O tu cara sciença mie musica / Tetraktys
Works from the Squarcialupi Codex | Andrea da Firenza · Bartolino da Padova

medieval.org
Olive Music OM 007
2005






Giovanni da CASCIA
(fl. mid 14th c.)
1. O tu cara sciença mie musica  [4:12]
madrigale a 2

Gherardellus de FLORENTIA
(c. 1320/25—1362/63?)
2. Una colomba  [5:13]
madrigale a 2

Laurentius de FLORENTIA
(d. 1372/73)
3. Dolgomi a voi maestri  [3:36]
madrigale a 3
4. I'credo ch'i' dormia  [5:01]
madrigale a 2

Vincenzo da RIMINI
(fl. mid 14th c.)
5. In forma quasi  [1:51]
caccia

Nicolaus de PERUGIA
(fl. 2nd half 14th c.)
6. O sommo specchio  [3:27]
madrigale a 3, instrumental

Bartolino da PADOVA
(fl. c. 1365—c. 1405)
7. Non correr troppo  [6:24]
ballata a 3
8. Ricorditi di me  [2:22]
ballata a 3, contratenor from Codex Mancini, Lucca; in Squarcialupi-Codex a 2
9. Inperial sedendo  [5:48]
madrigale a 3, version from Codex Mancini, Lucca; in Squarcialupi-Codex a 2
10. La doulse çere  [3:05]
madrigale a 2, instrumental
tabulature from Codex Faenza (harp)

Andreas de FLORENTIA
(c. 1350—c. 1415)
ballate a 3
11. Pianto non partirà   [5:42]
12. Sotto candido vel  [3:04]
13. Donna, bench'i mi parta  [4:00]
14. Presunzion da ignorança  [3:03]
15. Perché veder non posso  [2:18]
instrumental
16. E più begli occhi  [4:54]
Sandra
17. Dè, che farò, signore?  [3:15]
18. Non più doglie ebbe Dido  [5:59]

TETRAKTYS

Jill Feldman, soprano
Kees Boeke, flauto, viella
Maria Cleary, arpa
Silvia Tecardi, viella





Recorded: 4-7 May 2005
at the Pieve SS. Tiburzio & Susanna, Badia Agnano, Arezzo, Italy

Production:
Mario Martinoli | Kees Boeke

Recording engineer: Valter Neri
Pre-editing: Kees Boeke
Digital editing: Valter Neri
Liner notes: Laurens Lütteken, Kees Boeke

Design and lay-out: Artwize Amsterdam, Charlottte Boersma

cover illustration:
The Church Militant and Triumphant (detail)
Andrea da Firenze (Andrea Bonaiuti)
1365-68 Fresco
Cappella Spagnuolo, Santa Maria Novella, Florence


Ⓟ Olive Music 2006
© Kees Boeke & Olive Music 2006

Treasury of a musical epoch:
THE SOUARCIALUPI CODEX
and the music of the Italian Trecento


The music of the 14th century excels in a number of particularities. Although the motet had not lost its preeminence as the most important vehicle for polyphonic music, it had to allow alongside, for the first time in musical history, a highly perfected system of secular polyphony. Also the artful setting of the Mass became more and more the focal point of composers. And for the first time a clear regional differentiation came into being, that found its very characteristic and in any case unmistakable expression in its respective Italian and French spheres of influence. The backdrop however for these consequential changes, was formed by a change in the notational system that marked the end of the 13th century. If before it had only been possible to organize time by means of rhythmical modules of groups of notes, now, at least in principle, the rhythmical value of each single note could be determined. Thus the graphic symbol of the single note had become significant in two ways: with regard to pitch by its position on a system of lines, and with regard to time value by its graphical shape. The new "musica mensurabilis", "measured music", made it now possible to individualize the rhythmical form of each single piece.

The invention of this new notation is closely linked to a generally changing relationship to time itself which around 1300 instead of a metaphysical, had become a physical phenomenon. This manifested itself for example at the end of the 13th century in the invention of the wheel clock with weight and escapement which made it possible to measure time independently from external resources like water or light. It also meant the end of the monastic monopoly on time. Time became the domain of the economically flourishing cities that needed a precise and abstract coordination of temporal spaces, for example in matters of commerce. "Musica rnensurabilis", which enabled a completely different control over time organisation, is closely related to this change, however in two very separate ways. According to the scholastic doctrine, and under the influence of the Paris University, the new notation was developed strictly according to the rules of deduction (developing the smaller value out of the bigger). In Italy, however, under the influence of the more empirically oriented University of Padua, things were kept more practical: here the procedure was inductive, i.e. one took the smallest value, the result, as starting point and therefore had a much more immediate access to the possibilities of this new notational system.

