Agnese Pavanello | FHNW - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Books and Edited Books by Agnese Pavanello
Basler Beiträge zur Historischen Musikpraxis, 2024
Wie beeinflussen Tanzbewegungen die musikalische Spielweise? Und umgekehrt: Welche Wirkung hat di... more Wie beeinflussen Tanzbewegungen die musikalische Spielweise?
Und umgekehrt: Welche Wirkung hat die musikalische Interpretation
auf die Ausführung einer Choreografie? Wie stehen tänzerische
und melodische Phrasierung zueinander? Derlei Fragen
zum Verhältnis von Tanz und Musik ergeben sich sowohl bei der
praktischen Ausführung als auch bei der Erforschung historischer
‹Tanzmusik›. Entsprechend vielseitig sind die Zugänge, mit
denen dieser interdisziplinäre Band ‹Tanzmusik› vom Mittelalter
bis zur Romantik untersucht, kontextualisiert und im Sinne historischer
Musikpraxis erschließt. Im Mittelpunkt steht die Wechselbeziehung
zwischen Klang und Bewegung in verschiedenen
historischen Repertoires, Gattungen und Formen.
![Research paper thumbnail of Reopening Gaffurius's Libroni. Ed. Agnese Pavanello, Lucca: LIM, 2021 [FULL-TEXT OPEN ACCESS]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/67442917/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](The four Milanese Libroni, prepared during Franchinus Gaffurius’s tenure as chapel master at the ... more The four Milanese Libroni, prepared during Franchinus Gaffurius’s tenure as chapel master at the Duomo, rank among the most important manuscripts of sacred polyphony at the turn of the fifteenth century. Their interest, notably as the only extant sources of Milan’s flourishing musical scene under the Sforzas, has been widely recognized. In spite, however, of the attention raised in the musicological community by Jeppesen’s brief essay of 1931 and by the facsimiles published in the 1960s and 1980s, the manuscripts have never been thoroughly studied. The present book discloses the results of an interdisciplinary investigation conducted within the Polifonia Sforzesca Research Project (funded by the SNF at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in 2018–2020), in conjunction with the full digitization of the sources. Combining archival evidence (Filippi) with palaeographic and codicological data (Pantarotto, Filippi) and with a mapping of the contained repertoire (Cassia, Pavanello), the volume provides fresh elements regarding the making and the dating of the Libroni, clarifies Gaffurius’s role as the mastermind of the operation, and better situates the manuscripts in the contemporary landscape of copying, collecting, and circulating polyphonic music.
![Research paper thumbnail of Kontrafakturen im Kontext, ed. Agnese Pavanello, Basel: Schwabe 2020 (Basler Beiträge zur Historischen Musikpraxis 40) [FULL-TEXT OPEN ACCESS]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/63815973/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Dieser Band widmet sich dem Phänomen «Kontrafaktum» in verschiedenen Epochen und Kontexten. Der S... more Dieser Band widmet sich dem Phänomen «Kontrafaktum» in verschiedenen Epochen und Kontexten. Der Schwerpunkt liegt dabei auf der Musik im Mittelalter und in der Renaissance. Neben übergreifenden Betrachtungen, welche die Komplexität und Vielschichtigkeit der unterschiedlichen Phänomene der Kontrafaktur thematisieren, beleuchten mehrere Fallstudien spezifische Aspekte des «contrafactio». Ziel ist, eine erneute kritische Reflexion des vielschichtigen Themas anzustossen. Es geht um Fragen nach der Bedeutung, der Zielsetzung und der Wirkung von Neutextierungen in der einstimmigen sowie polyphonen Musik. Die Beiträge berücksichtigen sowohl die mündliche Tradition als auch die kompositorische Praxis und gehen interdisziplinär an das Thema heran.
![Research paper thumbnail of Motet Cycles between Devotion and Liturgy. Edited by Daniele V. Filippi and Agnese Pavanello. SCB Scripta 7. Basel: Schwabe, 2019 [FULL-TEXT OPEN ACCESS]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/59914336/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](This book explores the corpus of motet cycles composed and disseminated in manuscript and printed... more This book explores the corpus of motet cycles composed and disseminated in manuscript and printed sources of polyphony ca. 1470-ca. 1510, including works by Loyset Compère, Gaspar van Weerbeke, and Franchinus Gaffurius. In doing so, it tackles some of the most essential and stimulating issues of late medieval and Renaissance music, clustering around the role of sacred polyphony in the interaction between devotion and liturgy. The different chapters, organized in four sections, cover topics ranging from the relationship between ritual and cycles to the "shape and sound of prayer texts", revisit the problematic association between Milan, motetti missales and Josquin, and offer a series of case studies approached from an interdisciplinary perspective. By addressing issues of textual and musical design, function, and performance, the book illuminates this fascinating repertory and the rich devotional and cultural context in which it flourished.
Lucca, Libreria Musicale Italiana, 2019
The Libroni (literally “big books”) prepared for the Duomo under chapel master Franchinus Gaffuri... more The Libroni (literally “big books”) prepared for the Duomo under chapel master Franchinus Gaffurius are among the most valuable cultural treasures from Renaissance Milan. The four large manuscripts contain a diverse repertory of sacred polyphony for Mass and Vespers, including works by Compère, Weerbeke, Josquin, Isaac, and Gaffurius himself. This was the music that resounded under the gothic arches of the cathedral, still under construction, in a momentous period of the city’s history. The years during which the Libroni were copied (c.1490–1507) saw the rise of Ludovico Sforza (“il Moro”), his dramatic fall, and the subsequent French domination over the duchy of Milan. The rule of the Sforza came thus to an end (apart from the short-lived restorations of the 1510s and 1520s), and the role of the city in European geopolitics changed irreversibly. Codici per cantare presents a set of studies dedicated to the Libroni and subdivided into two sections: the first has an interdisciplinary nature, with essays on the cultural, social, and ritual context, whereas the second contains musicological investigations on the repertory of the Libroni, from the motetti missales to liturgical compositions for the Office. A codicological analysis and a new annotated catalogue of the Libroni complete a volume that aims to become a reference work for all interested in Gaffurius’s manuscripts.
Contributors: BONNIE J. BLACKBURN, CRISTINA CASSIA, DANIELE V. FILIPPI, MARTINA PANTAROTTO, EDOARDO ROSSETTI, FRANCESCO ROCCO ROSSI, THOMAS SCHMIDT, DANIELE TORELLI, NORBERTO VALLI, MASSIMO ZAGGIA.
I Libroni preparati per la cappella musicale del Duomo sotto la direzione di Franchino Gaffurio sono fra le più preziose testimonianze della vita culturale a Milano fra Quattro e Cinquecento. Imponenti per dimensioni, seppur non esteticamente ricercati, i manoscritti tramandano il variegato repertorio di polifonia che risuonò fra le arcate della cattedrale ancora in cantiere in un periodo particolare e decisivo nella storia della città. Gli anni, infatti, in cui il maestro di cappella Gaffurio (in carica dal 1484) allestisce i quattro Libroni, includendovi composizioni per la messa e i vespri di autori come Compère, Weerbeke, Josquin e Isaac, oltre alle proprie, sono quelli dell’ascesa di Ludovico il Moro, della sua drammatica caduta e poi del primo dominio francese sul ducato di Milano. Gli anni, insomma, che chiudono l’epoca e l’epopea dei Visconti e degli Sforza (a prescindere dalle successive effimere restaurazioni) e riconfigurano il destino della città su orizzonti geopolitici diversi. Il presente volume raccoglie, come in un polittico, una serie di studi dedicati ai Libroni e organizzati in due pannelli: il primo di carattere interdisciplinare (con interventi sul contesto culturale, sociale e liturgico nella Milano del tempo), il secondo di taglio specificamente musicologico (con approfondimenti sul repertorio dei Libroni, dai motetti missales alle composizioni per l’Ufficio). Completa l’opera un nuovo Catalogo dei Libroni, che si propone come punto di riferimento per ogni futura esplorazione dei manoscritti gaffuriani.
