Medieval on Music Theory Print

Adam de la Halle

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Adam de la Halle (1245–50 – 1285–8/after 1306) was a French poet-composer trouvère. Among the few medieval composers to write both monophonic and polyphonic music, in this respect he has been considered both a conservative and progressive composer, resulting in a complex legacy: he cultivated admired representatives of older trouvère genres, but also experimented with newer dramatic works. Adam represented the final generation of the trouvère tradition and “has long been regarded as one of the most important musical and literary figures of thirteenth-century Europe”. Adam’s literary and musical works include chansons and jeux-partis (poetic debates) in the style of the trouvères; polyphonic rondel and motets in the style of early liturgical polyphony; and a musical play, Jeu de Robin et Marion (c. 1282–83), which is considered the earliest surviving secular French play with music. He was a member of the Confrérie des jongleurs et bourgeois d’Arras, a fraternity of jongleurs. Life and career Adam’s other nicknames, “le Bossu d’Arras” and “Adam d’Arras”, suggest that he came from Arras, France. The sobriquet “the Hunchback” was probably a family name; Adam himself points out that he

Adam of Saint Victor

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Adam of Saint Victor (; c. 1068 – 1146) was a prolific composer and poet of Latin hymns. A central figure of the sequences in high medieval music, he has been called “…the most illustrious exponent of the revival of liturgical poetry which the twelfth century affords.” Music and poetry Adam of St Victor’s surviving works are sequences for liturgical use, not theological treatises. Jodocus Clichtovaeus , a Catholic theologian of the 16th century, published thirty-seven of his hymns in the Elucidatorium Ecclesiasticum (1516). The remaining seventy hymns were preserved in the Abbey of Saint Victor until its dissolution during the French Revolution. They were then transferred to the Bibliothèque Nationale, where they were discovered by Léon Gautier, who edited the first complete edition of them (Paris, 1858). Anglican Archbishop Richard Chenevix Trench characterized Adam of Saint Victor as “the foremost among the sacred Latin poets of the Middle Ages”. In Mont Saint Michel and Chartres, Henry Adams wrote that Adam “aimed at obtaining his effect from the skillful use of the Latin sonorities for purposes of the chant”. The translator of medieval hymns, John Mason Neale, described Adam

Albertet de Sestaro

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Albertet de Sestaro, sometimes called Albertet de Terascon (fl. 1194–1221), was a Provençal jongleur and troubadour from the Gapençais (Gapensés in Occitan). Of his total oeuvre, twenty three poems survive. “Albertet” or “Albertetz” is the Occitan diminutive of Albert. Unqualified, it usually refers to Albertet de Sestaro, but there was an Albertet Cailla. According to his vida he was the son of a noble jongleur named Asar, one of whose pieces may survive. Albertet was reputed for his voice and for the innovative melodies of his short cansós, but not for his lyrics. He was a welcomed performer and conversationalist in court society. In Italy he frequented the courts of Savoy, Montferrat, Malaspina, Genoa, and the Este in Ferrara. Eventually he returned to Sisteron in the Forcalquier, where he died. This tensó is evidence that Albertet called himself Albert, though later scribes usually employed the diminutive. Albertet also composed a tenso with Aimeric de Belenoi. He praised Augier and Gaucelm Faidit, and he honoured Peirol by name in one tornada: Asides from this request to Peirol, Albertet elsewhere begged his lady to learn his poems, possibly with an eye to the propagation thro

Andrea Stefani (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Andrea Stefani (fl. 1400s) was an Italian monk, flagellant, poet, singer and composer. He was active in Florence and Lucca during the late medieval and early renaissance periods, and was a late member of the Trecento movement. Life Florence Stefani was a member of the Order of the Bianchi Gesuati, or the “White Jesuits”. He took part in public processions of the Bianchi movement in Florence in 1399, and was a leading singer. Lucca Stefani settled in Lucca in 1406. He contributed three surviving musical works to the Lucca Codex, or “Codex Mancini” (Archivio di Stato 184)(c. 1410 - 1430). He also wrote five lauds without music. From 1445 to 1446, Stefani was treasurer of the Monastery of St Fregionaia di Lucca. Stefani’s longevity is notable. Stefani’s will, dated 1460, is preserved in the archive of St Fregionaia, in which he left his inheritance to the monastery. A memoir was also included that details his life from his arrival in Lucca, to the time of its writing. It has been deduced that Stefani must have been 24 or 25 at the time of his processions in Florence, making his estimated age exceed 80. Works Ballate * Con tutta gentilezza * I’ senti matutino Madrigal * Morte m’a sciol

Andreas de Florentia

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Andreas de Florentia (also known as Andrea da Firenze, Andrea de’ Servi, Andrea degli Organi and Andrea di Giovanni; died 1415) was a Florentine composer and organist of the late medieval era. Along with Francesco Landini and Paolo da Firenze, he was a leading representative of the Italian ars nova style of the Trecento, and was a prolific composer of secular songs, principally ballate. Life Since Andreas was a member of the Servite religious order, whose records have largely survived intact, more is known about his life than is usually the case for fourteenth-century composers. He entered the order in 1375, though at what age is not known. One of his first activities within the order was to carry out a commission to build an organ for the Servite house in Florence, for which he hired Francesco Landini as a consultant. Among the surviving records are the receipts for the wine that the two consumed during the three days it took to tune the instrument. Evidently he and Landini were successful, for in 1387 Andreas received a similar commission to build an organ for Florence Cathedral. A commission recorded in 1382 for a “Maestro Andrea” to build an organ in Rieti, between Florence and

Antonio da Cividale

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Antonio da Cividale (also Antonius de Civitate Austrie) (fl. 1392–1421) was an Italian composer of the early Quattrocento, at the end of the musical medieval era and beginning of the Renaissance. He is one of a few Italian composers of the early 15th century whose works have survived; they are transitional between the Trecento and the early Renaissance styles. Life While a few details are known of his life, both the beginning and end are obscure. There has been confusion over dating of some of his compositions, some of which has been resolved recently, and most of his activity now seems to have been in the first two decades of the 15th century. He was a friar of the Dominican order; from his name, it can be inferred he was from the town of Cividale del Friuli. In 1392 an “Antonius de Civitato” entered the monastery of San Domenico in Venice, but he was from Città di Castello rather than Cividale del Friuli. However, Antonio da Cividale did compose the motet Strenua/Gaudeat, celebrating the marriage of Giorgio Ordelaffi, lord of Forlì, with Lucrezia degli Alidosi on 3 July 1412. Sometime between then and 1414 Antonio moved to Florence, where he wrote a motet, O felix flos Florencia/

Arnaut Daniel

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Arnaut Daniel (; fl. 1180–1200) was an Occitan troubadour of the 12th century, praised by Dante as “the better craftsman” (miglior fabbro) and called a “grand master of love” (gran maestro d’amore) by Petrarch. In the 20th century he was lauded by Ezra Pound in The Spirit of Romance (1910) as the greatest poet to have ever lived. Life According to one biography, Daniel was born of a noble family at the castle of Ribérac in Périgord; however, the scant contemporary sources point to him being a jester with pernicious economic troubles: Raimon de Durfort calls him “a student, ruined by dice and shut-the-box”. His Vida, preserved in Troubadour Manuscript B, is as follows: Arnautz Daniels si fo d’aquella encontrada don fo Arnautz de Maroill, de l’evescat de Peiregos, d’un chastel que a nom Ribairac, et fo gentils hom. Et amparet ben letras e deleitet se en trobar et en caras rimas, per que las soas chanssons non son leus ad entendre ni ad aprendre.Et amet una auta dompna de Gascoigna, moiller d’En Guillem de Buonvila, mas non fo crezut qez anc la dompna li fezes plazer en dreich d’amor. Per que el ditz: Eu sui Arnautz q’amas l’aura e caz la lebre ab lo boue nadi contra suberna. “And Arn

Barbad

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Barbad (; ) was a Persian musician-poet, music theorist and composer of Sasanian music. He served as chief minstrel-poet under the Shahanshah Khosrow II (). A barbat player, he was the most distinguished Persian musician of his time and is regarded among the major figures in the history of Persian music. Despite scarce biographical information, Barbad’s historicity is generally secure. He was highly regarded in the court of Khosrow, and interacted with other musicians, such as Sarkash. Although he is traditionally credited with numerous innovations in Persian music theory and practice, the attributions remain tentative since they are ascribed centuries after his death. Practically all Barbad’s music or poetry is lost, except a single poem fragment and the titles of a few compositions. No Sasanian sources discuss Barbad, suggesting his reputation was preserved through oral tradition, until at least the earliest written account by the poet Khaled ibn Fayyaz ( c. 718). Barbad appears frequently in later Persian literature, most famously in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. The content and abundance of such references demonstrate his unique influence, inspiring musicians such as Ishaq al-Mawsili.

Bartolino da Padova

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Bartolino da Padova (also “Magister Frater Bartolinus de Padua”) (fl. c. 1365 – c. 1405) was an Italian composer of the late 14th century. He is a representative of the stylistic period known as the Trecento, sometimes known as the “Italian ars nova”, the transitional period between medieval and Renaissance music in Italy. Life Next to nothing is known for certain about his life, but some information can be inferred from his music. He was probably from Padua, and he was a Carmelite, because a picture of him appears in the Squarcialupi Codex in which he is wearing the garb of that order. Most likely he was in the employ of the Carrara family, since references to them appear in his music. There is a possibility he spent some time in Florence around 1389–1390. References to the Visconti family in his music have been variously interpreted: some scholars have suggested that he was away from Padua, and may have been working in support of Gian Galeazzo Visconti during the period of his campaign of conquest in northern Italy, which included Padua, while more recent scholars have attempted to refute this view, suggesting instead that the references may be either satirical or in support of t

Baude Cordier

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Baude Cordier () was a French composer in the style of late medieval music. Virtually nothing is known of Cordier’s life, aside from an inscription on one of his works which indicates he was born in Rheims and had a Master of Arts. Some scholars identify him with Baude Fresnel, a harpist and organist in the court of Philip the Bold, though other scholars have rejected this. He is best known for his unique and experimental notational methods, often with shapes relating to the subject matter. These include a heart-shaped staff in Belle, Bonne, Sage, a rondeau about love, and numerous circles in the Tout par compas suy composés rondeau. Such an approach is thought to have inspired later composers, ranging from Gilles Binchois to Karlheinz Stockhausen. Identity It has been suggested that Cordier was the pen name of Baude Fresnel. Music Cordier’s works are considered among the prime examples of . In line with that cultural trend, he was fond of using red note notation, also known as coloration, a technique stemming from the general practice of mensural notation. The change in color adjusts the rhythm of a particular note from its usual form. (This musical style and type of notation has

Berenguier de Palazol

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Berenguier de Palazol, Palol, or Palou (fl. 1160–1209) was a Catalan troubadour from Palol in the County of Roussillon. Of his total output twelve cansos survive, and a relatively high proportion—eight—with melodies. Other evidence suggests that his family was well-off. Berenguier does not seem to have had much contact with his fellow troubadours. He may have met Pons d’Ortaffa late in life, and the latter may address him in one of his songs as Senher En Berenguier. All of Berenguier’s surviving works deal with the theme of courtly love. According to Berenguier’s vida, Arnaut was a son of Maria de Peiralada, but this is probably a confusion with Maria domina de Petralata, the mother of Soremonda, the lover of Guillem de Cabestany. Nonetheless, the developing of the theme corresponds to stages in the life of a lover. *Aital dona cum ieu sai ::In this work Berenguier praises the perfection of his lady. She is proud and has many suitors. She does, however, lend him ear. *Dona, si totz temps vivia ::Berenguier pledges to seek no other lover, even though his lady seems out of reach. *Dona, la genser qu’om veya ::Berenguier resolves to be patient. *Aissi quon hom que senhor ochaizona ::B

