Ghiselin Danckerts
Encyclopedia
Ghiselin Danckerts was a Dutch
composer, singer, and music theorist
of the Renaissance
. He was principally active in Rome
, in the service of the Sistine Chapel
, and was one of the judges at the famous debate between Nicola Vicentino
and Vicente Lusitano
in 1551.
, in Zeeland
, but nothing is known of his early life. Like many of his contemporaries from the Low Countries
, he may have received his early training in his homeland, going to Italy
as a young adult. A manuscript music treatise of the time mentions that he was employed by an aristocratic
family in Naples
, and he is first mentioned as a singer at the Sistine Chapel
in 1538, a position he retained, seemingly without break, until 1565. In August 1565 he was forced to retire from the chapel choir as part of a reorganization and reduction in size which followed from the reforms of the Council of Trent
. The entry in the chapel records for his dismissal includes the notice: "he is without voice, he is given to women, is excessively rich, and is useless."
There are no records of his life after his dismissal from the choir in 1565.
which survives in manuscript is an eight-voice setting of Laetamini in domino; two other motets, for six and five voices, Suscipe verbum and Tu es vas electionis, were destroyed in the Allied bombing of Treviso
on April 7, 1944, during World War II
. Other surviving works include several madrigal
s and puzzle canon
s, two of which are included in Pietro Cerone's
El Melopeo y maestro (Naples, 1613)
While relatively little of Danckerts' music has survived, his contemporary reputation as a composer and theorist was strong enough for him to be selected as one of the judges at the renowned Vicentino-Lusitano debate, and it is for his participation in this, and his subsequent writings on it and related topics, that he is best known. The judges, including Danckerts, ruled Lusitano the winner. As a result of the debate, Vicentino wrote his famous treatise L'antica musica ridotta alla moderna prattica, and Danckerts wrote a treatise of his own (untitled and unpublished).
The treatise by Danckerts exists in three versions. The first was probably written in 1551, and Danckerts seems to have revised it twice: once around 1555 and once around 1559 or 1560. Its importance to music history is as a document by a performing musician, with strong conservative views, who documented contemporary practice in some areas – for example in interpretation of accidentals – where documentation is relatively scanty. One of the chapters in his treatise contains an account of a dispute between two singers in the papal choir over the correct application of accidentals to polyphonic
parts which, as was normal at the time, contained none. Danckerts also wrote on the use of chromaticism
, generally derisively, and opposed attempts to add modes to the current eight-mode system, for example as described by Glareanus in his 1547 publication, the Dodecachordon, which proposed the twelve modes, including the major and minor scales familiar in the present day.
Artusi
used portions of Danckerts' treatise in his reactionary 1600 publication Imperfettioni della musica moderna, which he wrote as an attack on Monteverdi
.
Franco-Flemish School
In music, the Franco-Flemish School or more precisely the Netherlandish School refers, somewhat imprecisely, to the style of polyphonic vocal music composition in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries, and to the composers who wrote it...
composer, singer, and music theorist
Music theory
Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
of the Renaissance
Renaissance music
Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given that its defining characteristics were adopted only gradually; musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.Literally meaning...
. He was principally active in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, in the service of the Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. It is famous for its architecture and its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio...
, and was one of the judges at the famous debate between Nicola Vicentino
Nicola Vicentino
Nicola Vicentino was an Italian music theorist and composer of the Renaissance. He was one of the most visionary musicians of the age, inventing, among other things, a microtonal keyboard, and devising a practical system of chromatic writing two hundred years before the rise of equal...
and Vicente Lusitano
Vicente Lusitano
Vicente Lusitano was a Portuguese music composer and theorist of the late Renaissance.He was born in Olivença, but little else is known for certain of his life, including the dates of his birth and death...
in 1551.
Life
He was born in TholenTholen
Tholen is a municipality in the southwest of the Netherlands. The municipality of Tholen has lent its name from the town of Tholen, which is the largest population center in the municipality....
, in Zeeland
Zeeland
Zeeland , also called Zealand in English, is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg. With a population of about 380,000, its area is about...