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Online Resources by Agnese Pavanello
This research portal dedicated to the four Gaffurius Codices of the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo ... more This research portal dedicated to the four Gaffurius Codices of the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano is maintained by the SNF Project Polifonia Sforzesca: The Motet Cycles in the Milanese Libroni between Liturgy, Devotion, and Ducal Patronage (Schola Cantorum Basiliensis FHNW, 2018–2020).
It includes a digital reproduction of the four manuscripts, and their full inventory and catalogue. Forthcoming in 2020 is a digital critical edition of selected motet cycles, and further resources will follow. Interlinked with other online reference works (notably the Motet Cycles Database), it is provided as an open-access research tool of interest not only to musicologists, but also to students and scholars in various disciplines: codicology, paleography, liturgy, Sforza studies, and medieval/early modern studies in general.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Publication of the Motet Cycles Database (open access at http://www.motetcycles.ch/ ). The data... more Publication of the Motet Cycles Database (open access at http://www.motetcycles.ch/ ).
The database is an online research tool for musicologists, musicians, and interdisciplinary scholars developed within the SNF research project Motet Cycles (c. 1470-c.1510): Compositional Design, Performance, and Cultural Context (2014-2017).
The database aims at mapping the repertory of polyphonic motet cycles of the period c.1470-c.1510, based on the characteristics of the repertory itself and on the specific modalities of its transmission. The database has been conceived primarily as a working tool modelled on the needs of the project team, as a way to share and compare data and textual references. The selection of the repertory and the corpus of data remain in any case open to future enrichment, and the database is to be considered as a work in progress.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Editions by Agnese Pavanello
The motet cycles known as motetti missales are among the most intriguing repertoires of late-fift... more The motet cycles known as motetti missales are among the most intriguing repertoires of late-fifteenth-century polyphony. This series features a new critical edition of the six cycles by Loyset Compère, Gaspar van Weerbeke, and Franchinus Gaffurius included in the Milanese Libroni and of the two anonymous cycles transmitted in the Leopold Codex (Munich MS 3154). For the first time this corpus is presented with uniform editorial criteria, facilitating the comparison of mensural choices and other compositional strategies. Furthermore, the introduction of each volume thematizes the peculiar characteristics of each cycle, in terms of textual choices, use of preexisting material, and musical design, allowing for a new assessment of the motetti missales that goes beyond the homogenizing stereotypes of earlier literature and accounts for the individual contributions of the various composers. The editors' insight in this repertoire is the result of two interdisciplinary research projects financed by the Swiss National Fund and carried out at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in 2014-21. The anonymous motet cycle Gaude, flore virginali consists of six four-voice motets based on stanzas of the eponymous rhymed Marian poem. It is one of only two motetti missales cycles preserved in a source outside Milan: Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Mus. Ms. 3154 (the Leopold Codex). All six motets in the cycle are unica within this source. The last three motets bear loco rubrics indicating their placement in the mass liturgy. Agnese Pavanello is a research associate at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, one of the affiliated institutes of the Musik-Akademie Basel and the Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz. Her research interests focus on Renaissance sacred polyphony and instrumental music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. She has published articles on Arcangelo Corelli as well as studies and editions of music by composers of the following generation (Locatelli, Bomporti, and Tartini). Her contributions to Renaissance studies concern in particular the Franco-Flemish composer Gaspar van Weerbeke, and she has published editions of his masses and motets as well as studies on specific works. More recently, in two research projects, she has focused on issues concerning the transmission and function of motet cycles at the end of the fifteenth century, exploring the historical and liturgical-devotional context of the Milanese motetti missales.
Recent Researches in the Music of the Renaissance, 178, 2023
The motet cycles known as motetti missales are among the most intriguing repertoires of late-fift... more The motet cycles known as motetti missales are among the most intriguing repertoires of late-fifteenth-century polyphony. This series features a new critical edition of the six cycles by Loyset Compère, Gaspar van Weerbeke, and Franchinus Gaffurius included in the Milanese Libroni and of the two anonymous cycles transmitted in the Leopold Codex (Munich MS 3154). For the first time this corpus is presented with uniform editorial criteria, facilitating the comparison of mensural choices and other compositional strategies. Furthermore, the introduction of each volume thematizes the peculiar characteristics of each cycle, in terms of textual choices, use of preexisting material, and musical design, allowing for a new assessment of the motetti missales that goes beyond the homogenizing stereotypes of earlier literature and accounts for the individual contributions of the various composers. The editors' insight in this repertoire is the result of two interdisciplinary research projects financed by the Swiss National Fund and carried out at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in 2014-21. The anonymous motet cycle Gaude, flore virginali consists of six four-voice motets based on stanzas of the eponymous rhymed Marian poem. It is one of only two motetti missales cycles preserved in a source outside Milan: Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Mus. Ms. 3154 (the Leopold Codex). All six motets in the cycle are unica within this source. The last three motets bear loco rubrics indicating their placement in the mass liturgy. Agnese Pavanello is a research associate at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, one of the affiliated institutes of the Musik-Akademie Basel and the Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz. Her research interests focus on Renaissance sacred polyphony and instrumental music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. She has published articles on Arcangelo Corelli as well as studies and editions of music by composers of the following generation (Locatelli, Bomporti, and Tartini). Her contributions to Renaissance studies concern in particular the Franco-Flemish composer Gaspar van Weerbeke, and she has published editions of his masses and motets as well as studies on specific works. More recently, in two research projects, she has focused on issues concerning the transmission and function of motet cycles at the end of the fifteenth century, exploring the historical and liturgical-devotional context of the Milanese motetti missales.
. Ed. Paul Kolb and Agnese Pavanello (in collaboration with Andrea Lindmayr-Brandl), American Institute of Musicology, 2020
Critical Edition of Gaspar van Weerbeke's Chansons, Magnificat and Lamentations. Gaspar van Weer... more Critical Edition of Gaspar van Weerbeke's Chansons, Magnificat and Lamentations.
Gaspar van Weerbeke, born around 1450 in the Flemish city of Oudenaarde, was one of the most acclaimed composers of the Josquin generation, active primarily in Milan and Rome. This volume contains the composer’s two main settings of liturgical texts, other than the masses, his Lamentatio Jeremie prophete and Magnificat octavi toni, as well as the six songs and instrumental wrks that bear an attributin to the composer. Conflicting and uncertain attributions raise questions about the authorship of these songs, and arguments in favor of an against Weerbeke are discussed in the introduction and individual work commentaries. The appendices contain the surviving tablature versons of these songs, a further opus dubium, and a related song.
Articles and Book Chapters by Agnese Pavanello
Giuseppe Tartini: Fundamental Questions. Ed. Gabriele Taschetti, Berlin: Peter Lang, 2022 (Giuseppe Tartini and the Musical Culture of the Enlightenment, 1), 2022
This chapter focuses on alternative movements in Giuseppe Tartini’s concertos. As is evident from... more This chapter focuses on alternative movements in Giuseppe Tartini’s concertos. As is evident from existing autograph scores and from sources from Tartini’s circles, the violinist later composed new movements for some concertos, probably on the occasion of new performances, and in particular the central ones. This study addresses the question of why Tartini changed the formal arrangement of an existing work and whether the new movements were intended as true substitutions or mere alternatives. The aim of this preliminary investigation is to provide a first frame of reference for the study of Tartini’s works characterized by a non-univocal/variable formal arrangement and to contribute to the analysis of the works in question and their transmission.