Bligger von Steinach

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Bligger von Steinach was the name of a series of feudal lords of Steinach, today Neckarsteinach in Hesse, Germany. Collectively the noble family was known as the Edelfreien von Steinach. The family was influential, having close connections to the Holy Roman Emperor and to the Bishopric of Worms. The family held Steinach in fief to Worms. The name Bligger is of Germanic origin, meaning lightning spear. As a poet, Bligger II was mentioned by Gottfried von Strassburg in his work Tristan und Isolt. There he praised his “sweet words and clever sensibilities musically entwined”. Gottfried also praised Bligger’s work der umbehanc (The Tapestry), which remains lost to this day. Some scholars argue that this work refers to the Nibelungenlied, but this remains in dispute. Bligger’s work appears in the Codex Manesse. The codex also displays the coat-of-arms that he created. It is a harp, which is used today by the city of Neckarsteinach. References

Byttering

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Byttering (also Bytering, Bytteryng, or Biteryng; ) was an English composer during the stylistic transitional from medieval to Renaissance music. Five of his compositions have survived in the Old Hall Manuscript, where the musicologist Peter Wright contends they “form a small yet distinctive corpus of work notable for its technical ambition and musical accomplishment”. Identity and career Extremely little is known of Byttering, whose name is variously spelled as Bytering, Bytteryng, and Biteryng. The musicologist Margaret Bent has suggested he was Thomas Byteryng, though his identity remains uncertain. Byteryng was a canon at Hastings Castle between 1405 and 1408, and was a rector somewhere in London in 1414. There is no information on the composer in the Old Hall Manuscript other than that his surname is attached to several pieces. Those pieces stand out from many of the works in the manuscript by their relatively advanced stylistic traits. Music Byttering’s surviving music includes five compositions: three mass sections—two Glorias and a Credo—a motet and an antiphon. The latter, Nesciens Mater, is “famous for its remarkable camouflaging of the plainsong by means of transposition

Casella (Divine Comedy)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Casella (died before 1300) was an Italian composer and singer, none of whose works has survived. Biographical fragments and identity He was probably a friend of Dante Alighieri who made him into the main character of the 2nd canto of the Purgatorio (the second part of the Divine Comedy). All that is positively known about him is what is found in Dante’s work and it has been impossible to identify him with absolute certainty with any of the Casellas named in contemporary documents. To whatever is said of him in Dante’s work one can add (with some degree of probability) information furnished by the earliest commentators of the Divine Comedy: Pietro di Dante, Benvenuto da Imola, Buti and Landino give him as being born in Florence, while an anonymous early commentary of the Divine Comedy gives him as being born in Pistoia. Potential mentions of this Casella in other documents include a mention in Codex Vaticano 3214 (Casella dedit sonum, i.e. “Casella set this to music”) that he set to music a madrigal by Lemmo da Pistoia, and a mention of him in a sonnet by Niccolò de’ Rossi. There is also a document denoting that Casella might have received a fine in July 1282. Casella died in 1299 o

Comtessa de Dia

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Comtessa de Dia (Countess of Die), possibly named Beatritz or Isoarda (fl. c. 1175 or c. 1212), was a trobairitz (female troubadour). She is only known as the comtessa de Dia in contemporary documents, but was most likely the daughter of Count Isoard II of Diá (a town northeast of Montelimar now known as Die in southern France). According to her vida, she was married to William of Poitiers, but was in love with and sang about Raimbaut of Orange (1146-1173). Bruckner, Shepard, and White cite Angela Rieger’s analysis of the songs, which associates them, through intertextual evidence, with the circle of poets composed of Raimbaut d’Aurenga, Bernart de Ventadorn, and Azalais de Porcairagues. If her songs are addressed to Raimbaut d’Aurenga’s nephew Raimbaut IV, the Comtessa de Dia may have been urging the latter to support Raymond V of Toulouse. Five of the Comtessa’s works survive, including 4 cansos and 1 tenson. Scholars have debated whether or not the Comtessa authored , a tenso typically attributed to Raimbaut d’Aurenga. One reason for this is the similarities between this composition and her own . A second reason references the words in her vida, (“And she fell in love with S

Conon of Béthune

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Conon de Béthune (before 1160 in the former region of Artois, today Pas-de-Calais - 17 December 1219, possibly at Adrianople) was a French crusader and trouvère poet who became a senior official and finally regent of the Latin Empire of Constantinople. Alternative spellings of his name include Cono, Coesnes, Quenes, Conain, and Quenon. Life Probably born before 1160, he was the fifth son of Robert V de Béthune, hereditary Lord of Béthune and Advocate of the Abbey of Saint-Vaast at Arras in today’s Pas-de-Calais, who died on the Third Crusade at the siege of Acre in 1191, and his wife Alice, daughter of Hugues III, Count of Saint-Pol. After having taken part in the Third Crusade to Palestine, Conon de Béthune went with his brother Guillaume on the Fourth Crusade in 1203, accompanying the knights of Baldwin, Count of Flanders and Hainaut. At the outset he was chosen as one of six knights to command all transport and supplies and when the army arrived at Constantinople he was appointed its spokesman in negotiations with the Byzantines. His rhetorical ability, wisdom and chivalry were praised by fellow Crusader Geoffroi de Villehardouin, who said of Conon: Bon chevalier et sage estoit

Denis of Portugal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Denis (, ; 9 October 1261 – 7 January 1325), called the Farmer King (Rei Lavrador) and the Poet King (Rei Poeta), was King of Portugal from 1279 until his death in 1325. Denis was the eldest son of Afonso III of Portugal by his second wife, Beatrice of Castile, and grandson of Afonso II of Portugal. Denis succeeded his father in 1279. He was married to Elizabeth of Aragon, who was later canonised as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. Denis ruled Portugal for over 46 years. He worked to reorganise his country’s economy and gave an impetus to Portuguese agriculture. He ordered the planting of a large pine forest (that still exists today) near Leiria to prevent soil degradation that threatened the region, and to serve as a source of raw materials for the construction of the royal ships. He was also known for his poetry, which constitutes an important contribution to the development of Portuguese as a literary language. Early life and background Born on 9 October 1261 in Lisbon, Denis was the eldest son of Afonso III of Portugal and Beatrice of Castile, an illegitimate daughter of King Afonso X of Castile. Beatrice and Afonso were married 1253 to settle a dispute regarding the sover

Der wilde Alexander

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Der wilde Alexander, also known as Meister Alexander, was a medieval Minnesänger who was active from the mid-1200s until after 1288. His works are considered to be part of the Sangspruchdichtung. Life Perhaps originally from Württemberg or more probably Switzerland, Alexander is mentioned in both the Codex Manesse, where he is portrayed as a wild rider with a red robe, as well as the Jenaer Liederhandschrift. His works date mostly from the latter half of the 13th century, being first mentioned in 1247. Whether Alexander was part of the gentry is not known, but he is generally considered to have been a wandering minstrel who was dependent upon his reception at court. Works Five of Alexander’s songs remain, one of which is fragmentary. He uses complex imagery, which suggests that he had a relatively high level of education, and sets a high value upon poetic art, insisting upon its descent from Kings. The majority of his poems deplore the decadence of the age, of which the fall of Acre is considered to be a symptom. His poetry is written in a simple yet expressive style, and always contains a degree of spiritual interpretation; for example, Hie vor dô wir kinder wâren contains one of

Egardus

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Egardus (; also Engardus or Johannes Echgaerd) was a European Medieval composer of ars subtilior. Almost no information survives about his life, and only three of his works are known. A certain “Johannes Ecghaerd”, who held chaplaincies in Bruges and Diksmuide, may be a possible match for Egardus. The extant works—a canon and two Glorias—appear to be less complex than music by mid-century composers, possibly because they date from either very early or very late in Egardus’ career. Identity and career Little is known with certainty about his life. The enigma of his biography stems from a difficulty in knowing whether he was Flemish or Italian. A northern origin is suggested by his name, a copy of one of his works in a Flemish manuscript, and a possible citation of his music by Thomas Fabri. But with only one other exception, all of his works are found in Northern Italian manuscripts, and that exception, a Polish manuscript, has strong Italian connections. The most important biographical research on the composer was conducted by Reinhard Strohm, who notes that it was more common for Northern works (and composers) to travel to Italy than the opposite. Strohm identifies a “Magister Joh

Elias Cairel

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Elias Cairel (or Cayrel; fl. 1204–1222) was a troubadour of international fame. Born in Sarlat in the Périgord, he first travelled with the Fourth Crusade and settled down in the Kingdom of Thessalonica at the court of Boniface of Montferrat (1204–1208/10) before moving back to western Europe, where he sojourned at the court of Alfonso IX of León (1210–11) and in Lombardy (1219–1222/24). He wrote fourteen surviving lyrics: ten cansos, one tenso, one descort, one sirventes, and one Crusade song. He was partial to refrain rhyming and coblas capfinidas. Elias’ vida survives in three manuscripts with a variant in a fourth designed to refute the other three. According to his biographer he was gold- and silversmith and an armourer who turned to minstrelsy. He supposedly returned from Romania to die in Sarlat. Elias may have been present at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212. In his Toz m’era de chantar gequiz, the Bolognese troubadour Rambertino Buvalelli asks Elias to bring the poem to Beatrice d’Este when he travels to the court of Azzo VII at Este. NOTOC Works *Abril ni mai non aten de far vers *Era no vei puoi ni comba *Estat ai dos ans (addressed to Ysabella) *Freit ni ve

Ernoul le Vielle de Gastinois

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ernoul le Vielle (also corrected as le Viel and le Vieux) de Gastinois was a trouvère of the late thirteenth century. His name may indicate that he was from the Gâtinais, but vielle could mean either “the old” or “the vielle-player”. Two lais have been attributed to Ernoul. Both are found only in the Noailles Chansonnier (BnF fr.12615). The Lai de notre-dame (incipit: En entente curieuse) is ascribed to him in the manuscript, but the Lai de l’ancien et du nouveau testament (incipit: S’onques hom en lui s’asist) is presented anonymously and was only assigned to Ernoul by Alfred Jeanroy. David Fallows describes his two lais as “among the most unusual in the entire monophonic repertory, astonishingly long with complex repetition schemes and elaborate motivic structure.” Five pastourelles have also been attributed to Ernoul, and all are preserved only in the Chansonnier du Roi (BnF fr.844). The attribution of only one, En avril, au tens novel, is highly disputed. Though anonymous in the manuscript, modern scholars have disagreed whether it belongs to Ernoul’s corpus, with one assigning it instead to Thibaut de Blaison. It has two lines that are identical to two found in Pensis, chief e

F. Andrieu

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

F. Andrieu (; possibly François or Franciscus Andrieu) was a French composer in the style of late medieval music. Nothing is known for certain about him except that he wrote Armes, amours/O flour des flours (Weapons, loves/O flower of flowers), a double ballade déploration, for the death of Guillaume de Machaut in 1377. The work has been widely praised and analyzed; it is notable for being one of two extant medieval double ballades for four voices, the only known contemporary musical setting of Eustache Deschamps and the earliest representative of the longstanding medieval and Renaissance lamentation tradition between composers. Andrieu may be the same person as Magister Franciscus, although the scholarly consensus on this identification is unclear. With P. des Molins, Jehan Vaillant and Grimace, Andrieu was one of the “post-Machaut” generation whose pieces retain enough qualities to be differentiated from composers of . Identity and career Nothing is known for certain about Andrieu except his authorship of the double ballade for four voices: Armes, amours/O flour des flours (Weapons, loves/O flower of flowers), a déploration for the death of poet-composer Guillaume de Machaut (c.

