. 82-5.
M. D. Garrard, Artemisia Gentileschi: The Image of the Female Hero in Italian Baroque Art
(Princeton, 1989), p. 34. Garrard's book contains an English translation of the testi-
mony at the Gentileschi rape trial, which lasted seven months.
52
ASV, Archivio Notarile, Testamenti Andrea Bronzini, b. 64, no. 76.
Scenes from the life of Silvia Gailarti Manni
terms during this difficult year. Luppi left 40 ducats to her
servant Francesca and 50 scudi to her mother, whose name she
did not specify; she designated Silvia as her residuary legatee.
Luppi methodically listed the money she had in the house (about:
77 silver scudi, 16 zecchini, and 3 doble), and a sum owed to
her by the merchant Giacomo Galli (about 500 ducats).53
Two other monetary entries are of special interest, for they
provide further indications of Luppi's ties to music in Venice:
Francesco Cavalli owed the singer 100 scudi, while Signor Monte-
verdi and Signor Benedetto dalla Tiorba - that is, the composer
Benedetto Ferrari - together owed her about 200 scudi or (as
the will states) 'whatever figure appears in the agreement held
by the Illustrious Nicolb Gabriel'.54Although the evidence is not
entirely conclusive, these debts would seem to point specifically
to Luppi's participation in opera in Venice (with Nicolb Gabriel
acting as her protector, just as Silvia described him in the
processo), although it is unclear from the will which season or
which operas would account for them. During these years Fran-
cesco Cavalli was the impresario at the Teatro San Cassiano
and also had some involvement with the Teatro San M o ~ s Z . ~ ~
O n the other hand, for insight into Luppi's connections with
Ferrari - who was mounting operas at the Teatro SS. Giovanni
e Paolo and the Teatro San MoisZ - and with Monteverdi, we
must look a t yet another legal action, one taken by a singer who
called herself Leonida D ~ n a t i . ~ ~
53
The following monetary conversions obtained in Venice during the middle of the
seventeenth century: 1 ducat = 6.2 lire (6 lire, 4 soldi); 1 scudo = 9.3 lire; 1 doble =
28 lire; 1 cecchino = 17 lire. Giacomo Galli was an extremely wealthy merchant;
legacies from his will financed new faqades for both the church of San Salvatore and
the adjacent Scuola di San Teodoro.
54
'Sono anco creditrice del Signor Francesco Cavalli de scudi cento, del Signor Montev-
erdi et del Signor Benedetto dalla Tiorba de scudi ducento in circa, overo di quella
quantita che appare nel scritto che si ritrova in mano dell'Illustrissimo Signor Nicolb
Gabriel.' ASV, Archivio Notarile, Testamenti Andrea Bronzini, b. 64, no. 76.
55
O n Cavalli at the Teatro San Cassiano, see Morelli and Walker, 'Tre controversie',
pp. 94-108. O n the composer's activities at San Moist, see N. Pirrotta, 'The Lame
Horse and the Coachman', Music and Culture in Italy from the Middle Ages to the
Baroque (Cambridge, Mass., 1984), pp. 325-34 (esp. 333-4). See also Rosand, Opera
in Seventeenth-Centuv Venice, pp. 202-3.
56
Leonida Donati's legal action is discussed by Gastone Vio in a recent article, 'Musici
veneziani dei primi decenni del seicento: Discordie e bustarelle', Rassegna Veneta di
Studi Musicali, 5-6 (1989-go), pp. 375-85 (esp. 382-5). I would like to thank Tim
Carter, who informed me of this article.
Beth L. Giixon
57
The case appears in ASV, Cancelleria Inferiore, Atti del Doge, b. 197, no. 22.
58
'[El] vero che la Signora Silvia ha recitato che l'ho veduta. Quanto all'esser stata
condota, io non l'ho condota, n t meno so chi I'habbi condota.' Ibid., fol. 254".
Scenes from the life of Silvia Gailarti Manni
59
Although Vio transcribed Donati's affirmation, he neglected to mention the anomaly
of her signature.
60 ASV, Archivio Notarile, Atti Giovanni Battista Coderta, b. 2920, fol. 241" (11
February 1643). Beccari authorised Giovanni Aquabona to obtain the money from
Monteverdi.
ASV, Archivio Notarile, Atti Giovanni Battista Coderta, b. 2918, fol. 263" (28
February 1641). Antonio Grimani is also mentioned as a creditor. As the document
does not address Grimani as 'N.H.' (indicating noble status), the reference is probably
Beth L. Glixon
to the singer of that name rather than to Antonio, the brother of the theatre owner,
Giovanni Grimani.
62
ASV, Provveditori alla Sanita, b, 571, Santa Croce, San Cassan.
63
67
' . . . haver conosciuto in Roma la quondam Signora Dionora, sive Leonora Luppi,
che venne poi ad habitare in questa citta, gia anni sette in circa, et si faceva qui
chiamare Leonida Persiani'. ASV, Archivio Notarile, Atti Gabriel Gabrieli, b. 6668,
fol. 163' (cf. note 16 above).
68
The literature on courtesans has often referred to the practice of these women dressing
in men's clothing. Could Luppi's choice of a masculine name suggest a link with
the life of the courtesan? See C. Santore, 'Julia Lombardo, "Somtuosa Meretrize":
A Portrait by Property', Renaissance Quarterly, 41 (1988), pp. 44-83 (esp. 57-8).
6g
R. Casagrande, Le cortigiane veneziane nel cinquecento (Milan, 1968), p. 145, pp. 198-200,
239. Gaspara Stampa and Veronica Franco, two of the most famous courtesans, were
accomplished musicians.
70
Poetry was also featured at these gatherings. O n the entertainments in the Baroni
home, see B. M. Antolini, 'Cantanti e letterati a Roma nella prima meta del seicento:
Alcune osservazioni' in In cantu et in senone (Florence, 1989), pp. 347-62 (esp. 360-
1 ) . Although no printed documentation for these entertainments pre-dates 1639, by
which time Luppi was probably in Venice, they may have taken place earlier. Baroni
was in Rome from 1633.
"
See Rosand, 'Barbara Strozzi, airtuosissima cantatrice', pp. 244-53.
Scenes from the life of Silvia Gailarti Manni
through the Venetian presses, as had the academic discussions
of the Unisoni. I t should be noted that while musical entertain-
ment in the houses of the Venetian patriciate may have been
common, and contemporary writings certainly refer to the wealth
of musical opportunities available in V e n i ~ e , 'anecdotal
~ evidence
of performance in private homes such as Luppi's serves as a
reminder of the hidden musical life of many Italian cities.
73
O n the authorship of the libretto for Le nozze d'Enea in Lavinia, see A. Szweykowska,
'Le due poetiche venete e le ultime opere di Claudio Monteverdi', Quadrivium, 18
(1977), pp. 149-57; and T. Walker, 'Gli errori di Minerva a1 tavolino: Osservazioni
sulla cronologia delle prime opere veneziane', in Venezia e il melodramma nel seicento,
ed. Muraro, pp. 7-20. The sources for this work will be discussed in Ellen Rosand's
forthcoming book on Monteverdi's late operas. O n the Incogniti, see Bianconi and
Walker, 'Dalla Finta pazza', p p 410-24; Rosand, Opera in Seventeenth-Century Venice,
passim; I . Fenlon and P. N. Miller, Song of the Soul: Understanding 'Poppea', Royal
Musical Association Monographs, 5 (London, 1992).
'4
Silvia and her brother appear in Book Seven of the Aeneid.
Scenes from the life of Silvia Gailarti Manni
Aura P gentil di numeri canori.
De gli affetti mentiti entro a i tuoi canti,
Se son di gioia a le tue gioie io rido,
E se d'affanni son piango a i tuoi pianti.
Sceso P dal Ciel de le tue lodi a1 grido,
Per far mill'alme, e mille Cori Amanti,
Ne la tua bocca a saettar Cupido."
(Silvia, you show yourself to us as a renewed forest, animated by the
Graces and Cupids, in which today is hidden, instead of beasts, a flock
of wonders and amazements. Virtue adorned you not with emerald
leafy darkness, but only with herself. The fragrant breeze you exhale
is a delicate breeze of melodies. About the feigned affections contained
in your songs: if they are of joy, I laugh at your delights, and if they
are of sorrow, I cry at your plaints. Cupid, hearing of your praise, has
descended from heaven to shoot arrows into your mouth, in order to
render full of love a thousand hearts and souls.)
Michiel's text, which praises the art of a n admired singer, plays
with the sylvan associations of Silvia's name and addresses her
skill in singing both joyful and mournful music. T h e image, in
the last tercet, of Silvia's singing winning thousands of loving
hearts suggests that her talent was known beyond the confines
of her home, and serves to confirm her performance in opera and
other less intimate settings, although similar phrases sometimes
occurred in poems dedicated to non-operatic singers.76
By the end of 1643 Silvia had been honoured yet again, this
time as the dedicatee of the scenario of Benedetto Ferrari's I1
prencipe gi~rdiniero.~~
The dedication, penned by the Incognito
author Giovanni Battista Fusconi, makes it clear that the singer
had close ties to the c ~ m p o s e r . ~Fusconi
' writes that Silvia has
"
P. Michiel, Rime di Pietro Michiele Nobile Veneto, 3rd printing, corr. and enlarged
(Venice, 1642), p. 204.
76
Orsina Cavalletta's poem for Laura Peperara contains the line 'E far di mille cor
dolce rapina', while Livio Celiano's (Don Angelo Grillo) poem for Livia d'Arco
includes the verses 'Che son mill'alme de' tuoi strali vaghe/Per addolcir mille amorose
piaghe'. The poems (B9 and B1 l ) , along with others for the singers of the concerto
delle dame, appear in E. Durante and A. Martellotti, Cronistoria del Concerto delle dame
pn'ncipalissime di Marghen'ta Gonzaga d'Este, Archivum Musicum, Collana di studi, A
(Florence, 1979).
"
Argomento e scenario del Prencipe Giardiniero di Benedetto Ferrari da la Tiorba D a rappresentarsi
in Musica nel Teatro Noun (Venice, 1643). I would like to thank Ellen Rosand, who
informed me of this source and provided me with a copy of the dedication.
'' O n Fusconi's ties with opera as well as with the singer Anna Renzi, see Bianconi
and Walker, 'Dalla Finta pazza', pp. 417-18.
Beth L. Glixon
82
See the discussion, below, of two documents from 1644 concerning Luppi.
83
'Alla Sig. Silvia N S. Gio Decollato.
'Vostra Signoria 6 una Calamita, b Calamita d'Amanti, per non dire una Sirena,
che uccide tutti coloro, che hanno fortuna di udire la sua voce, b di mirare il suo
volto. 10 da qui innanzi fuggirb I'occasione, non solo di servirla nelle ricreationi, ma
anche d'incontrarla nelle Feste, per non correr rischio di perdere me stesso. Fidarsi
di canto di femine? Sarebbe minor male il ricoverarsi tra l'onde, & il nascondersi
tra gl'abissi. 10 non sb amare, chi non mi vuole corrispondere; & il mio cuore, ch't
piccino, piccino, riuscirebbe troppo magro boccone alla fame d'un'Arpia. Non si
sdegni meco; perch'io scherzo con lei. E ben vero, che per I'awenire ricuserb la sua
prattica, per non cader nel suo amore. Goda chi pub, e chi vuole; mentr'io lontano
le bacio le mani. Di Casa.' G. F. Loredano, Lettere del Signor Gio. Francesco Loredano
Nobile Veneto diuise in cinquantadue capi; e raccolte da Henrico Giblet Cavalier, 19th printing
(Venice, 1676), pp. 317-18.
Beth L. Glixon
84
The discourse 'In biasimo delle donne' appears in Loredano's Discorsi academici; see
Fenlon and Miller, Song of the Soul, p. 54. ('In Dispraise of Women' appeared in an
English translation of Loredano's works, Accademical Discourses upon Several Choice and
Pleasant Subjects (London, 1664).) The Incogniti and their view of women are discussed
in W. Heller, 'Chastity, Heroism, and Allure: Women in the Opera of Seventeenth-
Century Venice' (Ph.D. diss., Brandeis University, 1995).
L. P. Austern, ' "Sing Againe Syren": Female Musicians and Sexual Enchantment in
Elizabethan Life and Literature', Renaissance Quarterly, 42 (1989), pp. 420-48 (esp. 427).
Scenes from the life of Silvia Gailarti Manni
with harpies), who was, moreover, actually a prostitute. Robert
Hollander connects Isidore's Siren with Virgil's harpy in the
Aeneid and Dante's siren in book IX of the Purg~torio.~~ It is likely
that Loredano's facetious letter combines the author's classical
knowledge with a touch of Incogniti misogyny. While many of
the author's readers may have appreciated Loredano's sophisti-
cated and biting humour, the adolescent Silvia may not have
been amused." Loredano's letter certainly reminds us that during
the seventeenth century accomplished women musicians could
be subject to the disapprobation of society."
Although we cannot be sure of Silvia's reputation in Venice
after 1642, it is clear that she still moved in the same aristocratic
circles, or possibly even higher, and was admired for her vocal
talents and beauty: during her early teens Silvia had already
attracted the attention of the intellectual elite of Venetian society,
of men who were among the most prolific authors and were, in
addition, connoisseurs of music in Venice.
By 1644 Luppi was a widow. O n 21 September of that year,
at her home in the parish of San Giovanni Decollato, she com-
missioned the Most Reverend Luca Donati (could this be a clue
to Luppi's alias?) to obtain money from her dowry and then pay
any debts.89A day later, Luppi drafted a second commission for
86
Isidori hispalensis episcopi etymologiarum sive originum libri xx, xr.3.30-3 1. R. Hollander,
'Purgatorio xrx: Dante's Siren/Harpy', in Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio: Studies in the Italian
Trecento in Honor of Charles S. Singleton, ed. A. S. Bernardo and A. L. Pellegrini
(Binghamton, N.Y., 1983), pp. 77-88. The Latin passage from Isidore of Seville and
its translation are on p. 82.
"
In Loredano's 'Ragguagli di Parnaso' (part of Bizzarrie academiche, pp. 574-5) the
singer Anna Renzi is denied admission to Parnassus by the jealous Apollo. Apparently
Renzi did not appreciate Loredano's humour, for his letters contain a reply to her
(with the heading 'Risposta a Lettere di Lamento') that emphasises that the piece
was meant to praise the singer (Loredano, Lettere, p. 365). Barbara Strozzi, while
still in her teens, was among those singled out in a series of manuscript satires about
the Unisoni. See Rosand, 'Barbara Strozzi, virtuosissima cantatrice', pp. 249-52.
See, for instance, the discussion of the propriety of women singers in the 1630 treatise
of G. Uberti, Contrasto musico opera diletteoole, Musurgiana, 5, ed. G. Rostirolla (Lucca,
1991), pp. 77-83 (original pp. 67-73); I would like to thank Robert Holzer for bringing
this passage to my attention. See also G. D. Ottonelli, Della christiana moderatione del
theatro, published in Ferdinand0 Taviani, La commedia dell'arte e la societd barocca: La
fascinazione del teatro, La Commedia dell'Arte: Storia, Testi, Documenti, 1 (Rome,
1970), pp. 328-403. Much of the first book of Ottonelli's treatise is devoted to the
question of whether women should perform on the stage - both because of the danger
to their virtue and because of their effect on society.
'' ASV, Archivio Notarile, Atti Gregorio Bianconi, b. 1075, fol. 104 (21 September
1644).
Beth L. Glixon
ASV, Archivio Notarile, Atti Agostino Cavertino, b. 2875, fol. 40" (22 September
1644).
ASV, Provveditori alla Sanita, Necrologio, b. 873. '1645 29 luglio. La Signora Leonida
Persiani Romana d'anni 35 in circa da ferite di coltello morta in un quarto d'hora
doppo. San Giovanni Degola'.
92
I would like to thank Roark Miller for providing me with a transcription of the
passage that identifies Luppi's killer (ASV, Quarantia Criminal, b. 29, fol. 244). A
second copy of the account occurs in ASV, Avogaria di Commun, Raspe, b. 3710,
fol. 176. The following transcription is from the records of the Quarantia Criminal,
Scenes from the life of Silvia Gailarti Manni
The proceedings mentioned in the account, which would provide
further details about Luppi's murder and her murderer, have
not yet come to light.
emended in places from the Avogaria version. '6 novembre 1645 . . . Che Paulo detto
Vanin murer sive manoal, solito habitare a San Zuan Decola per mezo il Fontego
de' Turchi, imputado, che disgustato per le cause, come in processo, della persona
di Leonida Bressani sua vicina, deliberato di privarla di vita, ritrovandosi la medes-
sima la sera delli 28 luglio prossimo passato, ad un hora di notte in circa, nel
campielo contiguo alla sua habitatione, parendole [Avogaria: ponendole] opportuna
occasione d'affettuare cosi diabolic0 proponimento. Mentre essa li diceva alcune
parole, il predetto Paulo se li aventasse imediate alla vita, tirandole diversi colpi per
i [Avogaria: li] quali, caduta a terra, li dimandava la vita, et egli, respondendole
'Te la dago', continuava barbaramente a colpirla, ch[e] poi, essendo ripreso da
persone che si mossero per pieti, rissolse partire, lasciando l'infelice Leonida soprad-
etta traffitta di sette mortali ferite, per le quali rese subito I'anima al Signor Dio.'
g3
ASV, Archivio Notarile, Atti Francesco Beazian, b. 658, fol. 363 (13 February 1644).
O n Lappoli, see Bianconi and Walker, 'Dalla Finta parra', p. 415; Rosand, Opera in
'' Seuenteenth-Century Venice, pp. 89, 90, 102-3, 116, 254.
ASV, Archivio Notarile, Atti Francesco Beazian, b. 662, fol. 188 (27 September
1645).