In Reopening Gaffurius’s Libroni. Ed. Agnese Pavanello. Lucca: Libreria Musicale Italiana (LIM), 2021, 213–269, 2021
In Klang und Bedeutung. Diskurse über Musik. Zur Emeritierung von Joseph Willimann. Ed. Juliane Brandeis, Moritz Heffter, Sarah Platter and Meinrad Walter (Schriften der Hochschulde für Musik Freiburg 9). Hildesheim/Zürich/New York: Olms, 2021, 285–300, 2021
Basler Beiträge zur Historischen Musikpraxis, 2024
Wie beeinflussen Tanzbewegungen die musikalische Spielweise? Und umgekehrt: Welche Wirkung hat di... more Wie beeinflussen Tanzbewegungen die musikalische Spielweise?
Und umgekehrt: Welche Wirkung hat die musikalische Interpretation
auf die Ausführung einer Choreografie? Wie stehen tänzerische
und melodische Phrasierung zueinander? Derlei Fragen
zum Verhältnis von Tanz und Musik ergeben sich sowohl bei der
praktischen Ausführung als auch bei der Erforschung historischer
‹Tanzmusik›. Entsprechend vielseitig sind die Zugänge, mit
denen dieser interdisziplinäre Band ‹Tanzmusik› vom Mittelalter
bis zur Romantik untersucht, kontextualisiert und im Sinne historischer
Musikpraxis erschließt. Im Mittelpunkt steht die Wechselbeziehung
zwischen Klang und Bewegung in verschiedenen
historischen Repertoires, Gattungen und Formen.
The four Milanese Libroni, prepared during Franchinus Gaffurius’s tenure as chapel master at the ... more The four Milanese Libroni, prepared during Franchinus Gaffurius’s tenure as chapel master at the Duomo, rank among the most important manuscripts of sacred polyphony at the turn of the fifteenth century. Their interest, notably as the only extant sources of Milan’s flourishing musical scene under the Sforzas, has been widely recognized. In spite, however, of the attention raised in the musicological community by Jeppesen’s brief essay of 1931 and by the facsimiles published in the 1960s and 1980s, the manuscripts have never been thoroughly studied. The present book discloses the results of an interdisciplinary investigation conducted within the Polifonia Sforzesca Research Project (funded by the SNF at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in 2018–2020), in conjunction with the full digitization of the sources. Combining archival evidence (Filippi) with palaeographic and codicological data (Pantarotto, Filippi) and with a mapping of the contained repertoire (Cassia, Pavanello), the volume provides fresh elements regarding the making and the dating of the Libroni, clarifies Gaffurius’s role as the mastermind of the operation, and better situates the manuscripts in the contemporary landscape of copying, collecting, and circulating polyphonic music.
Dieser Band widmet sich dem Phänomen «Kontrafaktum» in verschiedenen Epochen und Kontexten. Der S... more Dieser Band widmet sich dem Phänomen «Kontrafaktum» in verschiedenen Epochen und Kontexten. Der Schwerpunkt liegt dabei auf der Musik im Mittelalter und in der Renaissance. Neben übergreifenden Betrachtungen, welche die Komplexität und Vielschichtigkeit der unterschiedlichen Phänomene der Kontrafaktur thematisieren, beleuchten mehrere Fallstudien spezifische Aspekte des «contrafactio». Ziel ist, eine erneute kritische Reflexion des vielschichtigen Themas anzustossen. Es geht um Fragen nach der Bedeutung, der Zielsetzung und der Wirkung von Neutextierungen in der einstimmigen sowie polyphonen Musik. Die Beiträge berücksichtigen sowohl die mündliche Tradition als auch die kompositorische Praxis und gehen interdisziplinär an das Thema heran.
This book explores the corpus of motet cycles composed and disseminated in manuscript and printed... more This book explores the corpus of motet cycles composed and disseminated in manuscript and printed sources of polyphony ca. 1470-ca. 1510, including works by Loyset Compère, Gaspar van Weerbeke, and Franchinus Gaffurius. In doing so, it tackles some of the most essential and stimulating issues of late medieval and Renaissance music, clustering around the role of sacred polyphony in the interaction between devotion and liturgy. The different chapters, organized in four sections, cover topics ranging from the relationship between ritual and cycles to the "shape and sound of prayer texts", revisit the problematic association between Milan, motetti missales and Josquin, and offer a series of case studies approached from an interdisciplinary perspective. By addressing issues of textual and musical design, function, and performance, the book illuminates this fascinating repertory and the rich devotional and cultural context in which it flourished.
Lucca, Libreria Musicale Italiana, 2019
The Libroni (literally “big books”) prepared for the Duomo under chapel master Franchinus Gaffuri... more The Libroni (literally “big books”) prepared for the Duomo under chapel master Franchinus Gaffurius are among the most valuable cultural treasures from Renaissance Milan. The four large manuscripts contain a diverse repertory of sacred polyphony for Mass and Vespers, including works by Compère, Weerbeke, Josquin, Isaac, and Gaffurius himself. This was the music that resounded under the gothic arches of the cathedral, still under construction, in a momentous period of the city’s history. The years during which the Libroni were copied (c.1490–1507) saw the rise of Ludovico Sforza (“il Moro”), his dramatic fall, and the subsequent French domination over the duchy of Milan. The rule of the Sforza came thus to an end (apart from the short-lived restorations of the 1510s and 1520s), and the role of the city in European geopolitics changed irreversibly. Codici per cantare presents a set of studies dedicated to the Libroni and subdivided into two sections: the first has an interdisciplinary nature, with essays on the cultural, social, and ritual context, whereas the second contains musicological investigations on the repertory of the Libroni, from the motetti missales to liturgical compositions for the Office. A codicological analysis and a new annotated catalogue of the Libroni complete a volume that aims to become a reference work for all interested in Gaffurius’s manuscripts.
Contributors: BONNIE J. BLACKBURN, CRISTINA CASSIA, DANIELE V. FILIPPI, MARTINA PANTAROTTO, EDOARDO ROSSETTI, FRANCESCO ROCCO ROSSI, THOMAS SCHMIDT, DANIELE TORELLI, NORBERTO VALLI, MASSIMO ZAGGIA.
I Libroni preparati per la cappella musicale del Duomo sotto la direzione di Franchino Gaffurio sono fra le più preziose testimonianze della vita culturale a Milano fra Quattro e Cinquecento. Imponenti per dimensioni, seppur non esteticamente ricercati, i manoscritti tramandano il variegato repertorio di polifonia che risuonò fra le arcate della cattedrale ancora in cantiere in un periodo particolare e decisivo nella storia della città. Gli anni, infatti, in cui il maestro di cappella Gaffurio (in carica dal 1484) allestisce i quattro Libroni, includendovi composizioni per la messa e i vespri di autori come Compère, Weerbeke, Josquin e Isaac, oltre alle proprie, sono quelli dell’ascesa di Ludovico il Moro, della sua drammatica caduta e poi del primo dominio francese sul ducato di Milano. Gli anni, insomma, che chiudono l’epoca e l’epopea dei Visconti e degli Sforza (a prescindere dalle successive effimere restaurazioni) e riconfigurano il destino della città su orizzonti geopolitici diversi. Il presente volume raccoglie, come in un polittico, una serie di studi dedicati ai Libroni e organizzati in due pannelli: il primo di carattere interdisciplinare (con interventi sul contesto culturale, sociale e liturgico nella Milano del tempo), il secondo di taglio specificamente musicologico (con approfondimenti sul repertorio dei Libroni, dai motetti missales alle composizioni per l’Ufficio). Completa l’opera un nuovo Catalogo dei Libroni, che si propone come punto di riferimento per ogni futura esplorazione dei manoscritti gaffuriani.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
This research portal dedicated to the four Gaffurius Codices of the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo ... more This research portal dedicated to the four Gaffurius Codices of the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano is maintained by the SNF Project Polifonia Sforzesca: The Motet Cycles in the Milanese Libroni between Liturgy, Devotion, and Ducal Patronage (Schola Cantorum Basiliensis FHNW, 2018–2020).
