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COSTANZO FESTA’S (?)
MOTET O ALTITUDO DIVITIARUM RE-EXAMINED:
NEW SUGGESTIONS REGARDING ITS SOURCE CONTEXT,
ATTRIBUTION AND FUNCTION
For Kenneth Kreitner
According to José M. Llorens’s catalogue, two anonymous works in the manuscript
VatS (scribe: Johannes Parvus), copied around –, should be ascribed to
Costanzo Festa: Gaude felix ecclesia (fols. v–r) and O altitudo divitiarum (fols.
v–r) (Table ). Both are included in Festa’s Opera omnia, although its editor, Albert
Seay, admitted having some doubts about these ascriptions, being unable to determine
on what basis Llorens had made them. Nevertheless, the origin of Gaude felix ecclesia
appears to be quite clear and secure. What Llorens and Seay apparently missed is the fact
that this same motet, with the text Gaude felix Florentia and an ascription to Andreas de
Silva, appears in the manuscript RomeV S. – (olim: Vall.S.Borr.E.II.–; no.
). e motet was thus included in Andreas de Silva’s Opera omnia. In the foreword
Josephus M. Llorens, Capellae Sixtinae codices, musicis notis instructi sive manu scripti sive praelo excussi,
Città del Vaticano (= Studi e testi ), pp. –. It is important to note that, as Klaus Pietschmann
demonstrated, Llorens’s ascriptions in the Cappella Sistina catalogue are by Laurence Feininger. See Klaus
Pietschmann, ‘Laurence Feiningers Spartierungen von geistlicher Musik des . und . Jahrhunderts’, in
Analecta Musicologica, vol. , Vanitatis fuga, aeternitatis amor. Wolfgang Witzenmann zum . Geburtstag,
eds. Sabine Ehrmann-Herfort and Markus Engelhardt, pp. –. eir status as anonymous works
in the manuscript might explain why Alexander Main did not discuss them in his dissertation: Costanzo
Festa: e masses and motets, New York University (unpubl. diss.).
For modern editions of the motets Gaude felix ecclesia and O altitudo divitiarum, see Costanzo Festa: Opera omnia, ed.
Albert Seay, [Rome] American Institute of Musicology –, see vol. , pp. – and – respectively.
Ibid., p. xi.
For a description of the source and its contents, see Edward E. Lowinsky, ‘A newly discovered sixteenth-
century motet manuscript at the Biblioteca Vallicelliana in Rome’, Journal of the American Musicological
Society (), pp. –. Although its Florentine provenance is generally accepted, Anne-Maria Bragard
suggested that it might have been produced in Rome. On the origin of the manuscript, see ibid., pp. –;
for an overview of Lowinsky’s and Bragard’s interpretation, see H. Colin Slim, A gift of madrigals and motets,
vol. , Chicago , pp. –; see also Census-Catalogue of manuscript sources of polyphonic music, –,
eds. Herbert Kellman and Charles Hamm, vol. , Middleton , pp. –.
For its edition, see Andreas De Silva: Opera omnia, ed. Winfried Kirsch, [Rome] American Institute
of Musicology –, vol. , pp. –. Still an indispensable work on Andreas de Silva’s motets is
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to the edition, Winfried Kirsch says that ‘the historical motet Gaude felix Florentia in
honor of Pope Leo X, [was] composed probably on the occasion of his election in the
year . is motet has also come down with a text parody in honor of the Holy Virgin
(Gaude felix ecclesia) in a later source [VatS ]’. If it was really Festa who made textual
and musical changes in de Silva’s work, can the work be attributed to Festa? I think
that whoever it was actually made only small retouches to adjust de Silva’s work to the
dierent performance circumstances; it is clear that a new text in VatS needed some
rhythmic adjustments to produce better declamation. I think that the motet was not
composed as a new work on the basis of the pre-existing one but that somebody just
‘musically interfered’ in the nal shape of de Silva’s work.
It is worth taking a closer look at Andreas de Silva’s motet. It consists of three partes;
the two outer movements are for six voices, the middle one for four. e movements
are roughly the same length; the rst has bars, the second and the last . e
entire prima pars is written in cut-C mensuration; the secunda pars begins with C but
later changes to proportio tripla (cut-C; bar ) and arrives at tempus imperfectum
diminutum (bar ). e last pars adheres to tempus imperfectum throughout.
e motet opens with a long duo of the two upper voices (bars –), after which
three other voices come in (bar ). Within this opening duo, there are ve musical-
textual phrases that are separated by rests and create points of imitation. ey run as
follows: ‘Gaude felix Florentia / Que verum Christi vicarium / Ac indubitatum Petri
successorem / Obtinere meruisti’. e cantus rmus-ostinato Gaude felix Florentia is
rst stated in bar , at the place where the other voices intone the words ‘Leonem
decimum’. It is stated three times in the prima pars. While the ve other voices share
some melodic material and rhythmic structure among themselves, the cantus rmus
does not seem to be integrated with them. e secunda pars, written for four voices,
does not employ a cantus rmus. It is mainly based on the imitation of the musical-textual
Winfried Kirsch, Die Motetten des Andreas Silva. Studien zur Geschichte der Motette im . Jahrhundert,
Tutzing (= Frankfurter Beiträge zur Musikwissenschaft ).