This discrepancy had serious consequences for Italian music, which already used another graphical system than the French, with 6 lines rather than 5. Apart from a pronounced reluctance towards the motet, there existed in Italy a new style of musical expression that had to do with the long-standing tradition of writing in two parts. The music is not only oriented much more strongly towards sonorities, but at the same time it pays particular attention to the musical translation of the text, in a hitherto unknown and unusual form. This characteristic points in any case to the fact that Italian music, differing from its French counterpart, had its own social environment: it was a structural part of the highly differentiated city culture of the northern and central Italian signorie, and as such was an immediate ingredient of their local representation and self-manifestation.

A central position between these city-states was held by Florence, the town of Dante and Petrarca whose tuscan dialect would eventually become Italy's national language. A special, highly sophisticated musical culture grew in the intellectual climate in this Florence of the 14th century; its protagonists belonged almost exclusively to clerical circles and formed a rich network for generations. Florence in the 14th century was a musical centre of the first order, in a period of incessant political unrest (Dante died in 1321 in exile, as did Petrarca 50 years later), of poverty and plague (Boccaccio's Decameron being a result), and of wars and conflicts (for example with the Visconti in Milan). In other words, a city in an extremely unstable situation from which eventually the power of the Medici would emerge. Notwithstanding, or even thanks to these circumstances, public life in Florence was colourful and brilliant, and music played its special role in this. Although we are poorly informed about instrumental music, and mostly through indirect sources, vocal music is richly documented. The structural pillars were the two poetical/musical forms of the madrigal (which has nothing to do with its 16th century counterpart) and the ballata, refrain forms in which the music in a certain way echoes the structure of the text. Both madrigal and ballata could be three-part, but until the end of the century, two-part writing was preferred. On the other hand, there was the caccia, defined musically by its two canonic upper voices against an independent tenor. The caccia was the typical playground for musical artifice, like in Vincenzo da Rimini's in forma quasi.

When we look at the opulent Florentine musical culture of the trecento, one aspect is particularly striking: there are many direct documents, accounts, messages, poetry—but not the music itself. Our knowledge of the compositions is based on a manuscript that was written much later and from which certainly nobody ever performed. A manuscript at whose compilation only one of the composers represented on this CD, Andrea da Firenze, could have been present; a music manuscript, however, that belongs to the most lavish and precious that were ever produced. Today this codex lies in the Biblioteca Medicea-Laurenziana in Florence and bears the name Squarcialupi-Codex, after its possessor in the 15th century, organist of the Florentine cathedral, Antonio Squarcialupi (1416-1480). When and from whom he got the manuscript is unknown, and he was certainly not involved in its compilation.

The uniqueness of this copious manuscript lies not only in its overall lavish presentation, its precious miniatures and its generous use of gilding. More than anything, it possesses peculiarities that are not to be found in any other musical manuscript of the 14th and 15th centuries, and that shed a spectacular light on Florentine musical culture. It was most likely manufactured between 1410 and 1415 in the monastery of S. Maria degli Angeli, a convent that was founded around 1300 and for which Filippo Brunelleschi had started a new church around this same time.

The vast Codex only contains secular works (227 ballate, 115 madrigals, 12 cacce) by 14 composers that all worked permanently or at least intermittently in Florence. It is strictly arranged according to composer, and chronologically: the oldest, Giovanni da Cascia at the beginning, the youngest, Andrea de Florentia at the end. The last section of the manuscript is dedicated to Jovannes Horganista de Florentia, but contains no entries.

This arrangement according to composer is unique, and emphasizes a particularity of Florentine musical culture: the perception of the single work as expression of the individuality of its composer. This corresponds to the fact that all sections are preceded by precious miniature portraits of each musician: images that certainly do not resemble the actual people, but have the goal of demonstratively illustrating the singularity and uniqueness of each individual. Indeed, not only the individual composers, but each single work in the Squarcialupi-Codex is proof of and plays its part in this new cultivation of musical individuality. If one listens for example to the clear separation of vocal and instrumental sections, and the refined treatment of rhythm in Giovanni da Cascia's homage to music (O tu cara sciença), the oldest piece present on this recording, the difference from the compositions of Andreas de Florentia becomes manifest, and not only because the latter are in 3 voices. The sonorities of the stormy Deh, che faro form as much of a contrast with the former as they do with his own elegiac Dido-ballata Non più doglie.

