Luigi Zenobi and his Letter on the Perfect Musician

Studi musicali, 22 (1993), 61-114

BONNIE J. BLACKBURN - EDWARD E. LOWINSKY

LUIGI ZENOBI AND HIS LETTER ON

THE PERFECT MUSICIAN

Note. The letter presented here was discovered by Edward

Lowinsky in Rome in 1948. He intended to publish it, together with

an extensive introduction and annotations, as a chapter in a book

to be entitled Origins of Musical Expression. In the event, the book

was never completed. The chapter itself was largely in a finished

state by 1961, when Lowinsky moved to the University of Chicago,

after which he did no further work on the book. Shortly before his

death in 1985 we looked at the chapter with a view to publishing

it separately. I do so now, but with major changes. In 1961 Lowinsky

had known nothing of the biography of Luigi Zenobi; on internal

evidence (principally the composers named) he dated the letter c. 1575

and set it in the context of the intense rivalry between the courts

of Florence and Ferrara, suggesting that the unnamed prince to whom

the letter is addressed was Francesco I de' Medici, who succeeded

Cosimo I in 1574. In the meantime I have learned rather more about

Zenobi, thanks in particular to Anthony Newcomb's 1980 publica-

tion, The Madrigal at Ferrara 1579-1597, and a date close to 1600

for his letter is most probable. This meant that Lowinsky's introduc-

tion was no longer valid. Moreover, many of the annotations he made

are now superseded; much of what seemed little known in the 1950s

is now common property, a startling indication of the great strides

musicology has made in the last three decades.

The transcription of the letter and the English translation are

largely Lowinsky's work; I have checked the former against the

manuscript and made a number of revisions in the latter. The in-

troduction, notes, and commentary are largely my own work. We

owe thanks to Nino Pirrotta, whom Lowinsky consulted in 1954 at

the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, for valuable sugges-

tions on the reading of the letter and on the translation, which we

have gratefully incorporated. I also wish to acknowledge the helpful

contributions of Prof. Zygmunt Szweykowski and Dr. Anna

Szweykowska during and after my lecture on the topic at the Jagello-

nian University in Krakow in May 1992 and the discussions with

62 B. J. BLACKBURN - E. E. LOWINSKY

colleagues and students there and at the University of Warsaw.

Leofranc Holford-Strevens cheerfully undertook the difficult task of

deciphering a long German letter concerning Zenobi and gave me

the benefit of his careful scrutiny of text and translation.

B. J. B.

Introduction

An undated letter to an anonymous prince by an obscure musi-

cian seems an unpromising topic. And yet the present letter is one

of the most interesting personal documents to emerge from the era

that has traditionally been seen as the turning-point from Renais-

sance to Baroque. Of course, the writer was aware of no such momen-

tous change: he was simply answering a request, indeed a question-

naire, on how to judge musicians. No polished diplomat (though aw-

are that he might give offence), he simply told the prince in plain,

and sometimes colloquial, language the qualities one should expect

to find in a perfect singer, director, composer, and instrumentalist.

The letter is found on fos. 199r-204v of a collection of docu-

ments bound together in a volume labelled R. 45 in the Biblioteca

Vallicelliana in Rome, the former library of the Oratorio of San Filippo

Neri, that carries the following title:

Raccolta Di Lettere Vane Latine, et Italiane Scritte Da Molti Uomini dotti,

et illustri, In materia di Studio, e d'erudizione Sacra, & Profana. Alcune delle

quali sono dirette al P. Odorico Rinaldi et ad altri Padri della Cong.”e del-

l'Oratorio di Roma. Con Altre Lettere E suppliche A' Sommi Pontefici, Cardinali,

Principi Cattolici, et ancora Infedeli.

The last words, «et ancora Infedeli», designate the general character

of the collection as belonging to the period of the Counter-

Reformation, for the «Infedeli» are Protestants, and several letters

deal with the problem of heresy. The seventy-two letters range chrono-

logically from 1537 to 1709, in no discernible order; many are origi-

nals, others contemporary copies. How the present letter came into

the collection is unknown, indeed mystifying: none of the other let-

ters has anything to do with music. The letter is obviously a copy, in what appears to be a late

sixteenth- or early seventeenth-century hand (see plates); it is surely

not that of the author, who would not have written «propositioni»

when he meant «proportioni», to give one example of the mistakes

LUIGI ZENOBI AND HIS LETTER ON THE PERFECT MUSICIAN 63

that occur in it. Moreover, the spelling of his name, `Zinobi', con-flicts with that he regularly used, Zenobi. The letter is headed «Serenis-simo mio Signore, Signore et Padron Singolarissimo*, but offers no

clue to the identity of this Signore, who is also addressed as «Sua Altezza». «Serenissimo» is a common form of address for dukes and princes, of which there was no lack in Italy and elsewhere at the time; certainly it must be a secular prince, not a cardinal, who would have been addressed as «Reverendissimo». It is signed «Di Napoli, Dell'Altezza sua serenissima, Devotissimo, et antico Servitore, Il C. Luigi Zinobi».

It would be difficult to date the letter on contents alone: some aspects point to an early date, perhaps the late 1570s; other aspects suggest that the date is closer to 1600. If it is early, then Zenobi is in advance of his times and becomes an important witness for pushing back the date of certain Baroque performance practices. If it is late, in other respects he seems surprisingly out of touch with

the contemporary musical scene. Other evidence, however, strength-ens the case for a date of c. 1600. As we now know from several other letters that have survived, Zenobi had settled in Naples by 1601 at the latest, a time which seems to fall at the end of his career.

The Writer

The name of Luigi Zenobi appears in no musical dictionary or encyclopaedia: apart from the present letter, he left no theoretical writings to posterity, and he does not appear to have been a com-poser. It is disappointing that he is not included in the long and interesting list of musicians published by Scipione Cerreto in his Del-

la prattica musica vocale et strumentale (Naples, 1601), which includes foreign musicians who had settled in Naples as well as native Neapoli-tans. The first published reference to Zenobi, curiously enough, oc-curs in a treatise on art, Gian Paolo Lomazzo's Trattato dell'arte della

pittura, scoltura et architettura, published in Milan in 1584.1 In Book

VI of this treatise Lomazzo develops the original idea of peopling the nine choirs of music with the most famous practitioners of the time, together with their instruments. In the first rank (voices, or,

I The discovery was made by Lowinsky; what follows is derived from his original intro-

duction to Zenobi's letter.


as Lomazzo puts it, concento delle voci) are Adrian Willaert, Gioseffo Zarlino, and Nicola Vicentino, in the second the organists Annibale

Padovano, Claudio (Merulo) da Correggio, and Giuseppe Caimo of

Milan. Next come lutenists, lira-players (including «our Leonardo da

Vinci, the painter»), gambists, harpists, and cittern-players, with cor-nettists and trombonists in the last two ranks.2 Among the cornet-tists is one «Luigi Zenobi Anconitano», that is, from Ancona.3 A gifted painter, who went blind in 1571, Lomazzo must have been a great lover of music. He was evidently a personal friend of Claudio

Merulo, to whom he dedicated a poetic version of his ninefold choir of musicians .4

The knowledge that Zenobi not only was renowned as a virtuoso, but was specifically a cornettist, is of the greatest value for our un-derstanding of his letter. It explains both his emphasis on the quali-ties of a good cornettist and the treatment he accords the soprano voice. It was often remarked at the time that the trombone imitated

the sound of the bass voice as the cornett did that of the soprano,

and these two instruments were frequently used to support the voices in church choirs. Moreover, the greatest part of Zenobi's repertoire

must have been based on the vocal music of the time, and, as we

2 «Et vaga cosa sarebbe anco, et capriciosa iI rappresentarvi i nove chori della musica

a tre, a tre co' suoi instromenti, et con ritratti de gli huomini eccellenti in ciascuno di quelli,

come per esempio ne' tempi nostri nel primo coro del concento delle voci Adriano Villaert

Fiamengo, Gioseffo Zarlino da Chioggia, et Don Nicola Vicentino, nel secondo de gli organi

Annibal Padovano, Claudio da Coreggio, Giuseppe Caimo Milanese, nel terzo de i liuti, Fran-

cesco sopranominato it Monzino Milanese, Ippolito Tromboncino da Vineggia; et Fabricio Dentici

Napolitano, nel quarto, delle lire, it nostro Leonardo Vinci pittore, Alfonso da Ferrara, et

Alessandro Strigio Mantovano, o Gio. Maria Parochianino Pavese; nel quinto delle viole da

gamba, Oratio Romano, Mauro Sinibaldi Cremonese, et Ricardo Rognone Milanese; nel sesto

delle arpe, Gio. Leonardo detto da I'Arpa, l'Ebreo da Mantova, e suo figliuolo Abraam; nel

settimo delle cetere, Antonio Moral da Bergamo, Paolo Tarchetta, et Sempronio Bresciani;

nel ottavo de i cornetti, it Moscatello, Giacomo Pecchio Milanesi, et Luigi Zenobi Anconita-

no; et nel ultimo de i tromboni ii Cadenaruolo (sic) Bresciano, Orfeo Milanese, et Ettor Vidue

Fiamengo»; pp. 347-348. The passage has been printed, without comment, in n. 130 of LUIGI

PARIGL Laurentiana: Lorenzo dei Medici cultore della musica, Florence, Olschki, 1954, p. 126.

A modern edition of Lomazzo's treatise appears in Scritti sulle arti, ed. Roberto Paolo Ciardi,

2 vols., Florence, 1973-1974, vol. II, pp. 302-303, where many of the musicians have been

identified.

3 A letter written in 1954 to Professor R. Zanelli, then director of the Biblioteca Co-

munale in Ancona, elicited the following answer: <4the historical archive connected with the

library is of an administrative character and does not possess the old birth registers that might

have contained data on the family Zenobi».

4 See Book II, pp. 163-164 of the Rime di Gio. Paolo Lomazzi Milanese pittore (Milan,

1587). Of Zenobi he says: Axe nel cornetto / Il Zenobbi di Ancona si perfetto».


shall see, he had direct models in the Ferrarese concerto delle donne, the virtuoso lady singers whose vocal style became the rage at the northern Italian courts.

It was only with the publication of Anthony Newcomb's brilliant portrait of musical life at the court of Ferrara in the last two decades of the sixteenth century that Zenobi emerged from obscurity. He was recruited by the Ferrarese court in January 1589, where he was «the most highly paid single musician in the history of the Este court to that time» (200 scudi per year).5 He remained in Ferrarese ser-vice until at least June 1597 (the date of the last payment recorded), although he spent some time in Rome, where he sought singers for the court. Nearly all our knowledge of Zenobi's life comes from four-teen letters that he wrote to members of the Este family, their agent, and Alfonso Fontanelli, dating from 1583 to 1602, preserved in the Archivio di Stato in Modena. From these letters we learn that he was 54 years old in 1602, which places his birth-date in 1547 or 1548, that he had served at the courts of Maximilian II and Rudolf II for more than twenty years, during seven of which he «taught singing to the late mother of the present Catholic king» (Anna of Austria, daughter of Maximilian II and mother of Philip III of Spain), and that by July 1601 he was in the service of the Viceroy of Na-ples.6

Thanks to Walter Pass's study of music and musicians at the court of Maximilian II, we can trace Zenobi in Vienna from 1 November 1569, when he is called «musico vnnd zinckhenplaser», to 1 Novem-ber 1573, when he was «seines diensts mit genaden erlassen».7 He was one of three cornettists at court. That he was highly valued is shown not only by the subvention accorded to his sisters in 1570,

5 ANTHONY NEWCOMB, The Madrigal at Ferrara 1579-1597, 2 vols., Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1980, vol. I, p. 182.

6 Newcomb summarizes the correspondence in his Appendix I, pp. 181-183. Supplemen-tary details gained from reading the original letters (Archivio di Stato di Modena, Particola-ri') are discussed below.

7 WALTER PASS, Musik and Musiker am Hof Maximilians II., Wiener Veroffentlichungen zur Musikwissenschaft, 20; Tutzing, Hans Schneider, 1980, p. 223. Pass assumes that the Zeonhard de Zanobi» whose name appears in the accounts for 1565 is identical with Luigi (p. 222, n. 51). Apart from the consistent difference in the name, there is a gap of three years when neither name is recorded. Leonhard, whose original name was probably Leonardo, is probably a relative, perhaps a father or brother; indeed, it seems that several members of the family resided in Vienna, for on 13 September 1570 Zenobi petitioned for, and received, a sum of 150 gulden for the provision of his two sisters: gad sein vnderthenigist supplicieren zu ausstatung Baider seiner Schwestern auf ainmab> (ibid., p. 223).

5


but also by the generous gift of 130 gulden in October 1571,8 and another 50 gulden in the same year; no reason is given for them. He left the court, however, in November 1573, three years before Maximilian's death. His name does not appear among the (admitted-ly few) published records of chamber musicians under Rudolf 11,9 perhaps because he held some other post at court. It is not easy to determine in which seven years he taught singing to Rudolf's elder sister, Anna, who was born in 1549 and married Philip II in 1570.

At the beginning of 1573 Zenobi sought a post at the ducal court in Bavaria. The manner in which he did so is revealed in a long and circumstantial letter written to Duke Wilhelm by Ludwig Haber-stock, an alto in the Munich chapel who at times acted as the duke's father Albrecht's agent in Vienna. Zenobi had come to Haberstock and told him, at great length, that he wished to get married and set up house, but he was not pleased with the arrangements (partida) that the emperor proposed for him, and would rather serve Wilhelm, who held artists in greater consideration, than anyone else («Derwe-gen Er mehr lusts hett E.f.gen. ails die die Khiinstler in groper vnnd hoherm werth hatt / dann yemannds anndern zedienen»); however, doubtless unwilling to seem too eager, he requested Haber-stock not to tell Wilhelm that he had asked him to speak on his behalf, but only that, «in ordinary friendly conversation» («in gemai-nem freundlichen gesprach»), he had understood that Zenobi might easily be induced to come. The transfer, he suggested, could be made without impairing relations between Wilhelm and Maximilian if he were first to take leave of the emperor, then spend a few months in Italy (at Wilhelm's expense, as Haberstock tartly observed), and only then, as if of his own accord («gleischsamb far sich selb»), come to the duke. He spoke for over an hour; Haberstock, his head no doubt reeling, pointed out that if he tried to report all this from

8 In September of that same year Maximilian II gave Orlando di Lasso 150 gulden for his presentation of a mass and some song-books; see HORST LEUCHTMANN, Orlando di Lasso: Sein Leben, Wiesbaden, Breitkopf & Flartel, 1976, p. 51.

9 While Rudolf's chapel singers have been the subject of many studies, the main one being ALBERT SMIJERS, Die kaiserliche Hofmusik-Kapelle von 1543-1619, «Studien zur Musik-wissenschaft», VI-IX, 1919-1922, I could find no comparable treatment of the chamber musi-cians, apart from the bare listing in LUDWIG VON KoCHEL, Die kaiserliche Hof-Musikkapelle in Wien von 1543 bis 1867, Vienna, Beck'sche Universitats-Buchhandlung, 1869. For the years 1577-1600 he gives only one cornettist, Domenico Zappa, from 1577 to September 1582 (p. 52). (Kochel's «Zampi» on p. 48 is a misreading of «Zanobb>, the common spelling of his name at the court).


memory «ain ibergroBes chaos» would ensue, and asked Zenobi to put it in writing for him to translate into German. The next day Zenobi changed his mind: anxious to preserve the fiction of being the sought-after and not the seeker, he now wanted Haberstock to report only that he understood from their conversation that Zenobi was thinking of leaving the emperor's service and might easily be obtained for the duke's, if offered a substantial payment in advance. Although Zenobi offered him a considerable bribe for his co-operation, Haberstock makes no secret of his view that Zenobi would not be a satisfactory servant: not only did he demand an initial gift of 6,000 gulden (or even crowns), and a higher salary than Maximilian gave him, but (at least as reported by the disgusted Haberstock) he would expect to serve not where, when, and how often it pleased Wilhelm but at his own inclination.rn «How pleasant that will be for Your Grace I do not know», comments Haberstock, but he pleads for some kind of an answer to be sent to either Zenobi or himself, since other-wise Zenobi will continue to pester him."