Andreas De Silva: Opera omnia, op. cit., vol. , p. ix. It is generally agreed that the motet with the text
Gaude felix Florentia in the Vallicelliana manuscript was originally intended for Pope Leo X’s election in
; see e.g. discussion on the motet in Lowinsky, op. cit., pp. –. Sherr reinforced and elaborated
this hypothesis by demonstrating that the use of a cantus rmus and the number eleven used in the
motet as a structural element might refer symbolically to Pope Leo X, see Richard Sherr, ‘e Medici
coat of arms in a motet for Leo X’, Early Music (), pp. –. See also facsimile of the alto and bass
parts (beginning of the rst movement), where the part of the text with the words „Leonem decimum”
is visible, in: Andreas De Silva: Opera omnia, op. cit., vol. , p. xxii. e texts of the two versions of the
motet are given in Lowinsky, op. cit., pp. –; see also ibid., p. .
e musical and textual dierences between the two versions of the motet are included in the modern
edition of the work, in: Andreas de Silva: Opera omnia, op. cit., vol. , pp. –.
is description of the motet refers to its modern edition in: Andreas de Silva: Opera omnia, op. cit., vol. , pp. –.
e cantus rmus cannot be identied with any pre-existing melodies. It has been suggested that the
composer may have written it himself. Sherr hypothesised that the shape of the cantus rmus might be
associated with the shape of the Medici coat of arms or stemma. See R. Sherr, op. cit., p. .
costanzo festa’s (?) motet o altitudo divitiarum
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phrases between voices and the repetition of the same phrase within one voice (e.g. bars
– B, – S). Strict imitation usually concerns only a few initial notes. It is
clear, nevertheless, that the melodic and rhythmic material of individual voices is
mainly dependent on its exchange between voices. In two places, the full texture of the
four voices moving simultaneously is interrupted by duo imitation: rst in bars –
and then in bars –. ese two places are separated by a seven-bar homorhythmic
passage on the words ‘Gubernaturus enim illam piscatoris navim’. e contrast is
additionally strengthened by the introduction of a dierent mensuration ( ). In
the tertia pars, the composer returns to the six-voice texture; unlike the two previous
partes, this one begins with all the voices moving homorythmically. After three bars,
some of the voices become more or less independent rhythmically; this is especially
noticeable in the two upper voices. e distinct ending of the opening passage and a
sort of break comes in bar , where the voices reach a cadence on G. e separation
of this introductory part from the rest is probably caused by the fact that all the voices
here present the text – Salve pater sanctissime – that is later repeated as a cantus rmus
motto only in a tenor voice (it is repeated seven times throughout).
Table 1. e contents of VatS 3810
No. Fols. Composer Name vv.
1. 1v–8 Josquin des Prez In principio erat Verbum 4
2. 8v–18 Josquin des Prez In exitu Israel 4
3. 18v–25 Josquin des Prez Qui habitat in adiutorio 4
4. 25v–29 Anonymous Laudamus fortissimum Christi martyrem 5
5. 29v–31 Josquin des Prez In illo tempore assumpsit Jesus 4
6. 31v–35 Firmin Lebel Ave verum corpus 5
7. 35v–39 Melchor Robledo Simile est regnum coelorum 5
8. 39v–40 Jean de la Fage Partus et integritas 5
9. 40v–41 Jean Mouton Per lignum salvi facti sumus 5
10. 41v–50 Josquin des Prez Miserere mei Deus 5
11. 50v–52 Jean Mouton (Josquin?) Contemini Domino quoniam bonus 6
12. 52v–54 Jean Mouton Benedicam Dominum in omni tempora 6
13. 54v–56 Jean Richafort Veni sponsa Christi 5
14. 56v–60 Anonymous Qui sunt isti 5
15. 60v–63 Philippe Verdelot Si bona suscepimus 5
10 e list of the works in VatS 38 was adapted from Llorens, Capellae Sixtinae codices, op. cit., pp. 76–79,
and the CMME project online, http://www.cmme.org/database/sources/157 (accessed 15 December
2016). Inconsistencies were found in both sources and corrected in the table. e spelling of composers’
names was changed to agree with e New Grove. Also, in some cases where an attribution was found,
anonymous motets were assigned to composers according to omas Schmidt-Beste, ‘A dying art: Canonic
inscriptions and canonic techniques in the sixteenth-century Papal Chapel repertory’, in: Canons and
canonic techniques, 14th and 16th centuries: eory, practice, and reception history, eds. Katelijne Schiltz
and Bonnie J. Blackburn, Leuven 2007, p. 352 and the CMME. See also http://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_
Capp.Sist.38.