'' Ibid., fol. 188". This document provides the earliest reference to Zucchi as an operatic
performer in Venice. He appeared there in operas mounted by the impresario Marco
Faustini during the 1650s and 1660s (beginning in 1654/55), and joined the cappella
of St Mark's in October 1648 (see entry for 30 December 1648, ASV, Procuratori
di San Marco de supra, b. 75).
96 ASV, Archivio Notarile, Atti Alessandro Basso, b. 1000, fol. 172 (16 September
1645). O n Galli, see above, note 53.
Beth L. Glixon
'' ASV, Archivio Notarile, Atti Francesco Beazian, b. 662, fol. 116'.
Manni's full name was Pietro Eleuterio Manni, son of Francesco (deceased).
Luppi). Two of the items were worth 100 ducats or more and
must have been regal: a dress with a bodice of gold and red
brocade and some flowers of silver, and a dress of restagno d'oro
with a background of green with gold lace (restagno, manufactured
with gold or silver thread, was one of the most prized Venetian
fabrics and was subject to sumptuary laws)." Silvia's wardrobe
encompassed the colours of the rainbow, with dresses of red,
crimson, 'fire', yellow, gold, green, sky-blue, silver, black, brown,
chamois and pearl; one was iridescent, and many of them were
embellished with gold cord or with silver or gold lace; some of
these dresses may have been sumptuous opera costumes. As an
indication of the opulence of this wardrobe we may remember
that the highest-paid singers in the cappella of St Mark's earned
a yearly salary of 100 ducats (although many of them had
additional income from outside work). The list of items in the
inventory is certainly not complete, as it lacks certain basic items
such as shoes, as well as many entries found in more inclusive
inventories - typically carried out at a person's death - such as
paintings, furniture and kitchen utensils. I t is unclear whether
such items were merely not included in the dowry or had already
been sold; perhaps some of the household furnishings had been
rented rather than owned.'OO
While the total value of the dowry, 2400 ducats, represented
a considerable amount of money, a good deal of the cash must
have been supplied from Galli's reimbursement. The document
does not mention funds and properties related to Luppi's dowry
or otherwise in her name.
We can make a partial comparison of Silvia's marriage arrange-
ments with those of other singers of Venetian opera. Several
months earlier, on 17 June 1645, Alvise Michiel, one of the
founders of the Teatro Novissimo, visited a notary in order to
register a marriage contract between Anna Renzi, one of the
most famous opera singers of her day, and Roberto Sabbatini,
99
'Una detta, con busto di brocato di oro fondo rosso in cremesino con fiore in alcun
luogo d'argento valutata D120. . . Una vesta di restagno d'oro fondi verde guernita
con merlo d'oro valutata D100'. ASV, Archivio Notarile, Atti Francesco Beazian, b.
662, fol. 117'. O n restagno, see A. Vitali, La moda a Venezia attrauerso i secoli: Lessico
ragionato (Venice, 1992), pp. 323-4.
loo For an especially impressive inventory of a Venetian courtesan of the Renaissance,
see Santore, 'Julia Lornbardo, "Somtuosa Meretrize" '
Beth L. Glixon
The Renzi and Gamba contracts are discussed further in Glixon, 'Private Lives of
Public Women', pp. 515-16, 522-4.
Io2
On the dowries of women musicians, see Cusick, '"Thinking from Women's Lives":
Francesca Caccini after 1627', pp. 212, 217-18, 292.
Io3 The apparent closing of the theatres in Venice because of the war was first emphasised
by Bianconi and Walker. See 'Dalla Finta pazza', pp. 416-17; see also Rosand, Opera
in Seuenteenth-Century Venice, p. 108.
Scenes from the life of Silvia Gailarti Manni
Spinola held that post. In the note to the reader (unsigned), the author of the libretto
describes himself as a military man. If Manni wrote this foreword as well as the
dedication, it provides yet another side to his biography. Manni mentioned that the
work La regina Floridea is based on La mas lastymosa tragedia del Conde de Sex, but did
not name the author (Antonio Coello y Ochoa). I would like to thank Robert
Kendrick, who provided me with a transcription of the dedication and foreword to
the libretto. La regina Floridea (Milan), Floridea Regina di C@ro (Reggio Emilia) and
Flon'dea (Venice, 1685) all share nearly identical argomenti and much of their text.
lo'
On Marco Faustini as an opera impresario, see the following sources: B. Brunelli,
'L'impresario in angustie', Rivista Italiana del Dramma, 19 (1941), pp. 311-41; R.
Giazotto, 'La guerra dei palchi', Nuova Rivista Musicale Italiana, 1 (1967), pp. 245-
86, 465-508; J. A. Glover, 'The Teatro Sant'Apollinare and the Development of
Seventeenth-Century Venetian Opera' (D.Phi1. diss., Oxford University, 1975); C. B.
Schmidt, 'An Episode in the History of Venetian Opera: The Tito Commission (1665-
66)', Journal of the American Musicological Society, 31 (1978), pp. 442-66; L. Bianconi and
T . Walker, 'Production, Consumption and Political Function of Seventeenth-Century
Opera', Early Music History, 4 (1984), pp. 209-96 (esp. 221-7); Rosand, Opera in
Seuenteenth-Century Venice, passim; Glixon and Glixon, 'Marco Faustini'; and Glixon,
'Private Lives of Public Women', pp. 518-27. Faustini's career as an impresario will
be examined more fully in B. L. Glixon and J. E. Glixon, Marco Faustini and Opera
Production in Seventeenth-Centuyy Venice (in progress).
132
Scenes from the life of Silvia Gailarti Manni
113 SGSM b. 188, fol. 409: 'poichC gli 6 stata riempita la testa che Silvia non 6 ancora
restata sodisfatta, et che perb lei non vuol correr [qualsiasi?] rischio' (letter from
Giuseppe Abbate Zanchi in Rome, 28 October 1658, to Alvise Duodo).
114
The difference in pay between the top two singers was even greater this time:
Girolama earned 4767 lire to Manni's 2139 lire. Girolama's pay included 100 scudi
for travel, 300 scudi for her performances, and 25 scudi per month for expenses;
perhaps Manni had remained in Venice and received no compensation for travel.
"j
ASV, SGSM, b. 194. On the financial documentation concerning Anttaco, see Bianconi
ASV, Archivio Notarile, Atti Camillo Lion, b. 8021, Sol. 417', 1 April 1659. Magno
died in 1650; Manni is not mentioned in his will (ASV, Archivio Notarile, Testamenti
Bronzini, b. 65, no. 260).
Da Mosto's letter, quoted in Rosand, Opera in Seventeenth-Centugv Venice, p. 185, and
in N. Mangini, I teatri di Venezia (Milan, 1974), pp. 52-3, was originally published
in A, da Mosto, 'Uomini e cose del '600 veneziano (da un epistolario inedito)', Rivista
di Venezia, 12, no. 3 (1933), pp. 117-22 (esp. 117).
The names of these singers appear in a document concerning the Teatro San Luca
from 19 July 1661, in ASV, Archivio Notarile, Atti Lodovico Bruzzoni, b. 1132, fol.
137; the names of other singers, who were presumably fully paid, do not appear.
This and other documents about San Luca will be discussed in Glixon and Glixon,
Marco Faustini and Opera Production, and in a separate article on that theatre.
Beth L. Glixon
''I Archivio di Stato di Mantova, Archivio Gonzaga, b. 2804, Lettere del Conte Romoaldo
Vialardi, fasc. 1, 1669 (hereafter 'ASM, AG, b. 2804'). Although Vialardi normally
referred to Manni as 'Signora Silvia', in a letter of 1 7 September he used her full
name ('Signora Silvia Manni'). I would like to thank Dottoressa Francesca Fantini
d'onofrio of the Archivio di Stato of Mantua, who helped me locate this series of
letters.
12' G. Ricci, i N ~ t esull'attiviti di Fabrizio Carini, architetto teatrale e scenotecnico', in
Il seicento nell'arte e nella cultura con riferimenti a Mantova (Milan, 1985), pp. 148-63. The
article contains a description and inventory of the theatre, and part of Fedeli's will
(he died 30 December 1669, shortly after the mounting of L'Eudosia).
123 c
Piacque la fatica del Savaro a persona che desiderb veder simile successo ridotto in
Drama; onde fu di mestiere di cornpiacerla . . . Sappi dunque che il Cornpositore de'
Beth L. Glixon
versi non ha preteso di spendere il tempo per acquisto di gloria alcuna, essendone
g i i a1 possesso l'opera de sodetto Archidiacono.' L'Eudosia, pp. 3-4.
'" In a letter of 30 March 1669, Vialardi referred to Fedeli's participation in the theatre
('I1 Signor Luigi Fedeli che meco i. interessato nel teatro'). ASM, AG, b. 2804. These
letters provide another view, if only a small one, of the trials of an impresario in
seventeenth-century Italy. For the eighteenth century, the voluminous correspondence
of Luca Casimiro degli Albizzi gives us the clearest picture of the workings of an
opera company, including the frequent problems encountered in the recruiting of
singers. See W. C. Holmes, Opera Observed: Vzews of a Florentine Impresario in the Early
Eighteenth Century (Chicago, 1993).
ASM, AG, b. 2799, fasc. 16, fol. 195 (27 September 1660). The Mantuan Resident,
Abbate Tinti, responded on 9 October that Daniele da Castrovillari had set the
poetry (ASM, AG, b. 1572).
ASM, AG, b. 2800 bis (27 March 1662). Formenti performed frequently in opera in
Venice, from at least 1656157 until 1680. See Glixon and Glixon, 'Marco Faustini',
p. 60; and H. S. Saunders, Jr. 'The Repertoire of a Venetian Opera House (1678-
1714): The Teatro Grimani di San Giovanni Grisostomo' (Ph.D. diss., Harvard
University, 1985), Appendices F and G.
ASM, AG, b. 2801 (30 May 1664). Vialardi's efforts are referred to in a letter to
Rangoni from Marc'Antonio Vialardi, Rotnoaldo's father.
128
In 1665, Rangoni, in Milan, had boarded four singers who were to appear in an
opera (Cavalli's Xerse?). ASM, AG, b. 1765 (1 July 1665).
Scenes from the life of Silvia Gailarti Manni
129 c ~ ..
isldero che la Signora Silvia mi provegga d'un tenore per il mio drama, e dovri
far la parte di Cortigiano . . . ed ella vi faccia il prezzo.' ASM, AG, b. 2084 (4
January 1669).
Beth L. Glixon
i Q ~ annessa
i vi 6 una lettera con la parte del primo atto per la Signora Silvia. Prego
Vostra Signoria Illustrissima consegnargliela in propria mano, e dirle che voglio
sperare s a r i a1 suo gusto, e che 6 la prima, facendo il personaggio di Eudosia
Imperatrice.' ASM, AG, b. 2804 (15 February 1669).
131 1
Circa alle arie ne haveri a sufficienza e belle, e parmi che la prima nella parte
mandatale non sia sprezzabile, ma degna d'essere sentita. I1 mio drama 6 sodo et
eroico, differente dall'uso di Venetia, e poi trattandosi di tragedia, i buoni auttori
insegnano lasciar le frascherie. Si contenti pure di far bene, nel resto a lei tocca il
dar l'anima all'opera.' ASM, AG, b. 2804 (2 March 1669).
132 i
Ecco la parte dell'atto second0 per la Signora Silvia, e se non ha arie, patienti,
perch6 nel terzo ne ha cinque superbissime con I'ultima scena di detto atto nella
quale dovri cavar le lagrime dagl'occhi. Per Dio, che il maestro di capella di corte
ha d a sudar la fronte a far musica si bella . . . Dica alla signora sodetta, che non si
dubiti, e havri dell'arie nel terzo atto di tutto proposito e bellissime. L'opera 6 soda,
e porta seco questo riguardo di non parlar seriosamente in arie, e g i i a Venetia si
cominciano a scoglionarsi in simile materia.' ASM, AG, b. 2804 (8 March 1669).
I would like to thank Massimo Ossi for his assistance in the translation of a portion
of this letter.
Scenes from the life of Silvia Gailarti Manni
The last section, for Signora Silvia and the tenor, is on its way. The
same Signora complains that she does not have plenty of arias. Please
tell her that in the present part she will find something to her taste,
and that tragedies are not composed of ariette, especially for serious
and important people such as she plays. However, another year we
will go from the serious to the comic, in order not to be always
ponderous. (15 March)133
I n his letter of 23 March, Vialardi voiced his regret that Manni
was not happy with the part and said that she would be better
served once she was in Mantua; he expressed relief that no
complaints had been heard from the tenor and revealed that
Margarita Pia was to have only three arias. A week later (30
March), always on the same theme, Vialardi asked Rangoni to
tell Manni that Mantua enjoys the 'stile recitativo'.
O n 8 June, Vialardi wrote that he had been to Piacenza to
see Coriolano (Francesco Cavalli's last-performed opera, with a
libretto by Cristoforo Ivanovich), which featured two of his sing-
ers for L'Eudosia, Sebastiano Cioni and Giovanni Battista Piz-
~ a 1 a . He
l ~ ~remarked that the opera expresses itself ('fa parlar')
too much in song ('canzoni'), promising that his Eudosia would
be better. Somewhat contradictorily, however, he reiterated that
he would add new 'ariette' for Signora Silvia, to whom he
professed a thousand 0b1igations.l~~
While Vialardi was voicing his opinions about arias, other
difficulties arose concerning the production and its schedule. O n
8 March, Vialardi informed the Resident that he still needed
two singers, a baritone and a contralto for the 'vecchia', and
once again asked for Manni's assistance. In a postscript, however,
he said he had found a baritone, so that she need concern herself
only with the 'vecchia'. This latest difficulty occurred because
133 r
Se ne viene I'ultima parte per la Signora Silvia e per il tenore; la medesima Signora
si duole non haver abbondanza d'arie. Bisogna mi favorisca di dirle che nella presente
parte troveri cosa di suo gusto, e che le tragedie non sono composte da ariette,
massime nelle persone gravi e grandi com'ella rappresenta. Tuttavia, per un altro
anno passeremo dal serio a1 ridicolo, per non star sempre sul grave.' ASM, AG, b.
2804 (15 March 1669).
13' The dedication of Coriolano bears the date 27 May 1669.
135 c
. . . fa parlar troppo in canzoni . . . La mia Eudosia sari migliore, e far6 nuove
ariette alla Signora Silvia, a cui profess0 mille obligationi.' ASM, AG, b. 2804 (8
June 1669).
Beth L. Glixon
136 i
Sensa' is the Venetian term for the Feast of the Ascension. The term also referred
to the famous fair in Venice held at that time of the year.
13'
i[E] adesso il Pizzala non 6 suo amico, e Bastianello non 6 buono. I n somma,
contentar musici vogliono essere angeli . . . Tuttavia la Signora Silvia vuol far essa
una compagnia? Che io farb darle la porta del teatro, e so che fari de' soldi, et io
mi levarb dagl'imbrogli.' ASM, AG, b. 2804 (18 May 1669). Manni had performed
with Pizzala in 1662 (Le fortune di RodoPe e Damira, Turin) and 1665 (Dori, Parma),
and possibly with Cioni in La Pasfe.
138 i
[S]e la Signora Silvia i. renitente a venire, per dirla confidentemente poco m'importa,
valendomi d'altro soggetto piii bello, e che con una bella faccia compariri in scena.
Scenes from the life of Silvia Gailarti Manni
Nevertheless, on 8 November Vialardi was still attempting to
learn of Manni's final decision. Moreover, Vialardi's prediction
of a performance by St Martin's had been overly optimistic.
I n the end, Manni did not sing in L'Eudosia. The cast, accord-
ing to the libretto, included Lorenzo Biancosi, Francesca Martini
(in the role that would have been Manni's), Sebastiano Cioni,
Benedetto Sarti, Giovanni Battista Pizzala, Giuseppe Scaccia,
Giacomo Biancucci, Pietro Benedetti and Giovanni Morsali. Also
lacking from Vialardi's original list are Margarita Pia and the
young Venetian woman as the page; both roles were assumed
by men. Vialardi wrote on 6 December, 'My opera goes success-
fully. Signor Scaccia will bring [you] the libretto^."^^
Manni did, however, perform in Mantua some five months later -
as already mentioned -in the role of Placidia in Ilgran Costanzo, along
with Antonio Formenti, Giovanni Giacomo Biancucci, Cattarina
Forti, Carlo Antonio Riccardi and others (Manni had previously
sung with Formenti in Venice, in L'incostanza trionfante and in Antioco;
she had performed with Riccardi in Parma, in Dori [1665]).140
Although Vialardi's letters do not reveal that he acted as impresario
for the production, he was, naturally, in attendance. O n 9 May 1670,
he wrote to Rangoni in Milan:
Last evening we heard the opera, about which I do not speak, letting
you hear about it in person from Signora Silvia when she will have
returned home.14'
Two weeks later he added, 'Signora Silvia has behaved disgrace-
fully, and that is enough said.'142Clearly, Vialardi by now was
no longer a great admirer of the soprano.143
'41 See, for example, the correspondence of Marco Faustini (see note 107 above for
bibliography).
Beth L. Glixon
APPENDIX
Operas Connected with Silvia and Pietro Manni*
Date Silvia Manni Pietro Manni
(dedications)
1640141 [Venice (SS. Giovanni e Paolo):
Monteverdi, Ritorno d'Ulisse or Le nozze
d'EneaIa
1643144 [Venice (SS. Giovanni e Paolo): Ferrari, I1
prencipe giardinieroIb
1644145 Venice (San Cassiano): Cavalli, I1 Titone
1655 Genoa: Costa,
Ariodante
1656 Genoa: Cavalli, Xene
1657158 Venice (San Cassiano): Ziani, L'incostanza
trionfante
1658159 Venice (San Cassiano): Cavalli, Antioco
1659160 Genoa: Cesti, Orontea
1660161 Venice (San Luca) : Castrovillari, La Pas&
Cavalli, Eritrea
1662 Turin: Ziani, Le fortun6 di Rodope e Damira;
Piacenza: Tortona, Andromeda
1665 Parma: Cesti, Dori Brescia: Cavalli,
Eritrea
1666 Genoa: Cavalli,
Erismena. Milan:
Ziani, Annibale in
Capua
1669? Milan: Rossi, Busca
and Agostini, La
regina Floridea
1670 Mantua: Tomasi, I1 gran Costanzo
1673 Bergamo: Cesti,
Argia
1674 Bergamo: Boretti,
Eliogabalo
1675 Bergamo: Boretti,
Marcello in
Siracusa;
Eurimedonte
only three - all revivals - have survived: Le fortune di Rodope e Damira, Dori and Eritrea.