Francesco Landini

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Francesco Landini (c. 1325 or 1335 – 2 September 1397; also known by many names) was a Florentine composer, poet, organist, singer and instrument maker, and a central figure of the music of the Trecento in the Italian peninsula. Name Francesco’s name is recorded in many variants throughout medieval manuscripts and documents, including, Francesco degli Organi, Francesco il Cieco, Francesco da Firenze, Magister Franciscus de Florentia, Magister Franciscus Coecus Horghanista de Florentia (in the Squarcialupi Codex), Francesco degli orghani and Cechus de Florentia. Modern scholars no longer accept the idea that he was a member of the Landini family and prefer to use the names “Francesco degli Organi” or “Francesco degli orghani” (Francesco of the organs), “Francesco da Firenze’"(Francesco of Firenze), and “Francesco il Cieco” or “Franciscus cecus” (Francesco the blind) to refer to the composer. The surname “Landini” or “Landino” has not been linked to the composer in any sources of the 14th century nor in secondary references in the 15th century. The evidence linking him to the Landini family via his presumed father, who was identified by Filippo Villani as a painter who lived a simple

Fulbert of Chartres

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Fulbert of Chartres (; 952–970–10 April 1028) was the Bishop of Chartres from 1006 to 1028 and a teacher at the Cathedral school there. Fulbert may have been a pupil of Gerbert of Aurillac, who would later become Pope Sylvester II. He was responsible for the advancement of the Nativity of the Virgin’s feast day on September 8 and for one of the many reconstructions of the Chartres Cathedral. Most of the information available about him comes from letters he wrote to secular and religious figures between 1004 and 1028. Life There is no conclusive evidence as to the exact date or location of Fulbert’s birth; sources vary in listing dates from 952 to 970. As to his place of birth, most sources suggest northern France, possibly Picardy, Sources do agree, however, that he was of humble birth. Information from several sources places him at the cathedral school in Rheims in the 980s, where one of his fellow students was the future King Robert II (the Pious) of France. In the early to mid-990s, Fulbert arrived at the cathedral school there. His position is variously described as schoolmaster or assistant. He also assumed some minor ecclesiastical roles in the cathedral but was not a monk. a

Gherardello da Firenze

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Gherardello da Firenze (also Niccolò di Francesco or Ghirardellus de Florentia) ( 1320–1325 – 1362 or 1363) was an Italian composer of the Trecento. He was one of the first composers of the period sometimes known as the Italian ars nova. Life Gherardello was a member of a musical family, and both his brother Jacopo and his son Giovanni were also composers; however, none of their music survives. He was probably born in or near Florence, and spent most of his life there. In 1343 he appears in the records of the cathedral of Florence, Santa Reparata (this was before the building of the main cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore) as a clerk. Later he became a priest, and then served as chaplain of Santa Reparata from 1345 until 1351—during the years that the Black Death ravaged the city. Probably around 1351 he joined the order of the Vallombrosa, a Benedictine order with an abbey about 30 km from Florence. Details of the last years of his life are lacking, and his death date is inferred from a sonnet written in 1362 or 1363, probably by Simone Peruzzi, mourning his death, which occurred at Florence. Music Although Gherardello was renowned during his time for his sacred music, little of it

Giovanni da Cascia

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Giovanni da Cascia, also Jovannes de Cascia, Johannes de Florentia, Maestro Giovanni da Firenze, was an Italian composer of the medieval era, active in the middle of the fourteenth century. Life and career Virtually nothing is known about Giovanni’s life. From his surname it is presumed that he was born in the village of Cascia, near Florence. It was once thought that he held a post at Florence Cathedral, but this is no longer accepted. A Florentine chronicle states that Giovanni and Jacopo da Bologna competed at Mastino II of Scala’s court; Mastino died in 1351. The metaphors used in his works are consistent with prevailing idioms of the mid-14th century. His portrait in the Squarcialupi Codex shows him without priestly garments. Music Nineteen of Giovanni’s compositions survive, scattered in nine manuscripts. Sixteen of these are madrigals, and three of them are cacce. He is thought to have written some of his own texts. Musically, Giovanni’s madrigals are of importance in the development of the style of the 14th-century madrigal. He tends to use extended melismas on the first and penultimate syllables of a poetic line, and sometimes introduces hockets at these points. The middle

Giraut de Bornelh

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Giraut de Bornelh (; c. 1138 – 1215), whose first name is also spelled Guiraut and whose toponym is de Borneil or de Borneyll, was a troubadour connected to the castle of the viscount of Limoges. He is credited with the formalisation, if not the invention, of the “light” style, or trobar leu. Giraut was born to a lower-class family in the Limousin, probably in Bourney, near Excideuil in modern-day France. Giraut’s poems were first published in various collections, including Millot’s Histoire litteraire des troubadours (Paris, 1774) and Raynouard’s Choix des poésies originales des troubadours (Paris, 1816). Several of his poems were publosher in Alan R. Press’ Anthology of Troubadour Lyric Poetry (1971). An English edition by Ruth V. Sharma has been published in 1989. One of the most popular troubadours of his day, Giraut’s reputation endured throughout the 13th century, when he was known as the Master of the Troubadours. Dante placed him in Paradise as a poeta rectitudinis, but implied that he thought Arnaut Daniel a better poet. Petrarch called him “master of the troubadours”. Though rebarbative to modern taste when they adopt the high moral tone that recommended them to Dante, Gi

Godric of Finchale

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Godric of Finchale (or St Goderic) (c. 1065-1070 – 21 May 1170) was an English hermit, merchant and popular medieval saint, although he was never formally canonised. He was born in Walpole in Norfolk and died in Finchale in County Durham. Some of the earliest surviving English songs have been attributed to him. Life Godric’s life was recorded by a contemporary of his, a monk named Reginald of Durham. Several other hagiographies are also extant. According to these accounts, Godric, who began from humble beginnings as the son of Ailward and Edwenna, “both of slender rank and wealth, but abundant in righteousness and virtue”. He began as a peddler and became an entrepreneur. " H e was wont to wander with small wares around the villages and farmsteads of his own neighbourhood; but, in process of time, he gradually associated himself by compact with city merchants." Then he was a ship’s captain and part owner of two ships, one of which may have conveyed Baldwin I of Jerusalem to Jaffa in 1102. After many pilgrimages around the Mediterranean, Godric found himself off the Farne Islands near Lindisfarne and there was inspired to change his life. Godric returned to England and lived at Wols

Guilhem Ademar

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Guilhem Ademar (; also spelled Guillem, Adamar, or Azemar; fl. 1190/1195–1217) was a troubadour from the Gévaudan in France. He travelled between the courts of Albi, Toulouse, Narbonne, and Spain. He achieved fame enough during his life to be satirised by the nobleman and monk, Monge de Montaudon. Guilhem entered holy orders towards the end of his life. Sixteen poems—fourteen cansos, a sirventes, and a partimen with Eble d’Ussel—form his surviving corpus. His cansos are his most famous pieces. Usually humorous, several mock the poetry of Ademar’s more illustrious contemporary Arnaut Daniel. One canso survives with a tune. NOTOC Life According to his vida, Guilhem was the son of a poor knight from Meyrueis (Maruois), the lord of which castle created him a knight. He was an eloquent man who “knew well how to invent (trobaire) poetry.” When he was no longer able to support himself as a knight he took to minstrelsy and “was greatly honoured by all the high society.” Works One of Guilhem’s more famous pieces is Non pot esser sofert ni atendut, a sensuous canso of courtly love wherein he is wishing that his lady’s husband would go far away. It has presented a riddle for its dating th

Guillaume de Machaut

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Guillaume de Machaut (, ; also Machau and Machault; c. 1300 – April 1377) was a French composer and poet who was the central figure of the style in late medieval music. His dominance of the genre is such that modern musicologists use his death to separate the from the subsequent movement. Regarded as the most significant French composer and poet of the 14th century, he is often seen as the century’s leading European composer. Machaut, one of the earliest European composers on whom considerable biographical information is available, has an unprecedented amount of surviving music, in part due to his own involvement in his manuscripts’ creation and preservation. Machaut embodies the culmination of the poet-composer tradition stretching back to the traditions of troubadour and trouvère. His poetry was greatly admired and imitated by other poets, including Geoffrey Chaucer and Eustache Deschamps, well into the 15th century. Machaut composed in a wide range of styles and forms and was crucial in developing the motet and secular song forms (particularly the lai and the formes fixes: rondeau, virelai and ballade). Among his only surviving sacred works, Messe de Nostre Dame, is the earliest

Guillaume Dufay

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Background#

Du Fay’s life is better documented than “almost any other European composer of the 15th century”. The reasons for this are numerous, but especially informative are the thorough record keeping of the institutions he associated with and the many biographical or historical anecdotes integrated in his compositions. In addition, while records from many northern French cathedrals were either lost or destroyed, those from Cambrai Cathedral remain extant. Modern scholarship generally spells the composer’s surname as two words, ‘Du Fay’. Before the late 20th century, however, spelling the name as single word—‘Dufay’—was much more common. Archival discoveries from this period revealed that the surname was usually spelled as two words in documents of the 14th and 15th century, contrary to musical sources of that time. It seems that Du Fay’s parents spelt their surname as ‘Du Fayt’, but for unknown reasons the composer altered the spelling while active in Italy. Documents from the composer’s early years in Cambrai sometimes spelled his first name as Willaume, or a related form such as Willermus, Willem or Wilhelm.

Heloise

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Héloïse (; c. 1101 or Héloïse du Paraclet, She is famous in history and popular culture for her love affair and correspondence with the leading medieval logician and theologian Peter Abelard, who became her colleague, collaborator, and husband. She is known for exerting critical intellectual influence upon his work and posing many challenging questions to him such as those in the Problemata Heloissae. Her surviving letters are considered a foundation of French and European literature and primary inspiration for the practice of courtly love. Her erudite and sometimes erotically charged correspondence is the Latin basis for the bildungsroman genre and serves alongside Abelard’s Historia Calamitatum as a model of the classical epistolary genre. Her influence extends on later writers such as Chrétien de Troyes, Geoffrey Chaucer, Madame de Lafayette, Thomas Aquinas, Choderlos de Laclos, Voltaire, Rousseau, Simone Weil, and Dominique Aury. She is an important figure in the establishment of women’s representation in scholarship and is known for her controversial portrayals of gender and marriage which influenced the development of modern feminism. Philosophy and legacy Héloïse heavily inf

Henry III, Margrave of Meissen

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Henry III, called Henry the Illustrious (; c. 1215 – 15 February 1288) from the House of Wettin was Margrave of Meissen and last Margrave of Lusatia (as Henry IV) from 1221 until his death; from 1242 also Landgrave of Thuringia. Life Born probably at the Albrechtsburg residence in Meissen, Henry was the youngest son of Margrave Theodoric I, Margrave of Meissen and his wife Jutta, daughter of Landgrave Hermann I of Thuringia. In 1221 he succeeded his father as Margrave of Meissen and Lusatia, at first under guardianship of his maternal uncle, Landgrave Louis IV of Thuringia, and after his death in 1227, under that of Duke Albert I of Saxony. In 1230 he was legally proclaimed an adult. Henry had his first combat experience in sometime around 1234, while on crusade in Prussia, fighting against the Pomesanians. His pilgrimage and company is well-documented by Peter of Dusburg, and it resulted in the construction of Balga castle, an important administrative centre for the Teutonic Knights. In 1245 after many years of conflict with the Ascanian margraves of Brandenburg, he was forced to cede the fortresses of Köpenick, Teltow and Mittenwalde north of Lower Lusatia. In 1249 however, the S

Heriger of Lobbes

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Herigerus (c. 925 – 31 October 1007) was a Benedictine monk, often known as Heriger of Lobbes for serving as abbot of the abbey of Lobbes between 990 and 1007. Remembered for his writings as theologian and historian, Herigerus was a teacher to numerous scholars. His biography describes him as “skilled in the art of music”, though no music theory treatise survives and neither do the two antiphons and one hymn attributed to him. Life and career After studying at the cathedral school of Liège, Heriger became a Benedictine monk at the monastery of Lobbes, where he was scholasticus of the monastic school for many years. In 990, when Folcwin died, the monks wrote a letter to Notger, bishop of Liège, and to Rothard, bishop of Cambrai, to have Heriger as the new Abbot of Lobbes. The request was honored and Heriger was consecrated on the feast of St. Thomas in 990. Heriger was an intimate friend of bishop Notger of Liège, whom he accompanied to Rome in 989, and at whose instance he wrote several historical works, with a focus on historical criticism. Pupils of Heriger included: * Burchard, bishop of Worms * Adalbold, bishop of Utrecht * Olbert, abbot of Gembloux * Wazo of Liège * Hugo, late

Hermann of Reichenau

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Blessed Hermann of Reichenau or Herman the Cripple (18 July 1013– 24 September 1054), also known by other names, was an 11th-century Benedictine monk and scholar. He composed works on history, music theory, mathematics, and astronomy, as well as many hymns. He has traditionally been credited with the composition of “Salve Regina”, “Veni Sancte Spiritus”, and “Alma Redemptoris Mater”, although these attributions are sometimes questioned. His cultus and beatification were confirmed by the Roman Catholic Church in 1863. His feast day is September 25. Names Hermann’s name is sometimes anglicized as Herman or Latinized as Hermannus; it sometimes also appears in the older form Heriman. He is sometimes distinguished as Hermann of Vöhringen (; ) from his birthplace. He is better known as Hermann of Reichenau (; ) from the location of his monastery on Reichenau Island () in Lake Constance. He was traditionally distinguished in Latin as and “either amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or spinal muscular atrophy.” As a result of his disease, he had great difficulty moving and could hardly speak. At age seven, he was placed in a Benedictine monastery by his parents who could no longer look after him.

