Instruments and The Faenza Codex

Instruments and the Faenza Codex
Author(s): Timothy J. McGee

Source: Early Music, Vol. 14, No. 4 (Nov., 1986), pp. 480-490
Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3127515 .
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Timothy
J. McGee
Instruments a nd the F a enz a C od ex
Since its
red iscovery
in
1939, the so-ca lled F a enz a
C od ex
(I-F Zc 117)
ha s been
recogniz ed by performers
a nd schola rs a s a n
ex tremely
va lua ble source of
instrumenta l music. It conta ins the
la rgest surviving
collection of instrumenta l
pieces
from before
1450,
a nd
provid es
ra re
ex a mples
of orna menta tion a nd
improviz a tion.1
But for whom, for wha t
purpose,
or
even for wha t
instrument(s)
the
ma nuscript
wa s in-
tend ed ha s never been clea r, nor ha s
a nyone
a nswered
the
question
of
why
it conta ins evid ence of a
perform-
a nce tra d ition tha t wa s
usua lly ex temporiz ed .
The
results of the
present inquiry,
while not
entirely
conclusive, shed some new
light
on both the instru-
menta l
pra ctices
a nd the
ma nuscript
tra d itions of the
15th century.
Severa l d ifferent theories ha ve been a d va nced con-
cerning
the
instrument(s)
for which the F a enz a C od ex
wa s intend ed : va n d en Borren
thought
it wa s for two
instruments, a lthough
he d id not
specify
which; two
wind instruments were fa voured
by Jeppesen,
a
key-
boa rd
by
Pla mena c,
orga n
a nd cla vichord or
ha rpsi-
chord
by Apel, orga n by
both C a vicchi a nd Brown, a nd
either a two-ma nua l
orga n
or d uet for
positive
a nd
porta tive
instruments wa s
suggested by
Ma rrocco a nd
Huestis.2
The
ea rly history
of the F a enz a
ma nuscript
is
only
pa rtia lly
known. Its old est section is
thought
to ha ve
been written in the
ea rly
d eca d es of the
15th century,
in northern
Ita ly.3
A ca se for its
proba ble origin
in
F erra ra wa s ma d e
by
Ad ria no C a vicchi, ba sed in
pa rt
on the
presence
of the d a nce 'Bel fiore
d a nqa ',
a ppa rently
rela ted to 'Belfiore',
the ca stle of Niccol6
III,
ruler of F erra ra from 1393 to 1429.4 In
1473-4 the
MS wa s in the
libra ry
of the C a rmelite C onvent of Sa n
Pa olo in F erra ra , where Joha nnes Bonna d ies
copied
into it severa l music trea tises a nd some la ter 15th-
century polyphony.
A
single
scribe wa s
responsible
for
copying
a ll the
inta bula tions. Most of the Ita lia n
trecento-style
nota tion
is written in bla ck, with some sections in red . The
ma nuscript
wa s not
ela bora tely prepa red ,
a nd there
a re no illumina tions or d ecora tions; the works a re
copied
one a fter a nother, often without id entifica tion
or clea r
sepa ra tion.
This is the
a ppea ra nce
of a
pra ctica l (a s opposed
to a
presenta tion
or
ceremonia l)
ma nuscript,
a nd the
possibility
tha t it wa s written
by
the
person
who
performed
from it is d iscussed below.
In
a ttempting
to na rrow d own the choice of instru-
ments
ca pa ble
of
pla ying
this
repertory,
a n
a na lysis
of
the technica l
requirements
of the works tha t the
ma nuscript
conta ins is of a ssista nce. The overa ll
ra nge
is two octa ves a nd a 5th, from B fla t
tof" (see
Ta ble
1).
Of the solo instruments tha t
usua lly performed poly-
phony, only ha rp,
lute a nd
keyboa rd s
ha d the neces-
sa ry ra nge.5
If
the two
pa rts
a re consid ered
sepa ra tely,
the tenor
requires
a n overa ll
ra nge
of two octa ves less
a semitone, from B fla t to a ',
a nd the treble two octa ves
a nd a
4th,
c to
f"'.
Even then, the instruments with a
la rge enough ra nge
for the treble
pa rt
rema in the sa me
a s
before-ha rp,
lute a nd
keyboa rd s.
As for the tenor
pa rt,
most instruments of the
period
would ha ve ha d
the
ra nge,
but a ll
ex cept
those mentioned a bove ca n be
elimina ted : the loud wind s
(sha wms, ba gpipe, etc)
never
performed
in the
compa ny
of
a ny
of the
instruments
ca pa ble
of the treble
pa rt,
a nd the softer
wood wind s a nd other
plucked strings pla yed
treble,
not tenor.6
It is
possible
tha t these
pitches
were not intend ed to
be ta ken
litera lly.
There is
a mple
evid ence in the
Mid d le
Ages
tha t sta ff nota tion referred
only
to mod a l
a ssignment
a nd
writing
convenience, without ind i-
ca ting
a ctua l
performa nce pitch.
In this ca se, however,
the
ra nge
of the music a s written d oes
correspond
with
the limits of the instruments on which it
ma y
ha ve
been
performed ,
a nd
ma y
therefore
provid e
some clue
to the intend ed instrumenta tion. One
curiosity
in this
rega rd
is tha t seven works-five of the inta bula tions
a nd the two Bened ica mus Domino
settings-were
tra nsposed up
from the
pitch
of their voca l mod els.
The most obvious rea son for this would seem to be a
d esire to
keep
the
pa rts
within the
ra nge
a va ila ble on
the instrument. With three
ex ceptions,
however,
the
tra nspositions
d o not a ffect the overa ll
ra nge
d ema nd s
of the
ma nuscript;
four of the
tra nsposed
works could
be
performed
a t the lower
pitch
of their voca l a nd
ca ntus firmus mod els without
ex ceed ing
the
ex isting
480 EARLY MUSIC NOVEMBER 1986
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1
C onsort of soft instruments. Pierre d e Nessons, Les neuf
legons
d e Job
(F rench,
15th
century) (Pa ris, Bibliotheque Na tiona le)
EARLY MUSIC NOVEMBER 1986 481
ra nge (nos.3, 4, 5,
35).
If the two Bened ica mus Domino
settings
ha d been left a t their
origina l pitch they
would
ex tend the
ra nge
of the tenor
pa rt
d own to A, but would
still lie within the
ex isting ra nge
of the treble.
Only
the
origina l
voca l
pitch
of no.
15,
Ded uto
sey,
would ha ve
a ffected the
ra nge
of both
pa rts,
this
unusua lly
low
setting requiring
the tenor to d escend to C a nd the
treble to
E.
This
suggests
tha t the bottom notes could
not ha ve been the
only
rea son for the
tra nspositions.
I
sha ll return to this
point
below.
Let us consid er first the
possibility
of
performing
both
pa rts
on a
single
instrument. Lute ca n immed i-
a tely
be elimina ted beca use
a lthough
it
possessed
the
necessa ry ra nge,
it wa s not
pla yed polyphonica lly
before the la te 15th century.
Until then a
plectrum
wa s
used ,
preclud ing
the
performa nce
of more tha n one
line.7
Little is known a bout the
repertory
of the
ha rp
before the 16th
century, a lthough
the instrument's
popula rity, especia lly
in F ra nce but a lso in
Ita ly,
is
d ocumented in
ma ny
sources from the 14th
century
onwa rd s.8
The la te 14th- a nd
ea rly 15th-century ha rp
is
known to ha ve ha d a
for the
d ema nd s of this
repertory,
with between 17 a nd 26
d ia tonic
strings,
a nd B tuned either fla t or na tura l a s
required .9 Ma ny
of the
compositions
in the F a enz a MS
d o,
in fa ct, lie within the technica l
ca pa bilities
of the
ha rp,
a nd ca n be
pla yed by
a
performer
of
ex ceptiona l
d ex terity.