On 25 February Zenobi himself wrote to Wilhelm.12 In credit-able Latin and an elegant hand, he explained that he had served the emperor for three years to the best of his ability, for which he had received many rewards and benefits, but he was chagrined that the emperor refused to acknowledge him as anything more than a musician pure and simple, and therefore he was determined to seek the service of a prince who would appreciate his worth and recognize his condition, which was not base («statui quamuis inuitus cogita-tiones meas ab hoc auocare seruitio, meque Principi tradere, qui non

10 «Khann E.f.gen. gleichwol vnndertheniger trees nach / nit verhallten I das Jch genntz-lich besorg / Er wurde derselben zum diener nit taugen / dann Jch souil aus Jme verstannden / das Er nit allain erstes anfanngs in die sechs Tausent gulden (wo nit gar cronen) schannkhung / sonnder auch ain grollere besoldung alls Er hie hat / begeern wurde / Will geschweigen das Er hernach nit wo / wenn / vnnd wie offt es E.f.gen. sonnder allain Jme selb gefiel / dienen wollte»; fo. 2r. The letter, to which I found a reference in WOLFGANG BOETTICHER, Aus Orlan-do di Lassos Wirkungskreis: Neue archivalische Studien zur Munchener Musikgeschichte, Kassel, Barenreiter, 1963, p. 26, n. 42, is in the Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Geheimes Hausar-chiv, Korr.Akt 607 / Ga-Ku. It is quoted by permission of HRH Duke Albrecht of Bavaria.

11 Zenobi's attitude towards serving on command reminds one of the Ferrarese agent's famous comparison of Isaac and Josquin, who «composes when he wants to, and not when one wants him to»; see Loans LOCKWOOD, Josquin at Ferrara: New Documents and Letters, in EDWARD E. LOWINSICY and BONNIE J. BLACKBURN (eds.), Josquin des Prez: Proceedings of the International Josquin Festival-Conference, London, Oxford University Press, 1976, p. 114.

12 The letter is in the same archive Korr.Akt 607/Ti-Zo.


musicae artem in me tantum consideret, sed aliquid ultra, et con-

ditionem meam agnoscat, que plebana non est»).

The question of status, with which Zenobi is quite clearly preoc-

cupied, also comes up in his letter, where he has stern words for

princes who do not accord true musicians the status they deserve.

In the event, his exorbitant demands, as reported by Haberstock,

seem to have dissuaded Wilhelm from pursuing the matter, for I

have found no trace of Zenobi at the Bavarian court. By the end

of the year he must have been accepted elsewhere. It is not incon-

ceivable that he went to Spain, for there is no need to believe that

he was music tutor to Anna only before her marriage. At some later

time he returned to Vienna; owing to the lack of documentation for

chamber musicians at Rudolf's court (at least in modern studies) the

date cannot be determined. (It was probably spring 1575; see below,

Postscript). We do not know if Zenobi was also a composer, but he did write

poetry. A text by him, Io so ben the vivete, was set by Giovanni

Agostino Veggio, a musician of the duke of Parma, in his Primo libro

de madrigali, a quattro voci (Parma, 1575; Nuovo Vogel 2846). He

is also, according to Francesco Saverio Quadric, one of the authors

of verse printed in Dialoghi del matrimonio, e vita vedovile del S. C.

A. Bernardo Trotto (Turin, 1583), where he is called «Luigi Zenobi,

Gentiluomo di S. M. Cesarea».13 His most ambitious effort in this

field appears to be his cycle of one hundred sonnets lamenting the

death of Maximilian, which survives in the Biblioteca Nazionale in

Turin with a dedication to the Duke of Savoy. Before the fire of

1904 it bore the title: 41 Pianto di Luigi Zenobi, gentilhuomo della

Casa dell'Inuittissimo Imperador Ridolfo Secondo, in morte della S. C.

M. dell'Imperador Massimilliano Secondo, Signor Suo Clementissi-

mo. Al Serenissimo et Clementissimo Prencipe di Sauoia et Pie-

monte».14 It appears from the dedicatory letter that Zenobi hoped

his gift might lead to better things, for he declares himself «ambitio-

13 See FRANCESCO SAVERIO QUADRIO, Della storia, e ragione d'ogni poesia, 4 vols. in 7,

Milan, 1739-1752, index vol., p. 80. I have seen the 1578 edition of Trotto's book, which,

however, does not include verse.

14 MS N. VI. 24. The title is taken from the more informative entry in the older cata-

logue: BERNARDINO PEYRON, Codices italici manu exarati qui in bibliotheca Taurinensis Athenaei

ante diem XXVI Ianuarii M. CM. IV asservabantur, Turin, 1904, p. 201; it is also described

in ALBANO SORBELLI, Inventari dei manoscritti delle biblioteche d'Italia, 28, Florence, 1922, p.

177. The manuscript, in Zenobi's hand, was burnt around the outer edges of the upper half,

but with little loss of writing.

LUIGI ZENOBI AND HIS LETTER ON THE PERFECT MUSICIAN

69

so di valere a servirla humilmente». One cannot blame the duke for failing to appoint Zenobi his house poet, for the verse is exceedingly conventional. Assuming that the manuscript was presented not long after Maximilian's death, which occurred on 12 October 1576, the duke must be Emanuele Filiberto, who died in 1580, having served Charles V, fighting against the League of Schmalkalden and defeat-ing the French at Saint-Quentin. By this time, then, Zenobi was in Rudolf's service, apparently not as a mere «zinckhenplaser» but as a «gentilhuomo», a rise in status that must have gratified him. Whether «gentilhuomo» denotes the circumstance of his birth (we recall that he insisted that his status was not «plebana») or actual position at court is not clear. By 1583 he had gained his knightood (as we know from his signature on a letter of that year), probably from Rudolf.

From Vienna Zenobi was recruited to the court of Alfonso II d'Este at Ferrara, perhaps through the intermediation of Cardinal Luigi d'Este, whom he apparently knew in Rome, to judge from a letter addressed to the cardinal in October 1583 declaring his <<es-pressa mina» and asking for help; the «breve modo di favellare enig-matico» leaves us in the dark as to the difficulty. At Ferrara Zenobi seems to have enjoyed a reputation as a judge of singers. He was enlisted in the campaign to lure the famous bass Melchiorre Palen-trotti from San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome to Ferrara in 1589, and in 1593, during a period of three months' leave in Rome, he wrote that another bass, D. Stefano Ruggieri of Cremona, might be per-suaded to leave the papal choir «con provvisione di dugento scudi l'anno [...] Ma sarebbe necessario avantaggiarlo almeno di spese, e di stanza, poiche altramente non si levarebbe di qui» (letter of 18 September to the duke). Zenobi was not, however, persuaded of the quality of his voice («tuba di basso»), and he offered to go to Naples, «benche i viaggi siano di spesa crudele» and the risk of bandits great, in search of another bass. It is obvious from his letter to the un-named prince that he had considerable experience in assessing the qualities of bass and soprano singers.

Several of the letters from 1593 concern his attempts to gain that leave (with pay, and more besides, so that he will have «qualche com-modo di mostrare al mondo, ch'io non sono Servitore affatto inde-gno di cosi Gran Prencipe»; letter to Alfonso Fontanelli of 30 July). It was requested with some urgency, «sendo necessitato a ritrovarmi-ci, perche quel Signore, che vuole i miei Quadri, e di partita per Spagna a mezzo it Mese, che viene» (letter of 10 August to the duke's

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B. J. BLACKBURN - E. E. LOWINSKY

secretary), but he promises to be back in Ferrara in time for the marriage of Eleonora d'Este to the Prince of Venosa, Carlo Gesual-do; perhaps he will accompany him from Roma to Ferrara, though he promises «ne m'udira sonare, se non comandato dal Serenissimo Padrone» (letter of 11 August to Fontanelli). The reference to «i miei Quadri» is tantalizing: is Zenobi a painter as well? We know of many painters who were talented musicians but chose painting over music; Zenobi seems to have practised both. The urgent business in Rome also concerned the arrangements for the marriage of his niece and «other family matters»; Zenobi's family, or at least part of it, now seems to be resident in Rome. Some time after these letters Zenobi seems to have fallen into disfavour at the Ferrarese court; in the light of his proposals to Wil-helm and his constant need for money to support his status as a Cavaliere, this is perhaps not surprising. Three supplications to the duke, two undated, the other received on 14 October 1596, plead for help «perche io, da me stesso, non posso resistere per pensiero a infermita, a carestia, a debiti, a necessity di coprirmi questo verno, et a pagar pigion di Casa». He left the court before Alfonso's death, for his letter of 10 November 1597, offering condolences and con-gratulations to the new duke, was sent from «Allemagna», as noted on the back; the city is illegible, but was perhaps Vienna. Nor should it surprise us that he was including «quattro versi». Zenobi's last five letters were written from Naples to Cardinal Alessandro d'Este in Rome between July 1601 and September 1602. All five concern his efforts «a fare arrivare la mia piazza nella Tesoreria a ducati venticinque it Mese» (from twelve ducats; letter of 6 July). The cardinal promptly sends the three requested letters of recom-mendation, but to no avail, Zenobi reports, since the Capellano Mag-giore, D. Gabriel Sanchez, opposes him. On 2 November 1601 he writes again, asking whether the cardinal would favour him to «ray-vivare una prattica, ch'e gia duoi anni cominciata per farmi servire l'Illustrissimo [cardinale] Mont'alto» with the same provision, part for himself, part for his wife, and free lodgings. Nothing comes of this either. In the last desperate letter to the cardinal, of 20 Septem- ber 1602, Zenobi is still attempting to get his salary increased, and is still being opposed by the Capellano Maggiore, who has now become his mortal enemy: «non fece mai se non assassinarmi, e per-seguitarmi in publico, et in palese, vietandomi, ch'io sonassi sopra l'Organo da quell'hora, e tessendo sopra di cie una malignita barbari-ca ordinaria sua col Vicere per poter dire quello, the ha detto, e


fare quel, che ha fatto con odio, e biasmo di tutta questa Citta, cioe, ch'io era vecchio, e non vedea piu lume per sonare». Moreover, he has snatched out of Zenobi's hands «un libro di miniatura di valore di mile, e piu scudi, oltre quello, che ho donato al Vicere, et a sua Madre, che importa duoi centinaia di ducati» (here, perhaps, is con-firmation that Zenobi was also a painter). At his wits' ends, with his wife seven months pregnant and his little daughter ill with fever, and having «consumato quanto havevo, ch'erano da ottocento scudi in circa», Zenobi begs the cardinal for a letter demanding restitution of the book of miniatures «ch'io voglio fame subito presente a V. S. Illustrissima, perche e una Cosa da Re, e da Papa, e so, che da lei sara stimato, e tenuto in pregio principale». Zenobi concedes that he cannot see well, «ma prego Idio, e Santa Lucia, e Lucilla insieme, che cosi miracolosamente restin ciechi essi, come io vedo (sua merce) piu di loro, e son tanto vecchio, che se non havessi questa povera Moglie, e misera figliolina, adoprarei un bastone, o vero una Pistola, come fo questa penna da scrivere, e con la mia cecita, non farei colpo vano». At this point our knowledge of Zenobi's life ceases, and perhaps his life as well not long thereafter.

Zenobi has another minor claim to fame: he was once engaged to be married to the (subsequent) mother of Monteverdi's librettist for Orfeo. In an article published in a Sienese journal in 1919, Alfre-do Saviotti traced the career of a virtuoso singer, Virginia Vagno-li." A native of Siena, she came with her father Pietro to the court of Guidobaldo II della Rovere at Urbino some time before October 1567.16 The poet Lodovico Agostini (not to be confused with the composer of that name), who had fallen hopelessly in love with her, praises her singing in a dialogue set in 1569:

la nostra sirena Virginia, la quale col plettro in mano sta in procinto per rapirci seco sopra ai sette cieli; ed assettatosi ciascuno si die principio al concerto, cantando ella sola alcuni madrigali dello Strigio che poi divenne suo marito e frammettendone alcuni senza voce, fece stupir tutti della veloc-ita, della dolcezza e della grazia della sua voce e mano, le quali unite alla

15 ALFREDO SAviarn, Un'artista del Cinquecento, Vitginia Vagnoli da Siena, «Bullettino sense di storia patria», XXVI, 1919, pp. 105-134.

16 In this month Claudio Merulo, in his capacity as printer, dedicated to her a volume of madrigals by Giovanni Maria Rosso (Nuovo Vogel 2457), mentioning that Guidobaldo, «es-sendo della musica intendentissimo vi ha eletto al suo servitio». Most of Virginia's time was spent in Pesaro, not Urbino; the duke preferred its tranquillity to the hustle-bustle of court.


sua singolar bonta e bellezza la rendono al mondo un puro miracolo di natura sopra a quante ne furon mai per tutti i secoli.17

By good fortune, the contract drawn up for Virginia and her fa-ther survives. Together they were to be paid 400 scudi annually —200 scudi from income-producing properties, which were to be theirs in perpetuity, and 200 scudi in salary — plus the use of a furnished house. In return, they agreed to remain in ducal service, which they might leave only under five conditions: if they were ill treated, if they did not receive their income on time, if such service «fosse im-pedimento al libero maritare di M.a Virginia», if she wished to be-come a nun, or if — a clause that must have been subject to a great deal of negotiation — she and her father received an offer «dal quale si sperasse assai maggior bene, utile, essaltatione et grandezza di M.a Virginia», and specifically: «se fossero chiamati da la Maesta dell'Im-peratore, S.E. o dara loro licenza di andarvi o vero operera che M. Pietro possa ricusare l'andata con honore suo».'s Not long thereafter the offer came. In February 1570 Maximilian II wrote from Speyer to the duke of Urbino, informing him that one of his musicians, Luigi di Zanobi, wished to marry the young singer and bring her to his court, where they would both serve him.19

In the event, although Virginia left the court of Urbino, she did not marry Zenobi, for by 1571 at the latest she was the wife of Alessandro Striggio; by 1573 she had borne him three children.20 Virginia and Alessandro had perhaps known each other in Venice, where she created a great impression as a singer. According to a dia-logue set in Venice in 1556, «non si trova un'altra sua pari e per sua sicurezza nel canto e per vaghezza e attillatura del modo del can-tare e per dolcezza nella voce e nel tremolo ch'ella leggiadramente usa cantando»; moreover, «sonando di violone, ella non cede punto ne ad Alfonso [della Viola] ne allo Strigghio, che e cosi famoso in

17 SAVIOTTI, Un'artista cit., pp. 108-109.

18 Ibid., pp. 119-120. The contract bears no date, but mentions that «hanno servita S. Ecc.za alcuni mesi adietroo.

19 «Virgineam puellam artis musicae gnaram in uxorem ducere ac cum ea in curia nostra versari et coniuncta opera nobis humiliter inservire», quoted ibid., p. 128.

20 See DAVID BUTCHART, The Letters of Alessandro Striggio: An Edition with Translation

and Commentary, «Royal Musical Association Research Chronicle», XXIII, 1990, pp. 1-78 at 76, n. 33. The younger Alessandro was born in 1573, a date derived from a memorial plaque raised to his forebears in 1614, on which he gives his age as 41 (ibid.); his sister Francesca,

the eldest child, married in 1583 (p. 61).


questa materia».21 In view of the seeming suddenness of Virginia's change of plans and marriage to Striggio, we may perhaps read a different story between the lines. I suspect that Zenobi's marriage offer was an elaborate ruse (possibly not on his part), devised to let Virginia out of her contract with the Duke of Urbino, marry Strig-gio, and join her husband at a rival court, that of Florence (Striggio was known at Maximilian's court from his visit of 1567; the ties between Vienna and Florence were strong at this time because Fran-cesco de' Medici had married Maximilian's sister). But however fa-mous Virginia was in Venice and Urbino, in Florence she did not become one of the star singers; three children in quick succession must have put an end to her career. She outlived her husband by many years, dying in Mantua in 1604.