It includes a digital reproduction of the four manuscripts, and their full inventory and catalogue. Forthcoming in 2020 is a digital critical edition of selected motet cycles, and further resources will follow. Interlinked with other online reference works (notably the Motet Cycles Database), it is provided as an open-access research tool of interest not only to musicologists, but also to students and scholars in various disciplines: codicology, paleography, liturgy, Sforza studies, and medieval/early modern studies in general.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Publication of the Motet Cycles Database (open access at http://www.motetcycles.ch/ ). The data... more Publication of the Motet Cycles Database (open access at http://www.motetcycles.ch/ ).
The database is an online research tool for musicologists, musicians, and interdisciplinary scholars developed within the SNF research project Motet Cycles (c. 1470-c.1510): Compositional Design, Performance, and Cultural Context (2014-2017).
The database aims at mapping the repertory of polyphonic motet cycles of the period c.1470-c.1510, based on the characteristics of the repertory itself and on the specific modalities of its transmission. The database has been conceived primarily as a working tool modelled on the needs of the project team, as a way to share and compare data and textual references. The selection of the repertory and the corpus of data remain in any case open to future enrichment, and the database is to be considered as a work in progress.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The motet cycles known as motetti missales are among the most intriguing repertoires of late-fift... more The motet cycles known as motetti missales are among the most intriguing repertoires of late-fifteenth-century polyphony. This series features a new critical edition of the six cycles by Loyset Compère, Gaspar van Weerbeke, and Franchinus Gaffurius included in the Milanese Libroni and of the two anonymous cycles transmitted in the Leopold Codex (Munich MS 3154). For the first time this corpus is presented with uniform editorial criteria, facilitating the comparison of mensural choices and other compositional strategies. Furthermore, the introduction of each volume thematizes the peculiar characteristics of each cycle, in terms of textual choices, use of preexisting material, and musical design, allowing for a new assessment of the motetti missales that goes beyond the homogenizing stereotypes of earlier literature and accounts for the individual contributions of the various composers. The editors' insight in this repertoire is the result of two interdisciplinary research projects financed by the Swiss National Fund and carried out at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in 2014-21. The anonymous motet cycle Gaude, flore virginali consists of six four-voice motets based on stanzas of the eponymous rhymed Marian poem. It is one of only two motetti missales cycles preserved in a source outside Milan: Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Mus. Ms. 3154 (the Leopold Codex). All six motets in the cycle are unica within this source. The last three motets bear loco rubrics indicating their placement in the mass liturgy. Agnese Pavanello is a research associate at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, one of the affiliated institutes of the Musik-Akademie Basel and the Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz. Her research interests focus on Renaissance sacred polyphony and instrumental music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. She has published articles on Arcangelo Corelli as well as studies and editions of music by composers of the following generation (Locatelli, Bomporti, and Tartini). Her contributions to Renaissance studies concern in particular the Franco-Flemish composer Gaspar van Weerbeke, and she has published editions of his masses and motets as well as studies on specific works. More recently, in two research projects, she has focused on issues concerning the transmission and function of motet cycles at the end of the fifteenth century, exploring the historical and liturgical-devotional context of the Milanese motetti missales.
Recent Researches in the Music of the Renaissance, 178, 2023
The motet cycles known as motetti missales are among the most intriguing repertoires of late-fift... more The motet cycles known as motetti missales are among the most intriguing repertoires of late-fifteenth-century polyphony. This series features a new critical edition of the six cycles by Loyset Compère, Gaspar van Weerbeke, and Franchinus Gaffurius included in the Milanese Libroni and of the two anonymous cycles transmitted in the Leopold Codex (Munich MS 3154). For the first time this corpus is presented with uniform editorial criteria, facilitating the comparison of mensural choices and other compositional strategies. Furthermore, the introduction of each volume thematizes the peculiar characteristics of each cycle, in terms of textual choices, use of preexisting material, and musical design, allowing for a new assessment of the motetti missales that goes beyond the homogenizing stereotypes of earlier literature and accounts for the individual contributions of the various composers. The editors' insight in this repertoire is the result of two interdisciplinary research projects financed by the Swiss National Fund and carried out at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in 2014-21. The anonymous motet cycle Gaude, flore virginali consists of six four-voice motets based on stanzas of the eponymous rhymed Marian poem. It is one of only two motetti missales cycles preserved in a source outside Milan: Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Mus. Ms. 3154 (the Leopold Codex). All six motets in the cycle are unica within this source. The last three motets bear loco rubrics indicating their placement in the mass liturgy. Agnese Pavanello is a research associate at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, one of the affiliated institutes of the Musik-Akademie Basel and the Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz. Her research interests focus on Renaissance sacred polyphony and instrumental music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. She has published articles on Arcangelo Corelli as well as studies and editions of music by composers of the following generation (Locatelli, Bomporti, and Tartini). Her contributions to Renaissance studies concern in particular the Franco-Flemish composer Gaspar van Weerbeke, and she has published editions of his masses and motets as well as studies on specific works. More recently, in two research projects, she has focused on issues concerning the transmission and function of motet cycles at the end of the fifteenth century, exploring the historical and liturgical-devotional context of the Milanese motetti missales.
. Ed. Paul Kolb and Agnese Pavanello (in collaboration with Andrea Lindmayr-Brandl), American Institute of Musicology, 2020
Critical Edition of Gaspar van Weerbeke's Chansons, Magnificat and Lamentations. Gaspar van Weer... more Critical Edition of Gaspar van Weerbeke's Chansons, Magnificat and Lamentations.
Gaspar van Weerbeke, born around 1450 in the Flemish city of Oudenaarde, was one of the most acclaimed composers of the Josquin generation, active primarily in Milan and Rome. This volume contains the composer’s two main settings of liturgical texts, other than the masses, his Lamentatio Jeremie prophete and Magnificat octavi toni, as well as the six songs and instrumental wrks that bear an attributin to the composer. Conflicting and uncertain attributions raise questions about the authorship of these songs, and arguments in favor of an against Weerbeke are discussed in the introduction and individual work commentaries. The appendices contain the surviving tablature versons of these songs, a further opus dubium, and a related song.
Giuseppe Tartini: Fundamental Questions. Ed. Gabriele Taschetti, Berlin: Peter Lang, 2022 (Giuseppe Tartini and the Musical Culture of the Enlightenment, 1), 2022
This chapter focuses on alternative movements in Giuseppe Tartini’s concertos. As is evident from... more This chapter focuses on alternative movements in Giuseppe Tartini’s concertos. As is evident from existing autograph scores and from sources from Tartini’s circles, the violinist later composed new movements for some concertos, probably on the occasion of new performances, and in particular the central ones. This study addresses the question of why Tartini changed the formal arrangement of an existing work and whether the new movements were intended as true substitutions or mere alternatives. The aim of this preliminary investigation is to provide a first frame of reference for the study of Tartini’s works characterized by a non-univocal/variable formal arrangement and to contribute to the analysis of the works in question and their transmission.
In Reopening Gaffurius’s Libroni. Ed. Agnese Pavanello. Lucca: Libreria Musicale Italiana (LIM), 2021, 213–269, 2021
In Klang und Bedeutung. Diskurse über Musik. Zur Emeritierung von Joseph Willimann. Ed. Juliane Brandeis, Moritz Heffter, Sarah Platter and Meinrad Walter (Schriften der Hochschulde für Musik Freiburg 9). Hildesheim/Zürich/New York: Olms, 2021, 285–300, 2021
Gaspar van Weerbeke New Perspectives on his Life and Music, 2019
Weerbeke’s motets show a broad range of compositional technique and style register. O... more Weerbeke’s motets show a broad range of compositional technique and style register. On the one hand, this variety can be related to the different kind of intoned texts and their various contexts and functions; on the other, the stylistic choices may be related to Weerbeke’s personal compositional and music-aesthetic development over time.