There a re, however, technica l limita tions
tha t ma ke
performa nce
of some of them
highly
unlikely,
if not
impossible,
such a s
problems
in the
ex ecution of chroma tic notes, a s well a s a wkwa rd ,
unid ioma tic
writing.
In some
pa ssa ges ra pid
chroma tic
cha nge
is
required
in a contex t where
pre-tuning
of the
strings
would not be
possible.
In ord er to ma ke these
chroma tic a ltera tions,
the
pla yer
must remove one
ha nd from the norma l
position
a nd
press
the
string
a ga inst
the cross bra ce of the instrument, thereby
shortening
the
string
a nd
ra ising
its
pitch
a semitone.
This ma noeuvre ca nnot be d one
quickly,
a nd a
pa ssa ge
such a s ex .
1 (found
in secula r works a s well a s
a ltema tim
Kyries),
would be
very d ifficult;
a lthough
the
F
sha rps
could be
pre-
set, the
cha nge
from C to C
sha rp
would
require
the
technique
d escribed a bove. Ex .2
illustra tes unid ioma tic
writing
in which the
ra pid
a scend ing
a nd
d escend ing figures
become blurred on
the
ha rp
beca use of their
speed . Although
not
entirely
impossible,
these
pa ssa ges
would be
ex tremely
un-
comforta ble, a nd
they
ca st d oubt on the
ha rp
a s the
intend ed
instrument.'0
This lea ves
only
the
keyboa rd
instruments, a nd
beca use of the ma nner in which the
pa rts
sometimes
cross a nd
overla p
with one a nother it is clea r tha t the
F a enz a repertory
would
pose
technica l
problems
for a
single-ma nua l
instrument.
Pa ssa ges
such a s tha t shown
in ex .3
require
a wkwa rd a nd a ll but
impossible super-
impositions
of one ha nd over the other. It is therefore
unlikely
tha t the two
pa rts
were
pla yed
on a
single-
ma nua l instrument.
The obvious solution would be a two-ma nua l instru-
ment, but the ea rliest known Ita lia n
orga n
of this
type
d a tes from the mid - 16th
century,
a nd the ea rliest two-
ma nua l
ha rpsichord
from a little la ter."I If a
keyboa rd
instrument wa s in fa ct used ,
it must ha ve been a
single-ma nua l orga n
with
ped a ls;
a t lea st one is known
to ha ve ex isted in
Ita ly
a s
ea rly
a s 1379,
a t Ss
Annunz ia ta in F lorence.'2 The
ra nge
tha t its 12
ped a ls
covered is not known, but it would not ha ve been
a d equa te
for some of the F a enz a
pieces,
which ma ke
use of
up
to
16
notes. But we should not
yet fully
d is-
count this instrument a s a
possibility,
for
d espite
the
ra nge
of the tenor
pa rts
a s a whole, tha t of the sa cred
works
only
is somewha t sma ller. The tenors of the
Kyrie,
Gloria a nd Bened ica mus Domino
settings,
a nd
tha t of Ave ma ris stella require
a
ra nge
of a 9th,
c-d '. It is
possible,
therefore,
tha t the sa cred works could ha ve
been
performed
on a n
orga n
known to ha ve ex isted in
Ita ly
a t the time.
In
consid ering
the
possibility
of instrumenta l d uet,
the
two-orga n hypothesis
ca n,
I believe, be ruled out
on
simple, pra ctica l ground s:
the
porta tive orga n
la cked a
to
perform
the treble
Ex .1 A d iscort sont d esir, ba rs 23-8
8 E
clos Secund a pa rs
3 3 33
3
482 EARLY MUSIC NOVEMBER
1986
Ex .2 lo me son, ba rs 57-61
3
Id L =17
tF
IF
Ex .3 Imperia le
sed end o fra
piui
stelle, ba rs 11-17
3 3
pa rts,
a nd ha d no ba ss
ra nge
to
spea k
of, therefore
preclud ing
it from either
pa rt.
There is no evid ence
tha t two
positive orga ns
were
kept
in one
pla ce d uring
this
period ,
a nd the Ma rrocco-Huestis
suggestion
of
positive-porta tive
d uet would involve enormous
ba la nce
problems
even if the la ck of
ra nge
could
somehow be overcome.
Ha rp
a nd lute a s
possible joint pa rticipa nts
must
now be reconsid ered . The
popula rity
of d uets for two
lutes or for lute a nd
ha rp d uring
the 15th
century
is
well d ocumented in
iconogra phy. 3
The
ha rp's
tech-
nica l
problems
with
ra pid
chroma tic
cha nges
a nd
unid ioma tic
writing,
a s d iscussed
a bove, a lso ex ist if it
pla ys only
the treble
line,
ma king
it a n
unlikely
ca nd id a te for tha t
pa rt.
The
tenor, however, d oes not
ma ke the sa me
d ema nd s, a nd the use of
ha rp
on tha t
pa rt
is a d istinct
possibility.
The lute, on the other
ha nd , ha d no such limita tions
with chroma tic notes, a nd could ha ve
pla yed
treble or
tenor. The
15th-century
five-course lute with nine
frets a nd
tunings
of
cf
a d '
g',
or
cf
a d '
a ', a s d escribed
in the mid -
15th-century
Liber
viginti
a rtium of Pa ulus
Pa ulirinus, could
a d equa tely
ha ve covered the treble
ra nge
of the whole collection.14 The tenor
pa rt
would
ha ve
required
either the a d d ition of a
string
tuned to B
fla t, or a lower overa ll
tuning,
such a s G c
f
a d ' of
Ra mos of
Pa reja ,
to
encompa ss
the lowest note. This
tuning, perha ps
on a
slightly la rger
instrument, would
ea sily
a ccommod a te the
highest
a s well a s the lowest
notes of the tenor
pa rt.
F rom the
sta nd point
of technica l
a bility, therefore,
the lute becomes a
prime
ca nd id a te for the
repertory
in
the F a enz a C od ex . In a d d ition to the a va ila ble
ra nge
a nd chroma tics, the
technique required
in
ra pid
pa ssa ges
such a s those shown in ex x . 1, 2 a nd 3
la y
well
for the lutenist's left
ha nd .Is Pla ying
the treble
pa rt
on
a lute would a lso
ex pla in
the
puz z le
mentioned a bove
concerning
the
tra nsposition
of
pieces
whose
ra nges,
if left
untra nsposed ,
d o not ex ceed those
required
for
the other works.
Upwa rd tra nsposition
results in a
much
la rger percenta ge
of the orna mented
pa ssa ges
lying
on the
highest strings,
where
ra pid
motion is
more comforta ble for the
performer.
F or
ex a mple,
in
the
tra nsposed
version of A d iscort sont d esir, the
compa ss c'-e" would be
pla yed
a lmost
entirely
on the
highest
two
strings (a ssuming
tha t the first of the
a bove-mentioned
tunings
is
used ),
wherea s a t the
pitch
of its voca l mod el
(a
5th
lower),
the
highest string
would be
pla yed very little, while
ma ny
of the notes
would lie on the less convenient third a nd fourth
strings.
In this
rega rd
the two
settings
in F a enz a of Rosetta
offer a n
interesting compa rison; only
one is tra ns-
posed
a nd the technica l d ema nd s of the two a re
quite
d ifferent. The
a rra ngement tra nsposed up
a 5th (no.39)
ma kes most use of the first a nd second
strings,
a nd
conta ins
long pa ssa ges
tha t, like the other
high-
pitched
inta bula tions, d ema nd a virtuoso
technique.