Each composer is present in the manuscript as his own, unique personality. Looking at the works themselves, we can recognize these tendencies towards individualisation in every detail. Thus, the Signoria of Florence in the 1451, century was permeated by a musical culture that was as self-willed as it was ambitious. Its prerequisites lied as much in the notational possibilities of a new system of organizing musical time, as in the effectiveness of music in the realm of city representation.The composing clerics of Florence decidedly changed the history of music, much like Dante and Petrarca changed the history of literature. The belated mirror of this is the Squarcialupi-Codex, likewise produced in a monastery: a representative document, a musical treasury of a whole epoch.

BIOGRAPHIES

Andreas de Florentia, probably a native of Pistoia, is one of the few composers in the 14th century, whose life is relatively well documented. His life is closely connected to the spiritual centre of Florence, around the church of the Santissima Annunziata. It was founded by the order of the Servi di Maria of Monte Senario that established itself in Florence around 1250 and soon became an important place of pilgrimage because of the miracle of the fresco (the completion of an Annunciation, begun by Bartolomeo, by an angel). Andrea, born perhaps around the middle of the century, entered the monastery that had for some time pursued ambitious new building projects, in 1375. Trained as an organist (hence his surnames Frater Andreas Horganista or Andrea degli Organi) he was, together with Francesco Landini, responsible for the construction of a new organ in the cloister church, and a little later, in 1387, also in the cathedral. In his order he had a meteoric career, from master of the novices (1379) to prior (first time in 1380) and then to head of his order (1407-1410). The extant oeuvre of Andrea is voluminous, comprising 18 works for two, and 12 for three voices; they are exclusively ballate that, except for one composition, appear only in the Squarcialupi codex. He died in Florence in 1415.

Bartolino da Padova. When Bartolino was born is unclear, but it was probably in Padua. There he entered the order of the Carmelites, and possibly he was even prior in his monastery. Apparently he stood in close relationship to the Carrara family until their downfall after the conquest of Padua by the Venetians in 1405. It seems that he lived in Florence during the penultimate decade of the 14th century, maybe in the company of the exiled Francesco Novella. (portrait) Several of his extant works are connected with concrete political events in Padua. Although Bartolino's padovano background is unquestionable, he was clearly also an extremely well-known composer in Florence. Of him 38 works are attributable (27 Ballate and 11 Madrigals), and 37 are preserved in the Squarcialupi Codex, partially as unica. Some of the compositions exist in versions a 2 and a 3, whereby it is unclear which is the older version, and if the third voice is actually in all cases by the hand of Bartolino himself.

Gherardellus de Florentia probably spent all his life in Florence. The first traces of him are found in 1343 as a cleric by the name of "Nicholo" at the church of Santa Reparata, i.e. the cathedral that had already become a major construction site since the inception of the building of the new cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore. He obtained a position there as a chaplain in 1345, which held until 1351. After that, and maybe also because the stagnating works on the new cathedral had been resumed, he changed over to the order of Vallombrosa. There might be a connection between this and his change of name, since in one document he is named ‘Ser Nicholo vochato Ser Gherardello’. Until 1362 he is traceable in Santa Trinità, at the church of the Vallombrosians, after which we lose track of him. In a
sonnet from the 1360's his death is lamented by the poet Simone Peruzzi. Among the works of Gherardello are found sacred compositions, solo ballate, 10 two-part madrigals and a three-part caccia.

Giovanni da Cascia's biography is not supported by any certain documents. He seems to originate from Cascia (near Florence) as his name suffix indicates. Possibly he is identical with an organist by the name of Giovanni (in the Squarcialupi Codex he is depicted with an organetto), who worked around 1360 in the imposing church of Santa Trinità, the church of the Vallombrosians which had been consecrated in 1327. However, in the 14th century the name "Giovanni" was more or less used at random, and so we can not be all too certain. At any rate, it seems that Giovanni da Cascia was no cleric, and on the basis of his works we may assume that his main activity belongs to the first half of the century. 19 Madrigals have been preserved (no ballate), and O tu cara sciença mie musica must have been one of the most popular songs of its time, as it survives in no less than five manuscripts.