At some unknown time before Zenobi joined the Ferrarese court he had obtained a knightood, perhaps from the emperor Rudolf; fi-nally his status was assured. From then on he is often known as the Cavaliere del Cornetto. Putting together this appellation with Lomazzo's reference to him as «anconitano», we may safely identify him with the «Cavaliere Luigi del Cornetto anconitano» so highly praised by Vincenzo Giustiniani:

Sono poi molti sonatori d'altri stromenti, che non stare a nominare, sal-vo ii Cavaliere Luigi del Cornetto anconitano, che lo sonava miracolosamente, et tra l'altre molte volte lo song in un mio camerino sopra it cimbalo, ch'era ben serrato et appena si sentiva; e suonava egli ii Cornetto con tanta moder-azione e giustezza, che fece stupire molti gentil uomiti che si dilettavano di musica, che erano presenti, puoiche it Cornetto non superava it suono del Cimbalo.22

21 FRANCESCO SANSOVINO, Cento novelle, Venice, 1571, p. 230; quoted by Saviotti, op. cit., pp. 114-115. According to the dialogue, Virginia was resident in Murano. Domenico Ve-niero and Lodovico Agostini exchanged sonnets on Virginia; see ibid., pp. 117-118. She may well have taken part in Veniero's literary salon, home to a number of composers and singers; on this salon, see MARTHA FELDMAN, The Academy of Domenico Venier, Music's Literary Muse in Mid-Cinquecento Venice, «Renaissance Quarterly*, XLIV, 1991, pp. 476-512. Saviotti re-prints several other poems mentioning Virginia. He missed two by Benedetto Guidi, published in the second volume of De le rime di diversi nobili Poeti Toscani, raccolte da M. Dionigi Atana-gi, Venice, Lodovico Avanzo, 1565, fo. 154r-v, headed in the index «Loda una Madonna Virgi-nia, la quale sonava di liuto, & cantava eccellentissimamente».

22 In his Discorso sopra la musica de' suoi tempi, in ANGELO SOLERTI, Le origini del melo-dramma, Turin, Fratelli Bocca, 1903, p. 125; English translation by Carol MacClintock, Musi-cological Studies and Documents, 9; American Institute of Musicology, 1963, pp. 78-79. Newcomb had tentatively suggested the identification. COSTANZO ANTEGNATI, L'arte organica, Brescia, 1608 (repr. with a preface by Renato Lunelli, 2nd corr. edn. Mainz, 1958), recalls that his grandfather «era nominato ii Cavaglier dall'Organo; come parimente e nominato nella


These meetings perhaps took place in the 1590s, when we know that

Zenobi was in Rome. Giustiniani was a keen observer of the contem-

porary musical scene, and there are enough points in common be-

tween his treatise (really a letter) and Zenobi's letter to suggest that

the two discussed many musical topics together. It is not known when Zenobi died: we lose all trace of him after

his last letter of 1602. In view of his high-profile position at the

court of Ferrara in the 1590s, it seems surprising that he was having

such difficulty in the service of the Viceroy in 1601; his bitterness

towards the Capellano Maggiore finds pointed echo in his letter to

the unnamed prince. Perhaps he was indeed «too old». Or perhaps,

as a Cavaliere, he had set his conditions too high, which would not

be surprising in view of his negotiations with Wilhelm.

The Date and Destination of the Letter

Zenobi's letter is not a carefully polished and artfully considered

epistle written with publication in mind but a response to a request

by the prince to answer six questions about the qualities of a perfect

musician, whether a singer, a director, a composer, or an instrumen-

talist. Zenobi was rather reluctant to answer these questions: he had

to be asked a second time. Nor was he the only one who had received

this questionnaire. He explains his holding back by saying that he

would rather be esteemed and loved for his modesty by the prince

than be reproved and hated for presumptuousness by those his words

would affect — and not without reason, for he has some highly criti-

cal remarks to make about a certain type of singer. Although Zenobi

would like to think of himself as a moderate man, he cannot control

his scorn when he comes to speaking about ignorant and vain singers,

and his language becomes quite colourful. It is clear that he is a

practising musician, not a diplomatic courtier; the personal traits re-

vealed by this letter go a long way towards explaining why Zenobi

had difficulties both at Maximilian's court and in Naples.23

Citta di Ferrara uno it Cavaglier dal Cornetto, per l'eccellenza sua in tal professione» (p. 62).

At the same time there was also a Lodovico dal Cornetto, from Brescia, who was in the service

of the bishop of Padua, in Rome, where he died in 1619; OrrAvio Rossi, Elogi historici di

bresciani illustri, Brescia, Bartolomeo Fontana, 1620, p. 501. This must be the cornettist «di

monsignor Cornaro, vescovo di Padua» mentioned by PIETRO DELLA VALLE, Della musica del-

l' eta nostra (1640), reprinted in SOLERTI, Le origini del melodramma cit., p. 158, as having

performed in his Carro in 1606.

LUIGI ZENOBI AND HIS LE IER ON THE PERFECT MUSICIAN 75

Without knowing when the letter was written, it is difficult to hazard a guess at the identity of the prince. Equally, if we knew the addressee, it would be easier to determine the date. While there is nothing in the letter that gives any clue to the addressee, other

than his rank, there are several aspects of it that help narrow down the date. The first is the striking resemblance of the terminology

for ornaments with that of Giulio Caccini in the preface to Le nuove musiche of 1602 (see paras. 13-14 and the commentary), close enough to suggest either that Zenobi was familiar with that publication or else that he had some acquaintance with Caccini in Rome or Flor-ence, or moved in circles in which this terminology was used. Se-condly, in para. 25 Zenobi mentions the «theorba». Douglas Alton

Smith has made a very plausible case for dating the invention of the theorbo (known in the 1590s by the name chitarrone) between the Florentine intermedi of 1586, where it was not used, and those of 1589, where over half the pieces had chitarrone accompaniment; viewed against the background of the Florentine preoccupation with ancient music and the fanciful ancient instruments in Bernardo Buon-talenti's costume sketches, the new instrument might well have been devised especially for Jacopo Peri's impersonation of Anion, the citha-rode. In 1592 Cavalieri, who certainly ought to have known, stated that the inventor of the instrument was Il Bardella, Antonio Naldi, a lutenist at the court.24 Thus any reference to the theorbo (mean-

ing chitarrone, not hurdy-gurdy, to which the term had earlier been applied) should date from 1589 or later. These two points, taken together with the knowledge we now have that Zenobi was in Na-ples in 1601-1602, make a date of around 1600 most likely.

Lowinsky suggested a date of c. 1575 because of the composers

mentioned by Zenobi. There are only four: Willaert, Rore, Paolo Animuccia, and Luzzasco (see paras. 5 and 23; Zarlino is also men-tioned in para. 5). Willaert and Rore would be at the top of any-one's list for a considerable part of the second half of the century, but in 1596 Zacconi called them vecchi. Paolo Animuccia, probably born around 1500 in Florence, also belongs to this early generation, though he is not nearly as distinguished a composer. Luzzasco pub-

23 It was pointed out by Prof. Szweykowski in the discussion following my lecture in

Krakow that the striking contrast in tone and views (especially the attitude to princes) with

Giustiniani's letter shows very clearly the difference between the professional and the amateur.

24 See DOUGLAS ALTON SMITH, On the Origin of the Chitarrone, <journal of the Ameri-

can Musicological Society», XXXII, 1979, pp. 440-462.

76 B, J. BLACKBURN - E. E. LOWINSKY

lished his first book of madrigals in 1571. If Zenobi wrote his letter around the turn of the century, why did he not name any of the musicians who were then famous? My suspicion is that he did not wish to mention a renowned musician, then living, who was not in the prince's employ, for fear of implying that the prince did not have the best musicians at his court. It was far more diplomatic not to mention the newest generation of musicians — and we may note that both at the beginning and the end of the letter Zenobi express-es his fear of offending or being hated for presumptuousness.

There is something very odd about Zenobi's list of musicians: what is Paolo Animuccia doing in this illustrious company? Nothing is known of his career before he became choirmaster at St John Late-ran in 1550, a post he left in 1552. There are no firm dates for his activities after then, but two contemporary sources of the 1560s mention that he was maestro di cappella to the Duke of Urbino, Guidobaldo II, a post recently confirmed by Richard Sherr's discov-ery of a letter from him, written from Pesaro in January 1566, to the Duke's secretary in Rome.25 He died some time between 1569 and 1571.26 Paolo Animuccia must have been someone known to the prince; was his name added to the small list to flatter the prince's (or his father's) taste? Guidobaldo II died in 1574 and was succeed-ed by Francesco Maria II, who ruled until 1621. A solitary and taciturn man by nature, after his wife Lucrezia d'Este left him in 1573 and returned to Ferrara he devoted much time to hunting and to his library. In 1598 Lucrezia died, leaving him free to marry once more, which he seems to have done with some reluctance; however, there was need of an heir. He married Livia della Rovere on 26 April 1599. If Francesco Maria were the prince who wrote to Zenobi, this would have been a good time to do so, for surely changes were made in court life upon his marriage. Livia seems to have had an interest in music; Vincenzo Pellegrini dedicated to her his Canzoni de in-tavolatura d'organo fatte alla francese (Venice, 1599) 27 and Giovanni

25 See RICHARD SHERR, A Letter from Paolo Animuccia. A Composer's Response to the

Council of Trent, «Early Music», XII, 1984, pp. 75-78. Animuccia wanted the secretary to

get Cardinal della Rovere to sponsor him for the task of reforming the papal chapel's musical

compositions and chant to suit the new «intelligible» style. The other sources are the same

dialogue by Lodovico Agostini that mentions Virginia Vagnoli, set in Pesaro in 1569, and

PIETRO GAETANO, De origine et dignitate musices, dedicated to Guidobaldo.

26 See L. PANNELLA, art. Paolo Animuccia in Dizionario biografico degli italiani.

27 In his dedication, Pellegrini states: «confidandorni, the oltra tante nobilissime virtu,


Priuli offered to her his Primo libro de madrigali a cinque voci (Venice, 1604).

This is a very tentative hypothesis, to be sure, and yet it is sug-gestive that there are these two indirect links between Zenobi and Urbino, through Virginia Vagnoli and Paolo Animuccia. There may even be a third. We know that Zenobi was a native of Ancona, which is not far from Pesaro, the favoured home of Guidobaldo. Ancona was part of the Papal States, not the duchy of Urbino, but Francesco Lupin, a native of Ancona, was choirmaster at the Duomo in Urbi-no from 1544 to 1555.28 Might he have brought Zenobi to Urbino as a choirboy? Zenobi signs his letter «devotissimo, et antico Servi-tore», an expression that seems to indicate that he was once in the prince's service.

Another possibility is the court of Savoy at Turin. Zenobi dedi-cated his lament on Maximilian to the duke of Savoy. In 1580 Emanuele Filiberto was succeeded by his 18-year-old son Carlo Emanuele, who had a marked interest in music. When the plague struck Turin in 1599 a number of his musicians fell victim; in 1601 he initiated his efforts to reconstitute the music at court by appoint-ing Pasquino Bastini, who had been in service for thirty years, as «capo musico nostro tanto dei presenti musici nostri sonatori et can-tatori quanto di ogni altri». The letter of appointment begins: «Volendo not ritornare al pristino stato la musica di nostra Camera et Capella gia per la contagione passata et altre occurrenze ridotta a pochissimo numero».29 In such circumstances, Carlo Emanuele might well have asked for advice, and Zenobi, through the dedication of his lament on Maximilian to the duke's father, might have qualified as an «anti-co Servitore».

Luigi Zenobi, obscure though he may have been up to now, was an international figure in his time, known in Ancona, Urbino, Vien-na, Munich, Turin, Milan, Ferrara, Rome, and Naples. Not only famed

the risedono nella persona di V. Sig. Illustriss. possedendo cosi egregiamente questa facolta della Musica, sia per agradire questo picciolo dono»; see CLAUDIO SARTORI, Bibliografia della musica strumentale italiana stampata in Italia fino al 1700, Florence, Olschki, 1952, p. 104.

28 See BRAMANTE LIGI, La cappella musicale del Duomo d'Urbino, «Note d'archivio per la storia musicale», II, 1925, pp. 45-48,

29 See STANISLAO CORDERO DI PAMPARATO, I musici ally Corte di Carlo Emanuele I di Sa-

voia, «Biblioteca della Societa Storica Subalpina», CXXI, 1930, pp. 31-142 at pp. 59-60. Nei-ther in this article nor in the same author's Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia, protettore dei musici, «Rivista musicale italiana», XXXIV, 1927, pp. 229-247 and 555-578; XXXV, 1928, pp. 29-40, have I found mention of Zenobi.


as a cornettist, his advice was sought as a knowledgeable musician

and judge of singers and players. That he gave it so freely and in

such detail is our good fortune.

The Letter

Zenobi's letter is presented below in a slightly edited version:

paragraphing has been added and the paragraphs numbered to facili-

tate comparison with the English translation (see Appendix); accents,

which appear haphazardly in the original, have been regularized and

some punctuation added. The more obvious errors have been cor-

rected, with missing letters or phrases added in angle brackets. But

no attempt was made to regularize Zenobi's rather careless syntax.

The letter is followed by a brief commentary on some of the

problematic terms. Much more could be said, of course, and connec-

tions traced between the ideas expressed in the letter and contem-

porary writings on the same subject. Suffice it to say that the closest

points of comparison may be made with Lodovico Zacconi, Prattica

di musica utile et necessaria si al compositore per comporre i canti suoi

regolatamente, si anco al cantore per assicurarsi in tutte le cose cantabili

(Venice, 1596 and 1622), Vincenzo Giustiniani's Dialogo di musica,

written c. 1628 but referring retrospectively to the last quarter of

the sixteenth century, and, as regards the ornaments in particular,

the preface to Giulio Caccini's Le nuove musiche (Florence, 1602).

Since the letter itself amounts to a small treatise, I append here

a list of the principal subjects discussed in each paragraph, as a table

of contents:

1. Introduction; the letter received from the prince

2. The six questions asked by the prince 3. Considerations on the, questions 4. The eight requirements to be able to sing with assurance

5. The first requirement of a good director (rimettitore): knowledge

of counterpoint 6. The second requirement of a good director: an acute ear

7. The third and fourth requirements of a good director: a wide

vocal range and having taught how to improvise counterpoint

8. Why composers may not be good directors 9. The difference between a singer and a musician

10. How to sing with grace and with art; the requirements of a good

bass


79

11. How to judge a good bass 12. The requirements of a good tenor and alto 13. The requirements of a good soprano and the definition of vari-

ous ornaments 14. More requirements of a good soprano 15. Correct deportment of singers; faults committed by poor singers 16. General considerations on instrumentalists 17. The requirements of a• good wind instrumentalist; remarks on

the concerti grossi 18. The requirements of a good string instrumentalist 19. The requirements of a good trombonist and cornettist; more on

the requirements of a good harpsichordist, lutenist, and harpist 20. The requirements of a good composer: general remarks 21. The requirements of a good composer: ability to direct 22. The requirements of a good composer: composition 23. The requirements of a good composer: text-setting, style 24. Remarks on incompetent and pretentious musicians, and the re-

lation of great artists with patrons 25. The requirements of good players of foundation instruments («in-

struments that sound all the parts»): harpsichord, lute, harp, the-orbo, cittern, and vihuela; the role of the accompanist

26. The true musician 27. The common faults of those who pretend to be musicians 28. Conclusion

Serenissimo mio Signore, Signore et Padron Singolarissimo. 1. A me parve di ritener, come si dice, fra i denti, it mio parere intorno

alle sei cose, che piacque all'Altezza Sua comandarmi, ch'io le scrivesse in materia di Musica, e di Musici, come Cantanti, Compositori, Contrapunti-sti, et Istrumentisti di qual si fosse strumento da fiato, e da corde; giudican-do io, che per me fosse meglio l'esser da lei, e da chi ragionevolmente sara tocco, stimato, et amato modesto; che ripreso, et odiato come troppo ardito. Ma perche mi fu sc(r)itto due volte gia, che s'io non iscrivevo it mio parere per verita, conforme all'intelligenza, che Idio m'havea data in questa profes-sione; o sarei tenuto ignorante, o poco suo servitore, e conoscitor de gl'obli-ghi, ch'io tengo alla Grandezza sua; eleggo piu tosto essere odiato, se pur merita cio chi dice it vero lontanissimo da tutte le passioni, che detto ingra-to, e senza verita dall'Altezza da chi poco sa e nemeno intende, di poco sapere.