This paper proposes a new analytical approach to the repertory of Weerbeke’s ‘free’ Marian motets, with the goal of interpreting the compositional ideas which led to his structural choices.
A main aspect of the investigation concerns the composer’s use of pre-existent melodic material or melodic formulae not easily identified in small-scale pieces, where traditional cantus firmus technique is not employed. A closer look at the design and compositional technique of these motets allow us to gain new insights into Weerbeke as a composer of motets in term of stylistic choices and aesthetic approach. This has interesting implications for the chronology of composition. On the basis of the analytical results, it is possible to show that some of these short motets may have been composed as part of longer performances as motet cycles.
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Early Music History, 2019
The mass "O Venus bant" by Gaspar van Weerbeke enjoyed notable fame and diffusion, as shown by th... more The mass "O Venus bant" by Gaspar van Weerbeke enjoyed notable fame and diffusion, as shown by the considerable number of surviving copies. This study formulates a new hypothesis about the origin of the mass. An examination of the transmission of the mass suggests a new scenario for its composition in Milan in connection with a major political event: the alliance of the Duchy of Milan and the Duchy of Savoy with Charles the Bold in 1475. The choice of a Flemish cantus firmus is thus linked to a specific occasion related to the region in which the melody originated. Since some compositional elements can be read as intentional references to the "L’Homme armé" tradition, the specific context proposed for the performance of the polyphonic cycle seems particularly plausible because it can be linked to the court of Burgundy both in terms of historical and political events, as well as on the compositional and symbolic level. Finally, the possibility that Gaspar van Weerbeke was the initiator of the musical tradition of polyphonic settings of the chanson "O Venus bant" is explored.
Motet Cycles between Devotion and Liturgy, ed. Daniele Filippi and Agnese Pavanello (Basel: Schwabe) [FULL TEXT OPEN ACCESS], 2019
From the book Introduction: ... Agnese Pavanello starts by questioning the notion of “Milanese ... more From the book Introduction:
...
Agnese Pavanello starts by questioning the notion of “Milanese style”. Given the dearth of concrete information regarding both the “Milanese taste in polyphonic music” be-fore the 1470s and the use of polyphony during liturgy in the Franco-Flemish area in the same period, she turns to the tradition of the texts set in Weerbeke’s cycles in order to establish the problem on a new basis. By tracking some of the texts set in Ave mundi domina, she shows how Weerbeke used rhythmic prayers which are often found in the Franco-Flemish area whereas they are undocumented in Milan, and generally in Italy. In particular, an ample section of the cycle makes use of such texts and is characterised by motivic references between the motets: might that be a sign that Weerbeke was inspired, for his motetti missales, by practices of accompanying liturgical services with motets already current in his area of origin? Furthermore, in Weerbeke’s way of setting rhythmic prayers by means of trochaic sesquialtera passages Pavanello sees a possible heritage of the rich tradition of singing hymns and sequences in rhythmicised polyphony. While comparing the two Marian cycles by Weerbeke, Pavanello suggests that the wish to include prayers provided with indulgences (as in the case of the so-called Gaudia Mariae) might have played a role in the textual design of the cycles. The results of her analyses and those of parallel samples regarding other cycles induce her to emphasise the agency of the composer in the process of selecting and tailoring the texts. Seen from this perspective, then, the role of Franco-Flemish composers in “inventing” the motetti missales might have been more autonomous and less heavily influenced by the Milanese locale than studies based on different approaches assume and maintain.
, Beredte Musik. Konversationen zum 80. Geburtstag von Wulf Arlt, hrsg. von Martin Kirnbauer, Basel: Schwabe (Schola Cantorum Basiliensis Scripta 8), 2019
Elevation motets have been considered as a peculiar feature of the Milanese motetti missales. Ye... more Elevation motets have been considered as a peculiar feature of the Milanese motetti missales. Yet an exploration on the elevation prayers and their circulation makes it possible to contextualize the Milanese transmission of elevation motets in a wider liturgical and musical practice. After discussing the liturgical significance and function of the elevation, with its rich gestural symbolism, this study focuses on the peculiarities of the Milanese elevation motets in comparison with other examples of elevation pieces. The ‘loco sanctus’ motets of the Milanese Libroni were intended to surround the elevation ritual with music, and also include a part to be sung before the elevation took place. In this regard the Milanese elevation motets show a more direct connection with the mass ritual then other motets ‘de corpore Christi’. Mapping the elevation motet texts reveals significant connections in particular between O salutaris hostia and the liturgical usages of the regions in northern France and Flanders from which Galeazzo Maria Sforza recruited his singers. Although our knowledge of the use of motets and of related practices in that region is incomplete, this nevertheless suggests narrower ties than have typically been supposed between the Milanese elevation sections and Franco-Flemish singing traditions related to the elevation at Mass.
This paper offers arguments, evidence and considerations in support of the idea that Corelli very... more This paper offers arguments, evidence and considerations in support of the idea that Corelli very consciously intended to be a compositional model for the musicians of his generation, thereby paving the way for the wide reception of his music. His editorial policies, the patronage he enjoyed, his success as an orchestra leader, especially in high-impact, spectacular events (which were of clear propagandistic value to a papal Rome that sought to host political events of first order and to reassert the force the Catholic faith) – all these contributed to the success and the favorable reception of Corelli’s music, and they invite continued reflection on the complex of factors that helped to establish the Corellian model.
This article focuses on violin sonatas attributed to Arcangelo Corelli which are transmitted in E... more This article focuses on violin sonatas attributed to Arcangelo Corelli which are transmitted in English sources, but are excluded from any of the printed collections published under the composer’s supervision. These compositions open up interesting questions about the criteria of attribution and the stylistic analysis appropriate to such ‘unauthorized’ repertory, which reveals features not always comparable to those of the compositions officially released by the composer. Noneteless the study and comparison of the extant sources confirm the attribution to Corelli of some violin sonatas and the partial reliability of the English manuscript tradition; this is due to the close contacts that the English court of James ii and Maria Beatrice d’Este entertained with the papacy, and especially with the entourage surrounding Christina of Sweden. At the same time, the analysis of the English transmission helps to identify spurious works among Corelli’s doubtful compositions – for instance, some works which are certainly to be attributed to Gottfried Finger. This study brings attention to sources which are not listed in the thematic catalogue of Corelli’s works and which today represent important material for new research.
The study of Corelli’s compositions not included in his six printed collections is still at its b... more The study of Corelli’s compositions not included in his six printed collections is still at its beginnings. Fifty years after cataloguing Corelli’s works for the new critical edition, an examination of some of his sonatas considered to be doubtful reveals that there is an urgent need for rethinking both the classification criteria and the boundaries that have been established between the dubious compositions and the ones without opus number, at least as far as the oldest, most authentic sources are concerned. In this study, I present arguments to confirm authorship of some of Corelli’s unpublished works (e.g., Anh. 19 and Anh. 33), based in the first place on data gathered from the material transmission of the compositions under consideration. In addition, I propose a few basic premises to tackle the study of the large body of English sources, including some of the earliest manuscripts that contain unpublished Corelli sonatas that can be dated with some precision. These English sources offer, in addition to trio sonatas (including Corelli’s WoO 5), several ‘sonate a violino solo e basso’ not found on the continent: their attribution to Corelli seems in many cases to be correct, or at least plausible; in any case, it should be pondered seriously in light of the extensive musical exchanges between Rome and England.