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16. 63v–73 Josquin des Prez Planxit autem David 4
17. 73v–76 Clemens non Papa Me oportet minui 5
18. 76v–78 G.P. da Palestrina Beatus Laurentius 5
19. 78v–82 Cristóbal de Morales Pater noster–Ave Maria 5
20. 82v–87 Anonymous Deus misereatur nostri 5
21. 87v–92 Pierre Moulu Vulnerasti cor meum 5
22. 92v–97 Andreas de Silva In te Domine speravi 5
23. 97v–101 Jacquet of Mantua Aspice Domine 5
24. 101v–106 Jacquet of Mantua In die tribulationis 5
25. 106v–110 Josquin des Prez De profundis 5
26. 110v–114 Anonymous O panem vere sacrum 6
27. 114v–122 [Costanzo Festa?] Gaude felix ecclesia 6
28. 122v–126 [Costanzo Festa?] O altitudo divitiarum 6
29. 126v–129 Anonymous Simile est regnum coelorum 4
30. 129v–133 [Josquin des Prez?] Inter natos mulierum 6
31. 133v–137 Philippe Verdelot Congregati sunt inimici 6
32. 137v–141 Philippe Verdelot Attende Domine ad me 6
33. 141v–144 [Philippe Verdelot] Sancta Maria Virgo Virginum 6
34. 144v–146 [Adrian Willaert] Beatus Laurentius 6
35. 146v–148 Andreas de Silva Crux, clavis coronae spinarum 6
36. 148v–151 Jean Maillard Fratres mei elongaverunt se a me 6
37. 151v–152 Jean Mouton Salva nos Domine 6
38. 152v–155 G.P. da Palestrina Estote fortes in bello 6
39. 155v–159 Firmin Lebel Puer natus est nobis 6
e ascription of Gaude felix Florentia to Andreas de Silva in the Vallicelliana
manuscript might raise only one doubt: since the manuscript was compiled around
and contains mainly works related to the latest historical events, why was this motet,
composed in for Leo’s election, inserted in this manuscript several years after the
pope’s death in ? Yet this obstacle is by no means insurmountable: according to
Lowinsky, ‘the authenticity of Gaude felix Florentia cannot be doubted on such grounds
as that the attribution is made in a manuscript written ca. , that is, at a time when
Leo X was already nine years dead and seventeen years after his election. Nor is this a
very small time span indeed, particularly by sixteenth-century standards’.Moreover,
if such criteria against the attribution of the motet were accepted, then we would need
to reconsider the authorship of another motet – Crux, clavis coronae spinarum
(vv.).Ascribed to Andreas de Silva in VatS (fols. v–r), this motet appears in
e Medici Codex of : A choirbook of motets dedicated to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Duke of Urbino, ed. Edward
E. Lowinsky, vols. –, Chicago , see vol. , p. , fn. .
Besides Gaude felix ecclesia and Crux, clavis coronae spinarum, there is one more work by de Silva in this
manuscript, the motet In te, Domine, speravi ( vv.), but with concordance in the manuscript PadBC A
(Padova, Biblioteca Capitolare, MS A ).
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the manuscript as a unicum, and around thirty years after de Silva’s death.In any case,
however, the problem lies not with Llorens’s attribution of the motet Gaude felix ecclesia –
this now seems satisfactorily solved in favour of de Silva – but with his attribution of the
next motet in VatS , O altitudo divitiarum (fols. v–r) to Festa. In other words,
does the disproof of one hypothesis put forward by Llorens cast serious doubt on his
other hypothesis? e possibility that O altitudo divitiarum (also an anonymous work in
the manuscript) may be by Festa clearly needs to be re-examined.
Who then was the composer of O altitudo divitiarum? What inuences on the
work can be traced? Are there any works that might share some similarities with
O altitudo divitiarum? Since the motet Gaude felix ecclesie was composed by de Silva
and since the two motets appear next to each other in the manuscript VatS , one
may be tempted to suggest that O altitudo divitiarum is by the same composer. A large
span of time between Andreas de Silva’s activity (he probably died in the late s)
and the compilation of VatS does not seem to stand against his possible authorship
of O altitudo divitiarum. It was mentioned before that de Silva’s motet Crux clavis
corone spinarum (v–r) in VatS appears there as a unicum, and another motet
of his in the manuscript, the ve-voice In te, Domine, speravi (fols. v–r), has its
concordances with the manuscript PadBC A (fols. v–r), produced in Padua in
. Also, de Silva’s Gaude felix Florentia, written for the election of Leo X in , rst
appears in the manuscript RomeV – (‘Vallicelliana manuscript’), probably copied
around –, and it was later included in VatS with a dierent text.
In de Silva’s output, there are eight ve-voice and four six-voice motets. Some of
these motets are bi-textual (see the list of motets in Table ).
Table 2. Five and Six-Part Motets by Andreas de Silva
Motet Name Cantus rmus Number of
Voices
Ave regina caelorum (I) 5 vv.
Ave regina caelorum (II) 5vv.
Alma Redemptoris mater 5vv.
In te, Domine speravi In te, Domine, speravi non
confundar in aeternum 5vv.
Nigra sum, sed formosa Nigra sum, sed formosa 5vv.
It can be only supposed that de Silva was still alive after c. , as the payment record from the Duke of
Mantua indicates; extant sources suggest that he was still alive and in Italy at the end of the decade. See
Winfried Kirsch, ‘De Silva, Andreas’, in: e New Grove dictionary of music and musicians, nd edn, ed.
Stanley Sadie, London , vol. , pp. –. e motet Crux, clavis coronae spinarum does not appear
in the composer’s Opera omnia, possibly because e New Grove indicates that the motet is incomplete.
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Omnis puchritudo Domini Elevatis minibus, ferebatur in caelum
et benedixit eis. Alleluia 5vv.
Puer natus est nobis Verbum caro factum est et habitavit
in nobis. Alleluia 5vv.
Surrexit Pastor bonus 5vv.
Crux clavis coronae spinarum 6vv.
Gaude felix Florentia
(Gaude felix ecclesia)
Gaude felix Florentia
(Gaude felix ecclesia) 6vv.
Illumina oculos meos 6vv.
Regina caeli Antiphon Regina caeli 6vv.