Laurentius de Florentia, also known as Ser Laurentius Masii or Masini, belongs to the most influential circle of Florentine musicians around the middle of the 14th century. He is first mentioned in his native city Florence in 1348 as a canon at the Basilica di San Lorenzo, at that point in time the building still dating from the 11th century, which was, through encouragement of the Medici, replaced in the 15th century by the famous new church. Laurentius was linked to San Lorenzo all his life, the church where Francesco Landini also worked from 1365 onwards. Although comparatively few works have been preserved by him, he was still considered a celebrity in the 15th century. There remain a Sanctus, a caccia, ten two- and three-part madrigals as well as five ballate. He set texts by Boccaccio and Dante to music.

Nicolaus de Perugia, as one of the few composers present in the Squarcialupi Codex, does not come from Florence or its surroundings, but from Perugia. He must have spent some time in Florence, though, since in 1362 he visited the same Santa Trinità monastery of the Vallombrosiani in which Gherardellus had been active up to that year. As in the works of Andrea da Firenze, we find references to the Visconti from Milan, who were at war with Florence at the end of the 14th century. Notwithstanding the fact that, in certain aspects, Nicolaus apparently was an outsider in the group of Florentine composers (also visible in certain stylistic peculiarities), his works are unusually well documented and almost exclusively in Florentine sources: more than 20 two-part ballate, almost 20 two-and three-part madrigals as well as three cacce.

Vincenzo da Rimini seems to originate from the area of Rimini or Imola, if we can trust his description as "Abbas de Arimino" or respectively "l'abate Vincençio da Imola". Nothing certain is known about his life in, or connection with Florence. It is equally unclear whether he as Benedictine had anything to do with Santa Trinità. His preserved oeuvre is very small (four madrigals and two cacce) but shows exceptional originality in both the cacce.

Laurenz Lütteken
Translation: Kees Boeke, Robert Claire

THE COMPOSITIONS
Codex Squarcialupi (ca.1340-ca1400)
(Biblioteca Laurenziana, Florence, MS. Palatino 87)

GIOVANNI DA CASCIA
— O tu, cara sciença mie musica (madrigale) a2
This madrigal in praise of the art, or better, science of music lacks, as is unfortunately often the case, the second stanza. In order to preserve the musical form in its integrity, we have provided an instrumental rendering of the missing verse. Noteworthy is the emphasis on "dolce melodia" and "vaghi canti", epithets later also frequently used by other trecento composers and often associated with Landini. The top part is clearly written in an already highly developed diminution style: two different readings, from Sq and Pan. have been adopted here, as well as a hypothetical "simple" version of the Cantus in the harp.

GHERARDELLO DA FIRENZE
— Una colomba (madrigale) a2
Typical allegorical madrigal with a second ritornello (AABB). Text setting is perfectly syllabic, suggesting that the remaining material is to be performed instrumentally. The opening phrase ("Una colomba") seems to have been picked up by Ciconia for his "Una Panthera". Instrumental intermezzi and vocal melismas are astonishingly descriptive of the text. The enigmatic, undecipherable "sguardo d'amore" of the beloved (the colomba) signifies suffering or delight. The lover remains caught between two worlds, or interpretations.
There is a dreamlike quality to the scene.

LORENZO MASINI
— Dolgo mi a voi (madrigale) a3
This is the second madrigal devoted to music, this time in a negative, or critical vein. It is a complaint against dilettantism in music (scientia!) and derides and imaginatively illustrates how amateurs ruin our notes. The musical illustration comprises a surprising variety of effects: offensive or overly sweet harmony, inappropriate trumpet signals, the ridiculous ut re mi fa sol to describe the guidonian hand, and the "perfect" ending to conclude the argument. On the whole, this madrigal is actually written in the form of a derailing canon or"caccia". Again we must regret the missing second stanza.
— I credo ch'i dormia (madrigale)
Another dream, a favourite topic with the early madrigalists. Since the text is incomplete, it is hard to get a clear picture of the event that is put into music here. The mere quantity of musical material almost suggests a type of mini-opera! The lover sees the goddess of Love at the moment of falling in love.., then what happens? ...but he remains pensively in the dream, in love with his Lady. There are very few lyrics, but the music suggests a stormy event in the (missing) second stanza.

