ORLANDO DE LASSUS.
[From a contemporary print by the French engraver Amelingue.]
CHAPTER XIV.
POLYPHONIC SCHOOLS OF ITALY.
PALESTRINA.
TALY in the fifteenth century was in a highly prosperous condition. The great commercial cities had a profitable commerce with all parts of the then known world, and great public works had been under way for more than two centuries. The beginning of the Renaissance was marked by the great cathedrals, of which St. Mark's at Venice was a little earlier than Pisa, Siena, Florence and Milan. All these were built before 1300. Vast public works were undertaken in all parts of the country, such as the canal that supplied Milan with water, and irrigated a large part of the plain of Lombardy; the great sea wall of Genoa; roads, bridges, municipal buildings, fortresses and the like. By the beginning of the sixteenth century the art of painting had reached a very high eminence; the master Raphael was already at work, as was also that remarkable genius, Leonardo da Vinci—the most universally gifted artist who ever appeared. Michael Angelo was at work in the Sistine Chapel, and his plans for St. Peter's were partly being carried out. It was in this time that Johannes Tinctor, the Netherlandish composer, founded a music school at Naples. The school itself was short-lived, but it was presently succeeded by four others of a different kind which eventually produced a large number of eminent musicians, several of whom will occupy our attention later. Tinctor's music school appears to have been a private affair. Those which followed it were charitable institutions, taking poor boys from the streets, furnishing them with a living, the rudiments of an education, and musical training enough to make them available in the service of the Church. The founding of these schools took place some time later than the period under immediate discussion. Santa Maria di Loreto was founded in 1535, by a poor artisan of the name of Francisco, who received in his house orphans of both sexes, and caused them to be fed and clothed and instructed in music. He was assisted by donations from the rich, and presently a priest named Giovanni da Tappia undertook to raise a permanent endowment by begging alms from house to house. At the end of nine years he had accomplished his task. The building was called the Conservatorio, and in 1536 received certain government allowances. The pupils reached the number of 800, and among the illustrious musicians produced by this school were Alessandro Scarlatti, Durante, Porpora, Trajetta, Sacchini, Gugliemi and many more. The second school of this kind organized was that of San Onofrio a Capuana, in 1576. It received 120 orphans, who were instructed in religion and music. In 1797 the pupils of this school were transferred to Santa Maria. The third school of this kind was that of De Poveri di Gesu Cristo, established in 1589, for foundlings. In 1744 this conservatory was made into a diocesan seminary. The fourth of these schools was that of Della Pieta di Turchini, which originated about 1584. Quite a number of eminent composers were produced in this school. All of these conservatories were consolidated in 1808 as the Reale Collegio di Musica (Royal College of Music). The example of Naples was followed with more or less rapidity in the other principal Italian cities. The most important musical center of Italy during this time was Venice, where Adrian Willaert became musical director in the cathedral of St. Mark's, in 1527. Here he remained until 1562. The church of St. Mark's had already held a prominent position as a musical center at least two centuries of the four which it had been in existence. The recently published history of the music in St. Mark's extends back to 1380, from which time to the beginning of the present century there has been a succession of eminent musicians as organists and musical directors. There were two organs in this church, standing in galleries on opposite sides of the chancel. This circumstance had an important influence on the development of music in the cathedral, as will hereafter be seen. It was in this church, according to Italian tradition, that pedals were first applied to the organ. It is probable that these appliances were very rude at first, and few in number, but they served to supplement the resources of the hands of the organist, and enabled him to produce effects not otherwise obtainable. The existence of the two choirs and two organs, and no doubt the habit of antiphonal singing in the Plain Song of the Church, led Willaert to invent double choruses, and finally to divide his choir into three or more parts. Willaert is regarded by many as the founder of the madrigal, of which there is more to be said presently. He was also the teacher of two very eminent musicians who succeeded him in his position at St. Mark's—Zarlino and Cyprians de Rore. To go on with the story of St. Mark's from this point, the most important successor of Willaert was Gioseffo Zarlino, who spent his youth in studying for the Church, and was admitted to minor orders in 1539, and ordained deacon in 1541. He was a proficient scholar in Greek and Hebrew, in mathematics, astronomy and chemistry. After studying for some years with Willaert he was elected in 1555 first Maestro di Capella at St. Mark's. In this position his services were required not alone as director of music in the church, but also as a servant of the republic, and it was his duty to compose or arrange music for all of the public festivals. After the battle of Lepanto, October 7, 1571, Zarlino was appointed to celebrate the victory with appropriate music. When Henry III visited Venice, in 1574, he was greeted by music by Zarlino. This same composer is also credited with having composed a dramatic piece called Orpheo, which was performed with great splendor in the larger council chamber. Again, in 1577, Zarlino was commissioned to compose a mass for the commemoration of the terrible plague which devastated Italy and carried off Titian, among other great men. His ecclesiastical standing was so good that in 1583 he was elected bishop, but his accession to the see was so strongly opposed by the doge and the senate that he consented to retain the appointment of St. Mark's, where he remained until his death in 1590. Zarlino was very famous as a composer, in his own day, but few of his works have come down to us. He is best known by certain works of his on harmony and the theory of music, of which the most important was the Institutioni Armoniche (Venice, 1558), and his Demonstrationi Armoniche (Venice, 1571). Zarlino's distinction rests upon his having restored the true tuning of the tetrachord to that of 8:9, 9:10, 15:16, as opposed to the Pythagorean tuning of 9:8, 9:8, 256:243. He was the most important scientific authority in the music of the new epoch. His discoveries in harmony were afterward supplemented by those of Tartini, almost two centuries later. Among other strong points of Zarlino was his demonstration of equal temperament, which came into general use about 100 years later. Cypriano de Rore, whose name was mentioned above in connection with St. Mark's, held a position as master in that eminent cathedral only one year, his tenure of office falling between the death of Willaert and the appointment of Zarlino. He was a very prolific composer of motettes and madrigals, and after resigning his position at St. Mark's went to the Court of Parma, where he died at the age of forty-nine. The later eminent masters holding positions in this church will come into view in the next book, in connection with the opera, for Monteverde was director of the music here during the greater part of his career as a dramatic composer.
The most eminent development of the polyphonic school, and at the same time the dawn of a better era in church music, took place in Rome, where the influence of the Netherlandish composer is noticeable. Claude Goudimel, whose name appears in the [table] of the Netherlandish school in the [preceding chapter], opened a music school in Rome in the early part of the sixteenth century, and among his pupils was the name of Palestrina. Goudimel's residence in Rome was not very long. He afterward returned to Paris, and in some way was connected with Calvin in preparing psalm books for the Calvinists. He was killed finally at Lyons in the massacre of St. Bartholomew, August 24, 1572.