2. Desidera, e comanda l'Altezza sua che io le dica sei cose in somma, che son queste.


Che conditioni deve haver uno per cantar securo la sua parte.

Che cosa ricerca it rimetter bene, o perche non si rimette bene.

Chi si deve chiamar Musico, et e veramente, e la differenza da Musico

a cantore. Che cosa deve haver un cantante per cantare con arte, con gratia e con

giuditio. Che differenza sia dal comporre da Maestro Musico, o vero alla buona,

e sonar similmente. Et in che cosa peccano i Musici Cantori, et Istrumentisti per ordinario,

se non sanno, ne hanno altro che musica.

3. Sei cose in vero, ciascuna per se malagevole assai, e che converrebbe

digerire a maggiore intelletto del mio. Tuttavia, perche l'Altezza sua scrive

di haver gia in mano it parer di molti, e che le manca solo il mio; per servirla

comincio, e dico che sette cose, secondo me, deve havere un Cantante secu-

ro, e se havesse l'ottava [orig.: ottavo], darebbe inditio maggiore assai di

securezza.

4. La Prima e il non essere ignorante affatto del contrapunto. La Secon-

da deve cantar securo le cantilene composte a crome, e semicrome. La Terza

deve cantar securo quelle, che son composte a salti, come di seste, di setti-

me, di none, d'undecime, hor preste, hor tarde. La Quarta deve cantar secu-

ro quelle, che son composte di contratempi mescolati con artifitiose durezze.

La Quinta deve cantar securo quelle, che sono cromaticamente composte.

La Sesta deve cantare e conoscere securo tutte, o la maggior [199v] parte

delle proportioni [orig.: propositioni], e sesquialtere, che son sparse per l'o-

pere antiche, e moderne. La Settima deve conoscere perfettamente i segni

musicali, et i tempi et it valore delle note in quelli. La Ottava sarebbe, ch'e-

gli, ritrovando errore, o di compositore, o di copia, sapesse rimediare impro-

visamente all'errato, cantando, e ritornare nella sua parte senza aiuto d'altri,

e per il cantar securo e facile a dire; ma difficilissimo, e miracoloso a trovare,

perche in questa rete si pigliano cantori vecchi a centinaia, e compositori

a dozzine, e se l'Altezza sua ne yeah alla prova; lo vedra con effetto.

5. Passo al rimetter bene, e dico che per cio fare, sono necessarie quattro

cose. La prima il rimettitore [orig.: remittitore] deve intendere, e possedere

Eccellentemente (il Contrapunto buono e it Contrapunto artifitioso) [here,

and later, the scribe appears to have jumped over repeated words]: il Contra-

punto buono si chiama quello, che non ammette falsita manifeste, tuttavia

d'ordine, e di stile non camina bene affatto, ma come si dice, alla buona,

et e apunto come l'aglio ch'e buono a mangiare, ma piu al gusto de' contadi-

ni e de' bastagi, che de' Cavalieri, e delicati, li quali non restano sempre

con gusto fetente. Contrapunto artifitioso si chiama quello, ch'e fatto, o scritto

con isqui(si)tezza d'arte, d'ingegno, di giuditio, e di Arte [sic], il che consiste

nell'ordine, nella regola, e nel modo non conosciuto, se non da ingegni spiri-

tosi, et elevati. Essempio di tutto cib si pito havere nel Zerlino, nelle compo-


sitioni d'Adriano Villaere [sic], di Cipriano, di Paulo Animuccia, di Luzza-

sco, e de Altri Musici, o simili, o poco differenti da loro, e non di molti

meschini d'arte, e di spirito, li quali tutto l'anno, infilzando note, e conso-

nance a caso, che ti fa notare, e dissonare fra valent'huomini, e tenendo

forniti i pizzicagnoli con lo schiccherare cartuzze, e cartelle, si danno ad in-

tendere d'esser Musici rari.

6. La seconda cosa necessaria per rimetter bene, non e altro, che havere

l'orecchia pronta, presta et aggiustata, prevenendo piU tosto in certo modo,

chi [orig.: che] e per uscir della parte, che aspettando, ch'egli esca.

7. La terza conditione necessaria per rimetter bene consiste nell'haver

da Idio e dalla natura voce, che vada honestamente alto e basso, ma piu

basso che alto, come fondamento che mancando, apporta piu pensiero al ri-

mettitore di quel che fanno l'altre parti di mezzo, et estrema. E perche ci

son huomini rari nel Contrapunto, che per diffetto di voce, e per altro, che

si dira qui di sotto poco, non ponno rimettere; perb, non tutti quelli, che

compongono, rimettono [200r] e fanno contrapunto con la voce a mente,

e vanno attorno boriosi, si hanno a tenere per buoni e vefi Musici, sendo

che it Comporre alla buona, non fa it musico buono; ne it rimetter semplice-

mente, o contrapunteggiare su la parte cantando, perche son due conditioni,

che si acquistano nella Quarta cosa, o conditione, che molte volte insegna

it rimettere in alcuni casi, e fino a certo termine, la quale non e altra che

l'haver tenuto scuola molti anni, dove molti imparano di contrapunteggiare,

e rimettere come hb gia detto; ma nella Compositione non vagliano un pane;

si come molti compongono assai bene, ma non sanno rimettere, o per non

haver tenuto scuola, o per non havere ne pronta, ne presta, ne giusta l'orec-

chia, o per havere a rimettere in cose difficili, o cromatiche, o contratempa-

te, o fatte a salti sproportionati, o veloci, Cantori mediocri [orig.: mediocre],

e molto meno ignoranti in cose non piu vedute da loro.

8. E creda l'Altezza sua che Compositori buoni quanto si vogliano, li

quali siano atti a rimettere Cantori mediocri in cose difficili, e spetialmente,

se duoi, o tre di loro perdono la parte insieme, son Cornacchie bianche, et

Armellini neri. Ma nelle cose fatte con la pancia inanzi, et alla buona, molti

lo faranno, e senza molta difficulta. Di qui e, che molti, li quali non possono

rimettere, o per (non) haver tenuto scuola, et essersi essercitati a contrapun-

teggiare in voce con scuolari, o non han voce per andare alto, e basso; ma

tuttavia sono intendentissimi della compositione, e del Contrapunto da mae-

stro con la penna, e ragionando, sono senza dubbio degni del nome di Musici

yeti, e di Valent'huomini poi che non pub esser colpa, ne nota di biasmo

dove, o per qualita di nascimento, o di stato, o per diffetto di Natura, non

fanno, ne fecero mai cose tali.

9. Vengo poi a dire a sua Altezza, che stravagantissimo e strano humore

mi pare che sia quello di alcuni, li quali per cantare, non diro securo, bene

6


con gratia, con giuditio la loro parte se ben cib non bastarebbe [orig.: la

starebbe]; ma per cantarla, o mediocramente, o male, o miserabilmente, vo-

gliono esser chiamati Musici, e non Cantori, o Cantanti. Poi che dal Canto-

re, al Musico, e quella differenza, o simile, ch'e da uno it qual vive con quel-

le leggi, ch'ei portb da Natura rozze bene, ad uno, che consume molti, e

molti anni per gli studij pie famosi del Mondo studiando legge, et al fine

si fe Dottore, e pub salire in Cathedra, leggere ad altri, interpretare, glosare,

e regger popoli, e stati [orig.: statite]. Si deve dunque chiamar Musico, Mu-

sici [2000 quelli che intendono eccellentemente it Contrapunto, o cantando,

o scrivendo, e che non havendo mancamento per sua colpa, canta securo,

rimette bene, e compone da Maestro. Cantanti, o Cantori si chiaman quelli,

che cantano le parti alte, mezzane, o basse; se bene securo, con gratia, e

con giuditio, eccellenti, se mediocramente, mediocri, se ordinariamente, or-

dinarij, se malamente, da dozzina; se per pratica, pratici; se naturalmente,

naturali.

10. Honesta cosa e hora, ch'io dica all'Altezza che conditioni debba ha-

ver uno, per cantar con gratia, con giuditio, con passaggi nobili, e con arte,

o come communemente si dice, bene affatto la sua parte. E similmente, chi

suona strumento d'una parte sola; che poi si dira di quegli strumentisti, che

ponno sonare tutte le parti insieme, e fare armonia da se stessi. Principal-

mente deve l'Altezza sapere, che le parti ordinarie son quattro, come Basso,

Tenore, Contralto, e Soprano, alle quali e con le quali sono una cosa la quin-

ta, e la sesta parte, o la settima, et ottava, che si cantasse, ma regolarmente

le parti, son le prime quattro dette. Colui, che canta it Basso, se canta in

compagnia, e obligato a saper tener salda la sua parte, giusta, e secura: salda

quanto al cantare, giusta quanto alla voce, secura [orig.: securo] quanto al

sapere, e se vuole alcuna volta passaggiare: deve appostare it tempo, che le

tre parti tengan saldo, e conoscere i luoghi, dove pub fare it passaggio. Per-

che it passeggiare al Basso, quando gli salta [orig.: salda] l'humore, senza

conoscer molto bene it tempo, et it luogo di cia fare, senza dubbio e argo-

mento di crassa ignoranza. Deve poi conoscere, e sapere quali siano li passag-

gi proprij da Basso, perche it farli da Tenore, da Contralto, e da Soprano,

e argomento del gia detto chiarissimo. Deve poi haver trillo, e tremolo netto,

e voce nell'alto e nel basso eguale di tuba; ne si potra dire realmente Basso,

se non va ventidue voci alto, e basso con eguale tondezza di tuba; ma si

chiamera tenore sforzato, che col perpetuo cantare, e gridare, habbia eguali-

ta di polso nell'alte, come nelle basse, e porti seco sempre una certa crudezza

risonante, la quale a chi non intende par bella, e buona; ma a chi sa, brutta

e vitiosa.

11. Quando it Basso canta poi solo, non e da credere al suo Cantare

con leuto, con Cimbalo, e simili, perche con tali strumenti non hanno si

presto espressa la voce, che la lasciano, e cosi, o sia basso, o d'altra parte,

pub cantare infinite falsita, che son passate perche l'armonia perduta dello


83

strumento imperfetto non le lascia sentire se non che chi sa benissimo le conosce per false e male intese, e per consequenza fa tenere ignorante it Can-tore, ma con organo dove si conosce di buona maniera chi canta, e chi suona con giuditio, e con arte, se la persona intendente ci ferma l'udito. E questo e quello, che manifesta [201r] l'ignoranza, e presuntione di molti, che can-tando sopra l'organo disgratiatissimamente si pascono con la sentenza del Volgo, e della Canagliuola, la quale, tanto sentendo uno infelice ciarlatano con un poco di voce cagnina, o di dispositione asinina, subito cominciano a sclamare, «o buono! o bene! o che voce divina! Che ye ne pare messer Non-intende? Che ne dite Signor Parl'a-caso? Non e miracoloso Signor Non-so-che-me-dica?» E cosi si [orig.: se] restano molti miseri uccellati da gli in-tendenti, e commendati da gl'ignoranti compagnoni. Ne si maravigli 1'Altez-za sua che i Principi riconoscano molte volte piU questi d'altri che vagliono, e merittano assai per virtu, e per sapere, perche i Principi, dal primo giorno, che cominciano a governare, perdono la yeti* et it secondo abhorriscono tutti i suoi seguaci, e di qui e che non trovano chi for la dica, e pere inciam-pano in queste, e simili cose, oltre che ben disse quel Poeta,

Che nel proceder pazzo di fortuna, felice e '1 saggio al fin sotto la Luna.

12. Il tenore deve passaggiare quando il Basso, e le parti compagne stan-no ferme, et usar passaggi proprij della parte sua, e non toccare quelli del Basso, se non quando la Compositione to lascia in sua vece et all'hora farlo con giuditio, e discretione. Et altrettanto puo e deve fare il Contralto. Ma io lodarei in queste parti di mezzo, che elleno passaggiassero di rado, e si contentassero di sapere ascendere e discendere con la voce gratiosamente ondeggiando et usando tall'hora qualche trill°, o tremolo gentile, che senza dubbio ne sarebbono assai piu lodati da chi sa che cosa importi cantar bene. Ma cantando sole con qualche strumento di tutte le parti, in questo caso, ponno allargarsi, quanto al passaggiare; ma non perro tanto, che vengano a noia e paia, che tutto lo studio Toro sia riposto in questo. Avvertendo al Tenore, che i suoi passaggi sian tali, che poco, o nulla tocchino la parte del Basso o del Contralto; et al contralto, che i suoi tocchino, o poco, o nulla quelle del soprano, e del Tenore. Cosi si canta con giuditio, e con arte, e non a caso, et a rompicollo come hoggi fanno alcuni meschinissimi, tuttavia pretendendo di toccare it fondo all'orciuolo in materia di sapere cantare, e beccandosi dolcemente l'horgoglio [orig.: l'Horloggio]. E perche meglio m'in-tenda l'Altezza, i passi delle parti di mezzo s'hanno a stender poco, anzi piu tosto debbono con arte intrecciarsi perche piglino poco luogo, e faccino bello udire in che si conosce maggiormente l'arte et it giuditio del cantante.

13. Resta il soprano, il quale a veramente l'ornamento di tutte Value parti sicome il Basso e fondamento. Ii Soprano dunque ha l'obligo, e campo franco di passag[201v]giare, di scherzare, e d'abbellire in somma un corpo


musicale, ma se cie non fa con arte, con leggiadria, e con giuditio, e noioso

a sentire, duro a diggerire, e stomacoso a sopportare. Egli principalmente

per far bello udire, ha da essere naturale, o puerile, senza diffetto di naso,

senza gettar di testa, travolger di spalle, o movimento d'occhi di ganasse

di (b)arbozzo, e di persona. Deve andare alto e basso con egualita di tuba,

e non havere un registro nell'alto ed un'altro nel basso. Deve havere bonissi-

mo contrapunto, perche senza questo, canta a caso, e fa mile cosaccie. Deve

cantando fare intendere specificatamente le parole, e non ingarvugliarle con

passaggi, ne coprirle con la risonanza soverchia della voce, o campanina, o

roca, o rozza. Deve havere (il groppo granito e it groppo posato;) it groppo

granito e quello, che tocca le due note come sol, e fa, o la e sol di semicrome

spiccate. Groppo posato e quello, che si fa di crome semplici, toccando e-

spressamente pur le due note. Trillo e quello, che non si ferma, ne in riga

ne ispatio (ma muove sempre) con velocita. Tremolo e quello, che tocca della

riga, e dello spatio in qual'si voglia modo, ch'ei si faccia.