This article considers the reception of Tartini’s music in France, as documented by a series of p... more This article considers the reception of Tartini’s music in France, as documented by a series of printed works published in Paris in the mid-eighteenth century, and also by the printed version of Tartini’s lessons (the Traité des agréments) and by the anthology L’Art du violon by Jean-Baptiste Cartier, in which Tartini, with Arcangelo Corelli, is the most frequently represented Italian author. Central to the dissemination of Tartini’s music in France during the eighteenth century was the violinist’s French students, to whom the above publications are connected. But special credit goes to the violinist and composer Pierre Baillot, whose teaching activity at the Conservatory of Paris, founded in the last years of the eighteenth century (resulting in Baillot’s treatises for the violin), conveys Tartini’s teaching and music to the nineteenth century, thus contributing centrally to maintaining the significance and the
memory of the violinist from Pirano."
Just a note here about this article, in which I argue that Weerbeke's cycle "In honorem sancti Sp... more Just a note here about this article, in which I argue that Weerbeke's cycle "In honorem sancti Spiritus" was composed in Rome. My hypothesis is suggestive and plausible, I think, but it bases on what I now consider as false premises. I will explain this in a forthcoming publication related to the project 'Motet cycles'.
Analecta Musicologica 32, 2002
Acta Musicologica, Jan 1, 1999
Die Musik des Mittelalters bis zur Romantik gehört zu unserem Musikleben, nicht aber die entsprec... more Die Musik des Mittelalters bis zur Romantik gehört zu unserem Musikleben, nicht aber die entsprechenden historischen Konzepte von Emotionen und ihres Ausdrucks. So sind Musiker:innen im Bereich der Alten Musik herausgefordert, einen persönlichen Bezug zur impliziten und expliziten «Emotionalität» eines historischen Musikstücks zu finden.
Das diesjährige Symposium der Schola Cantorum Basiliensis fragt nach den Möglichkeiten, die Musiker:innen für diese Übersetzungsarbeit zur Verfügung stehen, und wie sich diese mit historisch informierter Musikpraxis einerseits und heutigem Konzertbetrieb und Publikumserwartungen andererseits verknüpfen lassen. Wie also kann historische Distanz überbrückt werden? Welche Möglichkeiten gibt es, die einem historischen Musikstück zugehörige Emotionalität in der Aufführung umzusetzen? Antworten dazu beeinflussen die Interpretationsentscheidungen für alle Parameter, über die sich «Emotion» klanglich, auditiv und visuell vermittelt.
Die Beiträge des Symposiums werden die vielfältigen Aspekte exemplarisch angehen: Beispielsweise wird das Phänomen der emotionale Ansteckung beim Musizieren und Musik-Hören aus historischer wie aus neurowissenschaftlicher und kognitiver Perspektive diskutiert; historische Hörerwartungen und Erwartungen an das Affiziert-Werden und an das Ausdrücken Emotionen (von der Renaissance bis zur Romantik) werden erörtert im Hinblick auf Aneignung bzw. Umsetzung in unserer heutigen Zeit; transkulturelle und interdisziplinäre Positionen in Bezug auf den Ethos und das Verhältnis von Emotion und Rationalität erhalten ebenso einen Raum, insofern sie für die musikalisch-performative Realisierung relevant sind. Konkrete performative Umsetzungen bietet unter anderem das Konzert «The Language of Pain» (Ensemble Theatro dei cervelli) mit Madrigalen aus Monteverdis 8. Madrigalbuch.
Das diesjährige Symposium der Schola Cantorum Basiliensis geht anhand zweier Leitfragen den Bezie... more Das diesjährige Symposium der Schola Cantorum Basiliensis geht anhand zweier Leitfragen den Beziehungen und Funktionen von Klang und Bewegung in der Tanzmusik nach: «Was macht der Tanz mit der Musik?» und «Was macht die Musik mit dem Tanz?».
Vom Mittelalter bis in die Zeit um 1800 gibt es ein breites Spektrum von 'Tanzmusik'. Es reicht vom Tanz im rituellen Kontext über funktionale Tanz- oder Ballettmusik bis hin zu instrumentaler oder vokaler Musik, die vom Tanz nur noch den Namen behalten hat, wie etwa die Ballata oder Tanzsätze in Sinfonien. In allen diesen Formen zeigt sich ein jeweils unterschiedliches Verhältnis von Klang und Bewegung.
Die Beiträge des Symposiums untersuchen die Interaktion von Musik und Tanz und beleuchten anhand der Leitfragen u. a. folgende Punkte: Die Rolle des Rhythmus oder der choreographischen Bewegung für die Gestaltung von Melodie und Phrasenbildung; die wechselseitige Strukturbildung; der Einfluss auf die Dynamik, Rhetorik, Form und Ästhetik eines Tanzstückes. Durch die verschiedenen Perspektiven der interdisziplinären Beiträge möchten wir Impulse für die historisch informierte Musikpraxis gewinnen.
Programme of the 47th Medieval and Renaissance Music Conference, Basel, Musik-Akademie, 3-6- July... more Programme of the 47th Medieval and Renaissance Music Conference, Basel, Musik-Akademie, 3-6- July 2019
Printed version (without the last-moment changes)
Das internationale Symposium der SCB widmet sich dem Phänomen «Kontrafaktum» vom Mittelalter bis ... more Das internationale Symposium der SCB widmet sich dem Phänomen «Kontrafaktum» vom Mittelalter bis zum 18. Jahrhundert. In der musikwissenschaftlichen Forschung werden darunter ganz unterschiedliche Verfahrensweisen und Phänomene verstanden. Neben übergreifenden Betrachtungen sollen deshalb mehrere Fallstudien spezifische Aspekte des «contraffare» beleuchten und damit Anstoss zu einer erneuten kritischen Reflexion des vielschichtigen Themas geben. Es geht vor allem um Fragen nach der Bedeutung, der Zielsetzung und der Wirkung von Neutextierungen in der einstimmigen wie polyphonen Musik. Von besonderem Interesse sind Situationen, in denen der neue Text einen Transfer bedingt, etwa vom profanen zum geistlichen Kontext (bzw. um-gekehrt) oder von einem definierten sozialen Umfeld zu einem kontrastierenden gesellschaftlichen Kontext. Die Beiträge berücksichtigen sowohl die mündliche Tradition als auch die kompositorische Praxis und verfolgen inter-disziplinäre Herangehensweisen an das Thema. Neben Wortbeiträgen soll auch die klingende Auseinandersetzung mit den Werken nicht zu kurz kommen. Kontrafakta aus dem Troubadour-Repertoire, aus der Reformationszeit und aus dem Bestand der Lauden werden in Konzerten von Studierenden der Schola Cantorum Basiliensis sowie in einem Programm des Ensembles MICROLOGUS präsentiert.
THE BONONCINIS: FROM MODENA TO EUROPE (1666-1747) International Symposium Modena, 2-4 December... more THE BONONCINIS: FROM MODENA TO EUROPE
(1666-1747)
International Symposium
Modena, 2-4 December 2016
The Festival Musicale Estense “Grandezze & Meraviglie” and the Gruppo Arcomelo 2013 are organizing an international symposium on the Bononcini family during the first weekend of December 2016. The conference will focus on the period that begins with the artistic début of Giovanni Maria (Primi frutti del Giardino musicale op. 1, 1666)— launching the golden age of the Modena violin school—through the European success of the Musico Prattico (1673), paralleling that of the ducal court after the marriage (also in 1673) of Maria Beatrice d’Este and the Duke of York James Stuart, and the second generation of Bononcini musicians (Giovanni and Antonio Maria), who were instrumentalists and opera composers of great international renown.
Objectives of the conference are both to explore the life, works, and influence (in a European perspective) the Bononcinis had on Emilian instrumental and vocal music, and to shed light on the circulation of music and musicians from Emilia, and on issues of performance practice. Although preference will be given to papers dealing with these three major topics, the scientific committee also invites proposals concerning other aspects of Emilian music, including the relationship between musical patronage and production, reciprocal influences between instrumental and vocal music, instrument making, etc.
