Wojciech Odoj’s scientific contributions

In the manuscript VatS 38, copied around 1550–63, there are two anonymous motets: Gaude felix ecclesia (ff. 114v-122r) and O altitudo divitiarum (ff. 122v-126r). Joseph Llorens attributed them to Costanzo Festa (c. 1490–1545) in his catalogue of the musical manuscripts of the Sistine Chapel and both are included in Festa’s Opera omnia. What Llorens apparently missed is the fact that the former, with the text Gaude felix Florentia and attributed to Andreas de Silva – who probably wrote it in honor of Pope Leo X on the occasion of his election in 1513 – appears in the manuscript RomeV 35-40 (the Vallicelliana Manuscript). The analysis of O altitudo divitiarum, on the other hand, its stylistic features, transmission, and liturgical and historical context has made me suggest that the motet, if indeed by Festa, may have been intended for the peace treaty in Nice in 1538 with participation of Pope Paul III, Emperor Charles V, and King Francis I of France. If so, it could be considered as a companion to Cristóbal de Morales’s six-voice motet in two movements Jubilate Deo omnis terra which was specifically written for this occasion.

The long-note melody from the mass Ludovicus Dux Wirtenbergensis (from Liber primus missarum, 1579) by Teodoro Riccio is not a conventional cantus firmus of the soggetto cavato type. The meaning and provenance of this melody is therefore quite a puzzle. In addition, how to reconcile the homage-like and conciliatory character of Riccio's preface to Liber missarum, a collection dedicated to Stefan Batory, with the presence of a mass in it, which could be treated as an open affront to the king of Poland. The antiphon Cornelius centurio, vir religiosus ac timens Deum and the story of the centurion Cornelius from the Acts of the Apostles allow us to look at this composition from a different point of view. Perhaps the Mass of Ludovicus Dux Wirtenbergensis is a carrier of a theological message resulting from the conscious coupling of the melody of the antiphon with the name of Duke Ludwig of Württemberg, a message which was to strengthen the message contained in the preface and whose aim was to seek mutual understanding and respect between Christian denominations.