14. Deve il soprano di pill havere l'ondeggiar [orig.: ondeggier] della vo-

ce, conoscere i luoghi delle esclamationi, e non farle indifferentemente, ne

alla grossa come molti fanno. Deve sapere salir con la voce, e scender con

gratia, ritenendo tall'hora parte della nota passata, e ritoccandola alquanto,

se la consonanza lo richiede, e sopporta. Deve sapere far nascere le durezze,

o le false [orig.: farze. See commentary] dove il Compositore non l'ha toc-

che, ne fatte, ma lasciate al giuditio del Cantante. Deve unire et accordare

con l'altre parti. Deve tall'hora portar le voci con disprezzo, tall'hora con

modo di strascinarle, tall'hora con galanteria di motivo. Deve esser ricco di

passaggi quanto al sapere, e di giuditio, quanto al valersene. Deve conoscere

quali siano i buoni passi cominciando da quelli, che si fanno con grandissimo

artifitio d'una nota, di due, di tre, di quattro, di cinque, di sei, di sette

e di otto. Deve con essi sapersi stendere dal basso, al alto, e dal alto, al

basso, deve saperli intrecciare, aggroppare, radoppiare, deve sapere accennar

la cadenza [orig.: l'accadenza], e fuggirla, deve saper scherzar di semiminime

spartite e seguenti, deve saper cominciare un passo di crome, e finirlo con

semicrome, e cominciarlo di semicrome, e finirlo di crome. Deve variar sem-

pre passi buoni ne' medesmi canti, deve saper passaggiare in ogni sorte di

cantilene, o veloci, o cromatiche, o ferme. Deve conoscer l'opere, che voglio-

no passaggi, e quelle, che non li richieggono. Deve cantando una medesma

cosa piu volte, variar passi sempre. Deve saper cantare il canto schietto, cioe

senza passo alcuno ma solo con gratia, trillo, tremolo, ondeggiamento, et

esclamatione. Deve conoscer la [202r] forza delle parole, o temporali, o spiri-

tuali, ch'elle si siano; e dove si parla di volare, di tremare, di pianger, di

ridere, di saltare, di gridare, di falso e cose simili, deve sapere accompagnarle

con la voce. Deve haver Echi passi hor continui et hora separati. Deve tal-

l'hora saper cominciare con voce gagliarda, e lasciarla a poco a poco morire;

e tall'hora cominciare, o finire con voce piana, et a poco a poco avvivarla;

deve saper passaggiare a salti, a contratempi, et a sesquialtere, deve conosce-


85

re i luoghi molto bene che ricercono i passaggi, deve partirsi con giuditio, e terminare a tempo con chi canta seco, o suona, deve altramente cantare in chiesa, altramente in Camera, altramente all'aria, si di giorno come di notte; altramente un mottetto, altramente una Villanella, altramente una la-mentation, altramente un canto allegro, altramente una Messa, altramente un falso bordone, altramente un aria, et haver a ciascuna di dette cose moti-vo, passaggi, e stile differenti di modo, che si conosca l'artifitio, et it saper del Cantore [orig.: Cantarel.

15. Ma hoggi giorno quando si travolgon le spalle, o la vita, come se si havesse dolor colico, quando si stralunan gl'occhi a guisa di lunatici, quan-do si batteno le ganasse, et it barbozzo, come sogliono i tartaglioni parlando, quando si giuoca di naso, o si grida, e strilla come arrabbiato, e si fanno sei o vero otto note disgratiatamente, et alto sproposito con falsity, e con poco giuditio, senza saper quando ne come, o dove si finiscano, e (co)minciono; quando si torna sempre al medesmo verso, come fanno i Papagalli ammae-strati, e non s'esce mai di due, o di tre cantilene mendicate, et acconcie da person, che sanno poco, o si persuadon troppo; e s'hanno per uditori gente amica del canto, che si suole udire it quinto Mese dell'anno, e non conoscono la differenza dal cantare al gracchiare, (ne) dall'intonare allo sto-nare, o dal sapere all'ignorare; Basta che si alzino le voci a modo di Goggiot-te in suppate [ = inzuppate?], e si dica, «o bene, o buona, o come miracolosa-mente, che cosa divina, che raro cantante», da che nasce poi, che viva in terra un seminario perpetuo di fusti, che con l'orecchie crollanti, accennino, che la pioggia e vicina.

16. Hora, tutte, o la maggior quantita delli sopra scritti conditioni, deve havere medesimamente uno strumentista, che suoni, o Cornetto [orig.: Cor-neae], o Viola da Gamba, o Violino, o flauto, o fifaro, o simili d'una parte sola. Che di quegli strumentisti, che suonano tutte le parti; dirb poi all'Al-tezza sua per verita e con brevity quel che io ne sento, e conosco senza pen-siero di pregiudicare a nessuno, si come nel resto detto, intesi et intendo, parendomi, che cio richiegga it comandamento dell'Altezza sua e la mode-stia, e sincerity virtuosa e mia.

17. Vero e che gli strumentisti da fiato hanno di piu che debbono sapere [202v] la bonta, quantita, e variety delle lingue, la perfezzione dello strumen-to, et it forte, e'l piano quando bisogna; ma piu it piano debbono curar del forte, come quello che serve per le Camere de' Principi, et in luoghi di ri-spetto, e fa maggiormente scoprire i diffetti, e l'eccellenza di colui, che suo-na, it che non avviene su le Ringhiere, per le Cappelle, e dove si suona alla sforzata, perche quivi (sta) ogn'huomo poco intendente, et ammaestrato per qual cosa. Il medesmo avviene nei Concerti grossi, che fanno rumore assai e passan tutti gli spropositi, le falsity, gli stonamenti, e l'ignoranza di chi suona, o strumento da fiato, o da corde. Ma quando si canta, e suona con

86


modo, e con un solo; al primo motivo, si fa giuditio del sapere, o del non saper d'uno.

18. Gli strumentisti da corde, come di Viola, e di gambe, e di Violino;

hanno a conoscersi nella perfettione della arcata, nella bonta (del) polso del-

l'istrumento, e delle corde variety, ricchezza nella propriety et isquisitezza

[orig.: inquisitezza] de' passaggi e nel tremolo, nello striscio, e nella facility

e sicurezza del lirare. Quelli del leuto, e del Cimbalo, e dell'Arpa, si scuopro-

no nella dolcezza, prontezza, pulitezza et agility della mano, nella Eccellenza

della fantasia nel sonare con musica eletta, e contraponto da Maestro sopra

un Basso e mezzo [passamezzo], una Gagliarda, una fuga, un canto fermo,

e simili cose.

19. Quelli del Trombone, si scuoprono nel tirar giusto, nel sonar dolce,

nel fuggire it buino, e nell'immitatione della voce humana balsa, si come

it Cornett() nell'alta. (Quelli del cornetto) nel sonar mezzo tuono, e fuora

di tuono quando bisognasse, nell [blank space of one word] dello stru-

mento, nella gratia, nell'imitatione della voce humana puerile, nell'isquisi-

tezza, e variety de' passaggi, nel tenere lo strumento con gratia e non scorn-

porsi punto sonando et altre parti molti. E fra tutte le cose, che fanno cono-

scere it sapere, o l'ingnoranza di chi suona Cimbalo, leuto, et Arpa, per

ordinario, e it sonar con Maestrevole artifitio un opera partita di Composito-

re eccellente, e spetialmente all'improviso. Dove si scuopre la dolcezza, pron-

tezza, pulitezza et agility della mano, la quality e variety de' passaggi et it

giuditio, con cui senza offesa della compositione it sonatore va aggiungendo

all'opera de' suoi pensieri, e cappricci con maniera, e con gratia i trilli, i

tremoli, i1 garbo della vita, et altro. Che per dime it vero si veggono assai

piu diffetti, che effetti, brutti, vitiosi, et insopportabili affatto, come di qui

a poco diro a sua Altezza.

20. E tempo ch'io le dica del modo di comporre musicalmente da Mae-

stro, e con gratia, e che cosa deve havere un Compositor tale, quando non

habbia impedimento di natura, o di stato, che in questi casi, egli non e tenu-

to all'impossibile ne all'indecente, ma basta che ei sappia dire per che cagio-

ne cio faccia, o non faccia.

21. II Compositore, e Musico Maestro, deve dunque sapere principal-

mente quando non habbia impedimento come ho detto, cantare securissimo

la parte, deve havere finissima orecchia, deve rimetter bene non solo in cose

fatte alla buona, ma in ogni cantilena difficile, o per arte, o per salti, o per

sesquialtere, o per canoni, o per intonatione, o per contratempi, o per veloci-

ta di note. Perche it Musico Compositore che non canta securo, e come uno,

che sa scrivere, ma non sa leggere, [203r] e quello che compone e non sa

rimettere, e come uno che ha la testa senza it braccio destro, e rimettendo

solamente in cose alla buona e facile, e simile a chi fa giuochi di mano, che

alle genti grosse pare miracoloso, et in effetto e huomo da dozzina, e chi


87

rimette in cose ordinarie Cantori mediocri facilmente si chiama rimettitor pacifico. Ma chi rimette bene un Cantor tale solo in cose difficili di piu maniere si puo dire valoroso rimettitore [orig.: rimettere], e chi rimette in dette cose difficili e di diversa difficolta due, o tre cantori tali usciti [orig.: uscite] dalla parte loro in un medesimo tempo; meritamente si chiama Com-positore e rimettitore valentissimo, e raro.

22. Deve sapere, fare cantare in modo le sue parti, che ciascuna da se stessa riesca gratiosa a cantarsi, senza salti sproportionati, e boraccia e ritoc-car l'istesse corde tante volte, che paia noioso. Deve venire alle cadenze con modi inusitati, e leggiadri, non a caso, e per usanciaccia, come molti fanno, ma guidato dall'arte, per la quale si conosca da chi sa, che cio fece con giudi-tio, e con spirito di maestro. Deve osservare, che le parti estreme, come Bas-so, e soprano, non vadano [orig.: vadono] estreme tanto, che siano incanta-bili, e medesmamente, i Contralti, e Tenore stiano nelle corde loro, e non passino i termini. Deve molto eccellentemente conoscere i tuoni regolari, tra-sportati, e misti in pruova. Dico conoscer eccellentemente perche molti nelle cantilene escono di tuono e non se ne avvegono poco, ne molto, molti altri componeranno del quarto e sara terzo, altri del quint°, e sara sesto, altri del secondo, e sara diverso. Deve sapere in Eccellenza contrapunteggiare in piu maniere, cioe osservatamente, artifitiosamente et ordinariamente, senza barbarismi, e modi non usati, ne approvati da Musici antichi, e maestri del-l'arte. Deve saper volgere, o voltare le parti, conoscer le doppiezze artifitio-se, haver mold secreti musicali, diversity di canoni, cognitione intiera dei segni tutti musicali, delle proportioni, et Hemiolie, dei Generi, della valuta delle note, nei tempi segnati, dei tuoni regolari male usati, come in molti canti fermi moderni si vede.

23. Deve saper porre in eccellenza le parole nelle cantilene, o composi-tioni, non solo quanto agl'accenti [orig.: accordi] ma quanto al significato loro. Deve sapere dell'opere, che esso compone, a quali convenga la leggia-dria, a chi l'arte, a chi la gravity, a chi la mestitia, a chi l'allegrezza, a chi gli scherzi, a chi la pietta, e non comporre indifferentemente ogni sorte di cose, quasi l'arte fosse cosi povera, et angusta, che non potesse mostrarsi per ogni via facilmente, sendo che, non deve assomigliarsi l'allegrezza d'un opera ecclesiastica, all'allegrezza d'un opera lasciva; ne la mestitia d'una la-mentatione, o messa da molti, a quells d'un lascivo appassionato; non l'aria d'una Canzon franzese alla Villanella; ne la pieta d'una lamentatione di Hije-remia al falsobordone, ne it madrigale deve parere aria semplice, e cosi vada-si discorrendo. Questi termini furno osservati in suprema eccellenza da Mes-ser Adriano; da Cipriano, e da Paulo Animuccia, e chi andra essaminando l'opere loro, se ne avvedra chiaramente.

24. Potrei dir piu, all'Altezza sua del Compositore, ma per non esser lungo, mi fermo. E dico, che hoggi, non e impiastratore [203v) di cartelle che non ardisca e voglia it nome di compositore, ne scolaro ingnorantissimo,


che non affetti, e voglia it nome di Maestro di scuola; ne animal pacifico,

che raggli, che non muora per esser chiamato bet cantante, o musico; ne

voce del mese di maggio; che non pretenda merito d'audienza stellare; ne

ingnoranza si affettata, crassa, e supina, che non pretenda d'esser sorella

carnale della sapienza; ne giuditio goffo e bestiale, che non si venda per un

Platone, o per un Boetio nel dar giuditio subito, secondo, che la peccoraggi-

ne it guida, di chi canta, e di chi suona; e di chi [orig.: che] e musico, e

compone. E medesmamente non e Ginnetto da molino, che non faccia pro-

fessione di squadrare alla prima chi [orig.: che] habbia voce, chi canta mira-

colosamente, e chi e huomo raro. Et mi perdoni 1'Altezza sua s'io dico, che

a questo e venuto l'eta nostra per la facil credenza e per l'avaritia de' Prenci-

pi, li quali pascono i Valent'huomini di speranze, e di parole, e gl'ignoranti

di vanto e di favori. E di qui e che i Valent'huomini conoscendo cio, e co-

mandati da molti (di) grado, rare volte ubidiscono, e per?) son chiamati biz-

zarri, perche non sanno soffrire d'esser strapazzati e messi [orig.: mossi] in

dozzina con gli altri, e gl'ignoranti; con un cenno, per un pasto, e per merce-

de, andrebbono in India, e quivi lasciarebbono it fiato, e la voce, e son tenu-

ti, e chiamati huomini bravi e galanti.

25. Hora dico all'Altezza sua che gli strumentisti che suonano tutte le

parti, come Cimbalo, Leuto, Arpa, Theorba, Cetera, Chitarra alla spagnuola,

o per dir meglio Viola, hanno a fondarsi nella dolcezza, facility e terribilit'a

della mano, nella galanteria del dito, e del tremolo, nella bona della fanta-

sia, nella ricchezza, e variety de' passaggi buoni, nel buon garbo di tener

la vita, e lo strumento in mano, nell'isquisitezza dello stile, e nella prontezza

di servirsi dello strumento, che suonano. Ma sopra molte cose, (debbono

havere) del giuditio nel sapersi concertare, con chi suona strumento d'una

parte sola, o con esso loro canta. Perche in questo caso, non e si gran mae-

stro, che non meriti [orig.: merito] lode nel saper far l'ufficio di scolaro,

sonando, schiette con tempo giusto, e pulitamente tutte le parti, mentre l'al-

tro suona, o canta seco, e tacendo quello, moversi con maniera gentile a qualche

cosa piutosto vaga, che artifitiosa per accompagnarlo.

26. Mi resta dire all'Altezza sua in che cosa peccano i Musici per ordina-

rio, e qui io distinguo, e dico, che si trovano Musici veH et huomini tinti

di questo nome di Musici. I Musici yeti son quelli, che accordano [204r1

molto bene l'armonia de' costumi loro con quella della musica, e hanno e

questi sanno ubidire e servire, a chi meritera d'essere ubidito, e servito; e

si sdegnano di fare it medesmo a chi merita poco, e sono d'honore, di valore,

e di conscienza, sapendo tenere it grado loro, e mantenere la riputatione,

e grandezza de' Padroni, a quali servono. Non sono invidiosi, ne maligni,

perche non sono ignoranti, ma non ponno soffrire, da chi non sa quanto

essi sanno si lodi, ne biasmi nesuno in questa professione di musica, di canta-

re, e di sonare. Se bene saranno mendichi, non si moverano giamai per in-

gordigia di mercede; ne d'altro a far copia di se stessi, ne di quel che sanno,


89

e se ci.6 faranno, sara per amore d'Iddio, per cortesia, e per termine di crean-za, e di amicitia. Sono berzagli degl'ignoranti, dove tirano tutti di mira per-petuamente, ne fanno altra professione, che di unir(s)i tall'hora quanto pon-no, e perseguitarli, e sparlarne alla peggio. II che fanno ascosamente perche apertamente son subito conosciuti, e svergognati da gente discreta, et amica del vero. E cosi stanno i musici yeti, con stupore e quasi attoniti e stupidi e contemplando come it mondo sia venuto a tanta cecita di mente, che non vegga la selva, it laberinto, e le falangi di questi tali, che vanno tuttavia cer-cando di suffocare it merito, di uccidere it valore, di rubar la fama, e di lacerare it vero e la virtu loro singolare mentre sta essa [orig.: esse] in manie-ra di galla, o d'olio eccellente sempre sopra l'aqua della loro persecutione.