Hildegard of Bingen

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Hildegard of Bingen (, ; ; c. 109817 September 1179), also known as the Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German Benedictine abbess and polymath, active during the High Middle Ages as a writer, composer, philosopher, mystic, visionary, and as a medical writer and practitioner of the Catholic Church. She is one of the best-known composers of sacred monophony, as well as the most recorded in modern history. A number of scholars have considered her to be the founder of scientific natural history in Germany. Hildegard’s convent at Disibodenberg elected her as (mother superior) in 1136. She founded the monasteries of Rupertsberg in 1150 and Eibingen in 1165. Hildegard wrote theological, botanical, and medicinal works, as well as letters, hymns, and antiphons for the liturgy. There are more surviving chants by Hildegard than by any other composer from the entire Middle Ages, and she is one of the few known composers to have written both the music and the words. One of her works, the , is an early example of liturgical drama and arguably the oldest surviving morality play. She is noted for the invention of a constructed language known as . Although the history of her formal canonization is compli

Hugo von Montfort

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Hugo von Montfort (1357 – 4 April 1423) was an Austrian minstrel of the Late Middle Ages. Life Hugo VII was a scion of the comital house of Montfort at Bregenz, head of an old and influential Swabian family of nobles, holding numerous high administrative posts. By his mother Countess Ursula of Ferrette (Pfirt), he was related with the Austrian House of Habsburg. About 1373 he married the Styrian countess Margaret, granddaughter of Count Ulrich V of Pfannberg and widow of Count Hans of Cilli. With his wife’s estates around Pfannberg in the Mur valley, he vastly increased the area controlled by the House of Montfort. Upon Margarte’s death about 1395, he secondly married Countess Clementia of Toggenburg. In 1399 he also acquired Festenburg Castle in eastern Styria. In 1402 Hugo married, for the third time, the Bohemian noble Anna of Neuhaus, widow of the Styrian governor Hans of Stadeck. As second-born son, he had prepared for an ecclesiastical career, but spent most of his adult life as a politician in the Habsburg service: as commander in chief of the ducal Austrian troops in Italy, as Hofmeister of Duke Leopold IV, as governor of Styria (1412–1415), and as Landvogt in the Thurgau,

Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi

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Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mahdī (; 779–839) was an Abbasid prince, singer, composer and poet. He was the son of the third Abbasid caliph, al-Mahdi, and the half-brother of the poet and musician Ulayya. Ibrahim was contemporary of Abbasid caliph al-Hadi, al-Rashid and his three nephews caliph al-Amin, al-Ma’mun, al-Mu’tasim. Biography Ibrahim was born in 779. He was the son of Abbasid caliph al-Mahdi, and was born during the Caliphate of his father. His mother was Shaklah, whose father was Khwanadan, steward of Masmughan. She had a brother named Humayd. She was acquired by Al-Mahdi when she was a child. He presented her to his concubine Muhayyat, who, discovering a musical talent in the child, sent her to the famous school of Taif in the Hijaz for a thorough musical education. Years later Al-Mahdi, then caliph, took her as his concubine. One of his wives was Umm Muhammad. She was the daughter of Salih al-Miskin and Umm Abdullah bint Isa ibn Ali. After Inrahi divorced her, she married Harun al-Rashid. During the Fourth Fitna, Ibrahim was proclaimed caliph on 20 July 817 by the people of Baghdad, who gave him the regnal name of al-Mubarak () and declared his reigning nephew al-Ma’mun deposed. Ib

Jacobus of Liège

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Jacobus of Liège (died after 1330) was a music theorist active in the Southern Netherlands in the late middle ages. He compiled the largest surviving medieval treatise on music, (the Mirror of Music), probably in the 1320s and 1330s. Life and work The Speculum musicae of Jacobus was previously attributed to Jean de Muris, due to a misreading of the attribution of another treatise in its chief source, Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, MS lat. 7207, fol. 299v. Yet Jacobus incorporated his own name by means of an acrostic: the initial letters of each of the seven books of the opus spell out the name IACOBUS. In Book VI Jacobus demonstrates expert knowledge of chant practices in the diocese of Liège, and states that he had been resident in one of the churches of Liège. He also reveals that he had studied at the University of Paris, presumably in the final decades of the 13th century. A contemporary treatise, written not long after 1376, mentions a certain Jacobus de Montibus as an expert on the genera of ancient Greek music theory. The most extensive contemporary treatment of that arcane topic is found in Book V of Speculum musicae. A canon named Jacobus de Montibus was resident in the ch

Jacques de Cambrai

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Jacques de Cambrai (fl. c. 1260–80), sometimes Jaque or Jaikes, was a trouvère from Cambrai. He composed four chansons courtoises, one pastourelle, six devotional chansons, and one Marian rotrouenge. The Berne manuscript preserves all his works, nine of them uniquely. In addition, a chanson and the pastourelle are preserved in the manuscript Oxford Douce 308 and one of the devotional songs is also copied in two other sources. The Berne manuscript notes that his Haute dame, com rose et lis was modelled on (i.e. a contrafactum of) Ausi com l’unicorne sui by Theobald I of Navarre and Mere, douce creature on Quant voi la glaie meure by Raoul de Soissons. Otherwise none of his music survives, though staves for its transcription were prepared. Of all Jacques’s works, only his rotrouenge, the Retrowange novelle, has no model mentioned in the manuscripts; its rubric reads only “Jaikes de Cambrai—De Notre Dame” (Jaque of Cambrai—On Our Lady). Jacques’s devotional songs emphasise Jesus’ humanity and his Passion. These may be directed at the Cathars, who denied Christ’s humanity. Jacques was one of the last medieval French poets to express his devotion to Mary primarily through chansons, that

Jaufre Rudel

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Jaufre Rudel (Jaufré in modern Occitan) was the prince of Blaye (Princes de Blaia) and a troubadour of the early- to mid-12th century, who probably died during the Second Crusade, in or after 1147. He is noted for developing the theme of “love from afar” (amor de lonh or amour de loin) in his songs. Very little is known about his life, but a reference to him in a contemporary song by Marcabru describes him as being oltra mar—across the sea, probably on the Second Crusade in 1147. Probably he was the son of Girard, also castellan of Blaye, and who was titled “prince” in an 1106 charter. Girard’s father was the first to carry the title, being called princeps Blaviensis as early as 1090. During his father’s lifetime the suzerainty of Blaye was disputed between the counts of Poitou and the counts of Angoulême. Shortly after the succession of William VIII of Poitou, who had inherited it from his father, Blaye was taken by Wulgrin II of Angoulême, who probably vested Jaufre with it. According to one hypothesis, based on flimsy evidence, Wulgrin was Jaufre’s father. According to his legendary vida, or fictionalised biography, he was inspired to go on crusade upon hearing from returning pi

Jehan de Lescurel

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Jehan de Lescurel (; also Jehannot de l’Escurel) was a composer-poet of late medieval music. Jehan’s extensive surviving oeuvre is an important and rare examples of the formes fixes before the time of Guillaume de Machaut; it consists of 34 works: 20 ballades, 12 rondeaus and two long narrative poems, diz entés. All but one of his compositions is monophonic, representing the end of the trouvère tradition and the beginning of the polyphonic ars nova style centered around the formes fixes. Identity and career Jehan de Lescurel is also known as Jehannot de l’Escurel. Very little is known of his life; the transmission, notation and circumstances of his works suggest he was active in the early 14th century, and his compositions’s textual references indicate he was active in Paris. It has also been inferred that Jehan was the son of a merchant and probably received his musical training at the Notre Dame de Paris. For many years, scholars assumed he was the ‘Jehan de Lescurel’ who had been hanged on 23 May 1304 along with three other young clerics of Notre Dame, including Oudinet Pisdoé, for “debauchery” and “crimes against women”. Recent research has shown that “Jehan de Lescurel” was a

Johannes Ciconia

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Johannes Ciconia (c. 1370 – between 10 June and 13 July 1412) was an important Franco-Flemish composer and music theorist of trecento music during the late Medieval era. He was born in Liège, but worked most of his adult life in Italy, first in the papal entourage in Rome and later and most importantly at Padua Cathedral. Life He was the son of a priest (also named Johannes Ciconia) and a woman of high social standing. Since at least three other men around Liège had that name as well, this has created biographical confusion, first solved by David Fallows in 1975. A Johannes Ciconia, probably the composer’s father, worked in Avignon in 1350 as a clerk for the wife of Pope Clement VI’s nephew. Another Johannes Ciconia is recorded in Liège in 1385 as a , generally identifying a person of young age; scholars agree that this is the composer himself. Papal records suggest that Ciconia was in the service of Philppe d’Alençon, a powerful French cardinal of the schismatic Pope Boniface IX. He is believed to have worked as a clericus capelle, an important job usually held by younger musicians. His whereabouts between the early 1390s and 1401 are generally undocumented, however, due to his se

Johannes Symonis Hasprois

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Johannes Symonis (Jehan Simon) Hasprois (died 1428) was a French composer originally from Arras. Four of his works of music survive in four different manuscripts, and he may also have written a treatise on astrology. Career Hasprois led an itinerant life. His career began in royal courts. In 1378, in our earliest record of him, he was serving at the court of Ferdinand I of Portugal, but by 1380 he was at the court of Charles V of France. His career afterwards was in the church. In 1384 he was the petit vicaire (lesser vicar) of Cambrai Cathedral, and in the same diocese he obtained the rectorate of the parish church of Liessies, probably in 1388. He also held benefices at Arras, Rozoy in the Aisne département and Cambrai Cathedral. He left his parish between August 1390 and 1393 and went to serve as a private chaplain to Pope Clement VII at the Papal chapel at Avignon. As his name always precedes that of Johannes de Bosco, who became a chaplain in 1391, in the registers, it is likely that he was appointed chaplain earlier than 1391. Hasprois continued to serve under Benedict XIII down to 1403. He was possibly the same person as the magister Johannes Symonis who attended the Council

Johannes Tapissier

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Johannes Tapissier (also Jean Tapissier, Jean de Noyers) ( 1370 – 1408 to 1410) was a French composer and teacher of the late Middle Ages, in the period transitional to the Renaissance style. He was one of the first members of the Burgundian School, the group of composers associated with the Dukes of Burgundy, and from which the Franco-Flemish style developed. Life The first record of his life is from 1391, when he was hired as a “valet de chambre” and composer for the court of Philip the Bold. He went with the duke on his travels, going to Avignon at least twice (1391, and again in 1395), where he doubtless encountered the composers and music of the Avignon repertory; Avignon then was the center of composition on the manneristic ars subtilior style. He was perhaps one of the contributors to the repertory, but if he left any secular music, or any music in the complex, mannered style, it has either been lost or remains anonymous. The anonymous Règles de la seconde rhétorique, written around 1400, lists Tapissier as being among the most famous French poets, singers, and composers of the time. Around the time this account was written, and into the first decade of the 15th century, Tap