In
contra st, the
setting
a t the lower
pitch
of the voca l
origina l (no.20)
is concentra ted on the third a nd fourth
strings.
Here the technica l
writing
is fa r more mod est,
a nd the
ra pid pa ssa ges
a re written so a s to a void
frequent cha nges
of
string.
Da vid F a llows ha s d ocumented a
pra ctice
of lute
pla ying
from la ter in the 15th
century
tha t looks
suspiciously
simila r to the
style
found in F a enz a .16 He
a nd Peter Da nner
point
to the
16th-century
ela bo-
ra tions of cha nsons for lute
by Spina cino
a nd
C a pirola ,
a s well a s the La
Spa gna settings
in other
ea rly
lute
sources, a s evid ence of a
long-sta nd ing
tra d ition of
ela bora tion. 7
The
only objection
to the a ffirma tion of lute d uet a s
the intend ed
performa nce
med ium of the F a enz a MS is
the
presence
of the sa cred music,
especia lly
the a lter-
na tim
Kyrie
a nd Gloria sections. These a re
obviously
intend ed for use within the Ma ss,
in a lterna tion with
singing,
but there is to
my knowled ge
no d ocument-
a tion of lutes or
ha rps being
hea rd in this contex t.
Two
possible
solutions
ma y
be
suggested :
first,
tha t
this
ma nuscript
wa s not
compiled
a s
repertory
for one
pa rticula r
instrument, but ra ther for a
pa rticula r
performer, provid ing
a
va riety
of music for a
va riety
of
d uties. If the sa me
performer
were sometimes
required
to function a s church
orga nist
a nd a t other times a s
court enterta iner on a nother instrument, the d iverse
contents of the F a enz a collection would ma ke more
sense. As
a lrea d y
noted ,
the secula r works could a ll be
pla yed by
two lutes or lute a nd
ha rp,
a nd the sa cred
repertory
on the
orga n, using ped a ls
for the tenor line.
In the stud ies
by
F a llows a nd Da nner cited a bove,
pa ra llels
a re d ra wn between the
style
a nd the
type
of
repertory
in the
ea rly keyboa rd
a nd lute sources,
find ings
which
a ppea r
to
ring just
a s true when
a pplied
to the F a enz a
repertory.
In the
ea rly
16th
century
there
would seem to ha ve been little d ifference between the
style of lute a nd keyboa rd writing, a nd there is
evid ence to suggest
tha t these instruments ma y
ha ve
sha red not only repertory
a nd orna menta tion, but
nota tion a s well. It is therefore not d ifficult to suppose
tha t they
were a ssocia ted a t a n ea rlier d a te. Wha t is
questiona ble
a bout this solution is whether it would
ha ve been common for a single pla yer
to ha ve
performed
on both
orga n
a nd lute or
ha rp.
Surprisingly,
lute, ha rp
a nd
orga n
seem to ha ve been
customa ry 'd oublings' d uring
the 14th a nd
15th
centu-
ries. Both F ra ncesco La nd ini a nd C onra d Pa uma nn, for
ex a mple,
were
reputed
to ha ve
pla yed
the
orga n
a nd
other instruments,
includ ing
lute. To a mod ern
per-
former a ccustomed to
d oubling
instruments chosen
beca use their
techniques
a re simila r,
there would
seem to be no obvious rea son to recommend the sa me
performer lea rning
these three instruments,
or even
a ny
two of them, since their technica l d ema nd s a re so
d ifferent. But
they
ha ve one
thing
in common:
they
were
norma lly pla yed by people
who could rea d music,
a ra re a ttribute a t tha t time. In a d d ition, they
would
ha ve been the most useful instruments for the
perform-
a nce of
polyphonic
music:
orga n
for the sa cred works,
a nd lute a nd /or ha rp
for the secula r. It comes a s no
surprise,
then,
tha t the
performers
na med a bove were
a lso
composers
of
polyphonic
music,
a nd would ha ve
been interested in these instruments in ord er to
perform
their own
sophistica ted compositions.
A
story
supporting
this
d oubling
in a sa cred contex t ha s been
preserved
in the form of a n interview between
Pope
Bened ict XII a nd the Roma n a bbot Monoz ella , c1435:
Bened ict:
Do
you
know how to
pla y
a n instrument?
Monoz ella : I d o.
Bened ict.
I mea n d o
you
know how to
pla y
the
orga n
a nd
the lute?
Monoz ella : Too well.
Bened ict: It is thus tha t the a bbot of the venera ble
mona stery
of Sa n Pa olo ma kes a clown of himself? Get ba ck
there to
your proper business!18
And
yet, possible
a s this solution
a ppea rs,
one
thing
ca uses a
na gging
d oubt: the a bsence in the F a enz a
inta bula tions of
something
for the
orga nist's
left ha nd
to d o while the
right performs
the intrica te orna ment-
a tion over the
ped a l
tenor. In the Bux heim
ma nuscript
(D-Mbs
C im
352b),
where a clea r ind ica tion for
ped a l
is
given,
a nother line is a lso
present
for the left ha nd .
And in a ll the other
ea rly
works
d efinitely
known to be
for
keyboa rd ,
some use is ma d e of chord s in the left
ha nd
(a nd
sometimes the
right)-a n
obvious
possibi-
lity,
a s seen, for
ex a mple,
in the
prelud es
of the 1448
ta bla ture of Ad a m
Ileborgh.19
The a bsence of these
elements in the F a enz a MS lea d s me to believe tha t
none of the ma nuscript's
contents were for keyboa rd ,
but ra ther proba bly
for lute d uet (or
lute a nd ha rp).
It
seems to follow tha t in some ca ses these instruments
would ha ve been used in cha pel
instea d of orga n,
a s
we sha ll see below.
~'
-- -
2 Ama teur
music-ma king.
C ircula r orna ment
by
Isra hel va n
Meckenem
(Germa n,
la te 15th
century) (Wa shington,
Na tiona l
Ga llery
of
Art)
In
consid ering
the lutenists known to ha ve
possess-
ed the
ex ceptiona l technique
ca lled for
by
the F a enz a
C od ex , a s well a s the circumsta nces in which lutes
could ha ve been used in the Ma ss, we a re led ba ck to
F erra ra .
Thinking
tha t the MS wa s for
orga n,
C a vicchi
proposed
tha t it wa s
by
a nd for Ba rtolomeo d a
Bologna , orga nist
a t the C a thed ra l in F erra ra from 1405
to 1427, a nd Prior of the C onvent of Sa n Nicolo.20
Although
Ba rtolomeo is known to ha ve written secula r
music,21 there is no evid ence tha t he wa s a
lutenist;
even if he d oubled on the lute, it is d oubtful tha t he
pla yed
well
enough
to be connected with this MS. F or
if he
d id , some record would
proba bly
survive
a ttesting
to his technica l
prowess-a s
it d oes for his
orga n
pla ying.
Also
present
a t the court of
Niccolo
III
from a s
ea rly
a s 1424 wa s the lutenist Leona rd o
C hita rino;22 two
ha rpists
a re a lso known to ha ve been there in the
1430s. F urther, Lewis Lockwood believes tha t the
renowned lutenist Pietrobono d e Burz ellis
(c1417-
1497)
wa s not
only
born in
F erra ra , but a lso tra ined
there,
a
theory
tha t lend s cred ence to F erra ra a s a
likely
pla ce
of
origin
for a
ma nuscript
of virtuoso lute
music.23 One
might specula te
tha t whoever
ta ught
such a fine
performer--proba bly
Leona rd o-would
himself ha ve been
ca pa ble
of the
virtuosity
d ema nd ed
by
the F a enz a
compositions.