27. Quelli, che son tinti di musici per lo piu peccano in questo, che ye-dendo, un valente huomo, e raro contestarsi [orig.: congestarsi] ne sonare, o cantare agevolmente ad istanza indifferentemente di chi non merita udirlo, sono chiamati bizzarri, fantastici, e lunatici. E perb i tinti, che affettano d'esser stimati valent'huomini, anco essi fanno it bizzarro, it fantastico, et it lunatico, sempre fuora di proposito, e di ragione, e ne son chiamati igno-rantoni, e bestiali, meritamente come i bastagi volessero fare i Colonelli, e generali d'esserciti. Ma questa loro pazzia si tira subito a segno, o con buon pasto, o con quattro soldi, e si fanno ragghiar tanto, e sonacchiare, e pestare che fanno venir nausea, e vomito a ciascuno. Sono amici di bagordi, di luo-ghi publici, e di molti vitij. Sono ignoranti, e perb maligni, a tutta passata se non hanno dove vanno pappa, e bumba, si sdegnano [orig.: stegnano] e si ar(r)abbiano, dicendo d'esser stati mal trattati. Se son chiamati, subito metton la taglia, e cercano di farsela l'uno all'altro pur che possono. E se son ripresi di questo, brutto procedere, dicono, che non e vergogna it viver della sua professione a nes[204v]suno. E se si replica, che non it viver della sua professione, ma it viver con indegnita e termini meccanici, a vergogna; subito rispondono, che la necessity li fa viver cosi. E se si ritorna a dire che la necessity fa anco rubare, et andare alla forca, e che pere non e bene esser ladro; di nuovo aggiungono, che chi non ha danari non pue fare altra-mente, et e tenuto una bestia. Ma non sanno, che anco un somaro benche sia carico di danari, non resta, perb d'esser somaro con le medesme orecchie lunghi, e hanno essi, e cosi se la passano, e vivacchiono a suon di tamburo, e di piva, e vada l'honore a pescare [the word has been corrected and is not clear] e quel che a peggio, non mancano principali, che si tengono hono-rati in favorire, lodare, beneficare, et haver per casa spesso questi tali perche strappazzano a modo loro, e non son tocchi nella borsa. Molti altri virtu simili hanno, che per [orig.: per che] modestia io taccio, a sua Altezza.

28. Hora convien, che io dica, che tutto ho detto per ubidire, e servire all'Altezza sua serenissima, e non per offender nessuno; ne in particolare ne in generale, intendendo sempre solo l'honore e la riverenza de' buoni et honorati soggetti, li quali sonno furno e saranno sempre da me, e da part


miei stimati, amati, et osservati come si conviene. Con the m'inchino humilmente alla Altezza sua e le prego ogni felicita da Idio, e quanto ella s'agura.

Di Napoli Dell'Altezza sua serenissima

Devotissimo, et antico Servitore Il C. Luigi Zinobi

Commentary

The commentary is keyed to the paragraph numbers. While it

would easily be possible to comment at length on Zenobi's letter,

I have restricted the commentary to certain problematic terms. In-

deed, most of the terms for ornaments and techniques of singing

and playing at this time are problematic: the style was new, and the

terminology had not yet been codified.

4. Contrapunto, a term that occurs repeatedly in the letter, is to

be understood in its primary meaning in the late sixteenth century:

the addition (usually, but not always, extemporaneously) of one or

more melodic lines to a given cantus firmus, most often a plainchant.

In para. 7 Zenobi uses the verb contrapunteggiare. He lays great stress

on the skill: there is no musician — be he singer, instrumentalist,

rimettitore, or composer — who does not need to be proficient in

counterpoint. In addition to substantial discussion in many music trea-

tises of the period, nearly all of Zacconi's second volume of Prattica

di musica (Venice, 1622) is devoted to this practice.3° Contratempi. According to Zacconi, this is the modern term for

syncopation, displacement by half a tactus: «quando le [figure] vanno

contra la metta del tatto, per it quale si ha la metta della intiera

sua divisione; chiamandole essi moderni figure contra tempo, poiche

contra tempo le vengano a daddere».31 Cromaticamente. Does Zenobi have in mind the strict meaning

of «chromatic» — compositions employing the chromatic genus, with

melodic movement by half-step, half-step, and minor third — or does

30 Of the considerable literature on this subject, the most useful is still ERNST T. FE-

RAND, Improvised Vocal Counterpoint in the Late Renaissance and Early Baroque, «Annales musi-

cologiques», IV, 1956, pp. 129-174.

31 Prattica di musica (1596), fo. 41r. Zacconi reserves the term syncopation for displace-

ment by a quarter of a tactus, when semiminims precede minims.


he simply mean music with frequent accidentals? (We may safely as-sume that he does not use «chromatic» to mean music with many black notes, or crome, since the second condition is that the singer be secure in singing «le cantilene composte a crome, e semicrome»). This is not easy to answer. Theorists do not commonly use the ad-verb cromaticamente. I believe, however, that Zenobi means the lat-ter; given that he is writing in about 1600, chromatic half-steps are found far less frequently in the repertoire than works abounding in accidentals.32 Moreover, he is not a theorist but a practitioner. But even Zacconi seems to use the word in this sense when he discusses «se gl'istrumenti musicali che sono fatti con le divisioni diatoniche si possano dividere chromaticamente» (title of ch. 41, Book 4), stat-ing that the most perfect instruments (organs, viols) can divide all whole tones into semitones (formar ne i tuoni, i Semitoni), whereas it is more difficult in flutes, cornetts, and other wind instruments; he concludes, however, that «tutti ci possano dare et servire in oc-corenza nelle cantilene Chromatiche: ma che meglio uno pia del altro lo puO fare».

5. Rimettere and rimettitore are terms that are rarely found in theoretical treatises, and Zenobi's detailed consideration of the qual-ities necessary in a good rimettitore is among the most interesting aspects of his letter. While the rimettitore might act as a conductor, his main function is to prevent singers from losing their way, or, once they have lost it, to get them smoothly back on track — this is the reason for the requirement that the rimettitore have a very wide vocal range. Literally, the rimettitore «puts back» the uncertain singer. The term is used as early as Cosimo Bartoli's Ragionamenti accademici (Venice, 1567), p. 37, where he praises the Florentine mu-sician Mattio Rampollini: «Ei non si pub negate la sufficienzia sua, che certo, et nel comporre et nel rimettere ancora e valoroso, presto, et accorto».33 The theorist who discusses it in most detail is Zacco-ni, in his chapter on «Chi, et quale debba essere it maestro di capel-la» (Book I, ch. 67): one of his talents must be, «errando una parte conosce l'errore, et sa chi ha bisogno d'esser rimesso». There is no

32 In ch. 54 of Book I, Zacconi discusses the difficulty, when moving from one mode to another, of singing leaps involving accidentals.

33 Rimettere is also sometimes used in the sense of decrescendo. Luigi Dentice, listing techniques of singing where it is easy to err, speaks of «rimettere et rinforzar la voce quando bisogna» (Duo dialoghi della musica, Rome, 1553, towards the beginning of the second dialogue).


satisfactory translation for rimettitore in English; «director» was chosen, but is not specific enough. The function is comparable to that of a prompter in the theatre.34

10. Tuba and polso both refer to vocal delivery. While tuba could be understood to be a loud sound, similar to that of a brass instru-ment, Zenobi seems to use it in the sense of timbre: he emphasizes that a good voice should be of equal quality in high and low ranges (in para. 13 he uses the word registro). Polso in this context indicates sonority; a «forced tenor» may achieve equal polso in the high register, but the tuba will not be the same; the common herd will be im-pressed, but the connoisseur will think it ugly. In para. 18 Zenobi also uses polso to refer to performance on string instruments, possi-bly meaning fingering.

11. The two lines of «quel Poeta» have not been traced; they are probably the final two lines of an ottava rima stanza.

13-14. Although Zenobi has mentioned various ornaments before this paragraph, it is when he comes to the soprano voice (no distinc-tion is made whether this is a female voice, a falsetto," or even a castrato) that he discusses the ornaments in greatest detail. Some of these are familiar from late sixteenth-century manuals for singers, though it is not easy to determine exactly what Zenobi means in each case, especially since his letter contains no music examples.

Groppo is equivalent to the modern trill. Zenobi specifies two

34 A graphic picture of a skilled «rimettitore» is drawn by Johann Matthias Gesner: «pre-siding over thirty or forty performers all at once, recalling this one by a nod, another by a stamp of the foot, another with a warning finger, keeping time and tune; and while high tones are given out by some, deep tones by others, and notes between them by others, this one man, standing alone in the midst of the loud sounds, having the hardest task of all, can discern at every moment if any one goes astray, and can keep all the musicians in order, resto-re any waverer to certainty and prevent him from going wrong: rhythm is in his every limb, and he takes in all the harmonies by his subtle ear, as it were uttering all the different parts through the medium of his own mouth». This is J. S. Bach in 1738, as described by the rector of the Thomasschule in Leipzig, in a note to his edition of Quintilian's Institutiones oratoriae; see PHILIPP SprrrA, Johann Sebastian Bach, trans. Clara Bell and J. A. Fuller-Maitland, 3 vols., New York, Dover Publications, 1951, vol. II, p. 260.

ss Scipione Cerreto, writing in 1608, states that the current preference is for the falset-to: «E si bene al tempo d'hoggi gli Canton di Falsetto stanno con maggior prerogativa, the non stanno gli Soprani, non solo perche sono di eta pin matura, ma ancora perche tali voci mentre cantano danno maggior sodisfatione, e rendono maggior dolcezza all'orecchie de gli ascoltanti»; Dell'arbore musicale, Naples, Gio. Battista Sottile, 1608, p. 29.


kinds: granito, which touches exact pitches, such as so/ and fa, in detached semiquavers, and posato, a slower trill, in quavers.

Trillo appears to be a faster ornament in which the pitches are

not distinguishable. A few words seem to be missing from the letter,

in his definition: «quello che non si ferma, ne in riga ne ispatio [ =

in spatio] con velocita» is elliptic. For Caccini, the trill° is made «sopra

una corda sola» and its technique is described as «il cominciarsi dalla

prima semiminima, e ribattere ciascuna nota con la gola sopra la vocale

`a' sino all'ultima breve». Tremolo is apparently a quite free ornament: «quello che tocca

della riga, e dello spatio in qual'si voglia modo, ch'ei si faccia». It

may refer to a very brief decoration of a single note, employing the

upper or lower auxiliary. The word tremolo was used at least as early

as Capirola's lute book and is discussed by Ganassi; most theorists

describe it as a trill (usually on the second part of the note) using

the upper or lower auxiliary.36 Ondeggiare, ondeggiamento. This term is not explained by Zenobi

and is not, as far as I can see, used by other music theorists. Literal-

ly, it means a «wavy» delivery. It is not a crescendo and decrescen-

do, which Zenobi describes as «cominciare con voce gagliarda, e las-

ciarla a poco a poco morire» (para. 14). In para. 12 he speaks of

«ascendere e discendere con la voce gratiosamente ondeggiando». This

would appear to mean a crescendo and decrescendo applied to in-

dividual notes in a free manner, especially since the next term men-

tioned is a specific application of this practice, the esclamatione. Zeno-

bi's ondeggiare is probably the same as Caccini's crescere e scemare della voce, which later comes to be known as the messa di voce. There

is one difficulty, however, with identifying these two procedures, since

the messa di voce is taken on long notes, whereas Zenobi speaks about

ascending and descending vocal lines. Perhaps he means singing suc-

cessive notes alternately softly and loudly. Esclamationi are called for in certain situations, which the singer

should be able to discern. For the exact definition we have to turn

to Caccini: «esclamazione propriamente altro non e, che nel lassare

della voce rinforzarla alquanto»; or to Francesco Rognoni, in his Sel-va di varii passaggi of 1620: «L'Esclamationi si fanno nel discendere

scemando a poco a poco la prima voce, e poi dando spirito, e vivacita

alla nota che segue con un tremolino».

36 For a summary of various descriptions, see HOWARD MAYER BROWN, Embellishing

Sixteenth-Century Music, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1976, pp. 2-8.


Durezze (appoggiatura dissonances) and false (diminished fifths; the scribe's farze is probably a misreading) are artful dissonances, to be judiciously added by the singer where the composer has not written them.

Echi. Echo passages become a favourite device in early opera, especially in laments. It may seem surprising that they can be left to the whim of the singer; however, such practice is confirmed by Giustiniani, in his Dialogo: «or con passaggi soavi e cantati piano, dalli quali tal volta all'improvviso si sentiva echi rispondere».37

17. Concerti grossi. Zenobi has in mind the famous Ferrarese con-certs, put on for distinguished visitors, where all the duke's musi-cians took part. Bottrigari calls them concerti grandi. While the sheer number of participants made these grand occasions indeed, Zenobi is aware that a number of faults that would be discerned in smaller ensembles (not least the variable tuning systems of the instruments, of such great concern to Bottrigari) are hidden. In the context of this letter, the prince is warned that musicians can properly be judged only when they perform accompanied by one instrument.

18. When it comes to string technique, Zenobi uses the terms arcata, striscio, and lirare, without defining them. Since arcata is bow-ing, the verb lirare must refer to something else. It might be double and triple stops, the common technique of the lirone, but Zenobi is speaking of string instruments in general. Rognoni defines lireg-giare as «far due, tre, b piu note in una sola arcata», allowing up to twelve notes on a single bow-stroke. Striscio means a gliding; one thinks immediately of glissando, but this seems too special a tech-nique in the present context. On polso, see the commentary on para. 10. It may mean finger technique, the ability to slide the finger to the correct position.

19. Trombones are supposed to flee it buino, the bovine. The «mooing» of trumpets is a classical commonplace,38 and is remarked upon by Vincenzo Galilei in his Dialogo della musica antica et moder-

37 SOLERTI, Le origini del melodramma cit., p. 108.

38 For example, FRONTO, Epistolae ad Marcum Caesarem et invicem 3. 17. 3 (ed. Michael P. J. van den Hout): «... quorum pauci aut praeter Catonem et Gracchum nemo tubam inflat; omnes autem mugiunt vel stridunt potius»; other instances may be found in the Oxford Latin

Dictionary.


na.39 Zenobi describes only two wind instruments, interestingly

enough the two that he says are closest to the human voice, the

trombone and the cornett. In the hands of a skilled player (and Zenobi

was a virtuoso cornettist), the cornett can play all accidentals and

transpose.

Postscript

While this article was in press, new documents on Zenobi came

to my attention. I owe knowledge of these to Robert Lindell, who

kindly sent me photocopies. They concern Zenobi's recruitment in

April 1569, apparently in Venice (the ambassador in Venice is in-

structed to persuade «Cornetta Musico Veneziano» to leave his cur-

rent post and serve the emperor), two matters in 1570 relating to

his uncle, and a number of letters written to foreign princes in 1573

requesting them not to hire Zenobi if he seeks a position at their

courts; from this it appears that he in fact left the emperor's service

without permission (the original passport, signed and sealed, remains

in the archive), and Maximilian is very eager to get him back. Zeno-

bi was finally tracked down in Rome; in April 1575 the imperial

ambassador in Rome is instructed to give him 200 ducats as an ad-

vance payment, but only on condition that his return is certain. These

documents are calendared in ROBERT LINDELL, New Findings on Music

at the Court of Maximilian II, in Friedrich Edelmayer and Alfred Kohler

(eds.), Kaiser Maximilian II. Kultur und Politik im 16. Jahrhundert,

Vienna, Verlag fiir Geschichte und Politik, 1992, pp. 231-245. Two

autograph letters by Zenobi are in the Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv,

Vienna, Rom Varia 4 and 5. These tell us that he had arrived in Rome on 13 November 1574

and was staying with Cardinal Altaemps; his poverty and illness in-

duce him to return to Vienna. From another letter in the Diplomatische

Korrespondenz 6, from the Cardinal of Trent to Maximilian dated

8 January 1575, it appears that Zenobi's petition to the pope con-

cerning some matter in Ancona will not be successful. Thus, having

exhausted his possibilities in Rome, he seems to have returned to

Vienna in 1575.

39 Florence, 1581, fo. 142r: «[...] it Trombone per essere it suono suo molto conforme

al mugliar de Tori per non dire Bufoli, & esser conseguentemente formidabile».