From Table , it may be seen that de Silva was familiar with ve- and six-voice
texture and the use of a dierent-texted cantus rmus. In his motets In te Domine
speravi, Omnis pulchritudo Domini and Gaude felix Florentia, the rst entry of
a cantus rmus is preceded by a point of imitation by the other voices; Gaude
felix Florentia begins with a long imitative duo between two upper voices. Yet this
cannot be interpreted as a characteristic exclusively associated with de Silva’s music,
because, as we shall see later, the anticipation of the entry of a cantus rmus by an
imitative duo or a point of imitation involving other voices is quite common in the
music of the rst half of the sixteenth century: it appears in numerous motets and
can be deemed typical of many of the axial motets with dierently-texted cantus
rmus. For example, Verdelot’s motet Congregati sunt has a cantus rmus based on
the antiphon/prayer Da pacem Domine, the entry of which (bar ) is preceded by
a point of imitation involving ve other voices (bars –).Similarly, Verdelot’s
setting of the psalm In te, Domine, speravi, probably inspired (like some other
settings of this psalm) by Savonarola’s meditations, is constructed in almost the
same way: the entry of a cantus rmus in a tenor with the words Divitias et pauper
tuam (bar ; in the secunda pars, Divitias et paupertates ne dederis mihi, Sed tantum
victui meo tribue necessaria) is introduced by a four-voice imitation. One of many
other composers to employ such constructional means was Costanzo Festa (e.g. in
his motets Super umina Babylonis, Florentia, Exaltabo te, Deus venerunt gentes and
Vidi speciosam). What is important in the context of O altitudo divitiarum is that
de Silva never varies mensuration signs between a cantus rmus (of a tenor) and
the remaining voices; all his motets for ve and six voices use cut-C mensuration
For its edition, see Philippe Verdelot: Opera omnia, ed. Anne-Marie Bragard, [Rome] American Institute of
Musicology, –, vol. , pp. –, and Adrian Willaert: Opera omnia, ed. Hermann Zenck, [Rome]
American Institute of Musicology , vol. , pp. –.
costanzo festa’s (?) motet o altitudo divitiarum
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in the prima pars. In this respect, then, O altitudo divitiarum would be a unique
work in de Silva’s output.
e VatS O altitudo divitiarum does not seem to have been the rst work based
on the text from Romans, as there are two other motets with the text O altitudo
divitiarum that appear to have been written before the compilation of VatS . e
four-voice motet attributed to Dominique Phinot (c. –c. ) appears in three
prints (RISM , RISM and RISM ); in one further source – RISM
– it is ascribed to Rogier Pathie (c. –after ).e other work, a ve-voice
motet by Cipriano de Rore, was published in Gardane’s Il terzo libro di motetti a
cinque voci di Cipriano de Rore of (RISM ). e text of these motets is
derived from Romans, :– (Epistle for Trinity Sunday), and goes as follows:
O altitudo divitiarum sapientiae,
et scientiae Dei:
quam incomprehensibilia sunt judicia ejus
et investigabiles viae ejus.
Quis enim cognovit sensum Domini?
Aut quis consiliarius ejus fuit?
Aut quis prior dedit illi, et retribuetur ei?
Quoniam ex ipso, et per ipsum,
et in ipso sunt omnia:
ipsi honor et gloria in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
O the depth of the riches of the wisdom
and of the knowledge of God
How incomprehensible are his judgments,
and how unsearchable his ways!
For who hath known the mind of the Lord?
Or who hath been his counsellor?
Or who hath rst given to him,
and recompense shall be made him?
For of him, and by him,
and in him, are all things:
To him be honour and glory, for ages of ages.
Amen.
e text of the VatS motet is shorter, as the composer only used the rst part
of the reading for Trinity Sunday (Romans, :–). e Tenor II carries a cantus
rmus derived from the antiphon Da pacem. In the rst part, the verse ‘Da pacem
For a modern edition of this motet, see Treize livres de Motets parus chez Pierre Attaingnant en et ,
eds. Albert Smijers and A. Tillman Merritt, Paris–Monaco –, vol. , pp. –. On the attribution
of this motet to Phinot, see Glenda G. ompson, ‘Music in the court records of Mary of Hungary’,
Tijdschriftvan de Koninklijke Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis (), pp. – at
and , fn. .
For a modern edition of this motet, see Cipriano de Rore: Opera omnia, ed. Bernhard Meier, [Rome]
American Institute of Musicology –, vol. , pp. –. In the late sixteenth-century manuscript
ParisBNC , there is also a setting of the same text by Rore but for four voices (fols. –). I did not
manage to determine if this is a dierent work (it is not listed in e New Grove) or an arrangement of
the setting for ve voices, or else if the manuscript ParisBNC is incomplete; see http://www.cmme.
org/database/sources/ (accessed December ). e other settings of the text are by Francisco
Guerrero (–), Hans Leo Hassler (–), Matthias Hermann, Orlando di Lasso (–),
Claudio Merulo (–), Ascanio Trombetti (–), Alexander Utendal (b. –; d. ),
Girolamo Vespa (c. –after ), Matthias Werrecore (d. after ) and Giaches de Wert (?–).
Liber Usualis, p. . As I was unable to see some of the other motets with this text by the composers listed
in fn. , I do not know if they are based on exactly the same text.
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Domine in diebus nostris’ is repeated twice. In the second part, the rest of the text
appears once, with a repetition of the verse ‘nisi tu Deus noster’ at the end of the
composition.
e complete text goes as follows:
I.
O altitudo divitiarum sapientiae, et scientiae Dei:
quam incomprehensibilia sunt judicia ejus
et investigabiles viae eius.
II.
Quis enim cognovit sensum Domini?
Aut quis consiliarius ejus fuit?
Cantus rmus:
Da pacem Domine in diebus nostris
quia non est alius qui pugnet pro nobis
nisi tu Deus noster.