The unusua l technica l
prowess
of Pietrobono is well
d ocumented from a s
ea rly
a s 1441, when he wa s
proba bly
24. The
ba nquet
a t F ra ncesco Sforz a a nd
Bia nca Ma ria Visconti's
wed d ing,
celebra ted in C re-
mona tha t
yea r,
wa s d escribed in a
poem by
Antonio
C orna z z a no which
singles
out Pietrobono in word s
tha t seem
pa rticula rly a ppropria te
to the F a enz a
repertory:24
E la
guid a va
tucta in semitoni,
proportiona nd o
e
sincoppa nd o sempre,
e
fugiva
el tenore a i suoi ca ntioni.
(He ra n
everything
in fa st
running
notes,
[litera lly
'semi-
tones']
25
continuously pla ying proportions
a nd
syncopa tions,
a nd
following
the tenor with his treble
string)26
This seems to d escribe the
impression
tha t would be
given by
two lutenists
pla ying
the F a enz a
repertory,
with the treble
pla ying
'fa st
running
notes' in consta nt-
ly cha nging rhythmic pa tterns, guid ed by
the tenor.
F rom 1449 onwa rd s, the
pa y
record s show the
hiring
of
a
'tenorista ',
tha t is, a
performer (proba bly
on the
lute)
a ssigned
to Pietrobono to
pla y
the tenor
pa rts
of his
treble
ela bora tions;27 C orna z z a no's reference
suggests
tha t this
ma y
ha ve been a
long-sta nd ing pra ctice.28
Tinctoris ma d e a simila r reference to Pietrobono in
c1487:
Siquid em: nonnulli
a ssocia ti"
suprema m pa rtem cujusvis compositi
ca ntus: cum a d mira nd is mod ulorum
superinventionibus: a d eo
elega nter
ea
persona nt.
ut profecto
nihil
presta ntius.
Inter
quos:
Petrus bonus Herculis F erra rie d ucis incliti
lyricen (mea quid em
sententia ) ceteris est preferend us.
Thus some tea ms will ta ke the treble
pa rt
of
a ny piece you
ca re to
give
them a nd
improviz e ma rvellously upon
it with
such ta ste tha t the
performa nce
ca nnot be riva lled .
Among
such, Pietro Bono, lutenist to Ercole, Duke of F erra ra , is in
my opinion pre-eminent.29
Da vid F a llows
points
out tha t the
pa y
record s
strongly suggest
tha t here too the reference includ es
Pietrobono's
lute-pla ying 'tenorista '.30 F a llows a lso
sta tes his belief tha t the 'tenorista '
proba bly pla yed
the
lower two
pa rts
of a
three-pa rt cha nson, but the F a enz a
repertory suggests
tha t he could
just
a s
likely
ha ve
pla yed only
the tenor
pa rt.
On the other
ha nd ,
Tinctoris a lso
spea ks
of the la te
15th-century d evelop-
ment of
performing polyphony
on the lute with
fingers, so the possibility of both two- a nd
three-pa rt
rend itions ex isted a t the time he wa s
writing.
On the strength of the ex treme
virtuosity required to
perform the music in the MS a nd the
reputa tion of
Pietrobono, we should consid er the
possibility tha t the
F a enz a C od ex could even ha ve been his
ma nuscript.
F rom a stud y of the nota tion Micha el
Kugler conclud ed
tha t the d a te of the
ma nuscript
wa s
'um 1430',31
which
is a bit
ea rly
for
Pietrobono; one could
specula te
tha t
he ha d such
technique
a t the ea rliest
by
his 18th
yea r-
a round 1435. It would therefore be
necessa ry
to
suggest
a
slightly
la ter d a te for the inta bula tions in
F a enz a ,
perha ps
1435-40. The F a enz a MS
could , on
the other
ha nd , ha ve been a ssocia ted with Leona rd o
C hita rino,
a
possibility
tha t conforms more
closely
to
the ea rlier
d a te,
a lthough
there is no evid ence tha t
C hita rino
possessed
the
specta cula r technique required
to
perform
this
repertory.
One
peculia rity
of the MS's nota tion
suggests
tha t it
ma y
ha ve been a stud ent's book.
Ma ny
of the short
sections a re written in
red , not to
cha nge
the
rhythmic
va lues but to
id entify
those notes ta ken from the
otherwise
missing
contra tenor
pa rt
a nd
incorpora ted
into the treble or tenor lines. There seems to be no
rea son for
d oing
this other tha n to ind ica te the source
of the ela bora tion. One ca n
ima gine
a
gifted
stud ent
d emonstra ting
to his tea cher both his comma nd of the
Ita lia n nota tion
system
a nd his
a bility
to turn a three-
pa rt piece
into one for two
pa rts,
while a lso
working
out the
techniques
of
ra pid
orna menta tion a nd
impro-
viz a tion. With its
stra nge
mix ture of
compositiona l
types,
the F a enz a
ma nuscript
could
ea sily
be the
collection of a
d iligent
stud ent
(with
a n unusua l
technica l
fa cility),
a work-book or
musica l'sa mpler'.32
With the
pra ctice
of lute d uet
firmly
esta blished for
the secula r
repertory,
wha t a bout the sa cred ?
Although
there is no record tha t lutenists
pla yed
the a ltema tim
pa rts
of the Ma ss cha nts in F erra ra ,
it is not
entirely
beyond
the rea lm of
possibility.
Ma rtin Luther's
recollection of a n incid ent in the la te 15th century
ind ica tes tha t the lute wa s used
d uring
Ma ss a t lea st on
some occa sions:
Da ich, z u
Erfurt ein junger Monch
wa r und terminiren und na ch
ha sen
gehen
musste
a uf
d ie
Dorfer,
ha m ich
a uf eins
und hielt d a
Messe.
Da ich
mich nu a ngez ogen
ha tte und
fiir
d en Alta r tra t in
meiner kleid ung
und Schmuck d a
fing
d er Kirchner a n d a s
Kyrieleison
un Pa trem
a ufd er
La uten z u
schla gen;
d a
konnte
ich
mich schwerlich d es La chens entha lten, d enn ich wa r solches
Orgelns
nicht
gewohnet;
musste mein Gloria in ex celsis
na ch
seinem
Kyrie richten.33
When I wa s a
young
monk a t Erfurt, a nd ha d to visit the
villa ges a nd collect a lms a nd cheese, I ca me to one villa ge to
sa y Ma ss there. When I ha d d ressed a nd went out to the a lta r
in my vestments a nd orna ments, the sa crista n bega n to
strum the Kyrie a nd the Pa trem on a lute. I could sca rcely
keep from la ughing beca use I wa s not a ccustomed to such
orga n pla ying, a nd I ha d to fit my Gloria in ex celsis to his
Kyrie.
I return once
a ga in, therefore, to
my
ea rlier
specu-
la tion
concerning
the
possible
connection between
the
ma nuscript
a nd Pietrobono or
Leona rd o, in the
a bsence of
a ny
other known ca nd id a tes. Leonello
d 'Este, Pietrobono's
fervently religious pa tron,
is
known to ha ve constructed a
cha pel by 1444, for
which he la ter
purcha sed
a n
orga n.34
But wha t of the
performa nce pra ctices
there before the a rriva l of the
orga n?
It is not so d ifficult to believe tha t Leonello
would ha ve
requested
the a ssista nce of his court
lutenists to
perform
the a ltema tim
pa rts
of the cha nt in
a celebra tion of Ma ss. If this were so, then a fter the
insta lla tion of the
orga n (which
must ha ve ta ken
pla ce
sometime a fter the
completion
of the 1444
inventory)
a
lutenist's services in this
rega rd
would no
longer
ha ve
been need ed .