John Dunstaple

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John Dunstaple (or Dunstable; c. 1390 – 24 December 1453) was an English composer whose music helped inaugurate the transition from the medieval to the Renaissance periods. The central proponent of the Contenance angloise style (), Dunstaple was the leading English composer of his time, and is often coupled with William Byrd and Henry Purcell as England’s most important early music composers. His style would have an immense influence on the subsequent music of continental Europe, inspiring composers such as Du Fay, Binchois, Ockeghem and Busnois. Information on Dunstaple’s life is largely non-existent or speculative, with the only certain date of his activity being his death on Christmas Eve of 1453. Probably born in Dunstable in Bedfordshire during the late 14th-century, Dunstaple was associated with Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester and Joan of Navarre, and, through them, St Albans Abbey. Another important patron was John, Duke of Bedford, with whom Dunstaple may have travelled to France. Dunstaple’s surviving music is exclusively vocal, and frequently uses isorhythms, while pioneering the prominent use of harmonies with thirds and sixths. Life and career Nothing is known for certain

John Koukouzeles

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John Koukouzeles Papadopoulos () was a Byzantine composer, singer and reformer of Byzantine chant. He was recognized as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church after his death. Among the most illustrious musicians of the Palaiologos dynasty, his music remains held in high esteem by Albanians, Bulgarians, Greeks, Macedonians, Romanians and Serbs. Name and etymology The name “Koukouzeles” was not the composer’s surname. His real surname was Papadopoulos. “Koukouzeles” is allegedly derived from the Greek word for broad beans (κουκιά, koukia) and a Slavic/Bulgarian word for cabbage (зеле, zele). (probably Greek) He was orphaned in childhood. Nevertheless, the accuracy of Life is disputed, since it was written many years after the death of Koukouzeles and also makes several fantastical claims. this opinion is based on the existence of chromatic intervals in Byzantine music. where he received his education and established himself as one of the leading authorities in his field during the time. A favourite of the Byzantine emperor and a principal choir chanter, he moved to Mount Athos and led a monastic way of life in the Great Lavra. Because of his singing abilities, he was called “Angel-v

John of Damascus

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

John of Damascus or John Damascene, born Yūḥana ibn Manṣūr ibn Sarjūn, was a Christian monk, priest, hymnographer, and apologist. He was born and raised in Damascus c. AD 675 or AD 676; the precise date and place of his death is not known, though tradition places it at his monastery, Mar Saba, near Jerusalem, on 4 December AD 749. A polymath whose fields of interest and contribution included law, theology, philosophy, and music, he was given the by-name of Chrysorroas (Χρυσορρόας, literally “streaming with gold”, i.e. “the golden speaker”). He wrote works expounding the Christian faith, and composed hymns which are still used both liturgically in Eastern Christian practice throughout the world as well as in western Lutheranism at Easter. He is one of the Fathers of the Eastern Orthodox Church and is best known for his strong defence of icons. The Catholic Church regards him as a Doctor of the Church, often referred to as the Doctor of the Assumption due to his writings on the Assumption of Mary. He was also a prominent exponent of perichoresis, and employed the concept as a technical term to describe both the interpenetration of the divine and human natures of Christ and the relati

Julian of Speyer

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Julian of Speyer (; died c. 1250), also known as Julian of Spires, was a German Franciscan composer, poet and historian of the thirteenth century. Born in Speyer, Julian studied at the University of Paris and was the musical director for the royal chapel during the reigns of Philip Augustus and Louis VIII of France. Eventually, he left to become a member of the newly founded Order of St Francis, but exactly when is not known. In 1227, Julian accompanied Brother Simon Angelicus to Germany, when he was made Provincial of Germany by the General Chapter of Assisi. It is probable that he was present at the translation of St. Francis at Assisi in May 1230. Afterwards, he lived in Paris again at the great convent of the Minorites, where he was choir-master as well as corrector mensae (who oversees the reading in the refectory). Although in the Middle Ages, Julian of Speyer was held in high respect as a composer and writer of rhymed offices, he was almost forgotten until the end of the nineteenth century. It is certain that he composed the rhymed Office (historia) of St. Francis of Assisi (written between 23 February 1229 and 4 October 1235), as well as that of St. Anthony of Padua, who wa

Kassia

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Kassia, Cassia, Kassiane, or Kassiani (, ; c. 810 – c.865 ) was a Byzantine-Greek composer, hymnographer and poet. She holds a unique place in Byzantine music as the only known woman whose music appears in the Byzantine liturgy. Approximately fifty of her hymns are extant, most of which are stichera, though at least 26 have uncertain attribution. The authenticity issues are due to many hymns being anonymous, and others ascribed to different authors in different manuscripts. She was an abbess of a convent in the west of Constantinople. Additionally, many epigrams and gnomic verses are attributed to her, at least 261. Kassia is notable as one of at least two women in the middle Byzantine period known to have written in their own names, the other being Anna Comnena. Like her predecessors Romanos the Melodist and Andrew of Crete, the earliest surviving manuscripts of her works are dated centuries after her lifetime. Name Her name is a feminine Greek form of the Latin name Cassius. It is variously spelled Κασσιανή (contemporary pronunciation ), Κασ(σ)ία (Kas s ia), Εικασία (Eikasia), Ικασία (Ikasia), Kassiani, Cas s ia, Cassiane, Kassiana. Modern English-language references to her as a

Kir Stefan the Serb

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Kir Stefan the Serb (Serbian Cyrillic: Кир Стефан Србин/Kir Stefan Srbin; second half of the 14th and 15th century) was a Serbian monk, protopsaltos, musicologist, choirmaster. More importantly, composers of the chants developed within the sphere of the activities of the Byzantine church in the Serbian state. Together with (but independently from) Isaiah the Serb and Nikola the Serb he followed faithfully the Byzantine musical traditions, writing in the late kalophonic style of the 14th and 15th centuries. With his distinctive compositional style, he is one of the earliest (if not the earliest) identifiable Medieval Serbian composers and also one of the founders of a new and distinctive style called Serbo-Byzantine school. Biography Several of Stefan’s original texts and copies have been preserved, which can still be found in foreign libraries today. His most famous work is a collection of church hymns — Psaltikia. The original manuscript of the Psaltikia was kept in the National Library in Belgrade, where it disappeared on 6 April 1941. In 2017, the entire National Library burned down due to a bombing. Only twelve photocopied sheets have been preserved, on which, in addition to th

Leonel Power

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Leonel Power (also spelled Lionel, Lyonel, Leonellus, Leonelle; Polbero), c. 1380–1445, was an English composer of the early Renaissance. Along with John Dunstaple he was a dominant figure of 15th-century English music. Mainly a composer of motets and of sections of the Mass, he is the best-represented contributor in the Old Hall Manuscript. Occasionally he is referred to by his Christian name only. Life and career Very little is known about Power’s life. Documents dating from the early 1440s refer to him as a native of Kent. Stylistic analysis of his music, as well as his probable age during his known appointments, show that he may have been born between 1370 and 1385. A suggestion that Power was of Irish origin, which appeared in W.H.G. Flood’s 1905 A History of Irish Music, is usually discounted by modern scholars, since Flood is not known to have had any other sources on Power’s life than are currently available. The earliest dated reference to Power refers to him as instructor to the choristers of the household chapel of Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence. The duke died in 1421; the next reference to Power is from 1423: on 14 May he joined the fraternity of Christ Churc

Léonin

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Léonin’s Magnus liber organi#

All our knowledge about him starts from the writing of a 13th century student at the cathedral known as Anonymous IV, an Englishman who left a treatise on theory and who mentions Léonin as the composer of the Magnus Liber organi, the “great book of organum”. And note that master Leoninus was the best organista (composer?/singer? of organum), he made (composed?) the great organum-book about the Gradual and about the Antiphonary in order to expand the Divine Service. This book remained in use until the time of the great Perotinus who abridged it and composed clausulae or many other sections in a better way, because he was the best discantor (composer?/singer? of discant) and better than Leoninus, but this cannot be said about the subtlety of his organum. Much of the Magnus Liber (as it is present from later manuscripts after Pérotin) is devoted to clausulae—melismatic portions of Gregorian chant which were extracted into separate pieces where the original note values of the chant were greatly slowed down and a fast-moving upper part is superimposed. Léonin may have created a new level of Parisian florid organum which was called «organum purum» by Anonymus IV and praised for its delicate and subtle style, and he founded the cathedral school Notre-Dame de Paris whose achievements were documented by the Magnus liber. The use of rhythmic modes and the probable inventor of modal notation was likely Pérotin who revised Léonin’s Magnus liber by replacing sections of discant by rhythmic clausulae which were collected in an appendix, either to vary the organa or to compose motets over them, as described by Anonymus IV. Still William Waite wrote in his doctoral thesis (1954): “It was Léonin’s incomparable achievement to introduce a rational system of rhythm into polyphonic music for the first time, and, equally important, to create a method of notation expressive of this rhythm.” This outdated approach is not aware of the nature of the preserved manuscripts, but might explain editions whose editors project later rhythmic notation systems on eleventh and twelfth-century sources (which still concerns Léonin’s school), but a version “in use until Pérotin” mentioned by Anonymus IV has not been found yet.

Lisa de Londres

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Lisa de Londres ( 1220–1250) was a trobairitz, a female composer in Old Occitan. Her work is known only from three lines quoted in Italian translation in the Reggimento e costumi di donna of Francesco da Barberino (died 1348), who also mentions her in his Documenti d’amore. The three lines are: It is unclear what kind of poem the three lines are taken from, perhaps a tenso, an ensenhamen or a cobla esparsa. In a tenso with , the Comtessa de Dia seems to allude to this poem by Lisa. In the Commentario of his Documenti, Barberino gives a Latin summary of a six-stanza tenso between Lisa (now called domina Lysa) and Felip Engles on courtly love. From the Latin summaries alone, the work appears “masterful” (meisterliche), according to Angelica Rieger. Saverio Guida and Gerardo Larghi tentatively identified Lisa with Salvatja de Londra, who judged a partimen between Lanfranc Cigala and Lantelm. Antoine Thomas suggested that Lisa was the same person as Auliane de Anglia, mentioned elsewhere by Barberino. “Londres” has sometimes been taken to refer to London (as in Friedrich Christian Diez), partially on the basis that her interlocutor’s name, Felip Engles, means “Philip the Englishman”. I

Lorenzo da Firenze

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Lorenzo Masi, known as Lorenzo da Firenze (Magister Laurentius de Florentia; died December 1372 or January 1373), was an Italian composer and music teacher of the Trecento. He was closely associated with Francesco Landini in Florence, and was one of the composers of the period known as the Italian ars nova. Life and career Little is known about his life, but some details can be inferred from the music. He was active as a teacher in Florence, probably as a teacher of Landini himself. He became a canon at the church of San Lorenzo in 1348, a post which he retained for the rest of his life. Lorenzo is represented in the Squarcialupi Codex, the illuminated manuscript which is the most comprehensive source of Italian music of the 14th century, with 16 pieces of music, 10 madrigals, 6 ballate and one caccia. In addition to his contribution to that collection, he wrote two mass movements which have survived (one of which is of doubtful attribution) and a pedagogical piece (the Antefana), the text of which shows that he was a teacher. Music His style is progressive, sometimes experimental, but conservative in other ways. While he used imitation, a relatively new musical technique, and hete

Maestro Piero

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Maestro Piero (Magister Piero or Piero) (born before 1300, died shortly after 1350) was an Italian composer of the late medieval era. He was one of the first composers of the Trecento who is known by name, and probably one of the oldest. He is mainly known for his madrigals. Life No details are known of his life other than what can be inferred from his music, and from an illustration which probably contains his picture. He is depicted as a man of 50–60 years old in a Bolognese illustration from the first half of the 14th century, so he was probably born before 1300. Unlike many of the Trecento composers, he was not a Florentine, since he does not appear in the chronicle by Filippo Villani, which includes all of the musicians active there throughout the 14th century. Piero was possibly from Assisi, and is known to have been in Milan and Verona, employed by the Visconti and della Scala families, respectively; in addition, he may have been in Padua with Antonio della Scala before going to Verona, along with composer Giovanni da Cascia (Giovanni da Firenze). He was also associated with composer Jacopo da Bologna during this period, and the three composers appear to have engaged in a co