, but nothing is known of his early life. Like many of his contemporaries from the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
, he may have received his early training in his homeland, going to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
as a young adult. A manuscript music treatise of the time mentions that he was employed by an aristocratic
Aristocracy (class)
The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
family in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, and he is first mentioned as a singer at the Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. It is famous for its architecture and its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio...
in 1538, a position he retained, seemingly without break, until 1565. In August 1565 he was forced to retire from the chapel choir as part of a reorganization and reduction in size which followed from the reforms of the Council of Trent
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils. It convened in Trent between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods...
. The entry in the chapel records for his dismissal includes the notice: "he is without voice, he is given to women, is excessively rich, and is useless."
There are no records of his life after his dismissal from the choir in 1565.
Music, writings, and influence
A few works of Danckerts have survived, but no complete publications. One motetMotet
In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...
which survives in manuscript is an eight-voice setting of Laetamini in domino; two other motets, for six and five voices, Suscipe verbum and Tu es vas electionis, were destroyed in the Allied bombing of Treviso
Treviso
Treviso is a city and comune in Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 82,854 inhabitants : some 3,000 live within the Venetian walls or in the historical and monumental center, some 80,000 live in the urban center proper, while the city...
on April 7, 1944, during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Other surviving works include several madrigal
Madrigal (music)
A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, usually a partsong, of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Traditionally, polyphonic madrigals are unaccompanied; the number of voices varies from two to eight, and most frequently from three to six....
s and puzzle canon
Canon (music)
In music, a canon is a contrapuntal composition that employs a melody with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given duration . The initial melody is called the leader , while the imitative melody, which is played in a different voice, is called the follower...
s, two of which are included in Pietro Cerone's
Pietro Cerone
Pietro Cerone was an Italian music theorist, singer and priest of the late Renaissance. He is most famous for an enormous music treatise he wrote in 1613, which is useful in the studying compositional practices of the 16th century.-Life:...
El Melopeo y maestro (Naples, 1613)
While relatively little of Danckerts' music has survived, his contemporary reputation as a composer and theorist was strong enough for him to be selected as one of the judges at the renowned Vicentino-Lusitano debate, and it is for his participation in this, and his subsequent writings on it and related topics, that he is best known. The judges, including Danckerts, ruled Lusitano the winner. As a result of the debate, Vicentino wrote his famous treatise L'antica musica ridotta alla moderna prattica, and Danckerts wrote a treatise of his own (untitled and unpublished).
The treatise by Danckerts exists in three versions. The first was probably written in 1551, and Danckerts seems to have revised it twice: once around 1555 and once around 1559 or 1560. Its importance to music history is as a document by a performing musician, with strong conservative views, who documented contemporary practice in some areas – for example in interpretation of accidentals – where documentation is relatively scanty. One of the chapters in his treatise contains an account of a dispute between two singers in the papal choir over the correct application of accidentals to polyphonic
Polyphony
In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
parts which, as was normal at the time, contained none. Danckerts also wrote on the use of chromaticism
Chromaticism
Chromaticism is a compositional technique interspersing the primary diatonic pitches and chords with other pitches of the chromatic scale. Chromaticism is in contrast or addition to tonality or diatonicism...
, generally derisively, and opposed attempts to add modes to the current eight-mode system, for example as described by Glareanus in his 1547 publication, the Dodecachordon, which proposed the twelve modes, including the major and minor scales familiar in the present day.
Artusi
Giovanni Artusi
Giovanni Maria Artusi was an Italian theorist, composer, and writer.Artusi was one of the most famous reactionaries in musical history, fiercely condemning the new style developing around 1600, the innovations of which defined the early Baroque era...
used portions of Danckerts' treatise in his reactionary 1600 publication Imperfettioni della musica moderna, which he wrote as an attack on Monteverdi
Claudio Monteverdi
Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, gambist, and singer.Monteverdi's work, often regarded as revolutionary, marked the transition from the Renaissance style of music to that of the Baroque period. He developed two individual styles of composition – the...
.