By
this time, too, even Pietrobono would
ha ve
outgrown
the need to write d own his orna ment-
a tions, thus
d isca rd ing
the
ma nuscript,
which turned
up
30
yea rs
la ter in the C onvent of Sa n Pa olo when it
wa s found
by
Bona d ies in need of music
pa per.
And
a lthough
the a ssocia tion of this
ma nuscript specific-
a lly
with either or both of these two lutenists would
require
fa r more
proof,
tha t is not
rea lly my point.
If
not Leona rd o a nd Pietrobono, F erra ra ,
a nd Leonello,
then some other lutenists, northern Ita lia n court a nd
pa tron
would be the
subjects
of a simila r
story.
The
unusua l
repertory,
its
physica l a ppea ra nce,
a nd its
known fa te
suggest
tha t a
story
much like tha t which I
propose
must ha ve been the
sequence
of events in the
crea tion of this
unique ma nuscript.35
A d eta iled
a na lysis
of the F a enz a MS, wha tever its
ex a ct
origins,
lea d s to a broa d er
und ersta nd ing
of the
ea rly polyphonic
instrumenta l
repertory
a nd
perform-
a nce
pra ctices.
When this is consid ered in
conjunction
with the informa tion set forth
by
F a llows a nd Da nner,
strong
evid ence is
prod uced
tha t the tra d itions of lute
orna menta tion a nd
improviz a tion
were
long-sta nd ing,
simila r to those for
orga n,
a nd
fully d eveloped by
the
mid - 15th century.
Beca use
keyboa rd ,
lute a nd
ha rp
pla yers
were most often the instrumenta lists a ble to
rea d music,
it is
entirely possible
tha t
they
sha red not
only
functions a nd orna menta tion
techniques,
but
a lso
repertory
a nd
ma nuscripts,
for in some insta nces
the sa me
person pla yed
severa l instruments.
It follows,
therefore, tha t a ll the collections previously
id entified
a s being
for
'keyboa rd '
should now be ex a mined for
the possibility
tha t they
were not solely for this
instrument.
Most of the ea rliest ta bla ture sources d iscussed by
Willi
Apel,36
a re fra gments
or ind epend ent composi-
'? .~ r ?~?, , )~ ??~' t a ?.- ??:~ (?7- ?~~
I-- I -??; ; II I-- ?I r-P
r-
?ir
k
??
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i.r
P"; 'PT~'i?'.:?
~~s~ '- 13
r; -t i
r
r ~J I
*e
r r
iI
I r :? ?
( i
..i
r;r i;~G~-L~rt?r(pjlr7 icl~t;'r
I
:F ?
1 2 '
,r- ~E~1"4rsE~t~~;B~Zt~i~B~I.~PL~~" ~ I I P~~e~O ' II~ R.l.~d ~B " r ii rl- " ?q~-~cJ I 'UR~ C i (
I I??ma r~?-Jllkl/C lmT1Al~- -L~a k-` ? ia a ~-?~Ap ? I I: I ,
t`i?:s
;r~--rC ~Zi~L :.~T~i4~C QS~Yn -k-i I ' ' I rr*rr-~-~ --?-- -~ ~~ ? --~? ~p~-r r
-`-r~z ~rz r~r: W"L1~PSII UU I;; t?I(
i i
t-~e \~~7-1G
1.'
:rl ~?,'?
~% ' F ~ ~-:~uWf ~C Irew~~fin
i
? r:
?-r~l?PP?P - -?I' r,?.~ rr
2:
IPLi~SY ~L;~I 'II I C ~a rr RI ~a BF ~T~g~l :I?
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b~rr I~
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''
3 C onsort of soft instruments. Va lerius Ma x imus, Histoires
(F rench, c1475) (Lond on,
British
Libra ry)
tions inserted in collections of other
ma teria l, often
nota ted with notes for the
upper,
more
rhythmica lly
a ctive
voice,
a nd letters for the
lower."3
None of the
sources ind ica tes wha t instrument wa s intend ed . The
current
theory
tha t
they
were a ll intend ed for
orga n
is
ba sed on a combina tion of fa cts a nd
a ssumptions:
the
d eriva tion of their tenors from sa cred
ma teria l,
a l-
though
most sources a lso conta in secula r
music; the
presence
of Pa uma nn's F und a mentum
orga nisa nd i
in
three of the
sources, a nd the mista ken
a ssumption
tha t
orga nisa nd i
refers to
'orga n';38
a nd the
knowled ge
tha t
lutenists in the 16th
century
rea d from letter ta bla ture
only.
The
possibility
tha t instruments other tha n the
orga n ma y
ha ve been intend ed seems never to ha ve
been consid ered . The music is not a unified
corpus;
the
ma nuscripts
includ e works intend ed for sa cred
use, a s well a s orna mented versions of
songs
a nd
d a nces, a nd a series of cla usula e
(fund a menta )
a s
ex a mples
of ca d entia l d ecora tions. Most would
provid e
good tra ining
for
performers
of both lute a nd
orga n
a nd
proba bly ha rp,
a nd a few
ma y
not ha ve been
intend ed for instrumenta l
performa nce
a t
a ll.39
Wha t
is common to a ll of them a nd a lso to the F a enz a C od ex
is tha t the
writing
consists of a
moving
treble over a
susta ined lower
pa rt.
Some of the
compositions
in these
ma nuscripts
must ha ve been intend ed
only
for
keyboa rd perform-
a nce, a s
they
a re too
polyphonica lly complex
to
pla y
even on two lutes. This is
certa inly
true of the entire
contents of MS
Erla ngen (D-ERu) 554, which a re
chord a l
throughout. Ma ny
of the works in the Bux -
heim collection a lso conta in chord s or d ivid ed motion
in one or more voices which
suggest keyboa rd perform-
a nce, a nd there a re severa l ind ica tions tha t the lowest
notes a re for
ped a l.
But even here a number of the
inta bula tions a re suita ble for
lute, a nd one is inscribed
'in
C yta ris
vel etia m in
orga nis'; 'cyta ris'
could mea n
lute," a s it d oes in the na me of Leona rd o C hita rino.
Berlin 40613, which conta ins the F und a mentum of the
orga nist
a nd lutenist C onra d
Pa uma nn, includ es some
works tha t a re
clea rly
for
keyboa rd
beca use of
two-pa rt
movement in the lower
voice, but others tha t a re
Ta ble
1
F a enz a C od ex
Inventory
Numbers
a ccord ing
to
Dra ga n Pla mena c, ed .,
Keyboa rd
Music
of
the La te Mid d le
Ages
in C od ex F a enz a 117, America n Institute
of
Musicology,
1972.
Title
Ra nges
tenor treble
1.
Kyrie d -c' f-e"
2. Gloria
C -c'
g-f"
3. "A d iscort sont d esir
g-g' c'-e"
4.
"Honte,
pa our,
d oubta nce f-a ' b-e"
5.
*
De toutes flours
f-g'
a -e"
6.
Aspre
refus contre f-f' c'-e"
7. Ela s mon cuer
(1) f-f'
a -e"
8. De ce
que
fol
pense
f-d '
c'-e"
9.
J'a y gra nt
d 6spoir
c-d ' f#-d "
10. C onsta ntia
f-g' c-e"
11. Le ior f-a ' c'-e"
12. Jour a
jour
la vie c-d ' d -Bb'
13. Viver ne
puis
c-d ' c-b'
14. Ela s mon cuer
(2)
e-f' e-f"
15. "Ded uto
sey
f-a ' a -e"
16. Or sus, vous d ormes
trop f-g' c'-e"
17. d -d ' a -e"
18. J'a ime la bia ut6 d -d ' a -d "
19.