The scientific committee, created three years ago for the organization of the Congresso Arcomelo 2013 (Enrico Gatti, Marc Vanscheeuwijck, Guido Olivieri, Agnese Pavanello, and Francesco Zimei) invites paper proposals through submission of an abstract. Paper presentations will be rigorously limited to 25 minutes in order to allow some time for discussion.
The (anonymous) abstract should include the title of the paper and a text of maximum 250 words, and indicate the topic and/or thesis, the state of research, the principal sources used, and a statement on the relevance and originality of the contribution. In a separate file, please indicate the paper title, first and last name of the author, e-mail address, and provide a short half-page CV.
The abstract and additional files should be sent as an attachment to arcomelo2013@gmail.com by March 31st, 2016.
The organization will host all presenters for the entire duration of the conference.
We expect a peer-reviewed publication of the proceedings. Upon their arrival in Modena presenters will be asked to provide a Word file including the complete text of their paper in the format that will be communicated in detail when the scientific committee has completed the selection of papers. After the conference presenters will have 60 days for corrections and modifications before we begin the editorial work of the proceedings.
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
Enrico Gatti (Royal Conservatoire, Den Haag, NL - Conservatorio "G. B. Martini", Bologna)
Guido Olivieri (The University of Texas, Austin, USA)
Agnese Pavanello (Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Basel, CH)
Marc Vanscheeuwijck (University of Oregon, Eugene, USA)
Francesco Zimei (Istituto Abruzzese di Storia Musicale)
The aim of this conference is to investigate the corpus of motet cycles composed and disseminated... more The aim of this conference is to investigate the corpus of motet cycles composed and disseminated in manuscript and printed sources during the period between c.1470–c.1510. Whereas in scholarship up to the present day reflection on the notion of ‘cycle’ has been focused almost exclusively on the Milanese motetti missales, we propose a broader definition. We will consider different types of cycles and mixed forms, and reassess their nature by combining the results of archival research, musical analysis, textual scholarship and liturgical studies. In particular, we will address the principal undefined issues concerning the cycles’ functions: how do we position them within the framework of the liturgy? Can we make connections to aspects of late medieval devotional practices, such as private meditation or confraternity rituals? Or were some of these pieces actually in an uncharted area between liturgy and devotion?
This event is part of a three-year research project started at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in September 2014 and funded by the SNF: “Motet Cycles (c.1470–c.1510): Compositional Design, Performance, and Cultural Context” (see www.motetcycles.com).
The central object of investigation of this study day is the set of manuscripts held at the Archi... more The central object of investigation of this study day is the set of manuscripts held at the Archive of the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano and usually known as the “Libroni” (big books) or the “Gaffurio codices”. These manuscripts, copied from c.1490 under the direction of Franchino Gaffurio, chapel master at the Duomo, contain a rich repertory of sacred polyphonic music (mainly masses and motets) by such composers as Josquin des Prez, Loyset Compère, Gaspar van Weerbeke and Gaffurio himself.
Thanks to the patronage of the Sforza dukes, notably Galeazzo Maria and Ludovico il Moro, from the 1470s Milan became one of Europe’s musical capitals. The four “Libroni” (the last of which was heavily damaged by a fire in 1906) are the only extant witnesses of the city’s contemporary musical repertory: they are, therefore, among the most important cultural artefacts of the Milanese Renaissance. Aim of the study day is to address the main open questions regarding the origin and use of the Libroni, to contextualize them both from the perspective of musicological studies and from that of other disciplines (liturgical studies, codicology, cultural history), and to further explore the repertory they contain.
The study day will include two special events:
- An exhibition of the Libroni at the Archive of the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo, during which singers from the ensemble Cantus Figuratus, led by Dominique Vellard, will perform motets from Gaffurio’s “Libroni”
by reading directly from the manuscripts.
- An evening concert at the Basilica of San Calimero, entirely dedicated to musical repertoire of the “Libroni”, including pieces by Loyset Compère, Gaspar van Weerbeke and Franchino Gaffurio.
(See the programme for the venues and details)
The motet cycles known as motetti missales are copied, with few exceptions, in the manuscripts pr... more The motet cycles known as motetti missales are copied, with few exceptions, in the manuscripts prepared for the Duomo in Milan under the direction of chapel master Franchinus Gaffurius from c.1490. Presumably composed for the chapel of the Sforza dukes, the cycles attest to a use of polyphonic music during the liturgy of Mass which is fundamentally different from that of regular polyphonic settings of the ordinarium missae. The cycles’ relationship with the liturgy, their texts, their musical structure and style, the way they are copied in the manuscripts, their implication in terms of performance practice, all raise intriguing questions.
The present project aims at marking a turning point in the research about the motetti missales, by investigating the texts, by analyzing and critically editing the music, and by further exploring their historical and liturgical-devotional context. Besides extensive archival work in Milanese archives and libraries, the project includes the first systematic and comparative study of the Gaffurius manuscripts (the so-called Libroni, held at the Archive of the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano). A codicological study of the Libroni will help re-define their chronology and explain how they were materially compiled and will shed new light on the transfer of musical compositions from the ducal chapel to the cathedral.
The project also includes the complete digitization of the Libroni: once made available online and enriched with metadata, it will give the scholarly community new and much awaited opportunities of investigation. Another aspect of this project will be the preparation of a critical edition of the cycles: based on the most up-to-date philological criteria, the edition will benefit from the rich amount of data about sources, texts, and concordances already stored in the Motet Cycles Database. The edition will comprise a critical apparatus and an analytical commentary, and will be interlinked with the Motet Cycles Database.
The resulting new research portal will, thus, include the database, the digital archive, the critical edition, and a set of short monographic essays. This innovative research tool, interlinked with other online resources will be open access and entirely searchable. It will interest not only musicologist, but students and scholars in various disciplines: codicologists, liturgists, scholars of Sforza studies, medievalists and scholars of the early modern era in general.
In late fifteenth-century Europe, motets (Latin-texted polyphonic compositions with predominantly... more In late fifteenth-century Europe, motets (Latin-texted polyphonic compositions with predominantly sacred-devotional subjects) began to be gathered in “cycles” and to be copied as such in manuscripts.
The present project, started at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (Basel, Switzerland) in September 2014, aims to catalogue and analyze this repertoire, exploring a broad range of issues, from the choice of texts and the compositional strategies to the performing contexts. In particular, we will try to understand whether the idea of “cycle” itself reflected peculiar liturgical circumstances or rested on different criteria.
The main focus of the project will fall on the motet cycles copied in manuscripts prepared in Milan under the direction of chapel master Franchinus Gaffurius (1451-1522). Known as “motetti missales”, these pieces (written by prominent composers such as Loyset Compère, Gaspar van Weerbeke and Gaffurius himself) were most likely associated with the liturgy of the Mass, and present a broad spectrum of intertextual phenomena, as suggested by the existing literature.
On the one hand, we will try to reconstruct in detail, for the first time, the liturgical and devotional contexts for the performance of these motets in Sforza Milan, and to study in depth the meaning and implications of textual and compositional choices.
On the other hand, the outcomes of the Milanese case study will predictably give us new and more refined tools for interpreting other cycles of different origin.
The results of the project will include, besides a comprehensive catalogue of the cycles, a mapping of the intertextual connections (in terms of texts, melodies, and contrapuntal structures), and abundant new data regarding the conception, performance, reception, and transmission of this fascinating repertoire.