146
Early Music Histoy (1996) Volume 15
JOSQUIN*
* Shortened versions of this article were presented at a session honouring Jeremy Noble
on the occasion of his sixty-fifth birthday, at the New York State-St. Lawrence Chapter
Meeting of the American Musicological Society in Ottawa, April 1995, and at the annual
meeting of the AMS in New York, November 1995. I would like to extend my thanks
for helpful comments and assistance to Bonnie J. Blackburn, M. Jennifer Bloxam, David
Hiley, Clement A. Miller, Oliver Neighbour, Jeremy Noble, Janice Shell and Pamela F.
Starr. Any mistakes or flaws in the finished version remain purely my own.
The manuscripts containing polyphonic music cited in this study are referred to
by abbreviations given in the Census-Catalogue of Manuscript Sources of PolyPhonic Music
1400-1550, ed. J. Call and H . Kellman, 5 vols., Renaissance Manuscript Studies, 1
(Neuhausen-Stuttgart, 1979-88):
' In his epitaph for Galeazzo, after the duke's assassination on 26 December 1476,
Bernardino Corio ( 1459-after 1503) gave the following summation: 'Fu oltramodo
liberalissimo, cupido di gloria e d'essere temuto. Havea caro se potesse dire con il
vero la sua corte fusse una de le pih resplendente de l'universo' (B. Corio, Storia di
Milano, ed. A. M. Guerra (Turin, 1978), rr, p. 1409). For other studies on music in
Milan, see E. Motta, 'Musici alla corte degli Sforza', Archivio Storico Lombardo, 2nd
ser., 4 (1887), pp. 29-64, 278-340, 514-61; G. Cesari, 'Musica e musicisti alla corte
sforzesca', Rivista Musicale Aaliana, 29 (1922), pp. 1-53; C. Sartori, 'La musica nel
Duomo dalle origini a Franchino Gaffurio', in Storia di Milano, rx (Milan, 1961),
pp. 723-48; G. Barblan, 'Vita musicale alla corte sforzesca', in ibid., pp. 787-832.
The most recent studies are: W. F. Prizer, 'Music at the Court of the Sforza: The
Birth and Death of a Musical Center', Musica Disciplina, 43 (1989), pp. 141-93;
E. S. Welch, 'Sight, Sound and Ceremony in the Chapel of Galeazzo Maria Sforza',
Early Music History, 12 (1993), pp. 151-90. O n Galeazzo Maria Sforza's court, see
G. Lubkin, A Renaissance Court: Milan under Galeazzo Maria Sforza (Berkeley, 1994).
Both men even met death at nearly the same time: Galeazzo was assassinated on 26
December 1476, while Charles died just ten days later, on 5 January 1477, on a
frozen battlefield near Nancy.
Motta, 'Musici', pp. 301-8, provides documentation for Galeazzo's recruitment of
singers, including: (1) a letter of 15 October 1471 to Edward I V of England; (2)
repeated requests to the Duchess Yolande of Savoy in December 1471 and again in
January and October 1472 for the loan of singers; (3) the dispatch of Gaspar van
Weerbeke to Flanders to recruit singers in April 1472; (4) a letter dated 3 November
1472, delivered by the singer Tomaso Leporis to Ockeghem in France; (5) a letter
of 6 November 1472 to the Milanese ambassador in Naples, offering good benefices
and salaries to singers there who wished to join his chapel.
Galeazzo Maria Sforza and musical patronage in Milan
Welch stresses the point that music was elevated during this period from a semi-private
court entertainment to an important activity of state; Welch, 'Sight, Sound and
Ceremony', pp. 164-5.
E. E. Lowinsky, 'Ascanio Sforza's Life: A Key to Josquin's Biography and an Aid
to the Chronology of His Works', Josquin des Prez: Proceedings of the International Josquin
Festival-Conference, ed. E. E. Lowinsky in collaboration with B. J. Blackburn (Oxford,
1976), pp. 33-6. As Lowinsky states on p. 36, 'A benefice amounting to 100 florins,
95 or 96 of which would go to Josquin if he appointed a caretaker for the canonry,
is a splendid income.' He notes that 100 florins equals 100 ducats, and that Josquin
received another 60 ducats yearly (5 ducats per month) for his services in Galeazzo's
chapel, yielding a yearly income of 160 ducats.
A second letter from March 1473 provides a tantalising early glimpse of Josquin's
musical activity, as Galeazzo threatens to imprison him for shirking a ducal com-
mission and copying music for other patrons; see L. Matthews and P. A. Merkley,
yosquin Desprez and His Milanese Patrons', Journal of Musicology, 12 (1994),
pp. 434-63.
Patrick Macey
of the Duomo in Milan, and his name occurs there - with notable
periods of absence - until December 1472.' (In fact, for the
ten-year span from July 1459 to December 1469, the singer's
combined absences amount to three years and 10.5 months, or
37.5 per cent of the total period; see Table I).' The next documen-
tation for 'Iuschino' appears in the ducal correspondence of
' C. Sartori, 'Josquin des PrCs cantore del Duomo di Milano (1439-1472)', Annales
Musicologiques, 4 (1936), pp. 55-83.
Several observations can be made about the unknown periods of Josquin's activity.
Herbert Kellman uncovered a document that notes Josquin's visit to CondC-sur-
I'Escaut in 1483, his 'first return' since the start of the wars that had begun in 1477,
thus indicating earlier stays in CondC; see G. Reese and J. Noble, 'Josquin Desprez',
The New Grove High Renaissance Masters (London, 1984), p. 6. The possibility that
Josquin sojourned at the French royal court of Louis XI in the early 1480s is explored
in P. Macey, 'Josquin's Misericordias Domini and Louis XI', Early Music, 19 (1991),
pp. 163-77. The correct date of Josquin's entry into the papal chapel has recently
been shown by Pamela Starr to be 1489, and not 1486 as previously believed. Thus
the gap in Josquin's biography for the decade of the 1480s widens; see P. Starr,
'Josquin, Rome, and a Case of Mistaken Identity', Journal of Musicology (in press). I
would like to thank Professor Starr for sharing her findings with me in advance of
publication. Edward Lowinsky presented circumstantial evidence that Josquin served
Cardinal Ascanio Sforza in the 1480s; see Lowinsky, 'Ascanio Sforza's Life'. William
Prizer presents new letters, dated December 1498 and February 1499, that mention
a servant of Ascanio Sforza named 'Juschino', who had travelled to Mantua to pick
up a gift of hunting dogs for the Cardinal. There is no mention of music in these
letters, and it is not certain that this 'Juschino' is the composer Josquin des Prez;
see Prizer, 'Music at the Court of the Sforza', pp. 168-9, 192-3. Finally, another
contemporary document claims that in the 1480s Josquin worked in Hungary at the
court of Matthias Corvinus ('Quod pictores et musicos excellentes habuerit, inter
quos etiam Josquinum ipsum'); see P. Kirhly, 'Un s6jour de Josquin des PrCs a la
cour de Hongrie?', Revue de Musicologie, 78 (1992), pp. 145-50.
150
Galeazzo Maria Sforza and musical patronage in Milan
l2
Letter of 5 February 1473 from Zaccaria Saggio to Ludovico Gonzaga; original
Italian, with English translation, in Prizer, 'Music at the Court of the Sforza', p. 157.
l3
Lubkin, A Renaissance Court, pp. 182-4. Welch also notes the connection between
Galeazzo's expansion of his chapel and his royal aspirations; 'Sight, Sound and
Ceremony', pp. 162-3.
l4
L. Lockwood, 'Strategies of Music Patronage in the Fifteenth Century: The Cappella
of Ercole I d'Este', Music in Medieval and Early Modern Europe: Patronage, Sources and
Texts, ed. I . Fenlon (Cambridge, 1981), pp. 227-48; and idem, Music in Renaissance
Ferrara 140&1505 (Cambridge, Mass., 1984), pp. 133-4.
I'
O n Galeazzo's successful attempts to lure singers away from Ferdinand of Aragon's
chapel in Naples, see A. W. Atlas, Music at the Aragonese Court of Naples (Cambridge,
1985), pp. 40-1, 52. O n the general rise in petitions for benefices from c. 1450 to
1470, see P. F. Starr, 'Rome as the Centre of the Universe: Papal Grace and Music
Patronage', Early Music Histoy, 11 (1992), pp. 223-62, esp. pp. 238f.
Galeazzo Maria Sforza and musical patronage in Milan
The most Christian princes, of whom, most pious King you are by far
the foremost in the gifts of mind, of body, and of fortune, desiring to
augment the divine service, founded chapels after the manner of David,
in which at extraordinary expense they appointed singers to sing pleas-
ant and comely praise to our God with diverse (but not adverse) voices.
And since the singers of princes, if their masters are endowed with the
liberality which makes men illustrious, are rewarded with honor, glory,
and wealth, many are kindled with a most fervent zeal for this study.16
Galeazzo seems in fact to have taken the imitation of David
seriously, for he had himself depicted in the role of the Old
Testament king on the magnificently illuminated opening leaf of
a missal that no doubt counted as one of the most splendid
ornaments of his chapel (Figure I)." T h e surviving leaf from
this missal, now in the Wallace Collection in London, shows
Galeazzo kneeling in prayer in front of a battle scene; God the
Father appears in the upper right corner. T h e architectural towers
around the scene provide the outline of a large capital A, the
opening initial of 'Ad te levavi animam meam'. This text serves
as the Introit for the first Sunday of Advent in the Roman rite;
it appears at the opening of most missals, often with a full-page
illumination for the letter A. Traditionally, the kneeling figure
of King David occupies the centre of the initial, but in the leaf
from the Wallace Collection that position has been usurped by
Galeazzo, who thus directly identifies himself in the role of the
Old Testament king. I n light of Tinctoris's comments about the
princes of Italy founding chapels after the manner of David,
Galeazzo's representation of himself as a literal David in his
missal is all the more striking.''
l6
0. Strunk, Source Readings in Music History (New York, 1950), pp. 194-5.
Magazine, 116 (1974), pp. 91-6. See also J. J. G. Alexander, Wallace Collection, Catalogue
of Illuminated Manuscript Cuttings (London, 1980), pp. 39-41, and colour plate p. 12.
l8
The traditional figure of the kneeling King David does appear in the opening
illumination of a Missal that belonged to King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, who
was a contemporary of Galeazzo. The elaborately illuminated opening leaf appears
to have been modelled directly on the one from Galeazzo's Missal; see Jacobsen, 'A
Sforza Miniature', p. 92. French monarchs as far back as Pepin and Charlemagne
had traditionally styled themselves as the 'novus David', and in the sixteenth century
this tradition continued with Fran~oisI, who is depicted holding a harp in a royal
book of hours, in the section of the book containing the seven penitential psalms.
King Henry VIII of England appears to have emulated French kings when he had
himself depicted as David in several illuminations in his own book of psalms. For
Patrick Macey
further bibliography and discussion of the 'imitatio David regis', see Macey, 'Josquin's
Misericordias Domini', pp. 175-7.
Galeazzo Maria Sforza and musical patronage in Milan
send a copy of the psalms that were traditionally sung at the
court after King Alfonso had won a victory in battle.lg The
Neapolitan court responded with a list of psalms that were
performed during the time of King A l f o n s ~Among
.~~ other things
the document states that after the Elevation of the host in a
Mass said in time of war the priest knelt down and the singers
performed Psalm 34, 'Judica Domine nocentes', including the
Gloria Patri, which was followed by a n antiphon.21
Given Galeazzo's own self-identification with King David, it
is significant that he wished to know which psalms were associ-
ated with ceremonies at the Neapolitan court - a royal court, it
should be noted - so that he could have them performed at his
own court. The incident indicates that Galeazzo concerned him-
self directly with the repertory of his chapel, and this provides
a context for a new discovery regarding a specific text found in
cycles of motets called motetti missales that were apparently com-
posed for the duke.
The text under consideration is 'Maria mater gratiae, mater
misericordiae'. I n order to understand the significance of this
acclamation to the Madonna of Grace and Mercy, it is necessary
to turn briefly to the Visconti ancestors of Galeazzo. In addition,
we shall explore the importance of the reference to the Blessed
Virgin Mary in the middle name of Galeazzo Maria Sforza,
since this name played a prominent role in music produced by
composers in the ducal cappella in Milan in the 1470s.
Especially prominent are settings of the name 'Maria' in sacred
works by Gaspar van Weerbeke, Loyset Compkre and Josquin
des Prez.
By Galeazzo's time, the Virgin's name had already occupied
a particularly prominent place in his family (Table 2) for several
'Molto a car0 havere la copia de quelli salmi che faceva cantare la bona memoria
del Re Alfonso quando sua Maesti haveva qualche victoria.' Motta, 'Musici', p. 307.
20
The document is transcribed in full in Motta, 'Musici', pp. 555-7.
The same psalm is also included in the prayer book of Emperor Maximilian, son of
Frederick 111, with a rubric indicating that it should be said after the Elevation in
time of war. See P. Macey, 'Josquin as Classic: Qui habitat, Memor esto and Two
Imitations Unmasked', Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 118 (1993), p. 10. The
Neapolitan letter indicates one other psalm performed at Mass, 'Domine exaudi
orationem meam' (Psalm 101 or 142; both have the same incipit). When the king
had been victorious in battle, two different psalms were sung: 'Confitebor tibi Domine
in toto corde meo' (Psalm 9) and 'Domine in virtute tua letabitur Rex' (Psalm 20).
Patrick Macey
22
Galeazzo's other siblings not shown in Table 2 were: Ippolita Maria (1445-88),
Filippo Maria (1448-92), Sforza Maria (1451-79), Elisabetta Maria (1456-72), and
Ottaviano Maria ( 1458-77).
29
F. Cognasso, I Visconti (Milan, 1966), p. 273.
24
E. Kirsch, Five Illuminated Manuscripts of Giangaleazzo Viseonti (University Park, PA,
1991), p. 31.
Galeazzo Maria Sforza a n d musical patronage in Milan
1
Galeazzo I1 Visconti Bernabb Visconti
(d. 1378) (1323-85)
Dukes of Milan:
(1) Giangaleazzo Visconti Caterina Visconti
(1351-1402) (d. 1404)
Duke of Milan 1395- 1402
t
Figure 2 Giangaleaz~oand Caten'na Visconti Venerating the Madonna of Mercy (Hours-Missal,
c. 1380). Paris, Bibliothkque Nationale, MS Lat. 757, fol. 258
Galeazzo Maria Sforza and musical patronage in Milan
j
'
Corio, Storia di Milano, p. 899. 'A1 septimo di septembre in Abiate Giovanne Galeazo
hebbe da Catelina, sua mugliere, uno figliolo a baptesmo nominato Giovanni Maria,
a la quale abundantissima fonte di gratia s'era invotato, potendo havere figlioli,
insignirli dil suo celebratissimo nome e per questo a gli altri descendenti fu dato il
secundo nome di Maria.'
26
The feast of the Madonna of Grace (Beatae Mariae Virginis de Gratia) is celebrated
on 9 June; see Missale romanum ex decreto sacrosancti concilii tridentini restitutum S. Pii V.
PontiJicis Maximi jussu editum (Regensburg and Rome, 1900), p. [143]. The feast of the
Madonna of Mercy (Beatae Mariae Virginis de Misericordia) occurs on the Monday
after the first Sunday in May (ibid., p. [131]). The Madonna of Mercy was of course
widely venerated in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, as numerous works of art
depicting the easily recognisable figure can attest; see P. Perdrizet, La cierge de
mishicorde: Etude d'un thime iconographique (Paris, 1908). The Madonna of Grace seems
to have been particularly venerated by members of the Visconti-Sforza dynasty, as
indicated in the 1380s by the founding and dedication to her of the Visconti mauso-
leum church, the Certosa of Pavia. While it is true that in 1399 the Marchese of
Mantua founded a church dedicated to Santa Maria delle grazie outside the walls
of Mantua, it could not compete with the Certosa, which became famous throughout
the Christian world for the richness of its architecture and artistic treasures; see D.
Sant'Ambrogio, 'Sull'iconografia della vergine nella Certosa di Pavia', Riaista di Scienza
Storiche, 1 (1904), p. 290 (I would like to thank Janice Shell for this reference).
Ludovico il Moro later designated another church, Santa Maria delle grazie in Milan,
as the burial church for him and for Beatrice d'Este; the attached monastery houses
Leonardo da Vinci's renowned fresco of the Last Supper. The burial monument of
Ludovico and Beatrice, consisting of carved marble effigies, was moved to the Certosa
of Pavia in the sixteenth century. The Madonna of Grace was also venerated outside
of Milan; for example, in 1452 a painting of the Madonna reputedly executed by
Saint Luke was brought from Rome to Cambrai and installed in a place of honour,
the apsidal chapel directly behind the main altar of the cathedral; see C. Wright,
'Dufay at Cambrai: Discoveries and Revisions', Journal of the American Musicological
Society [hereafter 'JAMS'], 28 (1979), p. 199 and Fig. 3 (p. 201).
'' Lubkin, A Renaissance Court, pp. 142, 232.
Ibid., p. 116.
Patrick Macey
29
Corio, Storia di Milano, p. 1398. 'Assai se delectava il duca di canto, il perch6 tenea
circha a trenta cantatori oltramontani, honorevolmente stipendiati da lui, e tra questi
havea uno per nome Cordiero a1 quale dava per suo stipendio cento ducati il mese.