(copy
of
12)
20. Rosetta che non
ca ngi Bb-d ' d -a '
21.
Tupes c-d ' e-c"
22 & 23.
Sa ngilio
c-d ' c-b'
24. Bia nce flour f-a '
c'-ef"
25. "Bened ica mus Domino
(1)
d -d '
g-e"
26. Soto
l'imperio
f-a ' b-e"
27.
Qua lle lece
move f-e' c'-e"
28. La d olhe sere f--e' c'-e"
29. O ciecho mond o f-f' a -e"
30.
Aquila
a ltera
d -g' a -e"
31.
Imperia le
sed end o c-d ' d -e"
32.
Io
me son uno che
c-Bb g--e"
33. Non a l suo a ma nte f-f' c'-e"
34.
Kyrie
d -c' a -e"
35. C he
pena questa
d --e'
g-d "
36. Bel fiore
d a nca c-d ' b-e"
37. Non a ra
ma y pieta g-g' Bb-e"
38. Un fiore gentil m'a ppa rse g-b' c'-e"
39. "Rosetta f-a ' Bb-e"
40.
Kyrie
d -c'
e-e"
41. Gloria C -c' fo-e"
42.
f-g' c'-e"
43. c-d ' g-b'
44. c-a c'-e"
45. c-Bb e-e"
46.
c-a g-e"
47. Ave ma ris stella
c-d ' g#-e"
48.
"Bened ica mus
Domino (2) d -d '
f--e"
S= tra nsposed from voca l pitch
suita ble a lso for two
plucked instruments. The con-
tents of
Ha mburg
3225 a nd the
Ileborgh
Ta bla ture
(see
fn.34)
could
ea sily
be for either
keyboa rd
or
plucked
string
d uet. Their
prelud es (pra embula e)
a nd ex ercises
would suit either,
a lthough
the
ra nges
sometimes
overla p in such a
wa y
tha t
they
would be more
comforta ble
pla yed
on
plucked strings.
The lower
pa rts
of the three sa cred works in the
Robertsbrid ge
C od ex
occa siona lly
ca ll for two
moving voices,
perha ps
a n ind ica tion of
keyboa rd ,
but the three secula r
compositions
could be
performed
either
by keyboa rd
or
plucked strings.
All the works in the Bresla u
fra gment
I F 687 could be for either
keyboa rd
or
plucked strings,
but we
might
now
suspect
tha t lute
d uet could ha ve been intend ed for the two
composi-
tions la belled
'Incipit
bonus tenor Leoha rd i' a nd
'Tenor Bonus III Petri'
(Leona rd o
C hita rino a nd Pietro-
bono?).41
Enla rging
on the conclusions of F a llows a nd
Da nner,
a
grea t simila rity ma y
be observed between a ll the
ea rly
inta bula tion sources, from the
Robertsbrid ge
C od ex of
the la te 14th
century
to the
ea rly 16th-century reper-
tories for both
keyboa rd
a nd lute. I believe it is
proba ble
tha t most of the
ea rly ex a mples
were intend ed
for
performa nce
on either instrument,
though
some
were more suita ble for one tha n the other, even
though
I ha ve
rejected this a s the
proba ble
intention of the
F a enz a C od ex . Most of the
ea rly repertory presently
id entified a s
solely
for
keyboa rd
should now be re-
cla ssified a s for lute,
ha rp
a nd /or
keyboa rd .
Arnolt
Schlick's Ta bula turen etlicher
lobgesa ng
und lid lein
(1512),42 conta ining compositions
for both
orga n a nd
lute, nota ted in a combina tion of notes a nd
letters, is
therefore not a n
od d ity
but the la st
ex a mple
of a
century-long
tra d ition of mix ed instrumenta l
repertory.
Timothy
J.
McGee is a ssocia te
professor of musicology
a t the
University of Toronto. His most recent books a re Med ieva l
a nd Rena issa nce Music: a Performer's Guid e
(Univ. of
Toronto
Press)
a nd The Music of C a na d a
(Norton).
1F or
a d iscussion of the ma nuscript's orna menta tion styles see
T. J. McGee, 'Orna menta tion, Na tiona l Styles, a nd the F a enz a
C od ex ', forthcoming. F or stud ies of the ma nuscript a nd its contents
see: C . va n d en Borren, 'Le C od ex d e Joha nnes Bona d ies musicien
d u x ve siecle', Revue belge d 'a rcheologie et d 'histoire d e
la rt,
x (1940),
pp.251-61;
M. Kugler, Die Ta stenmusik im C od ex F a enz a , Mfinchner
Ver6ffentlichungen z ur Musikgeschichte, Ba nd 21, ed . T. G. Georg-
ia d es
(Tutz ing,
Ha ns Schneid er, 1972); D. Pla mena c, 'A Note on the
Rea rra ngement of F a enz a C od ex 117', JAMS, x vii (1964), pp.78-81;
--, 'Alcune osserva z ioni sulla struttura d el cod ice 117 d ella
Biblioteca comuna le d i F a enz a ',
L'a rs nova ita lia na d el trecento
II,
C erta ld o 1969, pp. 161-75; --, 'Keyboa rd Music of the 14th C entury
in C od ex F a enz a 117', JAMS, iv
(1951), pp.
179-201.
Tra nscription in
Keyboa rd
Music
of
the La te Mid d le
Ages,
ed . D. Pla mena c, C MM, Ivii
(1972);
a nd
Tra nscriptions
F rom the F a enz a C od ex , ed . R. Huestis
(Westwood , 1971).
F a cs. in
Musicologica l
Stud ies a nd Documents,
x , AIM
(1961).
2Va n d en Borren, op cit; K.
Jeppesen,
Die ita lienische
Orgelmusik a m
Anfa ng
d es
C inquecento (C openha gen, 1943), pp. 16-17; Pla mena c, op
cit
(1951), p. 185; W.
Apel,
The
History of Keyboa rd
Music to 1700, tra nsl.
a nd rev. H. Tischler
(Bloomington, Ind ., 1972), pp.28, 30.; A. C a vicchi,
'Sa cro e
profa no.
Documenti e note su Ba rtolomeo d a
Bologna
e
gli
orga nisti
d ella ca tted ra le d i F erra ra nel
primo Qua ttrocento', Revista
ita lia na d i
musicologia ,
x
(1975), pp.46-71;
H. M. Brown, 'The
Trecento
Ha rp',
in Stud ies in the
Performa nce of
La te Med ia eva l Music,
ed . S. Boorma n
(C a mbrid ge, 1983), p.56, fn.62; W. T. Ma rrocco a nd
R. Huestis, 'Some
Specula tions C oncerning
the Instrumenta l Music
of the F a enz a C od ex 117', The
Dia pa son,
lx iii
(1972), 3,
pp.16-18.
3F or
d a te a nd
history,
see va n d en Borren, op cit; Pla mena c, op
cit
(1951, 1964); --,
'Keyboa rd Music
of
the 14th C entury in C od ex
F a enz a
117', JAMS, iv(1951), pp.179-201; RISM, II B 44, p.898 a nd
Kugler, op
cit. Wherea s a d a te of 1410-20 is
suggested by
va n d en
Boren, Pla mena c a nd von F ischer, Kugler prefers
a d a te closer to
1430.
4C a vicchi, op
cit
5Bowed
strings
a re not consid ered here beca use there is little
evid ence tha t
they commonly pla yed polyphonic
music
d uring
this
period .
See
my
a rticle 'The Socia l Sta tus of Drone
Instruments',
C ontinuo, vii
(1984), pp.9-12.