APPENDIX

TRANSLATION OF ZENOBI'S LETTER

My most Serene Lord, and most Distinguished Lord and Patron: 1. It seemed best to me, as the saying goes, to keep my opinion in the

fence of my teeth with regard to the six questions about which it pleased your Highness to command me to write to you, concerning music and musi-cians, such as singers, composers, contrapuntists, and instrumentalists, be it of wind or of string instruments. For I judged that I should do better to be esteemed and loved for modesty by you and by whoever will be reason-ably affected than be reproved and hated for presumptuousness. But since it had already been written to me twice that if I did not communicate my true opinion according to the light that God had given me in this profession, I should either be thought of as ignorant or as a poor servant of Your High-ness and unheeding of my obligations towards you, I rather choose to be hated, if one so deserves who speaks the truth utterly removed from all pas-sions, than to be called ungrateful and untruthful before Your Highness by people who know little and do not even recognize that they know little.

2. Your Highness desires and commands me to address you with regard to six questions, as follows:

What qualities must one have to sing one's part securely? What is required for good directing (rimetter bene), or what are the rea-

sons for poor directing? Who is entitled to call himself a musician, and is one truly, and what

is the difference between a musician and a singer? What does it take for a singer to sing with art, grace, and judgement? What is the difference between composing — or performing — as a mas-

ter or as a mere dilettante? And in what do musicians — singers and instrumentalists — ordinarily

fail if they have no knowledge or education save in music?

3. Six questions, indeed, each one of which is difficult enough and ought to be considered by a greater intellect than mine to do justice to it. Neverthe-less, since Your Highness writes that you already have the opinions of many, and that you lack only mine, to serve you I begin by saying that to sing with assurance, a singer must meet seven requirements, and should he meet the eighth, he would give even greater indication of assurance.

4. The first requirement is not to be ignorant of counterpoint. The se-cond is to be secure in singing compositions with quavers and semiquavers.


97 The third is to be secure in music composed with leaps, such as sixths, sevenths, ninths, and elevenths, now fast, now slow. The fourth is to be secure in music where syncopation is mixed with artful dissonance. The fifth is to be secure in chromatic compositions. The sixth is to be secure in under-standing and singing all or the greater part of proportions and sesquialterae, which are scattered throughout old and modern works. The seventh is to know perfectly the musical signs and mensurations and the value of the notes within them. The eighth would be that on meeting with an error on the part of the composer or the copyist, he knew how to improvise a remedy to the error while singing and find his way back without help from others. Secure singing is easily said, but it is extremely difficult, if not a miracle, to find it, for old singers by the hundred are caught in this net, and com-posers by the dozen, and if Your Highness will put it to a test, you will see it for a fact.

5. I pass to the art of directing (rimetter) well, and I say that it requires four things. First, the director must be most expert [in simple and in refined counterpoint]: simple counterpoint (contrapunto buono) is that which, while it allows no manifest errors, nevertheless does not proceed with structure and style, but, as one says, merely gets along. It is just like garlic, which is good to eat but more to the taste of peasants and porters than of gentle-men and delicate people, who do not like to remain with an offensive taste. Artful counterpoint is that which is performed or written with exquisite art, ingenuity, and judgement. It consists in the order, rule, and manner known only to ingenious and sublime minds. Examples of all this may be found in Zarlino, in the compositions of Adrian Willaert, of Cipriano [de Rore], of Paolo Animuccia, of Luzzasco, and other musicians similar to them, or not much different, but not [in the works] of many who, devoid of art and of spirit, haphazardly string together notes and consonances all year round and have them written down and ill performed among people of merit, and who, by keeping the grocers supplied with their scribbles on paper large and small, pose as rare musicians. 6. The second thing necessary for good directing is to have a ready, quick, and well-trained ear so as to anticipate in a certain way anyone about to lose his part rather than waiting for him to lose it. 7. The third requirement for good directing consists in having from God and from Nature a voice that ranges with ease from high to low, but more low than high, as a foundation, for if it fails, the director has more to worry about than if something happens in the middle and the highest voices. The fact that there are men of rare skill in counterpoint who, through a defect in their voices, and through other reasons to be explained presently, are un-able to direct, does not mean that everyone who composes, directs, and sings an improvised counterpoint and swaggers around like a popinjay must be considered a good and a real musician. Composing artlessly (alla buona) does

7


not make a good musician, nor do simple directing or improvisation of a

counterpoint while singing do so, for these are two conditions secured in

the fourth requirement, which often teaches directing in some cases up to

a certain degree: this is nothing other than to have taught music for many

years, where many learn to improvise a counterpoint, and to direct, as I

said before, whereas in composition they are not worth one penny; just as

many compose very well, but do not know to direct, either because they

have not taught it, or they lack a ready, quick, and true ear, or because

they have to direct mediocre singers in difficult pieces, whether chromatic,

syncopated, with disproportionate leaps, or fast, and much less ignorant per-

formers reading at sight.

8. Your Highness may believe it: composers, however good they may

be, who are able to direct mediocre singers in difficult pieces, and especially

if two or three lose their way at the same time, are like white crows or black

ermines. But in pieces made straightforwardly [lit. belly first] and artlessly,

many will do it and without much difficulty. Hence it is that many who

cannot direct, either because they have not taught and trained themselves

in singing improvised counterpoint with pupils, or because of a limited range

of voice, but are nevertheless expert composers and first-rate in counter-

point in writing and in theory, are undoubtedly worthy of the name of true

musicians and of men of merit; nor can it be held against them that either

through circumstances of birth or social status, or through a defect of na-

ture, they do not do and have never done such things.

9. Coming to another point, I say to Your Highness that I deem it a

most extravagant and strange caprice that some because they sing their part,

I shall not say with assurance, let alone grace and good taste — even though

this would not be sufficient — but simply singing it, whether in mediocre

fashion or badly or miserably, expect to be called musicians, and not singers.

For between a singer and a musician there is that same difference, or a simi-

lar one, as there is between one who lives honestly with those laws which

he received from nature in a very rough state and one who spent many years

at the world's most famous universities studying law and who finally took

his law degree and can now lecture ex cathedra for the benefit of others,

interpret, expound, and direct peoples and states. Thus one should call a

musician those who are experts in counterpoint, either improvised or writ-

ten, and who, suffering no defect through their own fault, sing securely,

direct well, and compose like masters. Singers one calls those who sing the

high, middle, or low parts; if they sing them well, with assurance, grace,

and good taste, one calls them excellent; if moderately well mediocre; if mid-

dlingly well, average; if poorly, run-of-the-mill; if by practice, practitioners;

if by nature, natural singers.

10. Now it is right that I tell Your Highness what it takes for one to

sing with grace, good taste, noble embellishments (passaggi), and with art,


99

or, as one commonly says, to sing one's part really well. And similarly with regard to the player of an instrument of one part; we shall speak later about those instrumentalists who can play all parts of a composition together and produce harmony by themselves [keyboard players, lutenists, etc.]. First of all Your Highness should know that the usual parts are four, namely bass, tenor, alto, and soprano, and the fifth and sixth, or seventh and eighth parts that one might sing are identical with them. But regularly the parts are the four mentioned first. He who sings the bass, if he sings in company, is ob-liged to know how to keep his part firm, right, and secure: firm with regard to his singing, right with regard to pitch (voce), secure with regard to his judgement. And if he occasionally wants to improvise an embellishment (pas-saggiare), he must wait for the moment where the other three parts hold steady, and he must know the places where he can sing an embellishment. For the improvisation of embellishments by the bass, whenever the mood strikes him, without knowing the suitable time and place, is undoubtedly a proof of gross ignorance. He must know further which embellishments are suitable for the bass, for to use those of the tenor, alto, and soprano is clear proof of the foregoing. Then he must have a trillo and a polished tremolo, and a voice that has the same timbre (tuba) in high and low range; nor may he be called a real bass unless he has a compass of twenty-two notes of the same timbre throughout; otherwise one will call him a forced tenor who through perpetu-al singing and screaming has achieved equal force (polso) in the high and in the low registers and who always carries with him a certain crude resonance, which appears beautiful and fine to an ignoramus, but ugly and faulty to a connoisseur.

11. In solo performance one cannot judge the quality of the bass when he is accompanied by a lute, or a harpsichord, and similar instruments, for instruments of that kind have hardly sounded the note before it vanishes; and thus the bass as well as any other part can make an infinite number of mistakes that pass unnoticed because the vanishing harmony of the im-perfect instrument does not let them be heard, except that the connoisseur recognizes them as errors and misunderstandings, and consequently causes the singer to be held ignorant. But it is [in singing] with the organ where one can judge easily who sings and plays with good taste and with art, if the listener pays careful attention. And that is what manifests the ignorance and presumption of many who, singing in the most deplorable manner to the accompaniment of the organ, thrive on the judgement of the populace and the rabble, who, as soon as they hear a miserable charlatan with a bit of a dog's voice or an ass's disposition, immediately begin to exclaim: «How marvellous! How fine! What a divine voice! What do you think, Mister Dim-wit? What do you say, Sir Mumble-Tongue? Is it not miraculous, Sir Bibble-babble?* And thus many wretched birds are scorned by the connoisseurs, and praised by the ignoramuses like them. And Your Highness should not be surprised that princes often recognize these rather than others who are


worthy and meritorious through ability and knowledge; for princes, from

the first day of their rule on, forget the truth, and on the second day they

abhor all followers of the truth, and hence it happens that they do not find

any who will tell them the truth, but stumble into such and similar situa-

tions, and besides, well said that poet:

So crazily her way doth Fortune wend Happy on earth the wise man at the end.

12. The tenor should sing his embellishments when the bass and the

companion parts hold steady; he must use passages proper to his part and

avoid those of the bass, except when the composition places him in the lowest

part, in which case he should do it with judgement and discretion. And like-

wise the alto can and should proceed. But I should recommend that these

middle parts use embellishments rarely and content themselves with know-

ing how to ascend and descend with a delicate wavy motion (ondeggiando)

and at times use a few gentle trilli or tremoli. -Undoubtedly this would bring

them more praise from those who know what it is to sing well. But when

they sing solo with some harmony instrument, in this case they can allow

themselves more embellishments, but not to such a degree that it becomes

tedious and creates the impression that their whole effort is concentrated

on that. The tenor should be advised to keep his embellishments so that

they do not touch at all, or only a little, the region of the bass or that of

the alto, and the alto to exercise the same restraint with regard to the parts

of the soprano and tenor. In this manner one sings with good taste, and

with art, and not haphazardly, and at breakneck speed, as nowadays some

bunglers do, nevertheless claiming to have touched the depths in the matter

of the art of singing and pleasantly preening their pride. And so that Your

Highness may understand me better, the passages in the middle parts should

stay within a narrow compass, in fact they should rather artfully intertwine

so that they may take little space and be a pleasure to listen to, which is

the chief proof of the singer's art and judgement.

13. There remains the soprano, which is truly the ornament of all other

parts, just as the bass is the foundation. The soprano, then, has the obliga-

tion and complete freedom to improvise diminutions, to indulge in playful-

ness (scherzare), and, in a word, to ornament a musical body. But unless this

is done with art, with grace, and with good taste, it is annoying to hear,

hard to digest, and loathsome to endure. To give pleasure to the listener

he must meet these chief requirements: he must have either a natural or

boylike soprano without nasal effect, without such habits as tossing his head,

contorting his shoulders, rolling his eyes, moving his jaw, his chin, and his

whole body; he must go high and low with even timbre and not have one

register in the high range and another one in the low. He must be expert

in counterpoint, for without that he sings haphazardly and commits a thou-


sand blunders; while singing he must make the words distinctly understood and not drown them in passage-work nor cover them with excessive vocal resonance, whether ringing, hoarse, or crude; he must have [a groppo granito (articulated trill) and a groppo posato (calm, sedate trill)]. A groppo granito is one that touches two notes like sol and fa, or la and sol, in detached semi-quavers, and a groppo posato is one that consists of simple quavers, also touching the two notes clearly. A trillo is that [ornament] that stops neither on the line nor in the space [but always moves] with velocity; tremolo is that [em-bellishment] that touches [notes] on the line and in the space in whatever manner one may wish to execute it.

14. Furthermore, the soprano must have an undulating movement, he must know when to make esclamationi and not apply them indiscriminately nor crudely, as many do. He must know how to ascend with the voice and how to descend with grace, at times holding over part of the preceding note and sounding it anew if the consonance requires and admits it; he must know how to give rise to dissonances (durezze and false) where the composer has not touched or made them, but left them to the singer's judgement. He must blend and accord with the other voices; he must at times render the notes with a certain neglect, sometimes so as to drag them, sometimes with sprightly motion; he must have a rich repertoire of passaggi and good judgement as to how to use them; he must know which are the good ones, starting with those that are made with the greatest artifice of one note, of two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight. He must know how to use them ascending or descending, he must know how to intertwine, connect, and double them; he must know how to emphasize and to avoid a cadence, he must know how playfully to sing detached and legato crotchets; he must know how to begin a passaggio with quavers and finish it with semiquavers and begin it with semiquavers and end it with quavers. He must use different passaggi in the same songs, he must know how to improvise them in every kind of vocal music, whether fast, or chromatic (with crome?), or slow; he must know which works require them and which do not; when repeating the same thing he must always sing new ones. He must know how to sing the piece in its simple form, that is, without any passaggio, but only with grace, trillo, tremo-lo, ondeggiamento, and esclamatione; he must understand the meaning of the words, whether they be secular or spiritual; and where the text speaks of flying, trembling, weeping, laughing, leaping, shouting, falsehood, and simi-lar things, he must know how to accompany them with the voice; he must use echo passages, now immediate, now separated; he must know how at times to begin loudly and then to let the voice die gradually; and at times to begin, or end, softly and then enliven it gradually; he must know how to improvise passaggi in skips, in syncopation, and in sesquialtera; he must know thoroughly which places demand them; he must start with discrimina-tion and finish in time with those who sing or play with him; he must sing in one style in church, in another one in the chamber, and in a third one


in the open air, whether it be in daytime or at night; he must perform a

motet in one manner, a villanella in another, a lamentation differently from

a cheerful song, and a mass in another style than a falsobordone, an air differ-

ently again; he must bring to each of these pieces a motif, passaggi, and a

style of its own, so that the artfulness and the understanding of the singer

may become manifest.

15. But nowadays, when he turns his shoulders or his waist, as if he

had an attack of colic; when he rolls his eyes as lunatics do; when his jaws

and chin tremble as those who stutter do; when he sings through the nose,

or shouts and roars like a man in a rage, and emits six or eight notes in

a pitiful manner, out of place and false and with little taste, not knowing

when or how or where they ought to end and begin; when he always repeats

the same song, as trained parrots do, and never gets away from two or three

numbers begged from and arranged by people who know little or presume

too much; and when the audience consists of people who like the kind of

songs to be heard in the month of May, and who do not know the difference

between singing and croaking, nor that between being in tune and out of

tune, or between knowledge and ignorance, for them it suffices to raise the

voice like the sound of gurgling liquid and they say: «Oh, how good! how

fine! how marvellous! how divine! what a rare singer!», whence it comes

that we have on earth a perpetual seed-bed of fools who with wagging ears

signify that rain is near.

16. Now all the requirements described above, or the greater part of

them, are sought in an instrumentalist, whether he plays the cornett, the

viola da gamba, the violin, the flute, the shawm, or similar melody instru-

ments. As concerns those who play instruments that produce all the parts

I shall tell Your Highness later briefly and truthfully what I think and know

about that, without prejudice to anyone. Indeed this was and is my inten-

tion, as in everything else already said, since it seems to me that this is what

the command of Your Highness and modesty and virtuous sincerity on my

part demand.

17. It is true that of the players of wind instruments more is required,

for they must know the quality, quantity, and variety of tonguings, the per-

fection of the instrument, and the forte and piano when needed; but they

must cultivate the piano more than the forte, since the former serves for

the chambers of princes and in places of respect, and it is the main mode

of disclosing the defects and the excellence of the player, which does not

occur in bandstands and in chapels and wherever one plays as loud as one

can because people there have little understanding and experience of any-

thing. The same is true for the great concerts, which make a great din, and

cause all the blunders, mistakes, the poor intonation, and the ignorance of

players on wind or on string instruments to slip by unnoticed. But when


one sings and plays with care and with one alone, a player's musical intelli-

gence, or the lack of it, can be judged from the first few notes.