Tanti ornamenti di capella havea che ascendeano al pretio de cento milia ducati. Ne
la festiviti de lo Apostolo ordinb che questi fussino vestiti de vestimente lugubre e
puoi gli impuose che in ogni giorno per lo advenire ne la missa cantassino questo
versiculo tolto ne l'officio dedicato a li defuncti: "Maria mater gratiae, mater misericor-
diae etc." '
30
Commentators such as Motta ('Musici', p. 535, n. 1) have rejected the notion that
Cordier could have received 100 ducats per month, since the stipend listed for the
highest-paid singer in Galeazzo's chapel in 1474, Antonio Guinati, was only 14 ducats
monthly (Motta, 'Musici', p. 323). More recently, Lubkin ( A Renaissance Court, p. 104)
has also cast doubt on the accuracy of the amount quoted by Corio, but Prizer
accepts Corio's figure ('Music at the Court of the Sforza', p. 147). Josquin, by
contrast, was one of the lower-paid members of the chapel, with 5 ducats per month
as chapel salary, and another 8.3 ducats monthly (100 annually) from his benefice
at San Giuliano in Gozzano, for an apparent total of only 13.5 ducats monthly. The
monthly salary of approximately 20 ducats for ducal concillors was very generous,
and these officials must have received fringe benefits to supplement this income;
Lubkin, A Renaissance Court, p, xix.
Galeazzo Maria Sforza and musical patronage in Milan
3'
Vatican, Archivio Segreto, Registra Lateranensia, vol. 749, fols. 230-231. The benefice
was valued at not more than 400 florins (the florin was equal to the ducat, according
to the sources cited in Lowinsky, 'Ascanio Sforza's Life', p. 36). San Giulio de Dolzago
is located on an island in Lake Orta, and it is worth noting that Josquin's benefice
at San Giuliano in Gozzano is located on the south shore of the same lake. Giulio
the priest and Giuliano the deacon, Greek brothers from Thessaly, spread Christianity
and founded many basilicas in Italy in the fourth century, and they eventually settled
on Lake Orta (Giuliano died in Gozzano); in the eighth century the church of San
Giuliano in Gozzano enjoyed a reputation as the most eminent in the entire diocese
of Novara (see Matthews and Merkley, 'Josquin Desprez', p. 441). The feast of the
brothers falls on 31 January; for further details on their lives, see Acta sanctorum, 111,
ed. I. Bollandus (Paris, 1863), pp. 715-19. There exists today a Romanesque basilica
on the Isola di S. Giulio in Lake Orta. I would like to thank Jeremy Noble for this
reference and for providing a transcription of the complete Vatican document per-
taining to Cordier's benefice; essential passages are given in Appendix 1. Cordier is
referred to as 'rector parrochialis' of the church of St Sauveur in Varennes (north
of Bourg-en-Bresse) in the diocese of Lyons.
32
Prizer suggests the singer was Heinrich Knoep; see 'Music at the Court of the Sforza',
p. 156. Prizer's transcription of Saggio's letter gives the tenor's remuneration as 4,000
ducats, but Lubkin reads it as the more likely figure of 400 ducats; Lubkin, A
Renaissance Court, p. 104.
35
3'
'Havemo conduct0 per cantore de la capella nostra lo venerabile messer Zohanne
Cordier, prete tornacense, el quale havemo carissimo per essere singolare musico.'Ibid.,
pp. 533-4.
38
For an overview of Cordier's career, see R. Strohm, Music in Late Medieval Bruges
(Oxford, 1985), pp. 37-8; see also F. A. D'Accone, 'The Singers of San Giovanni in
Florence during the 15th Century', J A M S , 14 (1961), pp. 323-4.
3g
F. X. Haberl, 'Die romische "Schola cantorum" und die papstlichen Kapellsanger
bis zur Mitte des 16. Jahrhunderts', Vierteljahrsschrift fur Musikwissenschaft, 3 (1887),
p. 230. For accounts of the fracas between Naples and Milan over Cordier, see
Barblan, 'Vita musicale', pp. 843-6; Atlas, Music at the Aragonese Court of Naples, p. 41;
and R. Walsh, 'Music and Quattrocento Diplomacy: The Singer Jean Cordier between
Milan, Naples, and Burgundy in 1475', Archio fur Kulturgeschichte, 60 (1978), pp. 439-
42. The strained relations between Naples and Milan probably explain the absence
in Tinctoris's theoretical writings of the names of composers in Galeazzo's chapel,
including Weerbeke, Compere, Josquin, Agricola and Martini. No doubt it would
have been impolitic for Tinctoris to list musicians in the service of the rival Milanese
duke, who avidly pirated singers from the Neapolitan chapel.
Galeazzo Maria Sforza and musical patronage in Milan
Corio, Storta, p. 1398. The point is underscored by LVelch, 'Sight, Sound and Cer-
emony', p. 152.
Patrick Macey
burned a portion of the chamber where the duke usually stayed, and
thus the duke, frightened, considered whether he should go any further,
and he also had a certain instinct that he should not come to Milan.
Finally, pursuing his fatal destiny, he departed from Abbiategrasso,
and there, a t some distance in the air above his head, were three
ravens that called out slowly as they passed. This bad omen displeased
him not a little, and he had a crossbow given to him and he fired
twice at them. Then, placing his hands on the horn of his saddle and
hesitating, he decided- to turn back. Nevertheless he finally, although
unwillingly, arrived in Milan on the vigil of the day that is dedicated
to Saint Thomas. The duke delighted greatly in singing. . .41
According to Corio's account, Galeazzo - whose unpredictable
mood swings and cruel treatment of his subjects had made him
heartily mistrusted and disliked - arrived in Milan on 20
December, the day before the feast of the Apostle Thomas. Corio
claims that it was on the feast of Saint Thomas (21 December),
a mere five days before his assassination on 26 December, that
the duke gave the order for the choir to sing the verset 'Maria
mater gratiae, mater misericordiae' at daily Mass.
In fact the invocation to the Madonna of Mercy may have
been particularly apt for Galeazzo. I n general, the veneration of
the Madonna della misericordia witnessed a sharp rise during
the fourteenth century during the spread of the Black Death, as
supplicants appealed to the Virgin for protection especially at
the hour of their death. Indeed, confraternities dedicated to
the Madonna della misericordia spread throughout Italy in the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and the particular task of their
members was to care for the sick and the deade4*And of course
the Visconti had especially venerated the Madonna della miser-
' Corio, Storia, p. 1398. 'Approximandose il Natale christiano, deliberb venire a Milano,
onde giunse ad Abiato Grasso. Fu viduto una picola stella crinita; a Milano ne la
camera dove era solito habitare se gli accese il fuocho e brusb parte de quella, per
il che impaurindose il duca stette in pensiere di non passare pih avante et anche
uno certo instinct0 havea de non venire a Milano. Finalmente, venendo il suo fatale
destino, si levb d'Abiate et essendose alontanato alquanto ne l'arie sopra il capo se
vide tri corvi quali cridando lentamente passavano. Di questo cativo augurio non
puocho dispiacere pigliandone, il duca tantosto se fece dare una stambichina et a
queli tirb due volte. D'inde, mettendo le mane sopra l'arzono de la sella, suspeso se
affirmb per ritornare adietro. Nientedimeno finalmente, quantunque invito, giunse a
Milano la vigilia dil giorno quale 6 dedicato a Sancto Thomaso. Assai se delectava
il duca di canto . . .'
"
M . Warner, Alone of All Her Sex: The Myth and the Cult of the Vzrgin Mary (New York,
1983), pp. 326-8.
Galeazzo Maria Sforza and musical patronage in Milan
icordia as well as the Madonna delle grazie as far back as the
time of Giangaleazzo Visconti in the 1380s. In this context, the
full source of Galeazzo's verset can be examined further, for it
forms a part of a strophe commonly found in various Marian
hymns.43The complete strophe is:
Maria mater gratiae,
mater misericordiae,
tu nos ab hoste protege
et hora mortis suscipe.
In his chronicle Corio adds 'etc.' after the incipit of the verset
'Maria mater gratiae'; we can now see what he must have
intended as the continuation. The final line asks the Madonna
to acknowledge the supplicant in the hour of death. Contrary to
the assumption made in Corio's narrative, this text does not in
fact appear in any known Office of the Dead. It does appear,
however, in the little hours of the Blessed Virgin as the second
strophe of the hymn Memento salutis auctor at Prime, Terce, Sext
and None, and it is included in Galeazzo's 'black' book of hours,
copied in gold and silver ink on darkened vellum leaves.44The
continuation of the hymn strophe ('protect us from the enemy,
and aid us in the hour of death') may have caused Corio to
mistake it for a text from the Office of the Dead.
Evidence does survive in the Milanese repertory of motetti
missales to indicate that the verset was indeed performed in
Galeazzo's chapel: no fewer than four sets of motetti missales
include this text, two by CompPre, one by Ilreerbeke, and one
by Josquin. This information provides further evidence that the
cycles were specially cultivated at Galeazzo's court - indeed,
Gaffurius refers to Weerbeke's 'ducal' motets in his manuscript
treatise Tractatus practabilium proportionum (c. 1482): 'Gaspar ille
43
For information on settings of this strophe, see T . R. Ward, The Polyphonic O f j e
Hymn 140&1520: A Descriptiae Catalogue (American Institute of Musicology [hereafter
'A.I.M.'], 1980), pp. 29, 151 and 230.
44
For a facsimile, see Das schwarze Gebetbuch: Gebetbuch des Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Codex
1856 der osterreichischen Nationalbibliothek in Wien (Frankfurt am Main, 1982). See also
the little hours of the Blessed Virgin in the book of hours of Bona of Savoy, Galeazzo's
consort (Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, MS Clm 23215), which includes the
same hymn stanzas. The Hours for the Dead in this book of hours contain no trace
of the Marian verset 'Maria mater gratiae'.
Patrick Macey
45
rite, and not the Ambrosian rite associated with the diocese of Milan, for the duke's
will states specifically that Gregorian Masses should be celebrated for his soul.
The choirbooks are in the Archivio della Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo, MilD 1,
49
See T . L. Noblitt, 'The Motetti Missales of the Late Fifteenth Century' (Ph.D. diss.,
University of Texas, Austin, 1963), pp. 36-7. For a facsimile of the manuscript MilD
3, containing the Missa Galeazescha, see Milan, Archioio della Veneranda Fabbrica del
Duomo, Sezione Musicale, Librone 3 (olim 22671, intro. H. M . Brown, Renaissance Music
in Facsimile, 12c (New York, 1987). Three motets from the Missa Galeazescha, numbers
1, 2 and 4, are found in the first Milan choirbook, MilD 1, on which copying was
completed by 1490. Two modern editions of the cycle have been published: Loyset
Compkre, Opera omnia, 2, ed. L. Finscher, Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae, 15 (A.I.M.,
1959), pp. 1-25; and Loyset Comphre, Messe, MagnEfcat e motetti, ed. D. Faggion,
Archivium Musices Metropolitanum Mediolanense [hereafter 'AMMM'], 13 (Milan,
1968), pp. 75-112.
j0
L. Finscher, Loyset Compire (c. 1450-1518): Life and Works (A.I.M., 1964), p. 101.
Galeazzo Maria Sforza and musical patronage in Milan
this cycle for several reasons. First, it is one of the most extensive
sets of motetti missales, and its explicit connection with Galeazzo
Maria Sforza will allow us to form a clearer picture of one type
of music cultivated at his court. In addition, although Finscher
hints at the sources of the texts, they have never been explicitly
laid out. Finally, a few new identifications of melodic sources in
the cycle can now be added to those already made by two
previous commentators, Finscher and Dino Faggion.
The Milan choirbook that is the sole source for the complete
cycle (MilD 3) specifically labels each motet with its correct
liturgical counterpart - the liturgical text in whose place ('loco')
the motet appears. T h e priest officiating at the Mass would
presumably recite the correct liturgical text while the various
motets were sung by the choir.
Loco Introitus Ave virgo gloriosa
Loco Gloria Ave salus injrmorum
Loco Credo ilve decus virginale
Loco Offertorii Ave sponsa verbi summi
Loco Sanctus 0 Maria! I n supremo sita poli
Ad Elevationem Adoramus te, Christe
Loco Agnus Salve muter salvatoris
Loco Deo gratias Virginis Mariae laudes
T h e texts for the cycle are mostly drawn from Marian sequences;
for example, the first motet consists of versicles drawn from three
different Marian sequences, while three other sequences provide
versicles for the second motet, and so on. T h e first sequence,
Aoe virgo gloriosa (labelled 'A' in Appendix 2), is the source of
various other versicles for later motets in the cycle such as the
Sanctus and Agnus dei substitutes, and this typifies Compirre's
free handling of different texts which he arranges in no discernible
order.
Compirre consistently employs melodies in this cycle that are remi-
niscent of chant, but (with one exception) Finscher did not identify
the sources of the sequence-like tunes that alternate in the two Tenor
parts.51Dino Faggion has pointed out several further quotations of
the sequence Veni sancte spiritus as well as Victimaepaschali l a u d e ~and
,~~
j'
Finscher, Cornpire, p. 102, drew attention to the use of versicle 4 of the sequence h i
sancte spiritus in the Loco Agnus.
j2
Faggion has also suggested that in the opening of the Loco Introitus the two Tenor
Patrick Macey
parts alternately sing a motive from the Kyrie of the 'Missa cum jubilo'; AMMM,
13, p. vii.
j3
M. J. Bloxam, ' "La contenance italienne": The Motets on Beata es Maria by Compkre,
Obrecht and Brumel', Early Music History, 11 (1992), pp. 39-89.
j4
Finscher noted the appearance of the sequence tune for versicle 4 in the Agnus
substitute (Cornpire, p. 102), and Faggion has drawn attention to Compkre's use of
the melodies for versicles 2, 3 and 5 (AMMM, 13, pp. vii-viii).
j
'
Faggion has drawn attention to the latter quotation in his edition of the Mass in
AMMM, 13, p. viii.
Galeazzo Maria Sforza and musical patronage in Milan
Example la. Veni sancte spiritus, chant (sequence)
rus, Lu- cis N- ae ra- di- urn. 2a. Con- so- la- tor 0- pti- me,
rum, Ve- ni lu- men cor- di- um. 2b. In la- bo- re re- qui- es.
-
Dul- cis ho- spes a- ni- rnae, Dul- ce re- fri- ge- ri- um.
In ae- sru tern- pe- ri- es. In fle- tu so- la- tl- um.
3a. 0 lux be- a- tis- si- ma, Re- ple tor- dis in- li- ma Tu- {I- rum
3b. Si- ne ru- o nu- mi- ne. Ni- hi1 est III 110- mi- ne, Ni- 1111 est
'8 est a- ri- durn, Sa- na quod est sau- CI- um. 5a. Da tu- IS ti-
est fri- gi- durn. Re- ge quod est de- vl- um 5h. Da vlr- ru- t ~ \
~.- - -.-
- :-
.-
: : -. . ... --.
r - % ~ -- :-. .
..- . . Q-z 6-1
% de- 11- bus. In re con- ti- drn- 11- hus. Sa- rum \c- prr- (la- il-
ulll
L~yl
me- 11- rum. Da sa- lu- tis r- XI- rum. Da pr- rt.11- tie gau- dl-
' Quae re- gi- na di- ce- ris. mi- 5e- re- re mi- se- ris
32
Example 2. Compkre, Missa Galeazescha, Loco Gloria: Tenors 1-2, bars 34-47 (Veni
sancte spiritus, versicles 2 and 3)
34 Tenur 2 Tenur I
38 Tenor 2 Tenor I
I con- N- li- ti gau- di- a Nou dl. gne- ris vi- se- re,
ut cum Chri- sto VI- ve- re, pus- si- lnur in glo- 11- r
170
Galeazzo Maria Sforza and musical patronage in Milan
Example 3. Compkre, Missa Galearescha, Loco Agnus: Tenors 1-2, bars 8-14 (Veni sancte
spiritus, versicle 4 )
8 Tenor 2 Tenor 1
I I Tenor 2
' is re- me- di- um, pro- cul prl- It. vi- ti- a.
a I. Vi- cti- mae pa- scha- li lau- des im- mo- lent Chri- sti- a- ni. 2a. A- gnus re- de.
2b. Mors et vi- ta
mit o- ves. Chri- stus in- no- cens Pa- tri. Re- con- ci- li- a- vit pec- ca- to- res.
du- el- lo, Con- fli- xe- re mi- ran- do. Dux vi- tae mor-tu- us re- gnat vi- vus
171
Galeazzo Maria Sforza and musical patronage in Milan
Example Sb. Compere, Missa Galeazescha, Loco Offertorii: Tenors 1-2, bars 18-32 (Ave
maris stella, paraphrase)
18 Tenor 1 Tenor 2
' Gau- de vir- go sa- lu- ta- ta, Ga- bri- e- le nun- ti- o. Gau-
n , 1
Y O
- -
a
U.
-.
ter io- cun- da- ta, le- su pu- er- pe- ri- 0.
27 Tenor 1 Tenor 2
'
..
?$ -
:-
0 -. ~
8 8
1. l a - ny pri- :m sab- ba- ti, Sur- gzns i ti- li- :u
A
-
--
-- -..
-xi:.:--
' " --
.-
k c . '' = n = -
NO- stra spes et glo- ri- a. 2a. Vi- cto re- ge sce- le- ris.
' Re-
0-
di-
Inn1
it
ple-
ab
na
in- fe-
gau- di-
ris
o.
Cum sum-
Cun- so-
ma
la-
vi-
tur
cto-
u-
ri-
mni-
d,
a.
Example 6b. Comptre, Missa Galeazescha, Ad elevationem: Tenors 1-2, bars 27-39 (Mane
prima sabbati, versicles 1 and 2)
27 Tenor 2 Tenor 1 Tenor 2
-8
-
A- ve vir- go vir- gi- num, a- ve lu- men lu- mi- num, a- ve
32 Tenor 1 Tenor 2
stel- la prae- vi- a. Ca- sti- ta- tis li- li- um, con- so.
