« Forse che sì, Forse che no… »

Frottole and Music in Early Renaissance Italy

Josquin Desprez (ca.1440-1521)

“In te Domine speravi” (O. Petrucci, Frottole libro I, Venezia 1504)

Bartolomeo Tromboncino (ca.1470-post 1535)

            “Vergine bella che di sol vestita” (A. Antico, “Canzoni nove…”, Roma 1510)

J. Bedingham de Anglia (sec. XV)

            “Madre che festi”/“Mon seul plaisir” (Ms Porto 714)

Joan Ambrosio Dalza (sec. XV – post 1508)

Tastar De Corde (O. Petrucci, “Intabolatura de lauto libro quarto”, Venezia 1508)

Raulin (?)

“Je suis trop jeunette” (O. Petrucci, Canti B, Venezia 1502)

Bartolomeo Tromboncino (ca.1470-post 1535)

“Ostinato vo seguire”(F. Bossinensis, “Tenori e contrabassi…libro primo”, Venezia 1509)

Anonimo

“Mon père m’a mariée” (O. Petrucci, Canti C, Venezia 1504)

Marchetto Cara (ca.1465-1525)

“Forsi che si forsi che no” (O. Petrucci, Frottole libro III, Venezia 1505)

Nicolò Broco (?)

“O tiente a l’ora” (O. Petrucci, Frottole libro VII, Venezia 1507)

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Loyset Compère (ca.1450-1518)

“Scaramella” (O. Petrucci, Frottole libro IV, Venezia 1505)

Marchetto Cara (ca.1465-1525)

“Non è tempo d’aspetare” (F. Bossinensis, “Tenori e contrabassi intabulati…libro primo”, Venezia 1509)

J. Bedingham de Anglia (sec. XV)

            “Gentil Madonna” (Ms Montecassino 871)

Francesco Spinacino (ca. 1450-post 1507)

Ricercare (O. Petrucci, “Intabolatura de lauto”, Venezia 1507)

Bartolomeo Tromboncino (ca.1470-post 1535)

“Per dolor me bagno il viso” (F. Bossinensis,“Tenori e contrabassi intabulati…libro secondo”, Venezia 1511)

Josquin Desprez (ca.1440-1521)

“Adieu mes amours” (O. Petrucci, Odhecaton, Venezia 1501)

Marchetto Cara (ca.1465-1525)

“O mia cieca e dura sorte” (F. Bossinensis, “Tenori e contrabassi intabulati…libro primo”, Venezia 1509)

Antoine Busnoys (ca.1430-1492)/Josquin Desprez (ca.1440-1521)

            “Fortuna desperata" (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, nouv. acq. fr. 4379)

Rossino Mantovano (fl.1505-1511)

Un sonar de piva in fachinesco (O. Petrucci, Frottole libro II, Venezia 1505)

After the invention of the printing press in 1440 it was not until 1501 that  Ottaviano Petrucci of Fossombrone succeeded in resolving the technical problems regarding the printing of music, publishing in Venice, the ”Odhecaton”, the first collection of polyphonic music to be printed and following that, two collections, “Canti B” and “Canti C.”

This landmark event was as important for music as was the invention of the printing press for European culture. One of the first consequences of this was the incentive to spread native Italian musical genres otherwise all but ignored at the courts where the Franco Flemish style was still regarded as leader in the production of musical manuscripts. Among these genres the most important was surely the frottola, of which Ottaviano Petrucci published 11 books with various reprints in the span of two decades. All of a sudden a vast and sophisticated repertoire emerged , though with frequent references to circles and popular situations, that was immediately successful and greatly appreciated by audiences of different social and cultural spheres. Celebrated composers of Frottole, among whom Marchetto Cara and Bartolomeo Tromboncino, appeared in the service of  the more culturally advanced courts which in turn became important sites of production and dissemination. The editions of Francesco Bossiniensis in tablature for lute and voice of the same Frottole too, were widespread, symptom of increasing interest for instrumental music.

Already towards the end of the XV century some Italian manuscripts allowed a new movement to shine through, including, alongside the Burgundian composers in fashion in Italy, some songs with different stylistic characteristics and different forms: accompanied by Italian texts, they were based on homorhythmic movement and declamatory style, aspiring to the clear intelligibility of the words rather than artful counterpoint. At the same time the new style aroused the interest of foreign composers who still dominated the cultured musical environment in Italy at end of the XV century, inspiring them to compose songs in the Italian language.

Isacco Colombo

Translation: Sigrid Lee

Ensemble COLLINETTO

Eugenia Corrieri (voice)

Alberto Crugnola (lute/ hurdy-gurdy)

Isacco Colombo (shawm/recorder)

Dani Pelagatti (bombard)

Ann Allen (bombard)

Sergej Yemelyanenkov (slide trumpet, early trombone)

“Colin”, “Colinet” or “Collinetto” is the name associated to a family of minstrels and musicians active in various European courts during the XV century; referring to “Colino and his companions”, chronicles often seem to describe a typical combination of wind instruments known as “alta cappella ” (loud consort) or more simply “Pifari” (pipers).

The alta cappella represents the most common ensemble for performing the music that accompanied solemn public and private celebrations as well as courtly dances in the late Middle Ages and throughout the entire Renaissance. The alta cappella in the XV century was usually formed by shawms-- double-reed instruments, ancestors of the modern oboe--, with the addition of a slide trumpet, and its later evolutions toward a form more closely resembling the trombone.

The ensemble “COLLINETTO” was formed from the Alta cappella of the“Schola Cantorum Basiliensis” of Basel, Switzerland (CH), institutefor the study and research of Early Music, where, for the first time,in the 1970’s, this type of ensemble and sonority was studied and recreated. Since then generations of students have succeeded one another in continuing the research, their performances finding positive reception and support in many occasions in Switzerland, France,Germany, Italy, participating in festivals and concert series, and in some cases representing the institute itself. Among the principal performances can be mentioned the participation in the final performance of the “Petrucci Festtage Basel” at the Basel Art museum, under the direction of Evelyn Tubb and Anthony Rooley, in celebration of the fifth centennial of music printing and participation in  the “Tartu Early Music Festival” of Tartu (Estonia). In December 2000 the ensemble was honored with the “Trans Regio” award from the Europäische Kultur Stiftung and from the Kulturfördergemeinschaft der Europäische Wirtschaft.