Let us look more closely at the motet. e entry of a cantus rmus (bar TII) is
preceded by a point of imitation among four voices (S, A, TI, BI). e shape of the
melodic phrase shared by these four voices is pretty conspicuous; it begins with a third
leap up and a return to the initial note, after which there is a fth leap up to d’’ followed
by a descending phrase, moving in second steps down to d’. is phrase reminds one
of the opening phrases from Gaspar van Weerbecke’s motet Adonay sanctissime, rst
published in Petrucci’s Motetti A numero trentatre (Venice , fols. v–r).
Ex. . Costanzo Festa (?), O altitudo divitiarum (bars –).
It also appears in FlorBN Panc. (early sixteenth century), fols. v–r; SGallS (c. ), fols. v;
SGallS fols. v–r. For a modern edition, see Motetti A numero trentatre (Venice, ), ed. Richard
Sherr, New York , vol. , pp. –.
I.
O the depth of the riches of the wisdom
and of the knowledge of God
How incomprehensible are his judgments,
and how unsearchable his ways!
II.
For who hath known the mind of the Lord?
Or who hath been his counselor?
Cantus rmus:
Give peace, O Lord, in our time
Because there is no one else who will ght for
us if not You, our God.
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Ex. . Gaspar van Weerbecke, Adonay sanctissime (bars –).
is similarity of the beginning of O altitudo divitiarum to Weerbecke’s Adonay
sanctissime is curious: it is too precise, I think, to be ignored or dismissed as
coincidental, yet there is no obvious connection between the motet texts. It may
simply be that the author of O altitudo divitiarum (whoever he may be) was familiar
with Weerbecke’s motet from the popular Petrucci print and unconsciously imitated
it; if the imitation is conscious, its meaning is hard to discern.
e beginning of the secunda pars employs almost the same schematic procedure
as the prima pars. Before the cantus rmus comes in (bars ), four voices (A, S,
TI, BI) take part in imitation of a phrase on the words Quis enim cognovit sensum
Domini. e sequence of entries of individual voices participating in the imitation is
changed, as the opening phrase is introduced by an alto – unlike in the prima pars –
and then taken over by the top voice.
e most striking feature of the motet is the inclusion of a cantus rmus with the
text of the antiphon Da pacem Domine. e presentation of a tenor in long notes,
in dierent mensuration, in the middle of the texture suggests that the work follows
an old tradition of writing axial motets. e tenor is presented in the rst part in
tempus perfectum cum prolatione imperfecta, while the remaining voices are written
in tempus imperfectum cum prolatione imperfecta. In the second part, all the voices,
including the tenor carrying the cantus rmus, are written in tempus imperfectum
diminutum. e use of dierent mensurations in various voices – , in the tenor
against , in the other voices – was common in the masses and motets of earlier
Flemish composers.Moreover, the use of dierent mensurations in the cantus
rmus in two dierent parts of the motet seems to have been uncommon around
the time when the manuscript VatS was compiled.For example, none of the
Willi Apel, e notation of polyphonic music, –, Cambridge MA , p. .
It is important to note, however, that in many works, including by Festa, such as Ave nobilissima creatura
and Vidi speciosam, a change to the mensuration of a cantus rmus is introduced towards the end of
the second part, or in one-part motets toward the end of the work, e.g. in Jesu Nazarene, Super umina
Babylonis and Inclitae sanctae virginis Catharinae.
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fteen cantus rmus motets by Lasso examined by James Haar, all probably written
after , has an alteration of the mensuration in the cantus rmus; moreover, all
the voices, including the voice carrying the cantus rmus, conform to the same
mensuration. One of the motets with a dierent mensuration of the cantus rmus
in each of the two parts, composed around the time when VatS was compiled,
is Cipriano de Rore’s Quis tuos presul – Quin tenes legum ( vv.). Published in Dialogo
della musica of (RISM ), this motet was dedicated to Cristoforo Madruzzo,
Cardinal of Trent, with whom Rore may have been acquainted, as the motet refers to
Madruzzo who was to receive the Cardinal’s hat.
It is also possible that the use of a cantus rmus written in dierent mensuration
(tempus perfectum in the case of O altitudo divitiarum) has a symbolic meaning. I shall
demonstrate later that by means of perfect mensuration in a voice carrying a cantus
rmus a composer may have intended to refer to the dogma of the Trinity; it should
be remembered that the main motet text – O altitudo divitiarum – is a part of the
reading for Trinity Sunday (Romans, :–). I shall also suggest that the motet
O altitudo divitiarum may have been composed for the peace talks between Pope
Paul III, Emperor Charles V and the French King Francis I at Nice, which lasted from
May to June . e Truce of Nice ultimately ended a war of almost three years
between the emperor and the French king.e war began after Francesco Maria
Sforza’s heirless death on November , which reopened the troublesome question
of Milan. As a result, Francis demanded Milan for his second son, Henry, Duke of
Orléans; but Charles preferred to oer Milan to the king’s third son, the Duke of
Angoulême. Meanwhile, French troops invaded Italy and, together with their Swiss
allies, quickly overran Savoy and seized Turin, capital of Piedmont, in February .
Yet because Duke Charles III of Savoy-Piedmont was the emperor’s brother-in-law, as
their wives were daughters of Portugal’s John III, Charles took Francis’s action as an
aront, and in response the imperial armies invaded Provence. Charles was planning
to capture well-fortied Avignon, but at some point his troops were lacking food and
were getting sick, so he decided to withdraw. Meanwhile, the idea of a combined
attack against the Turks was becoming more necessary and real. e announcement of
a Holy League against the Ottomans on February , involving Venice, the pope
and the Habsburg brothers, forced Francis to participate in the peace talks in Nice.