I6 Tenor 1
' la- trix o- mni- urn, pec- ca- to- rum ve- - ni- a.
Tenor 1
Tenor 2 15
Tenor 1 20
Tenor 2
Tenor 1 25
Ii - 0 Ma- ri- a-
0 Ma- ri- a.
Example 9. Comptre, Missa Galeajescha, Loco Agnus: Tenors 1-2, bars 20-29
20 Tenor 2 Tenor 1
23 Tenor 2
,or- di- ae. ti- li- um im- plo- ra, ut do- num ve- ni- ae-
26 Tenor I
3 J - do- net mor- tis ho- ra no- bis, ut glo- ri- ae re- gno prae- sen- te- mur.
Galeazzo Maria Sforza and musical patronage in Milan
Loco Agnus:
Salve mater salvatoris
vas electum vas honoris,
vas caelestis gratiae.
Tu nostrum refugium,
da reis remedium,
procul pelle vitia.
Salve verbi sacra parens,
flos de spina, spina carens,
flos spineti gloriae.
Tu veniae vena mater gratiae,
confer nobis dona misericordiae,
filium implora ut donum veniae,
donet mortis hora nobis, ut gloriae
regno praesentemur.
Dulcis Jesu mater bona,
mundi salus et matrona
supernorum civium.
Pacem confer sempiternam
et ad lucem nos supernam
transfer post exilium.
0 Maria.
'0 Maria', this Agnus substitute concludes with the same accla-
lines of this motet, but here the lines occur in reverse order:
0 Maria 0 Mary,
0 Maria 0 Mary,
0 Maria 0 Mary,
0 Maria. 0 Mary.
provide separate music for five voice parts (SATTB), the two
Patrick Macey
Example 10. Cornpire, Missa Galeazescha, Loco Deo gratias, conclusion
55
M ~ ter
. mi- se. ri- cor- di- ae, o Ma- ri- a, 0 Ma- rl- ll.
60
P;- V
ri-
e
a. spes sa- lu- tis et ve- ni- ae,
(, I b b a
~.- .
1) ' ma- ter gra- ti- ae, SUC- cur- re no- bis ho- di-
Il " b
SUC- cur- re no- bis ho- di
4
ma- ter gra- ti- ae.
ma- ter gra- ti- ae, suc- cur- re no- bis ho- di-
0 genitrix gloriosa
Ave regina c a e l ~ r u m ~ ~
j9
Finscher, Complre, pp. 95-6.
60
Motets 1, 3 and 4 are edited in Compkre, Opera amnia, 4, ed. L. Finscher (A.I.M.,
1961), pp. 25-6, 29-31. For the Sanctus, see Anonimi: Messe, ed. F. Fano, AMMM,
6 (Milan, 1966), pp. 12-16. Aue regina caelorum is edited in Anonimi: Motetti, ed. L.
Migliavacca, AMMM, 9 (Milan, 1961), pp. 21-5.
Galeazzo Maria Sforza and musical patronage in Milan
Lynn Halpern Ward believes that these works originally formed
part of a cycle of motetti missales, or even that they formed a
complete cycle made u p of only five motets; she has argued
plausibly that the tradition was not always strict about the
number of motets required to form a cycle.61 T h e motet that
quotes Galeazzo's verset is Ave virgo gloriosa ( a different motet from
the homonymously titled work that opens the Missa Galeazescha).
Ave virgo gloriosa,
Maria mater gratiae,
ave gemma pretiosa,
mater misericordiae.
0 Maria florens rosa,
tu nos ab hoste protege,
esto nobis gratiosa,
et hora mortis suscipe.
0 gloriosa domina,
excelsa super sidera,
qui te creavit provide,
lactasti sacro ubere.
Quod Eva tristis abstulit,
tu reddis almo germine,
intrent ut astra flebiles
caeli fenestra facta es.
Maria mater gratiae,
mater misericordiae.
T h e first two stanzas feature a curious interleaving of two distinct
hymn texts, as Finscher has pointed Homorhythmic duos
alternate in a musical pattern of a b a b, so that the music
reflects the texts that go together (Example l l a ) . T h e second
stanza continues alternating the lines of the two hymns, so that
lines 2 and 4 of the second stanza, 'tu nos a b hoste protege . . . et
hora mortis suscipe', constitute the remainder of the original
hymn strophe that begins 'Maria mater gratiae'. At the end,
after taking u p two stanzas from the hymn 0 gloriosa domina, the
motet concludes with a prominent return to Galeazzo's verset,
now set to new music (Example 1lb).63
6'
Compere's Aue uirgo gloriosa survives in six sources: MilD 1, MilD 2, FlorR 2794,
LonRC 1070, Vats 46, and 1502'. The earliest datable source is FlorR 2794, which
was copied in the 1480s, probably before 1488; Census-Catalogue, 11, p. 246. Curiously,
Patrick Macey
was copied in the 1480s, probably before 1488; Census-Catalogue, 11, p. 246. Curiously,
the four non-Milanese sources give the full text of the versicle at the end of the
motet, while the two Milanese sources provide only the first phrase, '0 Maria mater
gratiae'. The correct text seems to have been corrupted by the scribe who copied it
into the two Milanese choirbooks around 1490 and later.
64
The cycle is preserved in MilD 1. For a modern edition, see Gaspar van Weerbeke,
Messe e motetti, transcr. G. Tintori, AMMM, 11 (Milan, 1963), pp. 13ff.
65
G. Croll, Das Motettenwerk Gaspars van Weerbeke (Ph.D, diss., University of Gottingen,
1954), pp. 189-93.
66 Ibid., p p 189-93, 222-3.
Galeazzo Maria Sforza and musical patronage in Milan
'' Ibid., p. 193. For Fit porta Christi peruia, see Analecta hymnica, 11, p. 42. See also Analecta
hymnica, 54, p, 59, where the hymn 0 gloriosa domina includes 'Maria rnater gratiae'
as its fourth stanza. I n the Breuiarium Monasticurn, and in Galeazzo's own 'black' book
of hours, the strophe 'Maria mater gratie' occurs as the second verse of the hymn
Memento salutis auctor for the little offices of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Maria mater
gratie occurs as a free-standing hymn for three voices, and as a verse in two other
hymn settings in the Glogauer Liederbuch. For a complete listing of textual sources
for the strophe 'Maria rnater gratiae', see Das Glogauer Liederbuch, ed. C . Vaterlein,
Das Erbe Deutscher Musik, 86 (Kassel, 1981), pp. 355-6, 366 and 370. I n the Liber
Usualis (p. 1863) the strophe occurs as the first stanza of a hymn, but with a different
second line.
Patrick Macey
Example 1 la. Compere, Ave virgo gloriosa, bars 1-24
I
- I - 1
I - ti- ae.
-
9I : -
A
^ " ^
I
a- ve gem- ma spe- ci- o- sa.
k - - I -
gra- rl- ae,
Y:, 0
b
-
a- ve gem- ma spe- ci- o- sa
11 ma- rer mi- se- ri- cor- - di- ae. 0 Ma- ri- a tlo- rens ro
-
I
^ 7, 1 v r
"
I I
I .s ma- rer mi- se- 11- tor- di- ae. 0 Ma- ri- d flo- rens
1I -
sa. e- sto no- h ~ s gra.
sa, tu nos ab ho- - \re pro- te- ge, e- sto no- h ~ s gra-
10- <a, tu nos ab ho- - ?re pro- te ge, e- sto no- his gra-
The cycle is edited in this form in the Werken van Josquin Depres, ed. A. Smijers,
Aflevering 7, no. 24.
Patrick Macey
Example 1 lb. Compkre, Ave virgo gloriosa, conclusion
<n
lix les
cae- li fe- ne- stra fa- cra
ma- ter
11- cri- mi- na. Ma- ri- a ma- ter gra- ti- ae,
45
I" mi- se- ri- cor- di- ae. N nos ab ho- ste
P. Macey, 'Josquin's "Little" Aue Maria: A Misplaced Motet from the Vultum tuum
Cycle?', Tijdschrift van de Vereniging uoor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis, 39 (1989),
pp. 38-53.
'O
The text for this motet is Intemerata virgo in the fourth Milan choirbook (MilD 4)
and three other sources, whereas three other manuscripts have 0 intemerata virgo,
which fits the shape of the melody better. The sources are: Intemerata virgo, MilD 4,
PadBC A17, UlmS 237, 1505'; 0 intemerata virgo, BarcBC 454, CambraiBM 125-8,
SegC s.s. I would like to thank Bonnie J. Blackburn for drawing this textual variant
to my attention.
Galeazzo Maria Sforza and musical patronage in Milan
"
The cycles are Weerbeke's Missa Ave mundi domina, discussed above, and Compkre's
Missa Ave Domine Jesu Christe, in Opera omnia, 2, ed. L. Finscher (A.I.M., 1959),
'' pp. 26ff.
The Vultum tuum cycle has been recorded in this reconstructed version by the Choir
of Westminster Cathedral, James O'Donnell, director, on Hyperion CDA 66614
(1992).
Patrick Macey
Example 13a. Josquin, Vultum tuum cycle, 0 Maria nullam, bars 1-18
nul-
I' 0 Ma- ri- a.
18 "
P r
-8r 0
1
= - Y
- Y
pam.
re, MilD 4: Ma- rl- a ma- ter gra- ti- ae. ma.
Petruccl Ma- ter mi- se- ri- cur- di- ae.
1
COT- di- ae .
"
Lynn Halpern Ward suggests that MilD 4 was copied in the first decade of the
sixteenth century; see Ward, 'Motetti Missales Repertory', p. 494, n. 10. The manuscript
preserves only four of the motets from the Vultum tuum cycle on fols. 103'-107', in
the following order: Ora pro nobis, 0 intemerata virgo, 0 Maria nullam, Mente tota. The
Milan source provides many melodic details that are distinct from Petrucci's versions,
and the Milan manuscript in general presents superior readings over Petrucci's. A
facsimile of the damaged manuscript has been published as Liber capelle ecclesie maioris.
Quarto codice di Gafurio, ed. L. Migliavacca, AMMM, 16 (Milan, 1968).
Patrick Macey
apud filium tuum, quem genuisti to your Son, whom you bore
de tuo sacro corpore, from your holy body,
Maria, muter gratiae, M a v , mother o f grace,
muter misericordiae. mother o f mercy.
Galeazzo's verset thus appears prominently at the conclusion of
the motet in the cycle that stresses the name 'Maria' at its
opening. While it has not generally been doubted that Josquin
composed Vultum tuum as a set of motetti missales for the chapel
of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, the discovery of his Marian verset at
the end of the Sanctus substitute - one of the most solemn points
of the Mass - provides evidence for an even stronger connection
with the duke.
Several of the motets in the Vultum tuum cycle circulated inde-
pendently, mostly in manuscript sources. Of the six sources for
0 Maria nullam, five have only 'mater misericordiae' at the con-
clusion; the one source that preserves Galeazzo's complete verset
is the damaged Milanese choirbook.
'mater misericordiae': 'Maria mater gratiae, mater misericordiae':
BarcBC 454 MilD 4
CambraiBM 125-8
SegC s.s.
UlmS 237
1505'
I n passing, we may note that the imitative duo on 'Maria mater
gratiae' echoes an earlier master whose work must have been
well known to Josquin. I n fact the duo is identical to one from
the Credo of Guillaume Du Fay's Missa L'homme arm4 at the
words 'qui cum patre et filio' (Example 14). This may be mere
coincidence, but Josquin may have consciously quoted the pass-
age to point up a long tradition; just as Galeazzo's forefathers
evinced a particular devotion to the Madonna of Grace and
Mercy, so did Galeazzo continue the tradition: 'qui cum patre
et filio'.
Stylistic similarities between some of the motets in Josquin's
Vultum tuum and Compkre's Missa Galeazescha provide suggestive
points of contact between the two composers. The identical imi-
tative point appears in the first motet of each cycle (Example
15a and 15b; Josquin's music is scored a fourth higher than
Comp2re's). Another point of similarity occurs in the appearance
Galeazzo Maria Sforza and musical patronage in Milan
Example 14. Du Fay, Missa L'homme am;, Credo, bars 205-213
205' =
Qui cum pa- tie et ti- li- o sib mu1 a- do- ra- tur
. . .
se- ris, Re- is er- go fac.
0- mnis spes
Example 16a. Comptre, Missa Galeazescha, Loco Introitus: Superius and Tenor 2, bars
3840
38
Example 16b. Josquin, Vultum tuum cycle, 0 intemerata virg: Superius and Tenor, bars
75-8 1.
closing portion of Josquin's Ora pro nobis, the final motet in the
Vultum tuum cycle (Example 17). The Tenor and Superius enter
in imitation, with a tremendously powerful melodic line based
on ascending skips in the Superius and soaring scalar figures in
the Altus (bars 76-82) that drive to a strong cadence on D at
bar 83. In this passage the Altus and Bassus are relegated to a
supporting role, providing mostly octaves and fifths. T h e drive
194
Galeazzo Maria Sforza and musical patronage in Milan
Example 17. Josquin, Vultum tuum cycle, Ora pro nobis, conclusion
I" stris.
a pa- tre et
84
1% . li- rl et
' I
spi- rl- lu san- ctu, rt spi- ri-
son- CIO. A.
IU son- CIO. A-
90
men
men.
So-
b
,
- 1
Sal- ve tu so- la cum so- la a- mi-
'' For an argument in support of the Milanese origin of Illibata, see T. Brothers,
'Vestiges of the Isorhythmic Tradition in Mass and Motet, ca. 1450-1475', JAMS,
44 (1991), pp. 1-56. A different view regarding the motet's provenance is R. Sherr,
'Illibata dei virgo nutrix and Josquin's Roman Style', JAMS, 41 (1988), pp. 434-64.
'' Discussed by Bloxam, ' "La contenance italienne" ', pp. 39-89.
Galeazzo Maria Sforza and musical patronage in Milan
la
I LA.
-
Con- so-
-
Con- - so- la la mi la la I ~ I
m 8
-.- r-. 23
ca, Con- - so- la la mi la
ca- nen- es ~n u-
The cycle is transmitted in several sources, including MilD 3, Vats 15, and Motetti
C . Petrucci's edition is available in Motetti C , ed. R. Sherr, The Sixteenth Century
Motet, 2 (Xew York, 1991), pp. 118-31. All of the motets in the cycle except
the fourth were later copied into 's HerAB 73; see Illustre lieve vrouwe broederschap
's-Hertogenbosch, Codex 73, ed. C. Maas, Monumenta Musica Xeerlandica, 8 : 1
(Amsterdam, 1970), pp. 101-11.
Italian Laude and Latin h i c a in M S Capetown, Grey 3.b.12, ed. G. Cattin (Stuttgart,
1977), p. xxix.
Galeazzo Maria Sforza and musical patronage in Milan
Ubi gubernatrix seculi et terre potencia? In Maria.
the response 'In Maria'. The Superius and Bassus have similar
In Ma- ri- a.
In Ma- n- a.
In Ma- n- a
See Franchino Gaffurio, Motetti, ed. L. Migliavacca, AMMM, 5 (Milan, 1959), pp. 59-
63; for the sequence text, see Analecta hymnica, 54, no. 225, pp. 358-9.
20 1
Patrick Macey
83
Three further motets feature Galeazzo's verset, or at least a portion of it (all settings,
of course, of the Salve regina mater misericordiae feature a portion of the verset). The
first is an anonymous Ave Maria in a Veronese manuscript, VerBC 760, noted by
Ludwig Finscher, who remarked on the similarity of its style to Compkre's own Ave
Maria (Finscher, Compire, pp. 164-5). The motet, divided into two parts, features the
text 'mater misericordiae' in the prima pars, while the secunda pars presents a full
litany, as in Compkre's setting.
The second is Antoine Brumel's Beata es Maria, published by Petrucci in Motetti
libro quarto, the same volume that contains Josquin's Vultum tuum cycle; the work is
edited in Antoine Brumel, Opera omnia, 5, ed. B. Hudson, Corpus Mensurabilis
Musicae, 5 (A.I.M., 1972), pp. 18-21. In fact, after the opening verse of Beata es
Maria, Brumel states the entire two stanzas of the Marian hymn ('Maria mater
gratiae' and 'Gloria tibi domine') that M'eerbeke had used in his cycle Ave mundi
domina, discussed above.
Jennifer Bloxam has drawn attention to the Italian lauda melody, Beata es
Maria, which was originally quoted as a cantus firmus by Compkre in his setting
of Ave Maria, and which was later taken up by Obrecht and Brumel in their
settings of Beata es Maria. Neither Compkre nor Obrecht quotes Galeazzo's verset
('Maria mater gratiae') in these particular motets, however, and there is no
reason to associate Brumel's setting of Beata es Maria with Milan or Galeazzo
Maria Sforza. I n fact, Brumel spent most of his career in France, and did not move
to Italy until 1505, when he was hired by Alfonso d'Este to replace Obrecht as
maestro di cappella in Ferrara; see C. Wright, '.4ntoine Brumel and Patronage at
Paris', Music in Medieval and Early Modern Europe, ed. Fenlon, pp. 37-60. The
musical style of Brumel's setting is quite unlike that of motets composed in Milan
in the 1470s (Bloxam, ' "La contenance italienne" ', pp. 75 and 78), and Brumel's
quotation of the text and tune of Beata es Maria was probably intended for the court
of Ferrara.
The third work that features the text 'Maria mater gratiae' is an anonymous
five-voice motet with that incipit in the manuscript Brussels, Bibliothkque Royale
228. The motet includes the two complete stanzas of the Marian hymn ('Maria mater
gratiae' and 'Gloria tibi Domine') that appear in the settings by Weerbeke and
Brumel mentioned above. For an edition and commentary, see M. Picker, The Chamon
Albums of Marguerite of Austrza (Berkeley, 1965), pp. 128-9, 257-64.