Marchetto da Padova

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Marchetto da Padova (Marchettus of Padua; fl. 1305 – 1319) was an Italian music theorist and composer of the late medieval era. His innovations in notation of time-values were fundamental to the music of the Italian ars nova, as was his work on defining the modes and refining tuning. In addition, he was the first music theorist to discuss chromaticism. Life Most likely he was born in Padua. Little is known about his life, but he is recorded as being music teacher for the choirboys at the cathedral in Padua in 1305 and 1306, and he left Padua in 1308 to work in other cities in the Veneto and the Romagna. His two major treatises seem to have been written between 1317 and 1319, shortly before Philippe de Vitry produced his Ars nova (c. 1322), which gave its name to the music of the age. Marchetto indicated in the treatises themselves that he wrote them at Cesena and Verona. There are no other reliable records of his life, although his fame was evidently widespread, and his work became hugely influential later in the 14th century. Music Only three motets have been reliably attributed to Marchetto, one of them due to his name appearing as an acrostic in the text for one of the parts (/)

Martinus Fabri

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Martinus Fabri (died May 1400) was a composer of the late 14th century. Fabri was probably either from the County of Flanders or in an area in the Holy Roman Empire that is now in the Netherlands, and lived near the end of the Middle Ages. The surname “Fabri” was probably a Latinization of a name like Smit, Smeets or perhaps Le Fèvre (all meaning “smith”) . Little is known about his life. Apart from an undated mention of his name in the records of the church of St Donatian, Bruges, he is known to have been a singer at the court of Holland at The Hague from 1395 until his death in May 1400 . Of the three singers known to have been at the court in this time period, he was the only one known to have had a university degree . After his demise, several books of polyphonic music were bought from his estate by the Count of Holland for use in his chapel . Of his compositions, only four complete pieces survive, all ballades. Two of these have French texts (Or se depart and N’ay je cause d’estre lies et joyeux) and are in the ars subtilior style, highly complex and mannered . Both are three-voice compositions, though there are two (incompatible) alternatives for the third voice in Or se depa

Matheus de Sancto Johanne

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Matheus de Sancto Johanne (died after 10 June 1391), also known as Mayshuet, was a French composer of the late Medieval era. Active both in France and England, he was one of the representatives of the complex, manneristic musical style known as the ars subtilior which flourished around the court of the Avignon Papacy during the Great Schism. Life and career Matheus was probably born in the diocese of Noyon, northeast of Paris. Nothing of his early life is known, nor is his age when he begins to appear in historical records. He worked in England from about 1366 as a clerk for the son-in-law of Edward III, and later for Philippa of Hainault, queen consort of Edward. In 1368 he came back to France. The next ten years are a blank, but at some time during this period he had begun working for Robert of Geneva, who later became Antipope Clement VII. In November 1378 – the same year Clement became pope – he is recorded as being a clerk for the Louis I, Duke of Anjou, and between 1382 and 1387 he was at the papal court in Avignon as a chaplain. and five secular works: three ballades and two rondeaux. Two of the ballades, and one of the rondeaux, are for three voices, and these are later com

Neidhart von Reuental

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Neidhart (Middle High German ) c. 1190 (later often called Neidhart von Reuental) was one of the most famous . With around 1500 documented strophes of his songs surviving, Neidhart has the largest corpus of surviving lyrics of any , suggesting the great popularity of the songs. In addition, and quite unlike any of his contemporaries, many melodies to his songs have been preserved: manuscripts have almost 70 melodies to 55 of his songs. Neidhart’s lyrics are highly innovative: into the courtly genre of Minnesang, he introduced peasant characters, who are often shown in conflict with the knightly class. Both classes are sometimes treated as objects of satire. His songs are traditionally divided into summer and winter songs (), each group opening with a piece of seasonal description of nature. But there are also songs which fall outside these categories and which in the past were often regarded as the work of later imitators. Neidhart’s works continued to enjoy great popularity long after his death. He was transformed into the legendary, peasant-hating “Neidhart Fuchs” in late 15th century comical stories (German ), and he also had a legacy in the visual arts, with woodcuts, frescos a

Niccolò da Perugia

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Niccolò da Perugia (Niccolò del Proposto also spelled as Nicolò. Latin, Magister Sere Nicholaus Prepositi de Perugia) (fl. second half of the 14th century) was an Italian composer of the Trecento, the musical period also known as the “Italian ars nova”. He was a contemporary of Francesco Landini, and apparently was most active in Florence. Life and career Little is known for certain about his life; only a few biographical details are verifiable from extramusical sources. He was probably from Perugia, and may have been the son of the provost (“proposto”) there. In 1362 he was listed as a visitor to the monastery of Santa Trinita along with Gherardello da Firenze. From the evidence of his music, he was probably a friend of the Florentine poet Franco Sacchetti, and must have done the bulk of his composing between 1360 and 1375, since those are the outside dates known for the poems he set. He may be the same as the Ser Niccolò recorded as a notable singer of laude in 1393. One of his compositions, La fiera testa, was likely written against the Visconti family when Florence was at war with Milan between 1397 and 1400; Niccolò may have been in Perugia then. Music A total of 41 compositio

Nicolas Grenon

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Nicolas Grenon (c. 1375 – October 17, 1456) was a French composer of the early Renaissance. He wrote in all the prevailing musical forms of the time, and was a rare case of a long-lived composer who learned his craft in the late 14th century but primarily practiced during the era during which the Renaissance styles were forming. Life The earliest records of Grenon are from Paris, where he worked first in the Notre Dame Cathedral, and on the death of his brother moved to a job at the St Sépulchre as a canon. He rose in the ecclesiastical hierarchy at St Sépulchre, and then left Paris, moving first to Laon in 1403, and then Cambrai in 1408. In 1409 he took a post for the Duke of Berry as the “master of the boys”, the music teacher and caretaker of the choirboys, at Bourges; and in 1412 he began his career with the Burgundian court of John the Fearless (Duke of Burgundy). In 1419 he returned to Cambrai, and from 1425 to 1427 worked in Rome as the master of the choirboys in the papal chapel under Pope Martin V. He retired to Cambrai, where in the 1440s he worked with Guillaume Dufay on a complete revision of the polyphonic liturgical music of the cathedral. He died in Cambrai in 1456 a

Notker Physicus

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Notker Physicus (c. 900 – 12 November 975) was a Benedictine monk at the Abbey of Saint Gall, active as a physician, painter, composer and poet. He is best known for his medical prowess, and may have been physician to the Holy Roman Emperors Otto I and Otto II. His paintings, now lost, were well regarded in his time, and two of his compositions survive, an office and hymn. Aside from physicus (), or the equivalent medicus, he was also nicknamed piperis granum () on account of his monastic dedication. He is sometimes called Notker II, living after St. Gall’s Notker the Stammerer and before Notker Labeo. Life and career Notker’s birth year is unknown; the philologist estimated it around 900, which is also given by the Great Norwegian Encyclopedia. His life was spent at the Abbey of Saint Gall, although only two specific dates can be connected with Notker, aside from his death. By 956 or 957, he had obtained the cellarius () position as an administrator, and by 965 the hospitarius () position as a physician. Notker is probably identifiable with a Notker notarius, indicating that he was a notary. His medical expertise probably led him to be physician of the Holy Roman Emperors Otto I a

Notker the Stammerer

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Notker the Stammerer (c. 840 – 6 April 912), Notker Balbulus, or simply Notker, was a Benedictine monk at the Abbey of Saint Gall active as a composer, poet and scholar. Described as “a significant figure in the Western Church”, Notker made substantial contributions to both the music and literature of his time. He is usually credited with two major works of the Carolingian period: the Liber Hymnorum, which includes an important collection of early musical sequences, and an early biography of Charlemagne, the Gesta Karoli Magni. His other works include a biography of Saint Gall known as the Vita Sancti Galli and a martyrology, among others. Born near the Abbey of Saint Gall, Notker was educated alongside the monks Tuotilo and Ratpert; all three were composers, making the Abbey an important center of early medieval music. Notker quickly became a central figure of the Abbey and among the leading literary scholars of the Early Middle Ages. A renowned teacher, he taught Solomon III, the bishop of Constance and on occasion advised Charles the Fat. Although venerated by the Abbey of Saint Gall and the namesake of later scholars there such as Notker Physicus and Notker Labeo, Notker was ne

Oswald von Wolkenstein

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Oswald von Wolkenstein (1376 or 1377 in Pfalzen – August 2, 1445, in Meran) was a poet, composer and diplomat. In his diplomatic capacity, he traveled through much of Europe to as far as Georgia (as recounted in “Durch Barbarei, Arabia”). He was dubbed a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre and was also inducted into the Order of the Jar and the Order of the Dragon. He lived for a time in Seis am Schlern. Life Oswald’s father was Friedrich von Wolkenstein and his mother was Katharina von Villanders. When he was ten years old, Oswald left his family and became a squire of a knight errant. Oswald described the journeys undertaken by him in the following 14 years in his autobiographical song “Es fügt sich…”. He mentioned his travels to Crete, Prussia, Lithuania, Crimea, Turkey, the Holy Land, France, Lombardy (i.e. what is known today as Northern Italy) and Spain, as well as being shipwrecked in the Black Sea. After the death of his father in 1399, Oswald returned to the County of Tyrol and began a quarrel with his older brother Michael about their inheritance. From 1401 to 1402, Oswald participated in the failed Italian expedition of King Rupert of Germany. In 1407 he and his brother agree

Otto von Botenlauben

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Otto von Botenlauben or Botenlouben (1177, Henneberg – before 1245, near Bad Kissingen), the Count of Henneberg from 1206, was a German minnesinger, Crusader and monastic founder. Otto von Botenlauben was the fourth son of Count Poppo VI von Henneberg and his wife Sophia, countess of Andechs and margravine of Istria. In the oldest records (from 1196 and 1197), he still called himself Count von Henneberg. In 1206, he pronounced himself Count von Botenlauben, after Botenlauben Castle near Bad Kissingen, the ruins of which remain to this day. Otto’s existence is first recorded at the court of Emperor Henry VI in 1197, when he took part in the Emperors’ campaign to Italy. After that, Otto travelled to the Holy Land and made a career in the kingdom of Jerusalem, where he gained good standing, prosperity and married Beatrix de Courtenay, the daughter of the royal seneschal Joscelin III of Edessa, in 1205. In 1220, he sold his hereditary lands (iure uxoris), the seigneurie de Joscelin, to the Teutonic Knights and returned to Germany, where he would attend the royal court often in the years that followed. His sons, Otto and Henry, as well as his grandson Albert, joined the clergy and so Ot

Paolo da Firenze

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Paolo da Firenze (Paolo Tenorista, “Magister Dominus Paulas Abbas de Florentia”) (c. 1355 – after September 20, 1436) was an Italian composer and music theorist of the late 14th and early 15th centuries, the transition from the musical Medieval era to the Renaissance. More surviving music of the Trecento is attributable to Paolo than to any other composer except for Francesco Landini. Life Paolo was born in Florence; his father’s name was Marco. He was most likely from a humble family. He had three brothers. When he resigned as abbot on June 16, 1433 he was seventy-eight years old, giving his approximate birth year as 1355. He became a Benedictine around 1380, and the portrait of him in the Squarcialupi Codex shows him in a Benedictine black cassock. On March 8, 1401 he took the post of abbot at S. Martin al Pino. Before 1417 he became the rector at Orbetello, a post he probably retained until around 1427. In the first decade of the 15th century, probably close to 1410, while in Florence, he supervised the compilation of Squarcialupi Codex, the single most important source of music in Italy in the 14th century. Paolo died in Florence. Since his will was dated September 21, 1436, he