The transmission of motets in the last quarter of the fifteenth century is, as is well known, qui... more The transmission of motets in the last quarter of the fifteenth century is, as is well known, quite sparse. Joshua Rifkin captured this situation in an essay of 2012 with the image of a " black hole " : only a small number of works from the last decades before 1500 have survived to document a motet production which must have been considerably richer and more diverse. For Flanders and France, the place of origin of the majority of the recognized composers of the period, for instance, the fragmentary motet transmission represents an objective obstacle for a reconstruction of singing practices in devotional and liturgical contexts, and for defining the identity of this repertory, establishing the peculiar features of specific singing traditions. In this fragmented scene, even such a well-localized corpus as that of the motetti missales from the Milanese Libroni is not easy to properly contextualize and understand. Focusing on this group of compositions, which has been considered an exemplary case of stylistic identity, my paper aims to address issues connected with the characterization of the genre and with the parameters relevant to this operation. By considering the aspects that contribute to define the subgenre (including elements of style, textual choices, and paratextual clues), I will discuss some problems and ponder the contradictory results emerging from the research on this corpus of motets, proposing, at the same time, a broader reflection on our categories of historical assessment and interpretation.
Conference: "Gaspar van Weerbeke: Works and Contexts”. University of Salzburg, Department of Mus... more Conference: "Gaspar van Weerbeke: Works and Contexts”.
University of Salzburg, Department of Musicology and Dance Studies
29 June – 1 July, 2017
Recent studies have opened new questions and perspectives concerning Corelli’s music by focusing ... more Recent studies have opened new questions and perspectives concerning Corelli’s music by focusing on doubtful works ascribed to the composer. A consideration of neglected sources for Corelli’s sonatas, including manuscripts copies from printed collections, provides further evidence that Corelli’s works spread throughout Europe (and especially that they reached England) thanks to multifarious circulation channels, not always directly connected with his printed output. Manuscript sources which at first glance look like mere copies from printed collections were in fact often derived from other manuscripts. They show divergences and variants, and sometimes even contain otherwise unknown works.
In an English manuscript containing Corelli’s trio sonatas, an unknown trio sonata is included, which is probably to be added to the authentic works by the composer. In this paper I will discuss the possibility of an ascription and address the criteria by means of which such attribution matters should be judged. Are stylistic elements sufficient to prove authenticity, when they combine with clues regarding the transmission? This case study will provide a reflection on attribution criteria, pondering also the meaning and aim of such kind of endeavour in today’s musicological agenda.
Weerbeke’s Ave mundi domina and Quam pulchra es belong to the core group of the so-called motetti... more Weerbeke’s Ave mundi domina and Quam pulchra es belong to the core group of the so-called motetti missales. Previous studies have already pointed out some of their characteristic compositional features, but only general assumptions were made about the texts, their structure and how Weerbeke ‘translated' them in polyphony. A closer look at these cycles raises many questions concerning their overall conception and their cyclic formal design. Starting from the textual choices, my aim in this paper is to bring new aspects into consideration for a better understanding of the conception of motet cycles. The analytical work, on both text and music, can offer new clues in order to better understand Weerbeke’s compositional ideas and to put this ‘Milanese’ repertoire in context.
In this paper I will focus on fifteenth-century century Elevation motets in order to contextualiz... more In this paper I will focus on fifteenth-century century Elevation motets in order to contextualize the Milanese motet cycles in a wider liturgical and musical practice. After discussing the liturgical significance and function of the Elevation, with its rich gestural symbolism, I will explore the extant repertoire with particular regard to the texts and their circulation. The presence of settings of the same texts in different environments will raise the question about the possible existence of narrower ties between the Milanese corpus and other local traditions.
In late fifteenth-century Europe, motets (Latin-texted polyphonic compositions with predominantly... more In late fifteenth-century Europe, motets (Latin-texted polyphonic compositions with predominantly sacred-devotional subjects) began to be gathered in “cycles” and to be copied as such in manuscripts.
The present project (led by Agnese Pavanello at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis) aims to catalogue and analyze this repertoire, exploring a broad range of issues, from the choice of texts and the compositional strategies to the performing contexts, with special emphasis on the peculiar questions posed by the idea of “cycle” itself.
Although Giuseppe Torelli (Verona 1658 – Bologna 1709) and his music have yet to receive in-depth... more Although Giuseppe Torelli (Verona 1658 – Bologna 1709) and his music have yet to receive in-depth attention from musicologists, he was a composer who played a significant role in the creation and development of the concerto as a genre and as a form, while his compositions served as models to all those musicians who have dealt with the genre in the generation that succeeded him, including Antonio Vivaldi.
Objectives of the conference are both to explore the life, works, and influence (in a European perspective) Torelli had on instrumental music in Bologna and in Emilia, as well as to shed light both on other specific figures of Bolognese musical live of the period, and on the circulation of Bolognese music and musicians. Although preference will be given to papers dealing with these major topics, the scientific committee also invites proposals concerning other aspects of Bolognese music of the period 1670–1710, including the relationship between musical patronage and production, reciprocal influences between instrumental and vocal music, instrument making, and aspects of performance practice.
In addition, these study days dedicated to Torelli are conceived as an effort to galvanize new scholarship on the composer and to shed light on two other aspects: first, on the pedagogical level (through workshops directed by specialized faculty) aiming to offer a specific education on Bolognese styles around 1700. And second, on issues of performance practice, providing students—through their participation in concerts in various venues—with high-profile performance opportunities both in solo and chamber contexts, and in orchestral situations, giving them the possibility to meet and interact with experts in early music.
Call for Papers "Gaspar van Weerbeke: Works and Contexts" June 29 – July 1, 2017 University of Sa... more Call for Papers
"Gaspar van Weerbeke: Works and Contexts"
June 29 – July 1, 2017
University of Salzburg
Salzburg, Austria
Deadline for the submission of proposals: January 31, 2017
Following the recent completion of the editorial work for the publication of the final volumes of Gaspar van Weerbeke’s “Collected Works”, this conference aims to revitalize research on this long neglected Flemish composer. We are interested in papers which contextualize Gaspar and his work with that of his contemporaries at the Sforza court in Milan and in the Papal Chapel in Rome, including Josquin, Compère, and Gaffurius. Topics concerning Gaspar’s life, analysis of his music, or source studies would also be welcome. The conference will also hold a reconstruction workshop for the songs attributed to “Gaspart” surviving uniquely in FlorC 2442. Keynote addresses will be given by Klaus Pietschmann and Fabrice Fitch.
More information, including a catalog of works and sources, may be found on the website of the editorial project, www.gaspar-van-weerbeke.sbg.ac.at. Those interested are welcome to request personal access to some of the currently unpublished editorial materials. We especially want to encourage young scholars to engage in research on Gaspar and his music.
Please send titles and abstracts for consideration to paul.kolb -at- sbg.ac.at. Alternatively, let us know if you are interested in taking part in the reconstruction workshop or would like to be receive email updates about the conference. The conference language is English, and basic accommodation will be provided for all speakers.
We look forward to seeing you in Salzburg!
Andrea Lindmayr-Brandl
Agnese Pavanello
Paul Kolb
BBHM, 2024
Wie beeinflussen Tanzbewegungen die musikalische Spielweise? Und umgekehrt: Welche Wirkung hat di... more Wie beeinflussen Tanzbewegungen die musikalische Spielweise?
Und umgekehrt: Welche Wirkung hat die musikalische Interpretation
auf die Ausführung einer Choreografie? Wie stehen tänzerische
und melodische Phrasierung zueinander? Derlei Fragen
zum Verhältnis von Tanz und Musik ergeben sich sowohl bei der
praktischen Ausführung als auch bei der Erforschung historischer
‹Tanzmusik›. Entsprechend vielseitig sind die Zugänge, mit
denen dieser interdisziplinäre Band ‹Tanzmusik› vom Mittelalter
bis zur Romantik untersucht, kontextualisiert und im Sinne historischer
Musikpraxis erschließt. Im Mittelpunkt steht die Wechselbeziehung
zwischen Klang und Bewegung in verschiedenen
historischen Repertoires, Gattungen und Formen.