Because Charles and Francis hated each other and did not want to sit in the same room
together, the negotiations were carried out by Pope Paul III, who shuttled between
them. Eventually, the pope convinced both to sign a ten-year truce on June .
e motet was probably composed after , when it was revealed that the bishop Madruzzo was elected a
cardinal. See Cipriano de Rore: Opera omnia, op. cit., vol. , p. xi; for an edition of the motet, see pp. –.
e following paragraph is largely based on James D. Tracy, Emperor Charles V, impresario of war:
Campaign strategy, international nance, and domestic politics, Cambridge , pp. –, and R.J.
Knecht, Francis I, Cambridge , pp. –.
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It is known that Paul III brought to Nice a group of musicians – singers and
instrumentalists. As Robert Stevenson put it, ‘convinced that music might somehow
soothe the principals to a peace treaty, the pope brought along twenty of his own
singers: all richly garbed in new velvet cassocks and silk surplices (the cost of these
sumptuous garments having been paid for out of his private discretionary funds).
En route to the conference he added several instrumentalists – trombonists from
Bologna, violinists from Milan, and trumpeters, drummers, and bombard players
from Genoa’. It is well known that Cristóbal de Morales was among the musicians
accompanying the pope on his trip to Nice, and one of Morales’s works, his six-
voice motet in two movements Jubilate Deo omnis terra, was specically written
for the peace celebrations in Nice in .Published in Moderne’s Quintus liber
mottetorum ad quinque, et sex, et septem vocum of (RISM ) and Scotto’s
Il primo libro de motetti a sei voce… of (RISM ), this motet might be
counted among Morales’s most popular compositions. Besides the printing
of vocal parts, the motet was also arranged for two vihuelas by Enríquez de
Valderrábano (pub. Valladolid, ) and later for one vihuela by Fuenllana (pub.
Seville, ).Apparently its popularity lasted until , since Victoria then
borrowed extensively from Morales’s Jubilate Deo for his own six-voice Gaudeamus
Mass.e main text of Morales’s motet, Jubilate Deo omnis terra, contains the
names Paulus, Carolus and Franciscus, indicating the occasion for which it was
intended: the peace treaty in Nice in ; all three gures took part in the peace
talks. Tenor I of the motet carries a six-note cantus rmus/motto based on the
word Gaudeamus (the melody is derived from the plainsong incipit); this motto is
repeated eighteen times throughout the work: eight times in the prima pars and ten
times in the secunda pars. Stevenson seems correct in suggesting that Morales must
have been fond of this unifying device, since he employed it in his most important
works: Veni Domine et noli tardare, Gaude et laetare Ferrariensis civitas, Tu es Petrus
and Emendemus in melius.In addition to these, there are two other works that
use ostinato: Exaltata est Sancta Dei Genitrix and Virgo Maria.e text of the
motet Jubilate Deo omnis terra reads as follows:
Robert Stevenson, Spanish cathedral music in the golden age, Westport, CT , p. .
For a modern edition of Morales’s motet, see Cristóbal de Morales: Opera omnia, ed. Higinio Anglès,
[Rome] Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientícas, -, vol. , pp. –.
For these two instrumental publications, see Howard Mayer Brown, Instrumental music printed before
: A bibliography, Cambridge, MA , pp. –, esp. , and pp. –, esp. .
R. Stevenson, op. cit., pp. –.
Ibid., p. .
e last work, Virgo Maria, is preserved only in Fuenllana’s arrangement for vihuela published in
Orphenica lyra of in Seville. Its modern edition is in Cristóbal de Morales: Opera omnia, op. cit., vol.
, pp. –.
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I.
Jubilate Deo, omnis terra
cantate omnes, jubilate et psalite
quoniam suadente Paulo,
Carolus et Franciscus
Principes terrae convenerunt in unum
et pax de caelo descendit.
II.
O felix aetas, o felix Paule, o vos felices Principes
qui christiano populo pacem tradidistis.
Vivat Paulus, Vivat Carolus, Vivat Franciscus
Vivant, vivant simul,
et pacem nobis donent in aeternum.
It is clear that the text was written for that special occasion. e rst verse – Jubilate
Deo, omnis terra – implies that the text could have been at least inspired by one of two
psalm texts – Psalm or – as both begin with Jubilate Deo, omnis terra (however,
the rest of the motet text does not match either of the psalms). According to the Liber
Usualis, the text of Psalm with the rst verse Jubilate Deo, omnis terra was probably
sung on May (as it is prescribed for the introit for the ird Sunday after
Easter). So given that the meeting between Pope, Charles V and Francis I began on
May , I suggest that Morales may have been inspired by the psalm text that
was performed just three days before the meeting. Following this lead, one may note
that the use of the text O altitudo divitiarum can also be placed within the period
of the peace talks. Prescribed for the reading for Trinity Sunday (Romans, :–),
which in was on June, and so two days before the Truce of Nice was concluded
( June), the motet would have been perfectly suited to the celebration of the Truce.
Of course, the use of the text prescribed for Trinity Sunday may be regarded as accidental,
but its combination with a cantus rmus Da pacem Domine should be considered and
interpreted as an important clue. Also, the use of a tempus perfectum mensuration for a
cantus rmus, not very common at the time, may be seen as planned and intended for
some symbolic purposes. In the context of the Nice negotiations, not only may it be
interpreted as a musical representation of the dogma ‘one God in three Persons’;as it
is used exclusively for a cantus rmus Da pacem, it may symbolically refer to the three
persons participating in the meeting: Paul III, Charles V and Francis I.
Willem Elders says that ‘the number three can be expressed in the rhythmic movement of the composition,
for example by means of perfect mensuration or proportio sesquialtera’. See Elders, ‘Symbolism in the
sacred music of Josquin’, in: e Josquin companion, ed. Richard Sherr, Oxford , p. .