Galeazzo Maria Sforza and musical patronage in Milan
as a 'novus David', took a direct hand in designating the repertory
to be performed in his chapel.84
A question still remains about the chronology of these cycles.
If Galeazzo did give the order on 21 December 1476 that the
verset was to be sung at daily Mass, does this indicate a date
of composition for each of the four cycles of motetti missales? If
so, the shortness of the interval between the issuing of the order
and Galeazzo's death - from 21 to 26 December - would indicate
that they could probably not have been completed until after
the murder of the duke, and in that case they would serve as
intercessions for the salvation of his O n the other hand,
it seems more likely that the cycles were composed over a longer
period of time, from 1472 to 1476, and that Galeazzo's order of
21 December to perform the verset at daily Mass could have
been fulfilled by performances of the already existing Marian
motetti missales by Weerbeke, Compkre and Josquin that included
the verset. Furthermore, both Compkre and Josquin departed
from Milan in early 1477, as Galeazzo's widow, Bona of Savoy,
took steps to reduce the size of the chapel, so it seems unlikely
that they composed their cycles after this date.86
Corio's account concerning Galeazzo's order for the chapel
singers to dress in mourning and to sing the verset 'Maria mater
gratiae, mater misericordiae' at daily Mass seems designed to
show the duke's awareness of a plot against his life. Perhaps
Galeazzo wanted the verset added to the Mass as a special
precaution against a n unprepared death. I n any case, the
Lubkin, A Renaissance Court, pp. 245-6, makes the following point about the motetti
missales: 'The youth and audacity of great figures uosquin and Comptre, for example]
in his ducal choir, with their innovative musical forms and bright polyphony, made
a good match for the prince who was their first patron. There is little doubt that these
innovations took place under Galeazzo's watchful eye. Given his active interference in
all areas of life and his daily attendance at Mass where these pieces were sung, it
is inconceivable that he did not approve them, at the very least.'
David Crawford has suggested this possibility for Comptre's Missa Galeazescha, because
of the oblique reference in one of the final motets to Bona of Savoy, Galeazzo's
widow; see Crawford's review of Noblitt, 'The Motetti Missales' (cited note 58 above),
pp. 105-6.
86
Comptre is listed in a document dated 6 February 1477 among twelve singers who
were given safe passage from Milan; see Lowinsky, 'Ascanio Sforza's Life', p. 40.
Josquin became a singer in the chapel of RenC d'.4njou in Aix-en-Provence, where
he is cited as witness to the testament of the deceased singer Jean Giraud in April
1477; see Y. Esquieu, 'La musique 2 la cour provenqale du roi RenC', Provence
Historique, 31 (1981), p. 301.
Patrick Macey
presence of this text in cycles of motetti missales by three of
the duke's court composers, Compkre, Weerbeke and Josquin,
emphasises the enhanced power that eloquent musical settings
were felt at the time to impart to sacred texts: the salvation of
the patron's soul depended in part on the performance of such
texts. Perhaps most importantly, Corio's account allows confir-
mation of the presence of the elusive Josquin des Prez in Galeaz-
zo's chapel in the 1470s, by virtue of Josquin's prominent place-
ment of Galeazzo's verset in one of the motets from the Vultum
tuum cycle. The Visconti-Sforza veneration of the Madonna of
Grace and Mercy, seen in conjunction with the incorporation of
Galeazzo's Marian verset into cycles of motetti missales composed
especially for his chapel, allows us to open another window onto
the fascinating interaction of patronage, music and ritual in
fifteenth-century Milan.
Eastman School of Music
University of Rochester
Galeazzo Maria Sforza and musical patronage in Milan
APPENDIX 1
APPENDIX 2
Loco Introitus
Ave virgo gloriosa A, versicle l a
caeli iubar mundi rosa
caelibatus lilium.
Ave gemma pretiosa A, versicle l b
super omnes spetiosa
virginale gaudium.
Florens ortus aegris gratus A, versicle 4a
puritatis fons signatus
dans fluenta gratiae Veni sancte spiritus,
versicle 4, phr. 3
Quae regina diceris B, versicle 5b -, versicle 5
miserere miseris
virgo mater gratiae.
Reis ergo fac regina C, versicle 5a
0 virgo pura acclamation
apud regem ut ruina C, versicle 5a
relaxentur debita.
0 virgo pura acclamation
pro nobis dulciter ora.
Loco Gloria
Ave salus infirmorum D, versicle 3a
et solamen miserorum
dele sordes peccatorum
te laudantem domina.
Ave mater Jesu Christi D, versicle 2b
virgo deum genuisti
per virtutem ascendisti
dans salutem homini.
206
Galeazzo Maria Sforza and musical patronage in Milan
Loco Credo
Ave decus virginale G, versicle 4a
templum dei speciale
per te fiat veniale
omne quod committimus.
0 domina piissima
omni laude dignissima
fac nobis dignus te laudare
venerari et amare.
0 domina deo cara
stirpe decens et praeclara
sed meritis praeclarior.
0 domina dominarum secular tune?
o regina reginarum
propter tuam pietatem
pelle meam paupertatem.
0 praeclara stella maris
quae cum deo gloriaris
nos ad portum fac venire
nunquam sinas nos perire.
Loco Offertorii
Ave sponsa verbi summi E, versicle 3a
maris portus signum dumi
aromatum virga fumi
angelorum domina.
Patrick Macey
Loco Sanctus
0 Maria! acclamation
APPENDIX 3
Marian Motets by Josquin des Prez
PREFACE T O T H E STUDY O F T H E
ALLELUIA*
* The present article originated as a paper presented at the annual meeting of the
American Musicological Society, Baltimore, November 1988.
' I distinguish in this study between Alleluia (and Alleluia-psalm) as a genre of the
Mass Proper and all other uses of the word by reserving capital 'A' to the former.
Gregorian Chant (Bloomington, Indiana, 1958), pp. 380-1.
James W. McKinnon
For Gerbert, see De Cantu et Musica Sacra (St Blasius, 1774), p, 59; for Wagner, see
1901), p. 32.
What follows is a summary of J . McKinnon, 'The Patristic Jubilus and the Alleluia
of the Mass', in Cantus Planus, Papers Read at the Third Meeting, Tihany, Hungary,
In psalmum xxxii, 11, sermo I , 8; translation from J. McKinnon, Music in Early Christian
Literature (Cambridge, 1987: hereafter M E C L ) , pp. 156-7.
They would do so also in preaching a sermon on some verse from the Psalms; but
the patristic sermon on a psalm and the patristic Psalm Commentary are the spoken
Preface to the study of the Alleluia
and written forms of the same genre. (The numbering of the Psalms employed in
this study is that of the Greek and Latin tradition.)
' This observation, originally based on the author's reading, has been verified by the
What follows owes much to the excellent study on the subject by W. Wiora, 'Jubilare
sine verbis', in I n memoriam Jacques Handschin, ed. H . Ang1t.s and others (Strasbourg,
l5 Ibid.
l6
James W. McKinnon
For the Alleluia, see Liber Ofhialis, l.lrr, 16, 3 u. Hanssens, ed., Amalarii Episcopi
Opera Liturgics Omnia, 3 vols., Studi et Testi, 138-40 (Rome, 1948-50), here vol. 11,
p. 304); for the Gradual, Liber Ofhialis, 1.111, 11, 21 (Hanssens, vol. 11, p. 299); for
the 'neuma', Liber de Ordine Antiphonarii, 18, 3 (Hanssens, vol. 111, p, 54).
20
De offiiis ecclesiasticis, 11, 19; Patrologia Latina [hereafter P L ] , ed. J. P. Migne, vol. 177,
col. 422.
Gregorian Chant, p. 378. Ape1 follows Wagner in this, as he does in most aspects of
the Alleluia's early history; see Wagner, Introduction to the Gregorian Melodies, pp. 81-2.
'' Evidence that the Roman Alleluia did not evolve from a complete psalm could mean
that it was adopted into the liturgy of that city as a mature chant genre at a
comparatively late date; but this is a consideration that falls outside the bounds of
the present study.
Preface to the study of the Alleluia
T e m ~ l e ) .T
' ~h e Psalter might be described, then, as the principal
vehicle of entry for this Hebrew word into its Christian context.
This is not to say that the word might not figure occasionally
as a joyous exclamation with no attached psalm; Jerome, for
example, advised Laeta of her daughter Paula: 'When she sees
her grandfather, let her leap upon his chest, and hanging from
his neck let her sing Alleluia to the reluctant old man.'24But much
more frequently in patristic literature the original association of
alleluia and psalm is affirmed, particularly in liturgical situations.
For example, in describing the agape (the evening love feast),
Hippolytus ( d , c. 236) writes: 'And after the bishop has offered
the chalice, let him say a psalm from those appropriate to the
chalice - always one with alleluia, which all say.'25 I n the early
monastic Office it was customary in many locations to add
'alleluia' to many more psalms than the twenty that have it
superscribed; Cassian (d. 435), however, claims that the monks
of Jerusalem practised restraint in this respect: 'This also is
observed among them with great care, that no psalm is sung
with the response Alleluia unless Alleluia appears inscribed in
its title.'26 And, finally, St Augustine, preaching to his congre-
gation on Psalm 113 (in the Eucharistic proanaphora, one
assumes), remonstrates with them: 'But yet we should not
imagine that in this psalm, to which we have now responded by
chanting "alleluia" . . .'27
One sees in these and many similar passages a n affirmation
of the virtually axiomatic truth that the principal and most
appropriate function of the acclamation 'alleluia' in early Chris-
tian liturgy was to serve as a response to a psalm, particularly
to one of the twenty alleluia-psalms. But, such general consider-
ations aside, if we might concentrate for the moment exclusively
upon the East, there is evidence that amounts to no less than a
demonstration of the original alliance of alleluia and psalm in
the history of the Alleluia of the Mass. T h e celebrated Armenian
23
The alleluia-psalms are (in the Greek and Latin numbering) 104-6, 110-18, 134-5
and 145-50.
24
Epistle 77: MECL, p. 142.
25
Apostoli~ Tradition, 25; MECL, p. 47.
26
34
See J. McKinnon, 'Desert Monasticism and the Later Fourth-Century Psalmodic
Movement', Music and Letters, 75 (1994), pp. 505-21, here pp. 512-16.
35
Renoux dates the content of the Armenian Lectionary to between 417 and 439; see
Le Codex A n h i e n , vol. I , pp. 166-72.
36
For Hippo and Carthage, see A. Zwinggi, 'Der Wortgottesdienst bei Augustinus',
Liturgisches Jahrbuch, 20 (1970), pp. 92-1 13, 129-40, 250-3. For Milan, see G. Willis,
St Augustine's Lectionary, Alcuin Club Collections, 44 (London, 1962); and H. Leeb,
Die Psalmodie bei Ambrosius (Vienna, 1967), esp. pp. 80-4.
37
J. McKinnon, 'The Fourth-Century Origins of the Gradual', Early Music History, 7
James W. McKinnon
38
In 'Liturgical Psalmody in the Sermons of St Augustine' I arrive at the following
count of refrain verses: eight 'certain', an additional ten 'probable' and sixty-five
'possible'.
39
Sermo CCCXLII, De utilitate agendae poenitentiae r r , 1; MECL, p. 162.
Sermo CLXV, De verbis Apostoli, Eph. 111, 13-18; MECL, p. 161.
41
See Zwinggi, 'Der Wortgottesdienst bei Augustinus', p. 95.
See p. 219 and note 27.
Ennaratio in psalmum CX, 1; MECL, p. 159.
Preface to the study of the Alleluia
44
Terrence Bailey had already pointed out this possibility (which I missed in 'The
Fourth-Century Origins of the Gradual') in The Ambrosian Cantus (Ottawa, 1987),
pp. 34-6. More recently the young French scholar Phillipe Bernard, noting this lapse
on my part, remarked justly that 'McKinnon nous semble oublier totalement le trait'
('Les Alleluia melismatiques dans le chant romain: Recherches sur la genese de
l'alltluia de la Messe romaine', Riuista Internationale di Musica Sacra, 12 (1991), p. 346,
n. 11). I am genuinely grateful to him for causing me to be more alert in this respect,
but I cannot accept the view, which he shares with a number of other French chant
scholars, that the Tract 'a precede le graduel, comme la psalmodie sans refrain a
prtctdt la psalmodie responsoriale' (ibid.). This, however, is an issue to be explored
at another time and place.
45
Note, for example, the passage quoted above from Augustine's Sermon 342.
James W. McKinnon
j0
5'
52
53
.
Ibid... D. 161.
See P. Blanchard, 'La correspondance apocryphe du pape S. Damase et de S. Jerome
sur le psautier et le chant de 1' "alleluia" ', Ephemerides Liturgicae, 63 (1949), pp. 376-88.
54
See 'The Introduction of Psalmody', pp. 158-9.
55
P L , vol. 13, col. 440.
James W. McKinnon
j6
j9
Regula Benedicti 15; A, de VogiiC, ed., La R2gle de Saint Ben{ac)oit, vol. 11 (Paris, 1972),
pp. 524-6.
60
See J. Pascher, 'Der Psalter fur Laudes und Vesper im alten romischen Stundengebet',
Miinchener Theologische Zeitschrgt, 8 (1957), pp. 255-67.
61
PL, vol. 30, col. 295. T h a t the phrase 'in the church' ('in ecclesia autem') refers to
the Mass as opposed to the Office is not in dispute; it is clear from the pattern of
question and response in the text.
62
63
Among the various studies of early medieval Italy, I have found particularly helpful
R. Krautheimer, Rome: Profile o f a City, 312-1308 (Princeton, 1980); P. Llewellyn, Rome
in the Dark Ages (London, 1970); T . Noble, The Republic of St Peter: The Birth of the
Papal State, 680-825 (Philadelphia, 1984); and C. Wickham, Early Medieoal Italy: Central
Power and Local Society 400-1000 (London, 1981).
The population figures are from Krautheimer, Rome: Profile of a City, p. 65.
Preface to the study of the Alleluia
6j
66
Registrum Epistularum, ed. P. Ewald and L. Hartmann, Monumenta Germaniae His-
James W. McKinnon
that subdeacons process without their vestments; that the Kyrie eleison
is recited; and that you decreed that the Lord's Prayer be said immedi-
ately after the canon'.
I responded to him: 'in none of these did we follow another church.
For the custom that "alleluia" is not said here [outside the fifty-day
period] is known from the report of the Blessed Jerome to have been
taken over from the church of Jerusalem at the time of Pope Damasus
of blessed memory. And, indeed, in this matter I have mitigated the
custom that had been adopted here from the G r e e k ~ . ' ~ '
It is well known that there is a controversial spot in the text
of Gregory's letter: the phrase in italics in the second paragraph
above, where some read 'non diceretur' and others simply 'dicere-
tur'. I follow liturgical scholars like Blanchard and Martimort
in opting for 'non diceretur' both because the better editions
have the 'non' and because I find the sense more p l a u ~ i b l e T
. ~o~
paraphrase Gregory, he says that we know from Jerome's reply
to Damasus (the pseudo-correspondence discussed above) that
Rome followed the custom of Jerusalem in not singing 'alleluia'
at Mass outside of Paschaltime. He denies having adopted that
custom from the East (it was Damasus who did so); moreover,
he has changed it by allowing 'alleluia' to be sung at Mass
outside of Paschaltime. Now, it would lengthen the present study
unnecessarily to spell out in detail the opposite side in this
controversy (it, too, can be argued plausibly) and to defend at
length the one adopted here. The central point I wish to make
about the Gregorian letter stands whether one accepts the 'non
diceretur' reading or not.
The point is that I find highly improbable the common assump-
tion that Gregory's use of the word alleluia in this letter refers
to what we know as the early medieval Alleluia of the Mass -
that is, a melismatic Alleluia, followed by a moderately melis-
matic verse and a repetition of the Alleluia (let alone Apel's
free-standing melismatic Alleluia). I agree with Martimort that
Gregory probably meant 'alleluia' in the sense in which it was
"
Ibid., vol. 11 (Berlin, 1899), p. 59.
68
See Blanchard, 'La correspondance apocryphe', p. 387; and Martimort, 'Origine et
signification', pp. 826-9. Egon Wellesz, in 'Gregory the Great's Letter on the Alleluia',
Annales Musicologiques, 2 (1954), pp. 7-26, here pp. 10-18, argues at length for the
omission of 'non'.
Preface to the study of the Alleluia
generally used in the fifth and sixth centuries, that is, as a brief
response or antiphon affixed to a psalm.69His reply to the Sicilian
visitor, after all, is couched in the language of the pseudo-
correspondence, the entire context of which was the question of
affixing Gloria patri and 'alleluia' to psalms. And the larger context
was that of the monastic Office, a circumstance that remained
no less true for questions concerning psalmody in Gregory's time.
The ecclesiastical song that Gregory was in daily contact with
at Rome was the singing of the Office by the monks attached
to the great basilicas, including that of the Lateran itself. H e
was, moreover, notorious for his favouring of all things m o n a ~ t i c . ' ~
Thus it would seem that he was allowing the long-standing
monastic custom of affixing 'alleluia' to Office psalmody outside
of the Easter season to extend also to the psalmody of the Mass.
And what was the extent of psalmody at Mass in the time of
Gregory? We know for certain only that a psalm was sung
during the distribution of Communion and another during the
Fore-Mass; we do not know whether the Offertory or entrance
psalms had been adopted yet. The joyous time of Communion
distribution would itself provide ample opportunity for the new
practice of singing 'alleluia' outside of Paschaltime, while in the
Fore-Mass the fact that the early medieval Alleluia shows signs
of later development than the Gradual might lead us to think
of a more restrained usage. The aboove allusion to the entrance
and Offertory psalms, incidentally, leads to a thought that should
guide our speculations about the origins and early history of the
Roman Mass Proper in general: each of its items (except for the
Alleluia) bears in its early history the stamp of monastic psalm-
ody. By contrast, those Byzantine Eucharistic chants that were
introduced after the early Christian period - the entrance and
Offertory chants - were hymnic Ordinary chants, the Trisagion
and the Cherubikon. Early Latin rites like the so-called Mozara-
bic and the Gallo-Roman allowed themselves to be influenced in
69
'Origine et signification', p. 828. See also David Hiley, Western Plainsong: A Handbook
(Oxford, 1993), pp. 502 and 504, where he expresses a view similar to that of
Martimort.