6F or d iscussion of la te med ieva l instrumenta l
groupings
a nd
repertory,
see K. Polk, 'Ensemble Performa nce in
Dufa y's Time',
Dufa y Quincentena ry C onference Pa pers,
ed . A. Atla s
(New York, 1976),
pp.61-75;
E Bowles, 'Ha ut a nd Ba s: The
Grouping
of Musica l
Instruments in the Mid d le
Ages',
Musica
d isciplina [MD],
vii
(1954),
pp. 115-40; H. M. Brown, 'Instruments a nd Voices in the F ifteenth-
century C ha nson', C urrent
Thought
in
Musicology,
ed . J. W. Grubbs
Austin, Tex a s,
1975), pp.89-137;
T. J. McGee, Med ieva l a nd Rena is-
'a nce Music, A
Performer's
Guid e
(Toronto, 1985), pp.63-81.
7See
S.
Ma rcuse, A
Survey of
Musica l Instruments
(Lond on, 1975),
pp.416-7; Brown, op cit (1975); C . Pa ge, 'The 1
5th-century
lute: new
a nd neglected sources', EM, ix (Ja n 1981), pp.11-21.
8Brown, op
cit
(1983), pp.35-73
9See
Ma rcuse, op cit, pp.389-90; Brown, op
cit
(1983), pp.49-54.
'OF or these
performa nce
observa tions I a m
gra teful
to
C heryl
F ulton, a
specia list
in
ea rly ha rp performa nce.
"The ea rliest Ita lia n two-ma nua l
orga n,
built between 1534-39,
wa s a t Sa nta Ma ria
Ma ggiore
in
Trent, a nd the first two-ma nua l
ha rpsichord
wa s a
prod uct
of Ha ns Ruckers the Eld er, in 1588. See
Ma rcuse, op cit, pp.629,
625.
12Ma rcuse, op cit, p.619
"See Brown, op cit(1975), pp. 105-12; P.
Da nner, 'Before Petrucci:
The Lute in the F ifteenth
C entury',
Journa l
of
the Lute
Society of
America , v
(1972), pp.4-17.
14Tra ns.
a nd
commenta ry
in
Pa ge, op
cit.
15F or this observa tion I a m ind ebted to John Na d a s.
16D. F a llows,
'15th-century
Ta bla tures for Plucked Instruments: A
Summa ry,
a Revision a nd a
Suggestion',
The
Lute Society Journa l, x ix
(1977), pp.7-33 "Da nner, op
cit
18L. Mura tori,
Antiquita tes
Ita lica e Med ii
Aevi, iii
(Mila n, 1740),
cols.277-78, quoted in A. Toma sello, Music a nd Ritua l a t Pa pa l
Avignon 1309-1403, Stud ies in Musicology, vol.75 (Ann Arbor, 1983),
p.10. Toma sello consid ers the story to be possibly a pocrypha l.
1gC orpus
of Ea rly Keyboa rd Music
[C EKM], i, pp.28-32
20C a vicchi, op cit, p.47
21L. Lockwood , Music in Rena issa nce F erra ra 1400-1505 (C a m-
brid ge, Ma ss., 1984), pp.17-25. Tra nscriptions in G. Rea ney, ed .,
Ea rly F ifteenth-century Music, C MM, x i/5 (1955-76).
220n the id entifica tion of Leona rd o C hita rino with the lutenist
Leona rd o d e Ala ma nia a t Brescia
d uring the yea rs 1409-19, see
Purcell's genius wa s long honoured more in the brea ch tha n the
observa nce - a s Berna rd Sha w put it 'The English musicia n
sa ys, "Purcell wa s a grea t composer let us go a nd d o
Mend elssohn's 'Elija h' over a ga in, a nd ma ke the lord -lieutena nt
of the county cha irma n of the committee'"' The found a tion of
the Purcell Society wa s a n a ttempt by some of those who
genuinely a pprecia ted him to improve ma tters by a t lea st
ma king the music more ea sily a va ila ble.
Notwithsta nd ing the una nimity of feeling shown when
Mr. Turle recently invited public a ttention to the sta te of
the La tin inscription upon the tomb of Purcell, in
Westminster Abbey, it is rema rka ble how little is rea lly
known of his compositions in this country. True, he is
a lwa ys spoken of with reverence, a nd two or three of his
songs a re occa siona lly introd uced by our most cla ssica lly-
inclined voca lists; but beyond these tributes to his
memory, his fa me is a lmost buried with his works. This
sta te of things is likely to be speed ily remed ied , for Mr.
W. H. C ummings, a most z ea lous musica l a ntiqua ria n, a s
well a s a n ex cellent singer, ha s broa ched the id ea of
found ing a Society for the publica tion of our
grea t
English writer's compositions, a nd a meeting ha s
a lrea d y
ta ken pla ce in furthera nce of this
object.
Musica l Times, x iv (Ma rch 1876), p.397
The a nnua l La d ies'
Night of
the Bristol
Ma d riga l Society seems
to ha ve been one of the most
importa nt musica l
(a nd socia l)
events of the yea r in the West
C ountry. (La d ies' Night refers to
their presence in the
a ud ience; the
top pa rts
were ta ken
by boy
trebles.) The ea rly items on this occa sion includ ed
pieces by
F esta a nd Ma renz io a s well a s a
representa tive
selection
of
English ma d riga lists.
The Bristol
Ma d riga l Society ga ve its
forty-ninth a nnua l
'La d ies'
Night' C oncert a t the Victoria Rooms, on the 15th
ult., a nd , in spite of the bitter wind ,
long
before the
opening of the d oors a
grea t
crowd ha d
ga thered before
them, ea ger to be a d mitted , a nd
quite three-qua rters
of a n
hour before the time of
commencing
the
progra mme
the
la rge
sa loon wa s
nea rly
filled . The choir numbered 119
voices, d ivid ed thus: trebles, 44; a ltos, 19; tenors, 28;
ba sses, 28 . . . Most of the
pieces
were well known
fa vourites a t these C oncerts, a nd the work of the choir
wa s most a d mira ble
throughout,
the
phra sing being
especia lly good ,
a nd the tone ex cellent.
Owing
to the
number of encores, the trebles showed
signs
of
fa tigue
towa rd s the close of the
evening,
a nd
bega n
to
sing fla tly.
This could not be wond ered a t, consid ering the severe
stra in put upon them, a nd it is much to be
regretted tha t
the pra ctice of a llowing a ny number of encores rema ins
in force a t these
C oncerts...
Musica l Times, x x iv (F ebrua ry 1885), p.83
A. Atla s, 'On the
id entity
of some musicia ns a t the Brescia n court of
Pa nd olfo III
Ma la testa ', C urrent
Musicology,
x x x vi
(1983), pp.
14-16.
23Lockwood , op
cit
(1984), p.16;
a nd
--, 'Pietrobono a nd the
Instrumenta l Tra d ition a t F erra ra in the F ifteenth
C entury',
Rivista
musica le ita lia na , x
(1975), pp.115-33
24Quoted
in N. Pirrotta , 'Music a nd C ultura l Tend encies in 15th-
century Ita ly', JAMS, x ix
(1966), pp.
127-61. Pirrotta
suspects
tha t the
a ctua l d a te of the
performa nce
d escribed is 1456, for
a lthough
Pietrobono could ha ve been
present
a t the 1441
ceremony,
C orna z -
z a no would ha ve been a child . This, however, d oes not rule out the
possibility
tha t the la tter wa s
d escribing
a
performa nce
tha t he ha d
hea rd a bout,
ha ving subsequently
come to know Pietrobono's
pla ying.
25Pirrotta , op
cit
(1966),
rea sons tha t
by
'semitoni' C orna z z a no
mea nt 'semifuse'.
26To F a llows' re-tra nsla tion of Pirrotta , I a d d
my
own
cha nges.
