Tinctoris on the great composers

Plainsong and Medieval Music

Volumn 5, Issue 2, 1996, Pages 193-199

  Holford Strevens, Leofranc ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 62949138772     PISSN: 09611371     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/s0961137100001157     Document Type: Review

References (45)

1. Johannis Tinctoris opera theoretica, ed. Albert Seay, Corpus Scriptorum de Musica 22 (American Institute of Musicology, 1975), II, 12
2. At prol. §11 'Immo Aristoteli ac Commentatori [my cap.] cum nostris recentioribus philosophis in caelo nec realem nec intentionalem esse sonum manifestissime probantibus irrefragabiliter credo, Seay glosses 'commentatori' as Aquinas; his comments on De Caelo were certainly read, but Commentator is as regular an antonomasia for Averroes as Philosophus for Aristotle recentioribus philosophis in caelo nec realem nec intentionalem esse sonum manifestissime probantibus irrefragabiliter credo', Seay glosses 'commentatori' as Aquinas; his comments on De Caelo were certainly read, but Commentator is as regular an antonomasia for Averroes as Philosophus for Aristotle
3. Jessie Ann Owens, 'Music Historiography and the Definition of say a mere form of words, esp. 315-18 "Renaissance"', Notes, 47 (1990), 305-30, esp. 315-18, demonstrates that this famous text exemplifies a topos - which is not to say a mere form of words
4. Respectively Ockeghem, Regis, Busnoys, Caron, Faugues; Dunstaple Binchois, Dufay; all except Faugues are praised in Proportionale musicesrologue, §11 (IIa, 10 Seay), and with the addition of Carlier, Morton and (as transmitted) Obrecht (b. 1458) in Complexus effectuum musices 19. 7 (I, 176 Seay). too below, n. 15. Binchois, Dufay; all except Faugues are praised in Proportionale musicesrologue, §11 (IIa, 10 Seay), and with the addition of Carlier, Morton and (as transmitted) Obrecht (b. 1458) in Complexus effectuum musices 19. 7 (I, 176 Seay). Cf. too below, n. 15
5. One example is worth a thousand: Girolamo Vida, Bishop of Alba, writing to congratulate Pietro Bembo on his cardinalate, not only exclaims 'dij immortales quanta bonorum omnium voluptate/atque laetitia', but maintains that thanks are due 'dijs primum immortalibus, qui optimi pont. menti clarissimum lumen praetulere, ut tam egregie rei p. consulere posset'; the res publica in question is the Church. (BL MS Add. 21520, f. 19.) to congratulate Pietro Bembo on his cardinalate, not only exclaims 'dij immortales quanta bonorum omnium voluptate/atque laetitia', but maintains that thanks are due 'dijs primum immortalibus, qui optimi pont. menti clarissimum lumen praetulere, ut tam egregie rei p. consulere posset'; the res publica in question is the Church. (BL MS Add. 21520, f. 19.)
6. 'And in fact I never hear, I never study them without coming away more cheerful and with a better understanding of the art; so that as Vergil in that divine work the Aeneid used Homer, so do I use them in my little works as models.' The asseveration hercule cannot by 'Hercules' be plausibly Englished. Macrobius, Saturnalia 5. 13. 40: 'qui per omnem poesin suam hoc uno est praecipue usus archetypo'. cheerful and with a better understanding of the art; so that as Vergil in that divine work the Aeneid used Homer, so do I use them in my little works as models.' The asseveration hercule cannot by 'Hercules' be plausibly Englished. Cf. Macrobius, Saturnalia 5. 13. 40: 'qui per omnem poesin suam hoc uno est praecipue usus archetypo'
7. The form 'philosophus'rinted by Seay at Liber de arte contrapuncti prol. §9, would in context have to be the Greek accusative plural; but all three manuscripts read 'philosophos'. prol. §9, would in context have to be the Greek accusative plural; but all three manuscripts read 'philosophos'
8. Thus the Greek proverbs at Liber de natura et proprietate tonorumrol §3 and Tractatus de notis et pausis 2. 6. 6 (I, 65; II, 120 Seay) come respectively from Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes 1. 41 and two places in Jerome, Apologia contra Rufinum 1. 17. 3 §3 and Tractatus de notis et pausis 2. 6. 6 (I, 65; II, 120 Seay) come respectively from Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes 1. 41 and two places in Jerome, Apologia contra Rufinum 1. 17. 3