O'
See P. Llewellyn, 'The Roman Church in the Seventh Century: The Legacy of
Gregory 1', Journal o f Ecclesiastical History, 25 (1974), pp. 363-80.
James W.McKinnon
this respect and adopted the Trisagion and Cherubikon into their
Eucharistic liturgies,'l but Rome was unique in resisting this
influence and in establishing exclusively psalmodic entrance, pro-
anaphoric, Offertory, and Communion chants. Take, for example,
the Roman Introit: whenever it was that it was introduced, it
took a form closely resembling the recitatio continua of monastic
psalmody; that is, it consisted of a new psalm each day with
antiphon. The same is the case with the Communion. I t is true
that the Western practice of singing a psalm during the distri-
bution of Communion goes back to the later fourth century, and
that this psalm might at first have been, as it was in the East,
a quasi Ordinary rather than a Proper chant, consisting in the
singing of Psalm 33, with its refrain verse, 'Taste and see that
the Lord is good'. Eventually, however, it took the same form
as the Introit, that is, a different psalm each day with antiphon
(while 'Taste and see', Gustate et videte, was reduced to the
insignificant status of only one of the post-Pentecostal sequence
of Communion antiphons). The Communion, moreover, bears
the most obvious resemblance to monastic recitatio continua in its
sequence of weekday Lenten Communions, employing in order
Psalms 1 through 26.
As for the Alleluia, I think it unlikely that it was already in
place at Rome in Gregory's time as a separate and independent
chant of the Mass. I t cannot be demonstrated absolutely, but the
evidence provided up to this point suggests that the Fore-Mass of
Gregory's time was not very different from that of Augustine's.
The Introit psalm might very well have been introduced already,
and perhaps even the Offertory psalm (we simply do not know);
but the Service of Readings itself probably retained the basic
fourth-century shape of three discrete events - Epistle, Psalm
and Gospel.
One must not, however, succumb to the temptation of defining
that psalmodic event too narrowly. I t seems quite likely that it
consisted typically in a single responsorial psalm, for which one
can argue a measure of historical continuity with the 'Responsum'
of Ordo Romanus I and the Gradual of the earliest chant manu-
" See J. Quasten, 'Oriental Influence in the Gallican Liturgy', Traditio, 1 (1943),
pp. 55-78.
232
Preface to the study of the Alleluia
'
j
Needless to say, when referring here to 'the repertory of the eighth-century Roman
Mass Proper', I take into account the strong possibility of later melodic adjustments.
76
They are quoted in numerous publications, among the earliest of which is H. Netzer,
L'introduction de la Messe romaine en France sous les Carolingiens (Paris, 1910).
"
The two will appear, translated in full into English for the first time, in the forthcoming
revision of 0 . Strunk, Source Readings in Music History (New York, 1950).
See Sextuplex, pp. 86-7; the rubric, which appears with slight variations in the different
manuscripts, is given here in the version of the Compitgne gradual.
Preface to the study of the Alleluia
the Carolingian realm. But the rubric that most explicitly attests
to Roman exemplars is that appearing in the Blandin gradual
at the seventh Sunday after Pentecost, the formulary of which
was added by the Franks to the Roman post-Pentecostal series
in order to bring the number of Sundays to twenty-three. The
rubric reads: 'ISTA HEBDOMATA NON EST I N ANTI-
PHONARIOS ROMANOS'."
This last example, involving as it does a set of chants (including
the Introit Omnes gentes) added by the Franks to the Roman
repertory, serves to introduce a point of considerable importance.
There are exceptions to the seemingly absolute identity between
Roman and Frankish repertories illustrated in Table 1 by the
Lenten Introits, and these very exceptions serve to corroborate
the point at issue. T o demonstrate this (remaining for the moment
with Introits) one must first place the exceptions in the context
of an entire repertory - how representative of the Introit as a
whole are the Lenten chants, and precisely how many exceptions
are there?
If we extend the comparison in Table 1 to the Introits of the
Advent-Christmas season (Table 2), we find the same overall
identity of repertory and assignment for this season as for Lent -
with, however, a number of exceptions that serve to illustrate
certain peculiarites of transmission between Rome and Francia.
As for differences in assignment, we note that while the Roman
manuscripts have Sacerdotes ejus for the feast of St Sylvester, the
Frankish books have Sacerdotes tui; this sort of lapse (not a spelling
mistake, but the substitution of an entirely different chant for
one of similar incipit) is met with elsewhere in the Mass Proper -
for example, in the replacement of the Roman Communion for
Monday in the fifth week of Lent, Dominus virtutem, by Dominus
firmamenturn in the Senlis manuscript ('S'). The curious (and to
me inexplicable) switch between the Introits of the first and
second Sundays after Epiphany is, I believe, unique to these two
dates."
The immediate concern, in any event, is not with differences
in assignment but with differences in the Roman and Frankish
'' See Sextuplex, p. 180.
The Offertories of these two Sundays, Jubilate deo omnis terra and Jubilate deo universa
terra, are similarly switched, but not the Graduals and Communions.
James W. McKinnon
"
For the third Sunday of Advent, Bodmer 74 has two Gregorian Alleluias, Ecce iam
venit and Rex nosier adveniet, along with a prosa and sequence rather than Excita; for
the feast of John the Evangelist, it has Beatus vir rather than Hic est discipulus. (Table
3 does not take into account those instances where Bodmer 74 adds a Gregorian
Alleluia to the regular Roman assignment.)
O n the latter, see Amalarius, Liber O j j i a l i s , I, 41 (Hanssens, vol. 11, p. 193).
Table 3 Roman and Frankish Advent-Christmas Alleluias
Rome Monza Rheinau Blandin Compitgne Corbie Senlis
Adv 1 Excita Ostende Ostende Ostende 0 Ostende Ostende
Adv I1 Ostende Letatus Letatus 1.etatus 0 Letatus 1.etatus
Adv 111 *Excita Excita Excita Exci ta Excita Excita Excita
Adv IV [uacat] 0 0 0 Veni dne 0 Veni dne
Xmas I Dns dixit - - - - - -
the Frankish festival for a certain pair of saints. There is, in any event, very little
similarity of assignment between Rome and Francia, whether by coincidence or
design. Examples of genuine continuity might be found for only a handful of important
saints, perhaps St Laurence's Beatus vir and St Andrew's Nimis honorati.
Preface to the study of the Alleluia
of the transmission is suggested by a number of observations:
(1) the Franks assigned them to different Sundays in Advent
than those chosen by the Romans; (2) the two chants display a
measure of instability within the Roman graduals themselves;
and (3) the Romans provided only two Advent chants for three
Sundays (the fourth Sunday, one recalls, was 'vacans' at Rome).
And it might be worth noting also that of the three Alleluia lists
given in the Sextuplex manuscripts, Ostende appears in two and
Excita in one.88
T o summarise, one must conclude that only about fifteen
dates in the mid-eighth-century Roman temporale had Alleluias
assigned to them, and that Alleluias were chosen for the other
dates from some sort of list. The significance of this conclusion
is that the characteristic of the Alleluia that chant scholars have
traditionally taken as evidence for its 'lateness' - that is, its
instability of assignment - is even more extreme than has hitherto
been supposed. One might, however, wish to question this
assumption that instability is a sign of lateness (it is, of course,
the corollary to Walter Frere's famous dictum 'fixity means
antiquity')." I n reply it should be said that one cannot assume
that instability of assignment is a n indication of late date, but
one may very well suspect as much and must then, in each case,
go on to provide an historically plausible explanation for the
suspicion. As for the case in point, it seems highly unlikely that
a small group of festivals would be assigned Alleluias at a n early
date (say, the time of Gregory I or even the mid seventh century)
and that a century or more - including a period of intense
activity in the creation of the Mass Proper - would be allowed
to elapse without extending the number of assignments beyond
the original group.
Indeed, the question of assignments aside, the small repertory
of the Roman Alleluia itself, a repertory that the ninth-century
Franks found it necessary to augment dramatically, speaks for
the late adoption of the genre. I t is a much more complex task
to furnish the precise numbers involved than it is for a genre
88
Ostende appears in the Blandin and Compi6gne lists and Excita in the Compi6gne
See The Sarum Gradual and the Gregorinn Antiphonale .Missarum (London, 1895), p, x.
James W.McKinnon
like the Introit; to be reckoned with, for example, are the Greek
Alleluias, some of which were reproduced in Latin versions, and
also the Alleluias sung during Easter week vespers in the peculiar
tone unique to that service.g0But what renders definitive numbers
virtually unobtainable is the circumstance that a significant por-
tion of Alleluias with the same texts display totally unrelated
melodies in the Roman and Gregorian version^,^^ a phenomenon
that should not be altogether surprising if the bulk of the chants
were transmitted as a list of unnotated verse texts. In any event,
my efforts to obtain numbers analogous to those supplied for the
other genres of the Mass Proper results in the following: about
50 Alleluias common to the Roman and Sextuplex manuscripts,
fewer than 10 exclusive to the Roman manuscripts, and nearly
50 exclusive to the Sextuplex manuscripts. I t should be added also
that well over half the total of common Alleluias - that is, those
that appear to have been in the Roman repertory at the time of
its transmission - belong to the three much-discussed melody-
types: Dies sanctijicatus, Excita and Ostende. I count no more than
nineteen different Roman Alleluia melodies. I t seems fair enough
to interpret this last circumstance as evidence of haste in a n
attempt to provide an adequate repertory, to catch up, one might
say, with the other, more fully supplied genres of the Mass
Proper.
study might very well reveal much about the relationship between Roman and
Frankish chant.
"'
Thodberg, of course, espouses an Eastern origin for the Roman Alleluia but places
the time of its adoption at an earlier period than the vie~vsexpressed in the present
study would suggest; see D i e b3zantinische illleluiarionzyklus, p. 194.
Early lMusic History (1996j Volume 15
REVIEWS
Pit = Paris, Bibliothcque Nationale, MS fonds it. 568 (RISM F-Pn 568)
Table 1
JMS page size (mm) (surci~jing)folios datings
Rossi 23 x 16.8 now 18 of 32 F 1350170 P 1370
Panciatichi 29.5 22 115 (paper) F 1380190 P 1400
Lo 26 X 19.5 88 F early 15C P 1425
Pit 25.7 X 17.5 150 F after 1400 P 1425
Reina 27.1X21.3 122 (paper) 1400-30140
Lucca 22 X 15 now 42 of 102 c. 1410
Squarcialupi 40.5 28.5 216 F 1415-19 P after 1440
(new date 1410-15)
" F = von Fischer, ATezc Groce; P = Pirrotta, JMGG
Two newer discoveries belong chronologically at the end of this list: SL 221 1
(see above, note 1) and the Boverio fragments here reviewed (Torino T.III.2).
Reina = Paris, Bibliothhque Nationale, MS nouv. acq. fr. 6771 (RISM F-Pn 6771)
Rossi = Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Rossi 215 (RISM I-Rrat
215)
SL 221 1 = Florence, Biblioteca Laurenziana, MS Archivio Capitolare di San Lorenzo
22 11 (RISM I-Fsl 22 1 1 )
Squarcialupi (Sq) = Florence, Biblioteca Laurenziana, MS Mediceo-Palatino 87
(RISM I-Fl 87)
SL 221 1 was originally a manuscript of at least 190 folios, of w-hich the surviving
50 per cent are parchment leaves entirely palimpsest and largely overw-ritten. Its
state poses a challenge to transcription, and facsimile reproduction should be post-
poned until advances in digital enhancement techniques make it possible to improve
on conventional photography. It was arranged generically and authorially, starting
(like most other Florentine manuscripts) w-ith Jacopo. It had a section of Paolo
compositions, and hitherto unknown works by Ugolino of Orvieto and Giovanni and
Piero Mazzuoli. Unlike comparable sources, it ends with a gathering of motets. See
F. D'Accone, 'Una nuova fonte dell'Ars Nova italiana: I1 codice di San Lorenzo
221 l', Studi IMusicali, 13 (1984), pp. 3-31, and J. Nbdas, 'Manuscript San Lorenzo
221 1: Some further obsenrations', L'Ars AVoaa Italiana del Trecento, vr: Atti del Congress0
Internazionale 'L'Europa e la Musica del Trecento', Certaldo, 19-2 1 July 1984
(Certaldo, [1992]), pp. 145-68.
I1 codice musicale Panciatichi 26 della Biblioteca .Ihzionale di Firenze. Riproduzione in facsimile,
ed. F . A. Gallo. Studi e Testi per la Storia della Musica, 3 (Florence, 1981).
I1 canzionere musicale del codice Vaticano Rossi 215. Prima parte [facsimile], ed. G. Vecchi
(Bologna, 1966).
Facsimiles of the Squarcialupi M S and other sources
The lManuscript London, B.>M., Additional 29987, 4 Facsimile Edition, ed. G. Reaney,
Musicological Studies and Documents, 13 (n.p., American Institute of Musicology,
1965).
T o be edited by John Nidas in the series Late Medieval and Early Renaissance
Music in Facsimile (the first volume to appear in this series is Oxford, Bodleian
Library, MS Canon. misc. 213, ed. D. Fallows (Chicago, 1995)). Another beautifully
produced collection of colour facsimiles including manuscripts of this period is A n
Anthology of Music Fragments from the L o z ~ Countries, ed. E. Schreurs (Leuven, 1995).
The standard of facsimile is at least matched, and probably surpassed, by Engelberg
Stiftsbibliothek Codex 314, Schweizerische Musikdenkmaler, 11, ed. W. Arlt and
M. Stauffacher (Winterthur, 1986) from the Swiss publisher Amadeus. This is a late
fourteenth-century manuscript of very different repertory. The introduction is a com-
plete and perfect study that should serve as a model for other facsimiles. Certainly
the polish, density and integration of the text are a monument to the collaborative
work of the authors and show up the unevenness of the barely edited multi-author
introduction to Squarcialupi; see below.
found in Lucca in 1988 by NAdas and Ziino. Pioneering work
on the fragmentary source, some of which now stands in need
of revision, was undertaken by Nino Pirrotta and Ettore Li Gotti.'
Partly with the aid of original foliation, the new study reconstructs
an original manuscript of at least 102 leaves (more than double
the surviving parts), from which 83 compositions are still rep-
resented, all Italian or French secular songs. Many of the bifolios
were trimmed and folded horizontally to serve as covers for
notarial documents, resulting in severe damage. The photographs
reproduce completely what exists, at actual size, with great benefit
from the full colour reproduction (as also with Rossi and Boverio)
even where there is no notational necessity for colour. The fac-
simile is supplemented by a series of ultraviolet photographs for
some of the most badly rubbed pages. These wonderfully enhance
the use of the facsimile to scholars; still more plates would have
been welcome. The magisterial 50-page introduction by John
NAdas and Agostino Ziino (which appears only in English) is
packed with new information, including biographical and insti-
tutional discoveries relating to Ciconia and Zacara da Teramo.
Paleographical, repertorial and historical material are woven
together into a wholly convincing account of compilation by a
single scribe who must have been close to centres of major power
and action: Visconti Pavia in the 1390s, Carrara Padua in the
1400s, then the papal circles in Pisa and Bologna around 1410,
and finally Florence. I t is a major scholarly achievement. The
final assembly by NAdas takes good account of matters which
are sometimes insufficiently controlled in other volumes in the
series. An exemplary inventory and bibliography make the struc-
ture and contents of this source clear for the first time, noting
all the other numerations used in the literature. The leaves
discovered in 1988 add a hitherto unknown contratenor for Landi-
ni's Poy che da te and a new second strophe for his L'alma mie
piange, an ascription to Ciconia and a new contratenor for the
hitherto anonymous Me@ o morte,' and perhaps as many as three
' 'I1 Codice di Lucca', Musica Dzsciplina, 3 (1949), pp. 119-38, 4 (1950), pp. 11 1-52,
The contratenor is still incomplete: the transcription presents just what is there, but
musical repetition permits bars 45-49 to be completed from 35-39, and 49-end from
27-29.
new unica by Zacara, two of them models for his mass movements.
Some of the unica are transcribed.
The Rossi-Ostiglia codex is the oldest of the trecento antholog-
ies and the smallest in both extent and format, and it presents its
repertory anonymously (though concordances supply the names of
Giovanni da Cascia and Magister Piero for two pieces). Both
facsimiles include the two additional leaves discovered in Ostiglia
by Oscar Mischiati in 1963; unlike Vecchi, Pirrotta properly
acknowledges Mischiati's discovery. This facsimile does therefore
duplicate an existing publication, although improving on it by
high quality; it is to be hoped that future priority will be given
to manuscripts that have never been published in facsimile
(ModA, for example). Rossi belongs on linguistic grounds not to
Tuscan but to northern Italian and Veneto circles. Its full extent
can be presumed from original foliation: 18 of originally 32 leaves
survive. Pirrotta provides an elegant introductory essay for the
volume, having long ago edited the musical contents.' More
recently, and here, he makes an elegant and subtle case for
placing the manuscript in the Veronese circle of the author
Gidino da Sommacampagna. JVhile there are otherwise no start-
ling revisions to what was already known - a dating c. 1370 is
reaffirmed - his essay is filled with humane and perceptive
observations about the verbal texts and the musical styles.
The Boverio manuscript (now Turin T.III.2) is the most
exciting discovery of a significant new source since D'Accone's
identification of the San Lorenzo folios (SL 2211). I t forms a
bridge between the trecento sources and the early fifteenth-
century repertory embodied in Veneto manuscripts dating from
the 1420s onwards; like these, and unlike most of the trecento
sources, it includes mass movements. Fifteen paper folios survive,
most of them seriously damaged. Ziino lists 43 pieces, but 5 of
these (including 3 unica) are miscellaneous and rather crudely
written later fifteenth-century additions, inserted in blank spaces.