Pérotin

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Identity and career#

Pérotin, about whom little is known, most likely lived around the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th century and is presumed to have been French. The closest thing to a contemporary account of his life comes from two much later reporters: a brief mention attributed to the music theorist Johannes de Garlandia () in his De Mensurabili Musica, and four mentions in the works of a late 13c English student known as Anonymous IV. At one stage Anonymous IV was thought to be a pupil of Johannes de Garlandia, but this is unlikely, and the name is a misnomer, derived from the title of notes by Charles-Edmond-Henri de Coussemaker, Anonymus IV. These were probably notes taken by the student in a lecture. including this paragraph: These rules were used in many older books; this was so during and after the time of Perotinus the Great. Nevertheless, they did not know how to distinguish these notes from those which will be presented shortly. This was so even since the time of Leo, because two ligated notes were put for the durational value of a brevis longa, and in a similar manner, three ligated notes were quite often used for a longa brevis, longa. People say Maître Leonin was the best composer of Organum (optimus organista), he composed the Great Organum Book for the gradual and antiphonary in order to prolong the divine service. This book remained in use until the time of the great Perotin who abridged it and composed clausules and sections that were many in number and better because he was the best composer of descant (optimus discantor). This Magister Perotinus made the best quadrupla, such as Viderunt and Sederunt, with an abundance of striking musical embellishments colores armonicae artis ; likewise, the noblest tripla, such as Alleluia, Posui adiutorium and Alleluia , Nativitas etc. He also made three-voice conductus, such as Salvatoris hodie, and two-voice conductus, such as Dum sigillum summi Patris, and also, among many others, monophonic conductus, such as Beata viscera etc. The book, that is, the books of Magister Perotinus, were in use in the choir of the Paris cathedral of the Blessed Virgin up to the time of Magister Robertus de Sabilone, and from his time up to the present day. There have been many speculative attempts to identify Pérotin with members of the Notre Dame administration, but these have not generally been accepted. Of the several people with that name (Petrus) that have been suggested, the commonest are Petrus Cantor (died 1197), who was a theologian, and another Petrus who was Succentor at Notre Dame ca. 1207–1238. Of these two, Petrus Succentor has been suggested as more probable, in part on chronological grounds, and partly because of the succentor’s role in overseeing the celebration of the liturgy in the cathedral (whose choir was dedicated 1182), but this is purely speculative, resting on an assumption that the composer held some important rank in the cathedral hierarchy. Pérotin is considered to be the most important member of the Notre Dame school of polyphony, a group of composers working at or near the cathedral in Paris from about 1160 to 1250, creators of the style. The dates of Pérotin’s life and works have long been a subject of debate, but are generally thought to be from about 1155/60 (or earlier) to around 1200/05 (or later), based on the evolution of French choral writing during this time (see Works), in particular, his apparent absence from the flowering of the French motet that occurred after 1210. Pérotin was one of very few composers of his day whose name has been preserved, and can be reliably attached to individual compositions, most of which have been transcribed. Anonymous IV called him Magister Perotinus (Pérotinus the Master). The title, employed also by Johannes de Garlandia, means that Perotinus, like Léonin, earned the degree magister artium, almost certainly in Paris, and that he was licensed to teach. However, only Anonymous IV employed the epithet Perotinus Magnus (Perotinus the Great). The name Perotinus, the Latin diminutive of Petrus, is assumed to be derived from the French name Pérotin, diminutive of Pierre. However “Petrus” was one of the most common names in the Ile de France during the High Middle Ages, making further identification difficult. The diminutive was presumably a mark of respect bestowed by his colleagues. The title Magnus was a mark of the esteem in which he was held, even long after his death.

Peter Abelard

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Peter Abelard (12 February 1079 – 21 April 1142) was a medieval French scholastic, philosopher, leading logician, theologian, teacher, musician, composer, and poet. In philosophy, he is celebrated for his logical solution to the problem of universals via nominalism and conceptualism and his pioneering of intent in ethics. Often referred to as the “Descartes of the twelfth century”, he is considered a forerunner of Rousseau, Kant, and Spinoza. He is sometimes credited as a chief forerunner of modern empiricism. In Catholic theology, he is best known for his development of the concept of limbo, and his introduction of the moral influence theory of atonement. He is considered (alongside Augustine) to be the most significant forerunner of the modern self-reflective autobiographer. He paved the way and set the tone for later epistolary novels and celebrity tell-alls with his publicly distributed letter, The History of My Calamities, and public correspondence. In history and popular culture he is best known for his passionate, tragic love affair and intense philosophical exchange with his brilliant student and eventual wife, Héloïse d’Argenteuil. Early life Abelard, originally called “Pi

Petrus de Cruce

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Petrus de Cruce (also Pierre de la Croix) was active as a cleric, composer and music theorist in the late part of the 13th century. His main contribution was to the notational system. Life 13th-century composer, theorist, and scholar, Petrus de Cruce was apparently born in or near Amiens, in north-central France; for dates we know only that he was active in the years around 1290. He held the title of magistar, indicating that he probably studied at the University of Paris. Given the overlap of their lives and supposed tenures at Paris, Petrus may have been Franco of Cologne’s student. It is recorded that in 1298 he composed a monophonic office for the royal palace chapel at Paris, and that in 1301–2, he resided at the court of the Bishop of Amiens, undoubtedly as a member of his clerical staff, and most likely his chapel staff as well. Petrus died before 1347, since in that year is the first reference in the inventory of Amiens Cathedral to its possession of a polyphonic manuscript which he had apparently left them in his will. Contemporary and slightly later commentators spoke well of Petrus de Cruce; no less than the theorist Jacobus de Liėge called him, “that worthy practical mu

Petrus de Domarto

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Petrus de Domarto (fl. c. 1445–1455) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. He was a contemporary and probable acquaintance of Ockeghem, and was the composer of at least one of the first unified mass cycles to be written in continental Europe. Life Domarto’s life is poorly documented. He was listed as a singer at the Church of Our Lady in Antwerp in 1449, five years after Ockeghem was known to be there, and there is evidence he was in Tournai in 1451. He had a high reputation (which makes the lack of documentation on his life curious), but even so was passed over for a post as master of the choirboys (in favor of Paulus Iuvenis). No other documentation on his life has yet come to light. Music and reputation Domarto’s two mass settings, the Missa Spiritus almus and a Missa sine nomine, were famous at the time. The latter of the two may have been one of the earliest cyclic masses composed on the continent, most likely in the 1440s, and imitates some features of contemporary English composers such as Leonel Power. The Missa Spiritus almus, likely dating from the 1450s, is a cantus-firmus mass, with the melody always in the tenor, but with a changing rhythmic profile as it c

Philippe de Vitry

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Philippe de Vitry (31 October 12919 June 1361) was a French composer-poet, bishop and music theorist in the style of late medieval music. An accomplished, innovative, and influential composer, he was widely acknowledged as a leading musician of his day; the early Renaissance scholar Petrarch wrote a glowing tribute, calling him: “… the keenest and most ardent seeker of truth, so great a philosopher of our age.” The important music treatise Ars nova notandi (1322) is usually attributed to Vitry. It is thought that few of Vitry’s compositions survive; though he wrote secular music, only his sacred works are extant. Life and career Details of Philippe de Vitry’s early life are vague. While some medieval sources claim that he was born in the Champagne region, modern researchers have found that he may have originated from Vitry-en-Artois near Arras. Given that he is often referred to in documents as a Magister, Vitry is thought likely to have studied at the University of Paris. Later he was prominent in the courts of Charles IV, Philippe VI and Jean II, serving as a secretary and advisor. Perhaps aided by these Bourbon connections, he also held several canonries, including Clermont, B

Philippus de Caserta

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Philippus de Caserta, (; also Philipoctus, Filipotto, or Filipoctus) was a medieval music theorist and composer associated with the style known as ars subtilior. Life and career Philippus’ name indicates that he came from Caserta. He is generally thought to have worked at the Papal court at Avignon in the 1370s as his ballade, Par les bons Gedeons, praises antipope Clement VII. However, it has been suggested that Philippus never left Italy, that he wrote the above ballade at Fondi near Caserta, where Clement was elected Pope, and that he worked at the francophile court of Gian Galeazzo Visconti. Music Most of his surviving works are ballades, although a Credo was recently discovered, and a rondeau has been attributed to him. His ballade En attendant souffrir was written for Bernabò Visconti, confirmed by the presence of Visconti’s motto in the upper voice. Two of Caserta’s pieces, En remirant and De ma dolour, use fragments of text from chansons by the most famous composer of the century, Guillaume de Machaut. Caserta’s own repute was significant enough for Johannes Ciconia to borrow portions of Caserta’s ballades for his own virelai, Sus une fontayne. Five theoretical treatises ha

Pierre Fontaine (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Pierre Fontaine (; c. 1380 – c. 1450) was a French composer of the transitional era between the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, and a member of the Burgundian School of composers. While he was well known at the time, most of his music has probably been lost. All of his surviving music is secular, and all his compositions are chansons. Life He was born in Rouen and is presumed to have had his early musical training there. By 1403 he was a singer at the large and splendid chapel of Philip the Bold, and after it was disbanded in 1404 he became a clerk at Ste. Chapelle in Bourges, where he served at least until 1407. He was a singer at the court chapel of Burgundy when it was reconstituted, after a period of inactivity, by John the Fearless, the new Duke of Burgundy in 1415. When John died in 1419 Fontaine left the chapel and went to northern Italy, joining the singers in the chapel of Pope Martin V, where he probably remained through the early 1420s. Around the end of the decade he came back to Burgundy, where he sang in the chapel yet again, this time under Philip the Good, and where he remained at least until 1447. No record of his death survives, but a replacement for him w

Reinmar von Hagenau

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Reinmar von Hagenau (also Reinmar der Alte, Reinmar the Elder) was a German Minnesänger of the late twelfth century who composed and performed love-songs in Middle High German. He was regarded by his contemporaries as the greatest Minnesänger before Walther von der Vogelweide, a view widely shared by modern scholars. Although there are uncertainties as to which songs can be reliably attributed to him, a substantial body of his work — over 60 songs — survives. His presentation of courtly love as the unrequited love of a knight for a lady is “the essence of classical Minesang”. Life Nothing is known of Reinmar’s life except what can be deduced from the manuscript evidence of songs recorded under his name and from remarks by contemporaries. In the Minnesang manuscripts he is referred to simply by his forename, Her Reinmar (also Reimar, Reymar). In the Manesse Codex he is Her Reinmar der Alte, which serves to distinguish him from later singers such as Reinmar von Brennenberg, Reinmar der Fiedler or Reinmar von Zweter. The title Her (“sir”) indicates a man of knightly status, but the nature and scope of the surviving œvre indicate a professional singer reliant on patronage. Unlike Walth

Richard Loqueville

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Richard Loqueville (died 1418) was a French composer active during the transition between Medieval and Renaissance music. A musician at Cambrai Cathedral, Loqueville was a harpist and teacher, whose students included Edward III, Duke of Bar and the influential composer Guillaume Du Fay. Life and career Little is known of Loqueville’s life. A trained harpist, he taught it to Edward III, the son of the Robert, Duke of Bar, in 1410. He is also known to have taught plainsong to the Duke’s choirboys. From 1413 until the end of his life he taught music at Cambrai Cathedral alongside Nicolas Malin. The celebrated composer Guillaume Du Fay was likely a student his student at the cathedral and Du Fay’s first compositions were probably written under his influence and instruction. He is known to have been married. In 1418 he died in Cambrai. Music Attributed to him are four rondeaux, a ballade, an isorhythmic motet in honour of the Breton saint Yvo, a Marian motet, and several Mass movements. Works Editions Loqueville’s works are included in the following collections: * Notes References Sources ;Books * * * * * * * * ;Journals and articles * * * Further reading * External links * * Works by R

Rigaut de Berbezilh

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Rigaut de Berbezilh (also Berbezill or Barbesiu; , ) was a troubadour (fl. 1140–1163 ) of the petty nobility of Saintonge. He was a great influence on the Sicilian School and is quoted in the Roman de la Rose. About fifteen of his poems survive, including one planh and nine or ten cansos. He was described as capable and handsome, but saup mielhs trobar qu’entendre ni que dire: “he knew better how to compose poetry than to listen to it or recite it.” He referred to her as Miellz-de-Domna, a senhal meaning “Best of Ladies”, in at least four of his works. Though he sang songs about Miellz-de-Domna for a long time, it was not believed that he had a sexual relationship with her. When she died he went to Spain and, according to two manuscripts of his vida, spent the rest of his life at the court of Diego López II de Haro, a famed patron of troubadours. History It is generally accepted that Rigaut was indeed from a family who had been deputies of the lord of the castle of Barbezieux. His family was probably distantly related to that of Jaufre Rudel through the Counts of Angoulême. He himself was probably the younger of two sons, but he married into an Angoumois family of rank. His entire