9. and Epistula adversus Rufinum 33. 11-12, ed. P. Lardet, CCSL 79 (Turnhout, 1983), 15, 103. At De inventione et usu musicae, ed. Karl Weinmann, rev. Wilhelm Fischer (Tutzing, 1961), 40, Eratosthenes' testimony comes from a scholion on Germanicus' Aratea also cited by Florentius de Faxolis (see below, n. 36), fols. 16v-17r, but his name from Hyginus, Astronomica 2. 7; however, the corrupt form 'Heradostenis' points to a manuscript, no doubt one of the many blending these and other sources. (Turnhout, 1983), 15, 103. At De inventione et usu musicae, ed. Karl Weinmann, rev. Wilhelm Fischer (Tutzing, 1961), 40, Eratosthenes' testimony comes from a scholion on Germanicus' Aratea also cited by Florentius de Faxolis (see below, n. 36), fols. 16v-17r, but his name from Hyginus, Astronomica 2. 7; however, the corrupt form 'Heradostenis' points to a manuscript, no doubt one of the many blending these and other sources
10. Thus the citations from Appian and Plutarch in De inventione et usu musicaep. 37-8, come from the translations by Petrus Candidus and Johannes Petri respectively. musicaep. 37-8, come from the translations by Petrus Candidus and Johannes Petri respectively
11. See Agostino Pertusi, Leonzio Pilato fra Petrarca e Boccaccio: Le sue versioni omeriche negli autografi di Venezia e la cultura greca del primo Umanesimo (Venice and Rome, 1964); all known Latin versions of Homer are recorded at pp. 521-9. versioni omeriche negli autografi di Venezia e la cultura greca del primo Umanesimo (Venice and Rome, 1964); all known Latin versions of Homer are recorded at pp. 521-9
12. Pertusi's doubts (524 n. 2) whether that by Raphael of Volterra (Raffaele Maffei) - in which v. 188 appears as 'Vnde hilaris tandem doctus quoque plura recedit' - was published at Brescia in 1497 are well founded: it first appeared at Rome in 1510, having been made for his son-in-law of some two years' standingaolo Maffei: the dedication, with Benedetto Falconcini, Vita del nobil'huomo di Dio Raffaello Maffei, detto il Volaterrano (Rome, 1722), 124. It therefore cannot have existed when Tinctoris wrote. (British Library IB 31219 consists of Valla's Iliad, dated Brescia 1497, bound with the first edition of Raphael's Odyssey; was that the cause of error?) Maffei) - in which v. 188 appears as 'Vnde hilaris tandem doctus quoque plura recedit' - was published at Brescia in 1497 are well founded: it first appeared at Rome in 1510, having been made for his son-in-law of some two years' standingaolo Maffei: see the dedication, with Benedetto Falconcini, Vita del nobil'huomo di Dio Raffaello Maffei, detto il Volaterrano (Rome, 1722), 124. It therefore cannot have existed when Tinctoris wrote. (British Library IB 31219 consists of Valla's Iliad, dated Brescia 1497, bound with the first edition of Raphael's Odyssey; was that the cause of error?)
13. Kindly transcribed for me by Dr Christopher Page from Cambridge University Library, manuscript University Library, MS Mm III 4; redit is my correction for uidit in the manuscript
14. Homeri poetarum clarissimi Odissea de erroribus Vlyxis (Strasburg, 1510) f. 25v. No translator is mentioned (nor does the dedication by 'Georgius Maxillus alias Übelin' to Hieronymus Baldung even speak of translation, but incipit and explicit match those given by Pertusi (see n. 10) 142 n. 3 for the version of c. 1460 by Francesco Griffolini d'Arezzo (b. 1420, with which it is identified in the British Library catalogue. However, Camillo Cessi, Storia della letteratura greca, I/1 (Turin, 1933, 849, calls it 'estratta a quanto pare in parte da quella di Fr. Aretino, I have not seen the manuscripts listed by Johannes Vahlen, Laurentii Vallae opuscula tria, II, Sitzungsberichte der philosophisch-historischen Classe der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 61 (Vienna, 1869, 357-444 at 387-95, or the edition cited by Pertusi 523 n. 1; nor yet G. B. Mancini, Francesco Griffolini cognominato Francesco Aretino Florence, 1890, id f. 25v. No translator is mentioned (nor does the dedication by 'Georgius Maxillus alias Übelin' to Hieronymus Baldung even speak of translation), but incipit and explicit match those given by Pertusi (see n. 10) 142 n. 3 for the version of c. 1460 by Francesco Griffolini d'Arezzo (b. 1420), with which it is identified in the British Library catalogue. However, Camillo Cessi, Storia della letteratura greca, I/1 (Turin, 1933), 849, calls it 'estratta a quanto pare in parte da quella di Fr. Aretino'. I have not seen the manuscripts listed by Johannes Vahlen, 'Laurentii Vallae opuscula tria, II', Sitzungsberichte der philosophisch-historischen Classe der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 61 (Vienna, 1869), 357-444 at 387-95, or the edition cited by Pertusi 523 n. 1; nor yet G. B. Mancini, Francesco Griffolini cognominato Francesco Aretino (Florence, 1890), id., Francesco Griffolini d'Arezzo traduttore d'Omero (Cortona, 1931)