Both Pirrotta a nd F a llows tra nsla te
'fugiva '
a s
'imita ting'.
F or the
word 'ca ntioni', Pirrotta
gives
'low
string',
but F a llows
suggests
tha t
C orna z z a no wa s confused a nd intend ed 'ca ntino'
(high string).
27Lockwood , op
cit
(1984), p.69
28The ea rliest d ocuments of
pa yments
to wha t must be a
'tenorista ' a re those
reported
in the d ocuments from Brescia
beginning
in 1441, in which
pa yments
to the lutenist Sa la mone a re
a lwa ys a ccompa nied by
a notice of
pa yment
to a nother instrument-
a list. See Atla s, op cit, p.15.
29K. Weinma nn, ed ., Joha nnes Tinctoris
(1445-1511)
und sein
unbeka nnter Tra kta t 'De inventione et usu
musica e'(Tutz ing, 1961), p.45;
tra ns. in A. Ba ines,
'F ifteenth-century
Instruments in Tinctoris's De
Inventione et Usu
Musica e', Ga lpin Society Journa l, iii
(1950), p.24
30F a llows, op cit (1977) 31Kugler, op cit, p.51
32I
ha ve rejected the possibility tha t Leonello d 'Este could ha ve
been involved with this MS either a s the writer or the
recipient.
Although
it is known tha t he ha d a lute
(chita rino)
from a s
ea rly
a s
1437
(Lockwood , op
cit
(1975), p.118, fn.10),
the d ema nd s of this
repertory
a re most
certa inly beyond
a ll but the finest virtuoso.
3Dr
Ma rtin Luthers sd mmtliche Werke
(F ra nkfurt
a .M. und
Erla ngen:
Verla g
von Hend er & Zimmer, 1826-57),
lx
(1854), p.399.
I
a m
gra teful
to Leslie Korrick for
ca lling my
a ttention to this
pa ssa ge.
34Lockwood , op
cit
(1984), pp.44-5
35The possibility
must a lso be consid ered tha t the MS could ha ve
been written for the C onvent of Sa n Pa olo, where no
orga n
wa s built
until 1459
(see Lockwood , ibid ,
p.51).
At the
present time, however,
there is no evid ence tha t a virtuoso lutenist wa s connected with the
C onvent.
360p
cit
(1972), pp.24-7
1.
Tra nscriptions
in C EKM, i. The MSS a re:
GB-Lbm Ad d .18550
(Robertsbrid ge C od ex );
A-W C od .3617; PL-W
I
Qu438, I Qu
42 a nd I F 687; D-M C od .la t.7755, la t.5963, a nd
C im.352b
(Bux heim MS);
D-B theol. la t.
qua rt.290;
D-N N D VI 3225;
ta bla ture of Ad a m
Ileborgh,
1448
(US-Phci);
F und a mentum
orga nisa nd i
Ma gistri
C onra d i Pa uma nns C eci d e
Nirenberga
Anno 1452
(D-ERu
Hs. 554. See a lso T. G611ner, 'Nota tionsfra gment
a us einer
Orga nisten-
werksta tt d es 15. Ja hrhund erts', Archiv
fitr
Musikwissenscha ft, x x iv
(1967), pp.170-77.
37See F a llows, op
cit
(1977), pp.29-30.
3'Orga nisa nd i'
mea ns
litera lly
'to
orga niz e'.
In the contex t of
med ia eva l music it seems to ha ve mea nt 'to
compose
one or more
pa rts
over a ca ntus firmus'.
39GB-Ob Douce 381 conta ins
only
a
single
work tha t could
ea sily
be a
counterpoint ex ercise, a nd the one
piece
in A- W 3617 is a two-
pa rt Kyrie with a tex ted lower pa rt, suggesting voca l performa nce.
4See
F a llows, op cit (1977), p.32.
41See F . F eld ma nn, 'Ein Ta bula turfra gment d es Bresla uer Dominik-
a nerklosters
a us d er Zeit Pa uma nns',
ZeitschriftfiirMusikwissenscha ft,
x v (1933), pp.241-58, a nd Apel, op cit (1972), pp.33-4. Tra nscription
in C EKM, i, pp.18-22.
42Ed . G. Ha rms (Ha mburg, 1924, 2/1957)
Before
the LP era , the record ed
repertory
consisted
ma inly of
sta nd a rd orchestra l, cha mber a nd instrumenta l music, a nd
songs. Apa rt from a few English ma d riga ls,
such
ea rly
music a s
wa s a va ila ble tend ed to be conta ined in
specia l
sets
of
record s
d esigned ma inly for
ed uca tiona l
use, though
broa d -mind ed
reviewers were
a lwa ys quick
to
empha sise
tha t
they
were a s
va lua ble to the
ord ina ry
listener a s to the tea cher The set
reviewed here
by
W.
R And erson wa s unusua l in tha t the
music wa s
provid ed
with a
spoken
ra ther tha n a written
commenta ry;
2LO
wa s the
ca ll-sign of
the
BBC 's
Lond on
broa d ca sting
sta tion
INTERNATIONAL EDUC ATIONAL SOC IETY
(Published by C olumbia .)
In the Ma rch issue
(pa ge 450)
were noticed the first five
record s of a n
importa nt
set which Dr.
George Dyson
is
ma king.
These conta ined ta lks a nd illustra tions
covering
a
period
in musica l
history
which the recent
popula r-
isa tion of
ea rly
music d oes not
fully
cover-the
very
beginning
of a rt-music, even before those
ex a cting
a nd
semina l
d a ys
round a bout 1500, when music ca st off the
lea d ing-strings
of the church. In three further record s
(D.40137,
8 a nd
9)
Dr.
Dyson
continues his d iscourse,
d ea ling
with
Ea rly Keyboa rd
Music-va ria tions, d a nces,
d escriptive pieces
a nd those resourceful a nd a d va nced
minia ture sketches of Giles
F a rna by's
tha t ha ve ca used
him to be ca lled a Tud or Schuma nn. We ha ve ha d a few
ma d riga ls
a nd
virgina l pieces
record ed , but not
enough
to a llow
a nyone
to
get
a
very
clea r id ea of the
d evelop-
ment of
ea rly
music. It is so
ea sy
to fa il to
a pprecia te
old
things
beca use one ha s no sufficient mea ns of
fitting
them into their
pla ce
in the
genera l story
of life, a nd
ca nnot find
opportunities
of
ha ving
them d emonstra ted
in the
right sequence.
Therein lies the
high
va lue of these
illustra ted lectures. Dr.
Dyson
concentra tes a nd cla rifies.
I wish we could hea r him often a t 2LO. It is curious tha t
we ha ve so few ta lks on music,
a pa rt
from the
regula r
series tha t ha ve now been
going
on for some
yea rs.
Some
such set of ta lks a s this now record ed would be
very
wid ely a pprecia ted .
The illustra tion on 40137 is
Byrd 's
ha ppy
set of va ria tions on 0 Mistress Mine. On 40138 we
ha ve the
pa va ne, ga llia rd ,
a lma nd a nd
jig;
a nd the la st
record conta ins
F a rna by's
His Humour a nd Dr. John Bull's
The
King's HuntingJig.
'The
wild ly whirling
John Bull,' a s a
contempora ry
ca lled him, wa s the cleverest writer for the
keyboa rd
a t tha t time, a nd
a ppa rently
a
mighty
virtuoso.
The
pieces
on the first two record s a re
pla yed
on the
pia no,
a nd those on the la st
upon
a
ha rpsichord
of
sonorous tone. I
hope
Dr.
Dyson
will continue in this
series his a d mira ble ex positions, a nd ca rry us through
the a ges
....
Gra mophone, vii (July 1929), p.79

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