After deducting these we are left with 38 pieces (mostly
incomplete) dating from c. 1400. This number can be further
I'
In the Squarcialupi facsimile the text and translation are presented side by side, so
that the reader can easily consult the original; but here too some extended Italian
quotations in the text and footnotes are left untranslated.
'* For travesties of Pirrotta's elegant originals see, among many examples, Rossi, p. 65:
'Secondly, there are signs of fatigue on the same page (concerning which more below).
And lastly, purely on grounds of probability, as all the surviving sheets belong to
three of the four first fascicles'; p. 68: 'The incomplete hexagram added on in this
way suggests there ran only a short time between the ruling and the writing.'
anyway as being on a higher scholarly level than anything else
in that volume. O n a happier note, Giuliano Di Bacco's trans-
lation into Italian of Nfidas's Squarcialupi essay is a model of
elegant clarity.
flyleaves; and they see genuine gold leaf applied, in each copy,
by burnishing the gold onto prominences made by punching
indentations on the reverse of the page. This is certainly impress-
ive at first sight, and it vividly communicates the luxurious
impression of the original. But is it worth the high cost? T h e
answer, I'm afraid, is that too much has been sacrificed in the
interests of this stunning first impression. One need only compare
the excellent colour photographs of all the composer portraits in
the volume of essays to see that the edges of the stamped-on
gold are too hard in the facsimile, whereas in the photographs
they meet the ground much more softly. In the original the gold
is soft, not brash, and is delicately and minutely tooled, the
background to the portrait blending in most cases into a framing
border, like a gilt picture frame. This effect is totally lost in the
facsimile, making the colour photographs all the more welcome;
I would have preferred to see all the decorated pages reproduced
thus, to reveal in greater detail what is on the illuminated pages
besides the portrait miniatures. Is the stemma on fol. 1, for
example, reproduced without gold leaf because the gold in the
original is worn or because to apply it realistically would be too
intricate? Does it really differ so much from the other uses of
gold on this folio? A colour slide of fol. 1 seems to indicate that
there is gold leaf on the stemma, and in various other small
areas not picked up by the facsimile, which makes a starker
contrast between gold leaf and other hues than one sees in a
slide or photograph. The chief loss is that the famous collection
of instruments depicted in the Landini border (illustrating his
polytextual madrigal Musica son) cannot be studied in this publi-
cation, because their detail has been crudely overstamped with
gold.
Squarcialupi is the chief source for the works of Landini, and
almost half of it is devoted to a nearly complete collection of his
songs. All of the music has appeared in editions classified by
composer, Landini's works several times over. A complete edition
of Squarcialupi by Johannes IYolf was published posthumously
in 1955, but it is problematic and far from user-friendly. The
Squarcialupi manuscript offers a sharp contrast with the older
Rossi codex, whose unilluminated pages are half the size. Rossi's
18 surviving folios (originally 32) contrast with Squarcialupi's
2 16 (complete), and all its compositions appear anonymously.
Sq's enormous repertory of 353 pieces,13 on the other hand, is
arranged by composers, whose names are emblazoned on every
page, each section being headed by a composer portrait and
lavishly decorated border. The pictorial decoration is sumptuous,
possibly the most distinguished for any polyphonic manuscript
of this period (in which there is little competition except from
the special case of the Machaut manuscripts) or even others.
Luciano Bellosi identified a 'Squarcialupi Master' in 1984, and
he now speculates that this might be early work of Bartolomeo
di Fruosino. Art-historical evidence now places an earlier date
for Squarcialupi beyond doubt, though the narrow window of
1410-15 here proposed depends on termini Post and ante for a pair
of costume datings.14 O n what basis can we be so confident
about those datings? is the representation of dress proof against
conscious archaicism, interference or later addition3 and where
does the single page (fol. 175') on which they appear stand in
the chronology of the artistic and musical execution of the whole
volume?'j
The date of Squarcialupi has long been contested. Von Fisch-
er's datings for trecento sources have been consistently earlier
than Pirrotta's, by as much as a generation. But the new art-
historical dating of 1410-15 is even earlier than von Fischer's
1415-19, let alone Pirrotta's original 'after 1440'. Although many
of the composers were active elsewhere, Squarcialupi was over-
whelmingly a Florentine production. Kurt von Fischer had pre-
viously shown that Squarcialupi was written in the scriptorium
l3
Sometimes given as 354, reflecting the two differently notated copies of Ita se n'era,
numbered 6 3 and 63bis in RISM. The count does not include the one uncopied piece
(Girand'un be1 falcon) whose identity can be inferred from the iconography of its
decoration. See below, p. 261 and note 18.
l4
This point is also made by David Fallows in his review in E a r b Music, 23 (May
1995), p. 320, drawing attention to the dependency of the dating on the appearance,
on this one page and in a single border scene, 'of a woman wearing a dress that
ceased to be fashionable after about 1415 and a man with a haircut that became
fashionable only in about 1410)' - changes in fashion that are not here documented.
'j
This, moreover, is the page for Zacara, the composer whose chronological relation
to the manuscript is one of the most crucial yet uncertain, in relation to his presumed
death date (at about the time of compilation), the choice of his M-orks for inclusion,
and the incomplete execution of his section. The border illustrates the song chosen
to head his section, Ferito gi2 d'un amoroso dardo. For more on these tailor-made
borders, see the Squarcialupi introduction, pp. 50-1, and below, note 18.
Facsimiles of the Squarcialupi MS and other sources
l6
~ t a . An
~ ' undocumented summary of the new material is built
into von Fischer's ~ketches;'~but elsewhere in the volume (p. 219)
Pirrotta can refer to Zacara without mentioning these crucial
new findings. T h e biographies, again, are awkward in English
expression and needed a stronger editorial hand. More could
have been done in the essay volume to integrate new discoveries
into a discussion of provenance, which must be linked to the
latest works included or planned. In general terms, the new
findings support the 1410-15 dating, but these threads are not
drawn together in the commentary volume, which is in some
ways disappointing. Indeed, there is a serious lack of coordination
between the different chapters, and contradictions are neither
caught nor explained. The composer arrangement in Squarcialupi
has usually been described as following an approximate chrono-
logical order. But how can we know that the order is chronologi-
cal when we know so little about the composers' dates and
identities? T h e manuscript ignores one of the earliest composers
(Piero is not represented) but did not complete its plan for one
of the latest (Paolo). \.Ye tend to know death dates, but these
may be unreliable indicators of generation. T h e chronological
hypothesis cannot, in fact, be credited with being precisely accu-
rate, now that we know that Zacara's and Paolo's long careers
go back well into the trecento. And it is sometimes too readily
assumed that the distance between death dates reflects a similar
distance between those persons' birth dates and formative periods.
I t could be that Paolo and Landini were born closer together
than their deaths nearly forty years apart would suggest.
Considerations of dating and purpose are inseparable. One of
the puzzles of the manuscript is that many openings were left
devoid of music. I t was Kurt von Fischer's hypothesis that some
sections were left incomplete or wholly without music because
the composer was still living. New biographical information and
on Magister Antonius dictus Zacharias de Teramo', Studz ~Musicali, 15 (1986), pp. 167-
82> and 16 (1987), pp. 175-6.
'I
U. Giinther, J. Xbdas and J. Stinson, 'Magister Dominus Paulus Abbas de Florentia:
New Documentary Evidence', ~MusicaDisciplina, 41 (1987), pp. 203-46; J. Xbdas, 'The
Songs of Don Paolo Tenorista: The Manuscript Tradition', in In cantu et sermone, ed.
della Seta and Piperno, pp. 531-90.
'' The plan to include Nbdas's documentation as a more solid underpinning for these
biographical sketches was unaccountably suppressed, greatly reducing their usefulness.
Review
23
Xbdas, p. 51; and see note 18 above.
Review
24
Polyphonic Music of the Fourteenth Centuv, vols. VI-XI (Monaco, 1956-78); The Music of
Fourteenth-Centuly Italy. ed. Pirrotta.
other essays would have enhanced the reference value of the
volume.
The inventory by John Niidas is superbly done, reliable and
comprehensive. It lacks a running numeration of pieces to help
locate pieces referred to by number in the literature. This requires
references to be by folio, not always satisfactory in view of
inconsistent foliations and reference systems used in or for other
manuscript^.'^ Running pageheads, by composer, would have
been useful. The inventory column is headed 'genrelvoicing'.
There seems to be no key to say what superscripts (e.g. '2",
'3'') mean: I infer that "' means 'canon', and that superscript
numbers give the number of texted voices; but the usage seems
not quite consistent and is not explained. T h e inventory also
fails to identify laude that survive elsewhere with indications to
sing to the melody of a Squarcialupi composition ('cantasi
come . . .'), presumably because these are listed elsewhere. Cattin,
acknowledging contributions of Ziino, offers an extremely useful
study of the laude and contrafacta in the manuscript. These are
indexed alphabetically not by the source music but by the title
of the contrafact, leaving no easy way to discover whether, for
example, Questa fanciulla was subject to such adaptation; and,
indeed, the presence of this piece in the Oswald von \.Yolkenstein
manuscripts is not noted. This is a serious inconvenience,
especially since these arrangements are explicitly excluded from
listed concordances in the i n ~ e n t o r y . ' ~
T h e lack of proper indices makes the volume difficult to use,
requiring recourse to many other publications, and the trans-
lations are an impediment to understanding. The extensive and
potentially useful bibliography is marred by typographical and
spelling errors, especially in the English-language items. RISM
sigla are not used for manuscripts, and some confusions in the
literature are not clearly resolved: it should have been reported,
For GB-Lbl 29987, for example, Marrocco's foliation in his edition differs by one
from Reaney's (used here by Xddas) in the published facsimile and inventory of that
manuscript: The Manuscr$t London, British museum, Additional 29987, Musicological
Studies and Documents, 13> ed. G. Reaney (n.p., American Institute of Musicology,
1965). In that publication, in turn, the discrepancy is mentioned but not clarified
(nor is it visible in the facsimile, which fails to reproduce the full area of each page).
26
Nddas tells me that his request to signal affected pieces in the inventory was not
honoured.
Adams, Hen9 Purcell
for instance, that Pirrotta in his edition uses 'FL' for Squarcialupi
and 'FP' for Panciatichi, while others (including Marrocco) use
'FL' for Panciatichi and 'Sq' for Squarcialupi. Some of the
contributors to the volume take insufficient account of items by
younger scholars listed in the bibliography. Most serious is the
editor's decision not to include an alphabetical index to the
compositions in the manuscript. One must still resort to Kurt
von Fischer's Studien2' as a finding index to the facsimile and for
concordances. That volume is not now easily available, and not
all users will have it to hand. Even von Fischer's concordance
(alphabetical by genre) requires one to look in several places.
And although it presented the entire repertory then known, it
must now be supplemented from the recent inventories for the
new concordances yielded by the newly discovered leaves of the
Lucca codex. A major finding-tool could have been provided
simply by adding a n alphabetical index that would update von
Fischer's, now forty years old, on the basis of many new discover-
ies: not to have done so is a n opportunity missed and a serious
inconvenience to the user.
The volume lacks any fully reasoned attempt to pull all the existing
strands and all the new material together and to argue date, purpose,
provenance etc. John Niidas may be the one person who could have
done this - and indeed he comes closest to it in his codicological essay,
which addresses fundamental issues of planning - but that was not
his brieffor this volume. Much remains to be done. I n short, we know
little more about the origins of the manuscript than we did before.
Despite the blemishes and disappointments of the commentary
volume and some misjudgements in presenting the facsimile, the
publication is ofcourse enormously welcome, and much of the mater-
ial on which further research can be based now lies wonderfully
accessible before us. T o have the music thus available is cause for
gratitude and congratulation. I t leaps freshly off the inviting pages
of the facsimile and demands to be read, known and sounded.
Margaret Bent
All Souls College, Oxford
'' K. von Fischer, Studien zur italienischen ~Musikdes Trecento undfriihen Quattrocento, Publik-
ationen der schweizerischen musikforschenden Gesellschaft, ser. I t , vol. 5 (Berne.
1956).
M A R TI N A DA M S, Henry Purcell: The Origins and Development of His
Musical Style. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1995,
+
xii 388 pp.
' In addition to Adams, only two books could be said to present mainly new research:
Purcell Studies, ed. C . A. Price (Cambridge, 1995), and Perfowning the Music of Henry
Purcell, ed. M . Burden (Oxford, forthcoming).
Adams, Hen9 Purcell
For a detailed account of developing tonal theories in the seventeenth century see,
for example, W. T . Atcherson, 'Key and Mode in Seventeenth-Century Music Theory
Books', Journal of Music Theory, 17 (1973), pp. 204-33; H. E. Bush, 'The Recognition
of Chordal Formation by Early Music Theorists', Musical Quarterly, 32 (1946), pp. 227-
43; J. Lester, 'The Recognition of Major and Minor Keys in German Theory: 1680-
17301, Journal of Music Theory, 22 (1978), pp. 65-103; C. Lewis, 'Incipient Tonal
Thought in Seventeenth-Century Music Theory', Studies in Music from the University of
Western Ontario, 6 (1981), pp. 24-47; B. V. Rivera, German Music Theov in the Early
Seventeenth Century: The Treatises of Johannes Lippius, Studies in Musicology, 17 (Ann
Arbor, Michigan, 1980); B. V. Rivera, 'The Seventeenth-Century Theory of Triadic
Generation and Invertibility and Its Application in Contemporaneous Rules of Compo-
sition', Music Theov Spectrum, 6 (1984), pp. 63-78; R. Wienpahl, 'English Theorists
and Evolving Tonality', Music and Letters, 36 (1955), pp. 377-93; and R. Wienpahl,
'Modality, Monality and Tonality in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries', Music
and Letters, 52 (1971), pp. 407-17, and 53 (1972), pp. 59-73.
M . Adams, 'The Development of Henry Purcell's Musical Style', Ph.D. dissertation
(Southampton, 1984).
272
Adams, Heny Purcell
This is particularly true in the cases of the fantasias and Locke's Consort of Four Parts
(pp. 12-13), and 'Great Diocles the boar has kill'd' from Dioclesian and Carissimi's
Lucifer, coelestis olim hierarchiae princeps (pp. 64-5).
' J. A. LVestrup, Purcell, T h e Master Musicians (London, 1937; rev. N. Fortune,
London, 1980, repr. Oxford, 1995).
C . A. Price, H e n v Purcell and the London Stage (Cambridge, 1984).
prelude to 'Thrice happy' in The F a i v Queen (pp. 147 and 315);
inevitably, Adams often has to discuss the instrumental music
again in conjunction with the vocal, thus duplicating earlier
arguments. Moreover, the stylistic differences he expounds
between vocal and instrumental pieces are not always made clear
by his analyses.
Adams's theories about repetitive structures generated the way
in which his thesis was organised: he divided Purcell's career
into chronological periods, during each of which he identified
specific changes in Purcell's approach to form. The book - as
the difference between the titles implies - concentrates much
more on the influences on Purcell's style, and the material is
therefore fundamentally reorganised: the first part deals with
'Stylistic development and influences' in purely chronological
order; the second consists of a great many analyses, grouped by
genre but (as mentioned above) treating instrumental and vocal
music separately. By isolating the influences from the stylistic
analyses Adams seems to increase rather than lessen the difficult-
ies inherent in both types of study.
In the first part of the book, the connections which Adams
finds between Purcell's music and pieces by his contemporaries
are often vague or insubstantial. This is partly because so little
is known about the music that Purcell was familiar with, so it
is impossible to suggest more detailed parallels; in any event, it
is inherently difficult to assess influence on a composer who is
at once highly receptive and strikingly original. The frequent use
of qualifications such as 'probably', 'may have', and 'it seems
likely that' underlines the problem, and, perhaps inevitably,
Adams resorts to wishful thinking on a number of occasions. His
response to the problem is demonstrated most convincingly
towards the end of this section of the book, where the sheer
quantity of non-specific examples produces a credible argument,
though it is telling that Adams admits with respect to Hail, bright
Cecilia that 'specific foreign models become difficult to identify,
especially in vocal music, as he [Purcell] consolidates modern
methods with that thoroughgoing polyphony which was so
important to him' (p. 81). His ideas are also presented strongly
where it is possible to compare specific passages, such as 'set
me up as a mark against thee' from Blow's 0 Lord I have sinned -
Adams, Henry Purcell
R I C H A RJ.
D / \ G E E (The Colorado College)
Costanzo Esta's G ~ a d u as d Parnactum 1
M A R KE V E R ITS (University of Southampton)
The polyphonic londeau c. 1300 : Repertory and context 39
BETHL. G L I X O N (Lexington. Kentucky)
Scenes from the life of Silvia Galiarti hfanni, a seventeenth-century zz7tuosa 97
PATRICK M A C E Y(Eastman School of Music. University of Rochester)
Galeazzo Maria Sforza and musical patronage in Milan: Compkre,
Weerbeke and Josquin 147
J A M E S W. R l C K I N N O N(University of Korth Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Preface to the study of the .Uleluia. 2 13
REVIEWS
( T h e Lucca Codeu, ed.J. Nadas and A. Ziino; I1 Codzce Rossz 215, ed. I%. Pirrotta;
I1 Codzce T.III.2, ed. A. Ziino: I1 Codlce Squarczalup~,ed. E: A. Gallo)
M A R G A R EBENT T 25 1
M A R TI N ADAM S. H e n g Pu7tell: The Orlgzn~and Dezlelopmrrzt of H Z Ji\luslcal Sgle
REBECCH AERISSONE 270
11 I
ISBN 0 521-57146-4
lNlillSlTlPRiSI
11 II
9 7 8 0 5 2 1 571 463 0261-1279(199610)15;1-7