15. Ed. cit. 30-1; the main source is Boccaccio, Genealogiae deorum gentilium 7. 20. If Tinctoris' false reading 'Huic' for 'Hinc' in citing Manilius 1. 328 on p. 7v, Weinmann 45 (kindly confirmed for me by Professor David Hiley) is true to Tinctoris' source, and if we accept the typographical arguments of Ronald Woodley, The Printing and Scope of Tinctoris's Fragmentary Treatise De inuentione et usu musice, Early Music History, 5 (1985, 239-68 at 240-3, for a terminus ante quem of 1483, Tinctoris must have used, not a printed edition of Manilius, but one of the manuscripts copied c. 1470 from what is now Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional 3678 G. P. Goold's Teubner edition. xxiii and ad loc, the first printed text to exhibit 'Huic, after three with 'Hinc, was Laurentius Bonincontrius' edition with commentary, Rome, 26 Oct. 1484, which also extends the pericope one line further; the next, of 1489, is in any case too late, Nothing is proved by the inheri 7. 20. If Tinctoris' false reading 'Huic' for 'Hinc' in citing Manilius 1. 328 on p. 7v = Weinmann 45 (kindly confirmed for me by Professor David Hiley) is true to Tinctoris' source, and if we accept the typographical arguments of Ronald Woodley, 'The Printing and Scope of Tinctoris's Fragmentary Treatise De inuentione et usu musice', Early Music History, 5 (1985), 239-68 at 240-3, for a terminus ante quem of 1483, Tinctoris must have used, not a printed edition of Manilius, but one of the manuscripts copied c. 1470 from what is now Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional 3678 (see G. P. Goold's Teubner edition. xxiii and ad loc): the first printed text to exhibit 'Huic' (after three with 'Hinc') was Laurentius Bonincontrius' edition with commentary, Rome, 26 Oct. 1484, which also extends the pericope one line further; the next, of 1489, is in any case too late. (Nothing is proved by the inherited corruption 'deductis' for 'diductis' in line 324; 'Ex' is Weinmann's misprint for 'Et'. 7r. Note too that it is Weinmann who restores ae and oe for e.)
16. Strabo, Geography 5. 4. 7
17. Pliny, Natural History 3. 62
18. See 3. 9. 9 'dulcique Parthenope, qua se vatum lumen splendidissimum Virgilius olim poetice studentem nutritum fuisse gloriatur' (II, 156-7 Seay), alluding to Georgics 4. 563-4; the previous chapter ends by praising works of the same living composers, and of Dufay among the dead, who had been cited in the prologue. Virgilius olim poetice studentem nutritum fuisse gloriatur' (II, 156-7 Seay), alluding to Georgics 4. 563-4; the previous chapter ends by praising works of the same living composers, and of Dufay among the dead, who had been cited in the prologue
19. For the original sense of the line, and its exploitation by later sentiment expressed (albeit by a speaker who debases it) in the source, such was Menander's standing as a fount of noble quotations that it would undoubtedly have been cited by Greek authors as freely as Terence's verse is by Romans. For the original sense of the line, and its exploitation by later authors, authors, see H. D. Jocelyn, Antichthon, 7 (1973), 14-46; although his arguments do not disprove translation of a universalist sentiment expressed (albeit by a speaker who debases it) in the source, such was Menander's standing as a fount of noble quotations that it would undoubtedly have been cited by Greek authors as freely as Terence's verse is by Romans
20. What follows is but a small part of that more, the part required for elucidating Tinctoris. Is Coleridge's Ancient Mariner a mutant Siren, who causes the Wedding Guest to rise a sadder and a wiser man? elucidating Tinctoris. Is Coleridge's Ancient Mariner a mutant Siren, who causes the Wedding Guest to rise a sadder and a wiser man?