I.
Sing joyfully to God, all the earth
sing you all, sing joyfully and make music
for persuaded by Paul, Charles and Francis,
the princes of the world
have met and agreed, and peace has come
down from heavens.
II.
O happy age, o happy Paul
O you happy princes, who have given peace
to the Christian people. Long life to Paul,
long life to Charles, Long life to Francis,
long may they all live and may they give us
peace for eternity.
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Since Morales, who was just a member of the papal chapel, wrote a monumental
motet for this important and signicant event, it is hard to imagine that such a
prominent papal composer and member of the Cappella Sistina as Costanzo Festa,
who composed at least a few occasional works, would not have been present in
Nice. Stevenson points out that later, on March , Festa was not among the
twenty-two able-bodied singers who set out for the encounter between the pope
and Charles V. Since the emphasis is put on Festa’s absence from the meeting of
, one may suppose that he may have taken part in the pope’s previous travels.
In a study on Festa’s motet Ecce advenit dominator, which may have been composed
for the coronation of Charles V in Bologna in , Klaus Pietschmann states that
Festa ‘can be placed in Bologna in the service of the pope by the end of , and it
can be assumed that he not only took an active role in the coronation ceremony [of
Charles V], but was also intimately involved in its preparations’.One may gain the
impression that Festa was very often a member of the pope’s entourage.
Interestingly, a characteristic of the motet O altitudo divitiarum already discussed
here – the use of a C mensuration in the rst movement, unusual in the works of
most composers of the post-Josquin generation – can be found in some of Festa’s
works, including Deus venerunt gentes, Ecce advenit dominator, Video in hac crucis and
Vidi speciosam. All but Vidi speciosam may be cautiously dated to around the s.
Table 3. Costanzo Festa’s motets with C mensuration in the rst movement and their sources
Deus venerunt gentes (5 vv.) RomeV 35-40, VatS 20
Ecce advenit dominator (6 vv.) VatS 20
Video in hac crucis ara (4 vv.) VatS 20
Vidi speciosam (6 vv.) PadBC A17, VatS 20
Two of the manuscripts in the table – RomeV - and VatS – were copied
between and ; the former c. –, the latter around . e manuscript
PadBC A was copied in Padua around . It is well known that the rst work,
the motet Deus venerunt gentes, was probably composed – as Lowinsky suggests – to
mark the Sack of Rome in ; the next work – Ecce advenit dominator, may have
been intended – as Pietschmann proposes – for the coronation of Charles V as Holy
Roman Emperor in Bologna in ; Video in hac crucis, a work included in VatS ,
may be considered to have been composed around the s, but its style suggests an
early work, composed c. .e last of the four motets, Vidi speciosam, must have
Klaus Pietschmann, ‘A motet by Costanzo Festa for the coronation of Charles V’, Journal of Musicological
Research (), pp. –, at .
I have noted some general similarities between this motet and Mouton’s Domine, salvum fac regem
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been composed before , as that is the compilation date of the Paduan manuscript.
e dissemination of Festa’s four works with C mensuration in the rst movement
does not help much to establish at least an approximate date for the motet O altitudo
divitiarum. e case of Vidi speciosam shows that Festa employed this mensuration
even before .
What conclusions about O altitudo divitiarum may be drawn from all this? e
picture emerging is that the motet could be the work of Costanzo Festa and may
have been composed by him for the Nice peace talks in ; the work possesses some
elements and compositional features that can be found in motets transmitted under
Festa’s name: the use of a dierently-texted cantus rmus, the use of a C mensuration
in the rst movement in some of his motets, the use of an opening imitative duo and
his practice of writing ceremonial compositions celebrating important events (e.g.
Super umina Babylonis, Ecce advenit dominator, Deus venerunt gentes, Exaltabo te,
Florentia). Interestingly enough, if we assume that the motet was indeed composed
for the Nice negotiations, I would consider – on stylistic grounds – that Festa was
the only composer who could have musically contributed to the talks (besides
Morales).Are there any other possible conclusions? Yes, probably. We are dealing
with a motet transmitted and ascribed to Festa in a single late source. e ascription
by Llorens does not seem to be secure, since his other attribution, of Gaude felix
ecclesia (Gaude felix Florentia), appears to have been mistaken. One may easily argue
that since there is no evidence providing a terminus post quem for the composition
of the motet, and since the terminus ante quem is the Vatican manuscript from
–, the motet O altitudo divitiarum could have been easily composed much
earlier, for a dierent occasion (not for the Nice treaty), and by an unknown
composer. e case of de Silva’s two works – In te, Domine, speravi and Gaude felix
Florentia – shows that although inserted in the late manuscript VatS they were
actually composed much earlier, the former at least in the s (Silva died probably
( vv.) rst published in Antico’s Motetti novi libro tertio, no. (RISM ) and later in Glareanus’s
Dodecachordon of (RISM ). e opening of Festa’s work is to some extent analogous to the
opening of Mouton’s motet. For a modern edition of Mouton’s work, see e Medici Codex, op. cit.,
vol. , pp. –.