VINCENZO D'ARIMINO
— In forma quasi (caccia) a3
This is an authentic caccia that combines depicting the dream state between sleeping and waking with an idea very similar to the three centuries younger "Cries of London". There is a storm, a harbour scene with fishmongers shouting. The protagonist wakes up to the noise and returns to sleep, as does the music. There is a particularly unreal cadence in F major at the end of this d Dorian composition.

NICCOLO DA PERUGIA
— O sommo specchio (madrigale) a3 inst
A very unusual, and perhaps unique, through-composed madrigal: the verse lines flow into each other, merely separated by vague cadential moments; the second stanza continues seamlessly from the first with entirely different music. The counterpoint and ficta games are highly speculative; a correct text underlay is either impossible or perfectly arbitrary.

BARTOLINO DA PADOVA
— Non correr troppo (ballata) a3
One of several madrigals (cf. Chi tempo ha) of a moralistic nature, with an admonition against haste. The music seems ironical and vividly depicts the flow of time, the haste and the "freno" in rhythm, melody and harmony. In modern Italian the saying goes: "Chi va piano va lontano" . The counterpoint and harmonic idiom seem to follow the road taken by O sommo specchio.
— Recorditi di me (ballata) a3 | contratenor from Codex Mancini, Lucca
We added the contratenor that survives in the Codex Mancini although the piece is incomplete (and completed here). A very delicate love song where the lover says "I am perfect, but you rejected me without giving any reason..." The phrases are separated by pauses (of perplexity?) as happens also in some ballate by Andrea and Landini.
— Inperiale sedendo (madrigale) a3 | contratenor from Codex Mancini, Lucca
Emblematic/heraldic madrigal in honour of Francesco Novello da Carrara, who was the governor of Padova at the time. It was sufficient to mention the "Saracino" to indicate the Carrara family. It was probably written in 1401 to celebrate the investiture of Francesco as imperial general by the then-newly elected Emperor Ruprecht of the Rhine Palatinate (Robert of Bavaria). Ciconia's Per quella strada and Con Lagrime bagnandome were written also for the Carrara family. It is no surprise, then, that the musical language and construction of Inperiale show remarkable similarities with Ciconia's famous Panthera (opening, ending and the fanfare-like intermezzo). There Remains the tintillating question of who was first... We have integrated the Contratenor from the Mancini Codex, which, with its manneristic syncopations is very typical of Bartolino. We have interpreted the "quaternaria" at the end of the piece as an "octonaria" in so-called "longa" notation.
— La doulce çere inst (CODEX FAENZA)
The madrigal La doulce çere most likely refers to a specific person in its heraldic symbols, but lacks a reference to any single datable event; it was presumably written to honour a descendant of the Papafava family in the years preceding the suppression of their arms by Francesco Novello, whose signoria spanned the period 1390-1405. This is the diminution as found in the famous Codex Faenza.

ANDREA DA FIRENZE
— Planto non partirà (ballata) a3
— Sotto candido vel (ballata) a3
— Donna, bench'i' mi parta (ballata) a3
— Presuntion da ignoranza (ballata) a3
— Perché veder non posso (ballata) a3 inst
— E più begli occhi (ballata) a3
— Deh, che farò? (ballata) a3
— Non più dogli ebbe Dido (ballata) a3
Andrea's compositions are unique in their avantgardistic compositional technique, with recognizable elements from Bartolino, Landini and Ciconia, and very unusual in their thoroughly through-composed manner. This might be music that was understood only by a small circle of connoisseurs, but did not "export". Certainly his stylistic extrapolations of the truly Italian trecento tradition are very different from the choices made for example by his equally eccentric colleague Matteo da Perugia in Milan, who tried to exalt the French Ars Subtilior in his own way; both were equally "unsuccessful" in the end and the course of history preferred the much more harmonic and streamlined solutions found by Ciconia. Six out of eight ballatas presented here are love songs with intense and often bitter and moralistic overtones. Presuntion makes a poignant moralistic statement against arrogance, the fruit of ignorance. The moving final song "Non più dogli ebbe Dido" can be read both as an homage to (polyphonic) music, and as an eulogy of Andrea's favourite instrument, the organ.

© Kees Boeke