21. Besides the standard reference-books and Homeric commentaries see de Rachewiltz, De Sirenibus: An Inquiry into Sirens from Homer to Shakespeare, Harvard Dissertations in Comparative Literature (New York and London, 1987); previous scholarship is reviewed at pp. 254-75. Siegfried de Rachewiltz, De Sirenibus: An Inquiry into Sirens from Homer to Shakespeare, Harvard Dissertations in Comparative Literature (New York and London, 1987); previous scholarship is reviewed at pp. 254-75
22. 'She does not always harm': Rachewiltz 232
23. See, for example, Emily Vermeule, Aspects of Death in Early Greek Art and Poetry, Sather Classical Lectures 46 (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1979), 201-6
24. Pierre Courcelle, 'Quelques symboles funéraires du vol de Dédale - Ulysse et les Sirènes néo-platonisme latin: le vol de Dédale - Ulysse et les Sirènes', Revue des études anciennes, 46 (1944), 65-93 at 75-93
25. Philostratus, Vitae sophistarum 1. 17. 1
26. See now Robert A. Kaster's edition of Suetonius, De Grammaticis et (Oxford, 1995), 152-3. Rhetoribus (Oxford, 1995), 152-3
27. Republic 10, 617 B; ancient expositions are listed by Harold Cherniss on Plutarch, De generatione animae 32 (Moralia 1029 CD = Loeb edn. xiv. 334-8). Plutarch, De generatione animae 32 (Moralia 1029 CD = Loeb edn. xiv. 334-8)
28. See Plutarch, Quaest. conv. 9. 14. 6 (Moralia 746 A), cf. Macrobius in Somnium Scipionis 2. 3. 1. Commentarium in Somnium Scipionis 2. 3. 1
29. The theme is implied in its reinversion by Petrarch, Rime 167, in which held back by 'questa sola fra noi dal ciel Sirena'; more straightforwardly, for example, Bembo, Rime 16, and the prophetic Siren of Camōes, The theme is implied in its reinversion by on hearing Laura sing, the poet's soul is ready to die, but is held back by 'questa sola fra noi dal ciel Sirena'; more straightforwardly, for example, Bembo, Rime 16, and the prophetic Siren of Camōes, Os Lusíadas 10. 5-74
30. All these texts are considered by Rachewiltz; for other Sirens see Jane Davidson Reid, The Oxford Guide to Classical Mythology in the Arts, 1300-1990s (New York, 1993), II, 1004-8. The list could be expanded, above all with the Christian Neoplatonism of Milton's 'At a Solemn Music', the source of Parry's Blest Pair of Sirens. Davidson Reid, The Oxford Guide to Classical Mythology in the Arts, 1300-1990s (New York, 1993), II, 1004-8. The list could be expanded, above all with the Christian Neoplatonism of Milton's 'At a Solemn Music', the source of Parry's Blest Pair of Sirens
31. 'Ye gods preserve us! What a valuable thing is wisdom! I never come without going away from you more learned.' without going away from you more learned.'
32. See Menandri reliquiae selectae, ed. F. H. Sandbach, 2nd edn (Oxford 165-74. 1990), 165-74
33. As Terence tells us in his prologue, 11. 30-4
34. Epitrepontes 795 (ed. cit.. 120): a courtesan 'knows more things' i.e. is up to more tricks, than a respectable woman. i.e. is up to more tricks, than a respectable woman
35. The ancient commentary of Donatus comments 'nimis impudens assentatio, se fieri doctiorem ex militis sapientia'. fieri doctiorem ex militis sapientia'
36. Neither Tinctoris nor any contemporary knew Fronto's correspondence which includes an irritable reference to Gellius (Ad Amicos 1. 19, in M. Cornelius Fronto: Epistulae, ed. M. P. J. van den Hout, 2nd edn (Leipzig, 1988), 182); the grouping of three Frontonian chapters, out of five all told, in the penultimate book of the Noctes Atticae (19. 8, 10, 13; the other two are 2. 26, 13. 29) perhaps serves to exaggerate the closeness to which our present passage is designed to testify. which includes an irritable reference to Gellius (Ad Amicos 1. 19, in M. Cornelius Fronto: Epistulae, ed. M. P. J. van den Hout, 2nd edn (Leipzig, 1988), 182); the grouping of three Frontonian chapters, out of five all told, in the penultimate book of the Noctes Atticae (19. 8, 10, 13; the other two are 2. 26, 13. 29) perhaps serves to exaggerate the closeness to which our present passage is designed to testify
37. Tinctoris shows knowledge of Gellius in De inventione et usu musicae citing NA 1. 11. 1-2 and 15. 27 (pp. 35, 39). citing NA 1. 11. 1-2 and 15. 27 (pp. 35, 39)
38. Remigio Sabbadini, Epistolario di Guarino Veronese, 3 vols., Miscellanea di storia veneta, 3rd ser., 8, 11, 14 (Venice, 1915-19), III, 109