Solage

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Solage (; or Soulage), possibly Jean , was a French composer, and probably also a poet. He composed the most pieces in the Chantilly Codex, the principal source of music of the ars subtilior, the manneristic compositional school centered on Avignon at the end of the century. Life Nothing is known about Solage’s life, beyond what can be inferred from the texts to his music. Even his name is a puzzle. One possibility is that the single name “Solage” is a nickname or pseudonym, similar to others known from the period, such as Grimace or Hasprois. “Solage” and “soulage” are variant spellings of Old French solaz, solace, meaning “consolation”, “joy”, or “entertainment”. In the refrain to the text of Calextone qui fut dame, the composer refers to himself with such a double meaning, using the spelling “soulage”. However, the possibility that it is a genuine name cannot be ruled out. One of the attributions in the Chantilly Codex includes the initial J wrapped into the name, so it is possible his first name was . There are many references from that time to people called Jean Soulas (a name still found in modern times), and the surname Soulage or Soulages also existed (for example, Guillaum

Tibors de Sarenom

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Tibors de Sarenom (French Tiburge; c. 1130 – aft. 1198) is the earliest attestable trobairitz, active during the classical period of medieval Occitan literature at the height of the popularity of the troubadours. Biography Tibors is one of eight trobairitz with vidas, short Occitan biographies, often more hypothetical than factual. Research into Tibors’ the poet’s identification with an independently recorded individual is hampered by the popularity of her name in Occitania during the period of her life. Tibors was the daughter of Guilhem d’Omelas and Tibors d’Aurenga, who brought her husband the castle of Sarenom, probably Sérignan-du-Comtat in Provence or perhaps Sérignan in the Roussillon. Tibors’ first husband, had already died. She had no recorded children by him, but with Bertrand she had three sons: Uc, father of Barral of Marseille; Bertran, father of Raimon; and Guilhem, also a troubadour. Tibors is said to have died soon after her husband (1180) in 1181 or 1182, but a document of her son Uc dated 13 August 1198 refers to “the advice of his mother Tibors”. Poetry Of Tibors’ work only a single stanza of a canso with its attached vida and razo has survived. Nonetheless, she

Tuotilo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Tuotilo or Tutilo OSB (died 915) was a Frankish monk at the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Gall. He was a composer, and according to Ekkehard IV a century later, also a poet, musician, painter and sculptor. Various trope melodies can be assigned to Tuotilo, but works of other mediums are attributed with less certainty. He was a student of and friends with the fellow monk Notker the Stammerer. Life and career Born in Alemannic Germany, he is said to have been a large and powerfully built man, and an excellent boxer. Always cheerful and in excellent spirits, he was a general favorite. He received his education at St. Gall’s, from and the Irishman Moengall, teachers in the monastic school. He was the friend of Notker of St. Gall, with whom he studied music under Moengal. Educated at the Abbey of St. Gall, he remained to become a monk there. Tuotilo was a composer, poet, musician, painter and sculptor. According to the British librarian John W Bradley, Tuotilo was said to be “a good speaker, had a fine musical voice, was a capital carver in wood, and an accomplished illuminator. Like most of the earlier monks of St. Gall, he was a clever musician, equally skillful with the trumpet and the

Udalscalcus

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Udalschalk, Abbot of St Ulrich’s and St Afra’s Abbey, also known in sources as Uodalscalc, Uodalschalus, Uodalscalcus, Odalschalchus and Udalscalcus was a German Benedictine historian, writer, composer and copyist, active in Augsburg, Konstanz and Rome. He was a minor literary opponent of the Imperial party during the Investiture Controversy. Life Monk Born in Augsburg, he debated the Imperial-invested Hermann II of Augsburg alongside Egino, who was then abbot and Udalschalk’s superior. This engagement is only recorded in the Uodalscalcus de Eginone et Herimanno (MG. SS. XII, 429), with Udalschalk accusing Hermann of making his brother, Patriarch Ulric of Aquleia, commit simony by bribing Henry IV so that Hermann could be invested as bishop by Henry. After Egino fled Augsberg in 1120, Udalschalk went to Konstanz, where he compiled the life of Bishop Conrad of Konstanz for the purpose of canonisation. At around the same time as the biography of Conrad’s completion in 1123, Udalschalk also wrote a biography of Adalbero of Augsberg. Abbot In 1125, he was unanimously elected as the Abbot of St Ulrich’s and St Afra’s Abbey, succeeding Wollemar. He compiled his registrum tonorum, a set o

Walther von der Vogelweide

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Walther von der Vogelweide (; c. 1170) was a Minnesänger who composed and performed love-songs and political songs (Sprüche) in Middle High German. Walther has been described as the greatest German lyrical poet before Goethe; his hundred or so love-songs are widely regarded as the pinnacle of Minnesang, the medieval German courtly love song tradition, and his innovations breathed new life into this genre. He was also the first political poet to write in German, with a considerable body of encomium, satire, invective, and moralising. Little is known about Walther’s life. He was a travelling singer who performed for patrons at various princely courts in the states of the Holy Roman Empire. He is particularly associated with the Babenberg court in Vienna. Later in life he was given a small fief by the future Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II. His work was widely celebrated in his time and in succeeding generations—for the Meistersingers he was a songwriter to emulate—and this is reflected in the exceptional preservation of his work in 32 manuscripts from all parts of the High German area. The largest single collection is found in the Codex Manesse, which includes around 90% of his know

Wipo of Burgundy

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Wipo of Burgundy (also Wippo or Wigbert; c. 995 – c. 1050), often simply Wipo, was a priest, poet and chronicler. He was a chaplain to the Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II and may have acted as a tutor to his son Henry III, to whom he dedicated a number of works. His biography of Conrad II, entitled Gesta Chuonradi II imperatoris, is a key source for Conrad’s reign. The well-known musical sequence, Victimae paschali laudes is often attributed to him, though its authenticity remains uncertain. Life Information on Wipo’s life is chiefly available from his writings. His name, sometimes spelled “Wippo”, is a shortened form of “Wigbert”. It is believed that he was born in the Swabian German-speaking portion of the Burgundy, because his name is Swabian. He shows a close interest in Burgundian affairs in his writings, and claims to have personally known , Bishop of Lausanne (985–1018). In the course of his education he gained close familiarity with the Vulgate Bible and with a classical Latin texts. He does not refer to any patristic texts. Volker Huth argues that the prologue of the Gesta Chuonradi shows philosophical affinities with the 9th-century theologian , who was based at the Abbey of

Wolfram von Eschenbach

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Wolfram von Eschenbach (; c. 1160/80 – c. 1220) was a German knight, poet and composer, regarded as one of the greatest epic poets of medieval German literature. As a Minnesinger, he also wrote lyric poetry. Life Little is known of Wolfram’s life. There are no historical documents which mention him, and his works are the sole source of evidence. In Parzival, he talks of (“we Bavarians”); the dialect of his works is East Franconian. On the basis of this and a number of geographical references, the present-day Wolframs-Eschenbach, until 1917 Obereschenbach, near Ansbach in present-day Bavaria, has been officially designated as his birthplace. However, the evidence is circumstantial and not without problems – there are at least four other places named Eschenbach in Bavaria, and Wolframs-Eschenbach was not part of the Duchy of Bavaria (, ‘Old Bavaria’) in Wolfram’s time. The arms shown in the Manesse manuscript come from the imagination of a 14th-century artist, drawing on the figure of the Red Knight in Parzival, and have no heraldic connection with Wolfram. Wolfram’s work indicates a number of possible patrons (most reliably Hermann I of Thuringia), which suggests that he served at a

Yared

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Saint Yared (Ge’ez: ቅዱስ ያሬድ; 25 April 505 – 20 May 571) was an Aksumite composer, hymnwriter and scholar. He was credited with inventing the traditional music of Ethiopia, he developed the music of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Eritrean Orthodox Church. In a broader context, he helped establish liturgical music in the Coptic Orthodox Church and Syriac Orthodox Church, as well as create the Ethiopian musical notation system. Additionally, he composed Zema, or the chant tradition of Ethiopia, particularly the chants of the Ethiopian-Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Churches, which are still performed today. According to the medieval chronicle The Gadla Yared (Acts of Yared), Yared was born in Axum. After the death of his father, his activity in education gradually declined which led him to be sent to parish priest Abba Gedeon. Yared then went to his uncle birthplace in Murade Qal. He saw a worm trying to climb tree with numerous attempts until the last moment. The worm struggle had inspire him and pursue to read and study Holy Scriptures. He became a priest at Church of Our Lady, Mary of Zion, then attracted to the Aksum king Gebre Meskel. He developed musical notation, including Zema

Zacara da Teramo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Antonio “Zacara” da Teramo (in Latin Antonius Berardi Andree de Teramo, also Zacar, Zaccara, Zacharie, Zachara, and Çacharius; c.1350/1360 – between May 19, 1413 and mid-September 1416) was an Italian composer, singer, and papal secretary of the late Trecento and early 15th century. He was one of the most active Italian composers around 1400, and his style bridged the periods of the Trecento, ars subtilior, and beginnings of the musical Renaissance. Life Antonio was probably from Teramo, in northern Abruzzo (Kingdom of Naples), not far from the Adriatic coast. In musical sources he is sometimes called “Antonio da Teramo” and otherwise “Zacara da Teramo” (or something similar) leading many musicologists to suggest there were two composers of similar names. The possibility that two people were being conflated was removed in 1979 by research into the composer’s life by Agostino Ziino. (Another composer with a similar name, Nicolaus Zacharie, is considered to be a different person from the following generation of composers). Antonio’s nickname “Zaccara” (or “Zachara”; often regularized in modern editions as “Zacara”) probably is a reference to his short stature (he is described as havi

Záviš of Zápy

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Záviš of Zápy (; c. 1350 – c. 1422) was a Czech theologian and composer. Life Záviš was born in c. 1350 in Zápy. He received a Baccalaureate from Charles University in Prague in 1379, and became a professor there in 1391. He also studied laws in Rome and Padua. From 1394 to 1402 he was a canon in Olomouc, then taught again in Prague. The last time he is mentioned is in 1411 as a doctor of theology in Prague. From 1412 he was a canon of the diocese in Litomyšl until 1419. After the abolition of the diocese, he lived at the Premonstratensian abbey Želiv. He died in 1422. Works One of the most valuable Czech medieval songs (poems) is attributed to him. It is called Jižť mne všě radost ostává (sometimes also called Záviš’s song) and it follows the text of the song Alle Freude verlässt mich by German minnesinger Frauenlob. His sacred works were influenced by the Marian cult of the Late Middle Ages. His compositions were based on melodies of some older liturgical works, kept in the archive of the St Vitus Cathedral in Prague. He is also credited with the authorship of several Latin liturgical tropes: * O Maria, mater Christi * Kyrie Inmense conditor poli * Gloria Patri et filio It is als

Zhou Bangyan

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Zhou Bangyan (; 1056–1121) was a Chinese musician, poet, and politician of the Northern Song dynasty. He was from Qiantang (in modern Hangzhou). His courtesy name was Meicheng (), and his art name was Qingzhen Jushi (). He left a two-volume poetry anthology called either the Qingzhen-ji or the Pianyu-ci. Biography Birth and early life Zhou Bangyan was born in 1056. He was a native of Qiantang (錢塘/钱塘 Qiántáng, modern-day Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province). Political career At the age of 23, Zhou went to live in the capital Bianliang as a student at the National Academy. In 1083 he published “Rhapsody on the capital” (汴都賦 Biandu fu), which described the bustle of Bianliang while also praising the Song dynasty’s accomplishments. The poem pleased Emperor Shenzong, and Zhou was appointed Supervisor at the National Academy (太學正/太学正 taixuezheng). In 1087, at the age of 31, Zhou was sent to Lu Prefecture in Anhui where he worked as an instructor (教授). He stayed in the provinces for ten years, mostly as Sub-prefect of Lishui County in Jiangsu, before Emperor Zhezong recalled him in 1097 to be Registrar of the National Academy (國子主簿). He found favour with Emperor Zhezong and his successor Emperor