At the time of the Nice talks, Palestrina (born –) was too young to compose a motet for such an
important event. Nicolas Gombert was a singer in Emperor Charles V’s court chapel from , maître
des enfants from , accompanied the emperor on his trips (Spain, Italy, Austria and Germany) and
wrote several works for special occasions, but he avoids cantus rmus, ostinato and double texts. To my
knowledge, the only work by Gombert with a double text is Musae Jovis, his tribute to Josquin, where
he uses Circumdederunt me gemitus mortis as a cantus rmus in long notes, see George Nugent and Eric
Jas, ‘Gombert, Nicolas’, in: e New Grove dictionary of music and musicians, nd ed, ed. Stanley Sadie,
London , vol. p. . A modern transcription of Musae Jovis is given in Nicolas Gombert: Opera
omnia, ed. Joseph Schmidt-Görg, [Rome] American Institute of Musicology vol. , , pp. –.
In addition, Gombert does not use C mensuration in the rst movement in any of his motets, and his
works almost never appear in both Cappella Sistina and Cappella Giulia manuscripts. I managed to
nd only one motet by Gombert in the manuscript VatG XII.: his Sancta et immaculate ( vv.).
costanzo festa’s (?) motet o altitudo divitiarum
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in the late s) and the latter in for the coronation of Pope Leo X. I think
that O altitudo divitiarum could easily have been composed even as early as around
the time of Leo X’s ponticate. e combination of the text from Romans and the
prayer Da pacem reminds one to some extent of Heinrich Isaac’s motet Optime pastor
/Da pacem Domine /Sacerdos et pontifex, written to celebrate the meeting between
Maximilian I’s chancellor, Cardinal Lang, and Pope Leo X in December .Yet
if one assumes that O altitudo divitiarum is by Festa, why was the motet not copied
into at least one of the two manuscripts, RomeV - and VatS ? e former is
a very important source of ceremonial works written, in general, not long before
; the latter is believed to have been entirely dedicated to Festa himself. e
fact that this motet does not appear in VatS makes all we have said so far even
more complicated, because it neither proves Festa’s authorship nor supports the idea
that the work was composed for the Nice talks of (remember the manuscript
was compiled around ).However, I think that although all these suggestions,
hypotheses and questions seem inconclusive, they are at the same time inescapable;
taken out of the Vatican manuscript and shown in a broad stylistic and historical
context, the motet O altitudo divitiarum, whether written by Festa or not, seems to
be an interesting example of the Renaissance bi-textual ceremonial motet.
For a general description of the motet, see Stephanie E. Schlagel, ‘e Liber selectarum cantionum and the
‘German Josquin Renaissance’, Journal of Musicology (), pp. –, at –. e motet text
and its English translation are given in liner notes accompanying a recording of Heinrich Isaac, Missa de
Apostolis, e Tallis Scholars, directed by Peter Philips, Gimmel Records CDGIM . For its modern
edition, see Vier Staatsmotetten des . Jahrhunderts von Heinrich Isaac, Antoine Bruhier, Jachet de Mantua,
Johannes de Cleve, ed. Albert Dunning, Das Chorwerk (), pp. –.
However, the reason this motet was not included in VatS may be that Festa’s intention was to provide
Parvus with ‘perfect’ copies of his motets. As Brauner observed, some of the motets in VatS have
concordances in the earlier manuscript VatG XII. (copied c. ). e dierences in readings between
VatG XII. and VatS motets in some cases seem to be extensive; see Mitchell P. Brauner, ‘Music
from the Cappella Sistina at the Cappella Giulia’, Journal of Musicology (), pp. –, at . It
is possible that the copy of O altitudo divitiarum, which I suggest was written for the Nice peace talks
in , very close to the time when the manuscript started to be compiled, was not good enough to be
included in VatS and Festa did not want to rush with its inclusion in the manuscript.
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wojciech odoj
() oaltitudo divitiarum:
,
Wrękopisie VatS 38, sporządzonym wl. 1550–63, znajdują się dwa anonimowe motety
– Gaude felix ecclesie (. 114v–122r) iOaltitudo divitiarum (. 122v–126r). Joseph Llorens
w swoim katalogu rękopisów muzycznych kapeli sykstyńskiej uznał je za kompozycje
Costanza Festy (c. 1490–1545) iobydwa zamieścił w jego Opera omnia. Llorens pominął
jednak fakt, że pierwszy zutworów – ztekstem Gaude felix Florentia iprzypisany Andreasowi
de Silva (zm. ok. 1530) – został prawdopodobnie skomponowany zokazji wyboru papieża
Leona X w1513 r. iznajduje się wrękopisie RomeV 35-40 (rękopis Vallicelliana). Zdrugiej
strony, analiza motetu Oaltitudo divitiarum, jego cechy stylistyczne, konteksty liturgiczny
ihistoryczny skłoniły mnie do postawienia hipotezy, że motet – jeśli faktycznie Festy – być
może został skomponowany na uroczystości towarzyszące podpisaniu traktatu pokojowego
w Nicei w 1538 r. zudziałem papieża Pawła III, cesarza Karola V i francuskiego króla
Franciszka I. Byłaby to zatem druga – obok powszechnie znanego sześciogłosowego motetu
Cristóbala de Moralesa Jubilate Deo omnis terra – kompozycja skomponowana na tę właśnie
szczególną okoliczność.
Wojciech Odoj
Dr Wojciech Odoj jest adiunktem w Instytucie Muzykologii Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego.
Jego główne zainteresowania badawcze koncentrują się na muzyce XV i XVI w. (szczególnie
dziele Josquina des Prez), związkach muzyki z tekstem, liturgią i innymi sztukami.
wojtekodoj@poczta.onet.pl
Studia Podyplomowe
w Instytucie Sztuki Polskiej Aka demii Nauk
od grudnia 2017 r. nabór na specjalizację
Historia muzyki z elementa mi współczesnej kultury muzycznej
www.ispan.pl/studia-podyplomowe
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