39. See above, n. 13; Tinctoris cites the end of Jerome's prologue to his translation of Joshua. translation of Joshua
40. NA 16. 8. 17 'cui sane nisi modum fecerisericulum non mediocre erit ne ut plerique alii tu quoque in illis dialecticae gyris atque maeandris tamquam apud Sirenios scopulos consenescas'. So (cf. n. 23) Bembo makes Sirens impede and mock his soul in Rime 97. 11-12; Camōes dismisses them as pagan fictions at Os Lusíadas 5. 88. 4. ne ut plerique alii tu quoque in illis dialecticae gyris atque maeandris tamquam apud Sirenios scopulos consenescas'. So (cf. n. 23) Bembo makes Sirens impede and mock his soul in Rime 97. 11-12; Camōes dismisses them as pagan fictions at Os Lusíadas 5. 88. 4
41. In his (alas) still unpublished Liber Musices dedicated to Ascanio Sforza, Milan, Biblioteca Trivulziana MS 2146; a strict judge will observe errors in his Latin, but not mistake his purpose. Albert Seay, The 'Liber Musices' of Florentius de Faxolis', in Musik und Geschichte: Uo Schrade zum sechzigsten Geburtstag (Cologne, 1963), 71-95, is not to be relied on; Edward E. Lowinsky, 'Ascanio Sforza's Life: A Key to Josquin's Biography and an Aid to the Chronology of his Works', in id. (ed.), Josquin des Prez (London, 1976), 31-75 at 48-9 = Music in the Culture of the Renaissance and other Essays, ed. Bonnie J. Blackburn (Chicago, 1989), 541-64 at 550-1. Sforza, Milan, Biblioteca Trivulziana MS 2146; a strict judge will observe errors in his Latin, but not mistake his purpose. Albert Seay, The 'Liber Musices' of Florentius de Faxolis', in Musik und Geschichte: Uo Schrade zum sechzigsten Geburtstag (Cologne, 1963), 71-95, is not to be relied on; see Edward E. Lowinsky, 'Ascanio Sforza's Life: A Key to Josquin's Biography and an Aid to the Chronology of his Works', in id. (ed.), Josquin des Prez (London, 1976), 31-75 at 48-9 = Music in the Culture of the Renaissance and other Essays, ed. Bonnie J. Blackburn (Chicago, 1989), 541-64 at 550-1
42. Rerum musicalium opusculum rarum ac insigne (Strasburg [1532], 1535 Monuments of Music and Music Literature in Facsimile, Second Series, Music Literature, 39; New York, 1967, D6]v; he adds for good measure that tritones moving to perfect consonances are pleasing 'ante commissuram' because, as Empedocles teaches, the governing principles of the universe are Strife and Friendship. Commissura is a good Ciceronian word for a join, or the gap thereat, but here requires to be interpreted a posteriori from the context. Tinctoris and others had used clausula, Ciceronian but evidently too uninteresting for Frosch; Florentius, though noting that composers used the cadence 'ueluti clausulareferred to Latinize the vernacular name as cadentia f. 67r, a word found elsewhere in medieval but not classical writers facs. Monuments of Music and Music Literature in Facsimile, Second Series - Music Literature, 39; New York, 1967), [D6]v; he adds for good measure that tritones moving to perfect consonances are pleasing 'ante commissuram' because, as Empedocles teaches, the governing principles of the universe are Strife and Friendship. Commissura is a good Ciceronian word for a join, or the gap thereat, but here requires to be interpreted a posteriori from the context. Tinctoris and others had used clausula, Ciceronian but evidently too uninteresting for Frosch; Florentius, though noting that composers used the cadence 'ueluti clausula'referred to Latinize the vernacular name as cadentia (f. 67r), a word found elsewhere in medieval but not classical writers
43. See Ronald Woodley, 'Renaissance Music Theory as Literature: On Reading Musices of Iohannes Tinctoris the Proportionale Musices of Iohannes Tinctoris', Renaissance Studies, 1 (1987), 209-20
44. Pagan examples might have been chosen, but I preferred the most striking the conclusion to Proportionale musices, 3. 8. 2 (IIa, 60 Seay): 'licet eas non summis rhethoricae coloribus tinxerit praeter causas in prohemio positas'. Cf. the conclusion to Proportionale musices, 3. 8. 2 (IIa, 60 Seay): 'licet eas non summis rhethoricae coloribus tinxerit praeter causas in prohemio positas'
45. Suetonius, Tiberius 70. 3; Browne, Hydriotaphia, ch. 5. More than one answer is available for the first two; Sir James Frazer's Loeb edition of Apollodorus, II, 45 n. 3, 73 n. 2. answer is available for the first two; see Sir James Frazer's Loeb edition of Apollodorus, II, 45 n. 3, 73 n. 2