18. The players of a string instrument such as a viol, both viola da gam-

ba and violin, must be judged by the perfection of their bowing and the

quality [of the] tone (fingering?) of the instrument and the variety of the

strings, through the richness in the propriety and choiceness of diminutions

and through the tremolo, through the striscio, and through the facility and

assurance del lirare. The players of the lute, the harpsichord, and the harp

are judged by the fine touch, the ease, the polish, and agility of the hand,

by the excellence of the imagination in improvising over a chosen piece of

music, by the mastery of their counterpoint over (the melody of) a passamez-

zo, a galliard, a canon, a cantus firmus, and similar things.

19. The players of the trombone are judged by their correct intonation,

by their soft tone, by their avoiding a mooing sound, and by their imitation

of the human voice in the bass range, like the cornett in the high range,

(cornett-players) by their ability to play semitones and in transposition when

necessary, in the ... of the instrument, by their grace, by the imitation of

a boy's voice, in the choiceness and variety of diminutions, in the graceful

manner of holding the instrument, in not contorting the body while playing,

and in many other things. And among all the things that demonstrate the

competence or ignorance of those who play the harpsichord, the lute, and

the harp, there is usually the rendering with mastery and artifice, and partic-

ularly at sight, of a work in score by an excellent composer. Here are re-

vealed the fine touch, the ease, the polish, and the agility of the hand, the

quality and variety of the diminutions, and the good taste with which the

player, without impairing the composition, adds to it thoughts and conceits

of his own with style, and with elegance the trilli, the tremoli, the grace

of his bearing, and so on. Here, to tell the truth, one sees rather more defects

than effects, ugly, faulty, and indeed insufferable ones, as I shall tell Your

Highness presently.

20. It is now time for me to tell you about the way to compose music

like a master, and with grace, and what such a composer must have, if he

be not handicapped by nature, or by status; for in these cases he is not held

to the impossible or the improper, but it suffices that he be Ale to say why

he does one thing and not another.

21. The composer, and the master musician, must thus know chiefly —

if he has no impediment, as said above — how to sing a part very securely,

he must have a very sharp ear, he must direct well not only in simple works,

but in any vocal composition made difficult by its complexity, its wide inter-

vals, its sesquialterae, its canons, or because of intonation, syncopation, or

quick notes. For the composer who does not sing securely is like one who

writes but does not know how to read, and the one who composes and does

not know how to direct is like one who has a head but lacks a right arm,

104


and he who can direct only simple and easy music is like a juggler whose

sleight of hand seems miraculous to the unsophisticated, while in reality he is a run-of-the-mill fellow. He who directs mediocre singers in ordinary com-

positions is easily called an undisputed director. But he who directs well

a single such singer in pieces with several sorts of difficulties can call himself

a skilled director, and he who directs two or three such singers in difficult

pieces with various problems when they have got off at the same time may

justly call himself a composer and an accomplished and extraordinary director.

22. [As a composer] he must know how to render his parts singable in

such a way that each one turns out to be pleasing to sing in itself, without

disproportionate leaps and without padding and constant repetition of the same notes, which becomes tedious. He must reach the cadences in novel

and attractive ways, not by chance, or by rote, as many do, but guided by

an art that reveals to the connoisseur that he did so with fine taste and

with the inspiration of a master. He must see to it that the outer parts,

bass and soprano, do not go so far out that they become unsingable; and

similarly the altos and the tenor should stay in their proper range and not

exceed it. He must know the modes exceedingly well, and through practice,

whether they be regular, transposed, or mixed. I say he must know them exceedingly well, for there are many who stray from the mode in their com-

positions and simply do not notice it. Many others will compose in the fourth

mode and it will (really) be the third; others in the fifth, and it will be in

the sixth; others in the second and it will be different. He must be thoroughly

skilled in counterpointing in various manners, that is, in strict, in artful, and in simple style, without barbarisms and ways not used or approved by

the old musicians and masters of the craft. He must know how to turn or

invert the parts, he must know the art of double counterpoint (doppiezze

artifitiose), he must have many musical secrets, diverse canons, a complete

knowledge of all musical signs, of the proportions, and hemiolias, of the genera,

of the value of the notes, of the time signatures, of the regular modes, which

are badly used, as one sees, in many modern cantus firmi.

23. He must know how to set the words expertly in songs, or composi-

tions, not only with regard to the accents, but with regard to their meaning.

He must know in which of the works that he composes gracefulness is ap-

propriate, in which artfulness, in which gravity, in which sadness, in which

gaiety, in which humour, in which piety. He must not indifferently compose

every kind of piece, as if art were so poor and narrow that it could not show itself easily in every style. For there should be no similarity between

the gaiety of a composition for church and the gaiety of a lascivious one,

nor between the sadness of a lamentation, or of a Requiem, and that of

a passionate lover; nor between the melody of a canzone francese and that

of a villanella; nor between the devoutness of a lamentation of Jeremiah and

that of a falsobordone, nor should a madrigal be like a simple air, and so

on. These demands were observed in supreme excellence by Messer Adriano


[Willaert], by Cipriano [de Rore], and by Paolo Animuccia, and he who will examine their works will notice this clearly.

24. I could say more to Your Highness about the composer, but to avoid lengthiness I stop here. And I say there is no scribbler of scores nowadays who does not make bold to assume the title of composer, nor the most ig-norant schoolboy who does not affect and desire the title of schoolmaster. Nor does ever a peaceful beast bray that does not die to be called a fine singer or musician; nor a voice typical of the month of May that does not claim to be worthy of a glittering audience; nor is there ignorance so affect-ed, gross, and idle it does not pretend to be wisdom's sister in the flesh; nor is there a judgement so clumsy and beastly that does not give itself out for a Plato or a Boethius in making snap judgements on singers and players, musicians and composers, as stupidity guides him. And likewise there is no mill-horse who does not profess to espy at once who has a voice, who sings marvellously well, and who is a rare mind. And may Your Highness forgive me if I say that our age has come to this through the gullibility and avarice of princes, who feed the great artists with hopes and words, and the ig-noramuses with glory and with favours. And thus it happens that great ar-tists, knowing this, and summoned by many men of rank, rarely obey. And for this they are decried as eccentric, for they cannot endure being abused and treated like run-of-the-mill persons, among the others. [On the other hand] the ignorant ones, with a nod, for a meal, and for a wage, would go to India and there would lose their breath and voice, and they are consi-dered and called capable and gallant men.

25. Now I say to Your Highness that the players of foundation instru-ments, such as the harpsichord, lute, harp, theorbo, cittern, Spanish guitar, or rather vihuela, have to take as their foundation the sweetness, facility, and virtuosity of the hand, the finesse of the fingers, and of the tremolo, the quality of the imagination, the richness and variety of good passaggi, and fine grace of bearing and of holding the instrument, the choiceness of style, and the ready ease in the use of their instruments. But above all they must show taste and skill in playing ensemble with a solo player or with a singer. For in this case there is no master so great that he does not merit praise for the ability to play as one requires of a schoolboy, unornamented, in right time, and neatly all parts, while the other plays or sings with him, and when the solo part pauses, come to the fore in a gentle manner with something more pleasing than artful to accompany him.

26. It remains for me to tell Your Highness in what musicians ordinarily sin, and here I distinguish and say that there are true musicians and those who are falsely called musicians. The true musicians are those who bring the harmony of their manner into perfect accord with the harmony of their music. They have and they know how to obey and serve those who deserve to be obeyed and served; and they disdain to do the same for him who has

106


little merit; they are men of honour, of value, of conscience, knowing how

to maintain their dignity, and how to preserve the reputation and greatness

of the patrons whom they serve. They are not envious or malicious, because

they are not ignorant, but they cannot bear that anyone in this profession

of music should be praised or blamed in singing or playing by one who knows

less than they do. Even if they are reduced to begging they will not be moved by greed for money or anything else to make themselves or their talents available, and if they do, it will be out of love of God, out of courtesy, as a matter of good manners, and friendship. They are targets of the ig-norant, who are always shooting at them and do not occupy themselves with anything but ganging up on them as much as they can and persecuting them

and gossiping about them in the worst manner, all of which they do in an underhanded way, for if they do it openly they are soon recognized and put to shame by decent people and lovers of the truth. And so the true

musicians stand bewildered and quite startled and struck, wondering how the world has come to such a state of mental blindness that it does not see the forest, the labyrinth, and the phalanxes of those who are bent on suffocat-ing merit, on killing valour, on stealing fame, and on rending truth and their

singular talent, while all the time this floats like a cork or an exquisite oil above the water of their persecution.

27. Those who pretend to be musicians sin mostly in this respect: they see a man of real and rare talent refusing to play or sing readily at the re-quest of those not worthy of hearing him, without discrimination, called eccentric, capricious, and whimsical. The poseurs, therefore, who affect to pass for men of talent, they too play the eccentric, the capricious, the whim-sical, always out of place and unreasonably, and for that they are called half-wits and stupid, and rightly so, for they are like bearers who want to play colonels and generals. But their madness can easily can be unmasked, either with a good meal or with four shillings, and they bray and strum and pound

so that they become disgusting and nauseating to everybody. They are friends of taverns, brothels, and of many vices. They are ignorant and therefore

malicious; in fact if they do not find grub and grog wherever they go they become angry and furious and say they have been ill-treated. When they are called upon they set a price quickly, and they try to cheat one another as best they can. And when they are reproached for this shameful proce-dure, they say that it is no disgrace for anyone to live by his profession. And if one replies that indeed it is no shame to live by one's profession,

but it is to live unworthily and on servile terms, they reply immediately that

necessity forces them to live like this, and when one rejoins that necessity

also makes people steal and go to the gallows, but that it is not good to

be a robber, they answer anew that he who has no money cannot do other-wise and is rated a beast. But they do not know that a donkey, even loaded with money, nevertheless remains a donkey with the same long ears that they have, and so they get along living from hand to mouth to the sound

LUIGI ZENOBI AND HIS LEVER ON THE PERFECT MUSICIAN

107

of drum and pipe, and let honour go hang [lit. fishing], and what is worse, there is no want of important people who deem it an honour to favour, praise, benefit, and have such individuals in their houses as frequent guests because they can mistreat them at their will, and it does not hurt their purses. They have many other similar virtues, which, out of discretion, I shall not men-tion to Your Highness.

28. Now it is fitting that I declare that all this I said to obey and to serve your most Serene Highness and not to offend anyone, neither in par-ticular nor in general, always meaning only the honour and reverence of good and honoured persons, who are, were, and always will be esteemed, loved, and properly appreciated by myself and those who are like myself. Where-with I bow humbly before Your Highness and pray to God for your every happiness and in everything you desire.

From Naples Your most serene Highness's

devoted and old servant, Cavaliere Luigi Zinobi


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111 LUIGI ZENOBI AND HIS LETTER ON THE PERFECT MUSICIAN

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LUIGI ZENODI AND HIS LETTER ON THE PERFECT 113 MUSICIAN

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VII. Luigi Zenobi and his Letter on the Perfect Musician

While there are still many lacunae in Zenobi's life, and the date and destination of the letter have not been further clarified, I am able to add a few more details con-cerning his life, thanks to the kindness of Robert Lindell, Arnaldo Morelli, and Franco Piperno.

p. 69: In January 1587 Zenobi was directing music at the Oratorio Filippino in Rome. He is called 'cavalier Luigi'; Arnaldo Morelli, who found the letter in which the reference is made, tentatively identified him as Zenobi, referring to Giustiniani's Discorso and the records of the cornettist Zenobi in Ferrara. See Arnaldo Morelli,

ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA 3

11 tempo armonico: musica nell'Oratorio dei Filippini in Roma, 1575-1705 =

Analecta musicologica, 27 (Laaber, 1991), 11-12. Zenobi's letter to the un-

named prince and his known presence in Rome now confirm this attribution;

moreover, his connection with the Oratorio Filippino may explain the presence

of a copy of his letter among the documents of the Oratorio in the Biblioteca Vallicelliana.

p. 70: Under the date 29 April 1596 Zenobi is mentioned in Giovan Battista Spaccini, Cronaca modenese, ed. A. Biondi and R. Bussi (Modena, 1993), 30-1: 'Sul organi vi snort?) it cavalier del cometto alle secrete, che poco prima era venuto

da Reggio ... it quale serve l'Altezza del duce di Ferrara'. (Communicated by

Arnaldo Morelli.) This would have been a sonata at the Elevation, accompanied

by the organ. By 1598 at the latest Zenobi was back at the imperial court; on the last day

of May in Prague he was paid 300 florins, recorded in a series of payments made

by Wolfgang Rumpf on behalf of the Emperor Rudolf II, and therefore some

special kind of reward (Vienna, Osterreichische NationalbibliotMk, 8219). (Com-munication of Robert Lindell.)

p. 72: Maximilian ll's letter of 1570 with Zenobi's offer of marriage to Virginia Vagnoli

is dated not February but 6 September 1570 (a mistake in Saviotti), and was

brought personally by Zenobi, who stopped in Ferrara at the beginning of No-

vember on his way to Pesaro. Virgina and Alessandro Striggio were married in

Rimini, ca. 18 June 1571. I owe these corrections to Franco Pipemo, who has

now published a complete account of this intriguing episode: see 'Diplomacy and Musical Patronage: Virginia, Guidubaldo II, Massimiliano II, "Lo Streggino"

and Others', Early Music History 18 (1999), 259-85. New documents discov-

ered by Pipemo show that Zenobi was rebuffed and ridiculed by Virginia and

her father C se ne son dati a ridere, havendo essi anchora i fini loro di far parentado

con persona che sii non solo virtuosa, ma commodo di prezzo anchora, e poi

non si son niente satisfatti delle qualita et procedere suo' (p. 269). My guess that

Zenobi's marriage proposal was a ruse to draw Virginia to Maximilian's court

might have been true in the beginning, but evidently by the time it was put into

operation Virginia had found herself a better match. p. 76: Paolo Animuccia died in October 1569 in Padua. (Communication of Franco

Pipemo.) p. 95: Robert Lindell kindly sent me a copy of the passport, dated 19 November 1573.

Much of it is a standard laisser passer'. The part that concerns Zenobi origi-nally read: `Praesentium exhibitorem Aloysium Cenobi Tubicinem a servitijs

nostris benigna venia atque licentia nostra discedentcm Devotionibus et

Dilectionibus Vestris diligenter commendamus.' The words after `Tubicinem'

have been struck through and the following is substituted in the margin: 'a servitijs

nostris recedere, segue alio!) conferre cupientem, neutiquam detinendum, sed hinc

discedentem Devotionibus et Dilectionibus Vestris clementer duximus

commendandum.' Originally he was graciously permitted to leave; now he is

not being compelled to stay against his will. p. 95: Among the letters Maximilian sent out to various courts is one (in Spanish) to

4 ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA

Guidobaldo II della Rovere, dated 20 November 1573. Although Guidobaldo assured Maximilian that he would not hire the cornettist if he turned up in Urbino, in fact the Duke had been seeking a cornettist since June, as various letters to the abate Bibiena in Venice attest (I owe knowledge of these to the kindness of Franco Piperno). Bibiena had in mind the cornettist mentioned to him by Baldassare Donato, `qual 6 cosi buono che si pub paragonar con tutti li altri che oggidi siano in Italia, non ne levando anche m.r Girolamo da Udine. Egli stava al S.zio del S.or Duca di Baviera, ma s'e partito, e s'aspetta qui fra otto o dieci giorni'. It is tempting to think that this cornettist is Zenobi, who was recruited to Maximilian's court from Venice, but in June 1573 he was still in Maximilian's service. Perhaps he had visited Wilhelm's court and had played the cometto there for a short time, and others assumed he was in Wilhelm's service. The correspondence concerning the unnamed cornettist continues into December, but the later letters concern a different cornettist, the maestro di cappella in Capo d'Istria.

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