Johannes Ciconia
Encyclopedia
Johannes Ciconia was a late medieval
composer
and music theorist
who worked most of his adult life in Italy, particularly in the service of the Papal Chapels and at the cathedral of Padua.
Ciconia was born in Liège, the son of a priest also named Johannes Ciconia and a woman of high standing. That the composer had the same name as at least three other men from the area around Liège has created much confusion about the biography of the composer. A Johannes Ciconia, probably the composer's father, was probably born around 1335, and worked in Avignon
in 1350 as a clerk for the wife of the nephew of Pope Clement VI.
A second person by the name of Johannes Ciconia appears in records in Liège in 1385 as a duodenus, generally a person of young age; thus contemporary scholars are in agreement that this is the composer himself. Papal records suggest that this Ciconia was in the service of Pope Boniface IX
in Rome in 1391. His whereabouts between the early 1390s and 1401 are unknown. From this time until his death in 1412, he remained connected to the cathedral of Padua. It is unclear whether he arrived in Padua earlier than 1401. If his lament, Con lagrime bagnadome, described in one text source as written for the death of Francesco of Carrara, were written for Francesco il Nuovo
, then it would date from after 1406; if, as earlier scholars had assumed, it were written for the death of Francesco il Vecchio, then he would have needed to be in Padua by 1393. The possibility of an intermediate stay in Pavia
has also been suggested by Nádas and Ziino, as a necessary place for him to pick up Visconti associations and to learned the ars subtilior
style and compositions of Philipoctus de Caserta
quoted in his Sus un fontayne.
Ciconia's music has evidenced a comparable commingling of styles. Music typical of northern Italy, such as his madrigal Una panthera, is combined with the French ars nova
. The more complex ars subtilior
style surfaces in one work noted above, and the late Medieval
style begins to morph into writing which points towards the melodic patterning of the Renaissance
, for instance in his setting of O rosa bella
. He wrote music both secular (French virelai
s, Italian ballate and madrigals
) and sacred (motet
s, mass
movements, some of them isorhythm
ic). He is also the author of two treatises on music, the Nova Musica, and De Proportionibus (which is an extract and expansion of some ideas from Nova Musica). His music-theoretical ideas stem from the more conservative Marchettian tradition, and can be contrasted with those of his Paduan contemporary Prosdocimus de Beldemandis
.
Though contrafacts and later sources of his compositions suggest that he was well-known in Florence, his music is scarcely represented in the large Florentine sources; for instance there is no section for his works in the Squarcialupi Codex
. Thus, the most relevant source for Ciconia's music is the Q15 Manuscript, (Bologna
, International museum and library of music
).
1 Sus un fontayne en remirant
2 Oy chanter si douchement
3 Que mon coeur, corps et pensement,
4 Remanent pris en attendant
5 D'avoir merchi de ma dolour
6 Qui me trepount au cuer forment
7 Seul de veoir ce noble flour
8 Qui tant cantoit suavement.
9 Que choise nulle say en recivant
10 Pavour, tremour et angossment
11 Que fer[e] duis certaynement,
12 Tant suy de ly veoir desirant.
[Sus un fontayne en remirant
Oy chanter si douchement
Que mon coeur, corps et pensement
Remanent pris en attendant.]
Translation
1 By a fountain while l am looking around
2 I hear such sweet singing
3 That my heart, body and mind
4 Remain captive while waiting.
5 To receive mercy from my grief
6 Which strongly strikes me in my heart
7 Only to this noble flower.
8 That was singing so beautifully
9 For I have no choice but to suffer
10 Fear, trembling and anguish
11 That I must bear certainly
12 So desirous am I to see
Here a short translation or explanation
And here the whole song on You tube
Medieval music
Medieval music is Western music written during the Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire and ends sometime in the early fifteenth century...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
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...
who worked most of his adult life in Italy, particularly in the service of the Papal Chapels and at the cathedral of Padua.
Ciconia was born in Liège, the son of a priest also named Johannes Ciconia and a woman of high standing. That the composer had the same name as at least three other men from the area around Liège has created much confusion about the biography of the composer. A Johannes Ciconia, probably the composer's father, was probably born around 1335, and worked in Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
in 1350 as a clerk for the wife of the nephew of Pope Clement VI.
A second person by the name of Johannes Ciconia appears in records in Liège in 1385 as a duodenus, generally a person of young age; thus contemporary scholars are in agreement that this is the composer himself. Papal records suggest that this Ciconia was in the service of Pope Boniface IX
Pope Boniface IX
Pope Boniface IX , born Piero Tomacelli, was the second Roman Pope of the Western Schism from November 2, 1389, until October 1, 1404...
in Rome in 1391. His whereabouts between the early 1390s and 1401 are unknown. From this time until his death in 1412, he remained connected to the cathedral of Padua. It is unclear whether he arrived in Padua earlier than 1401. If his lament, Con lagrime bagnadome, described in one text source as written for the death of Francesco of Carrara, were written for Francesco il Nuovo
Francesco Carrara
Francesco Carrara may refer to:* Francesco Carrara , Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals 1790–1791* Francesco Carrara , Italian jurist...
, then it would date from after 1406; if, as earlier scholars had assumed, it were written for the death of Francesco il Vecchio, then he would have needed to be in Padua by 1393. The possibility of an intermediate stay in Pavia
Pavia
Pavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...
has also been suggested by Nádas and Ziino, as a necessary place for him to pick up Visconti associations and to learned the ars subtilior
Ars subtilior
Ars subtilior is a musical style characterized by rhythmic and notational complexity, centered around Paris, Avignon in southern France, also in northern Spain at the end of the fourteenth century. The style also is found in the French Cypriot repertory...
style and compositions of Philipoctus de Caserta
Philippus de Caserta
Philippus de Caserta, also Philipoctus or Filipoctus was a medieval music theorist and composer associated with the style known as ars subtilior....
quoted in his Sus un fontayne.
Ciconia's music has evidenced a comparable commingling of styles. Music typical of northern Italy, such as his madrigal Una panthera, is combined with the French ars nova
Ars nova
Ars nova refers to a musical style which flourished in France and the Burgundian Low Countries in the Late Middle Ages: more particularly, in the period between the preparation of the Roman de Fauvel and the death of the composer Guillaume de Machaut in 1377...
. The more complex ars subtilior
Ars subtilior
Ars subtilior is a musical style characterized by rhythmic and notational complexity, centered around Paris, Avignon in southern France, also in northern Spain at the end of the fourteenth century. The style also is found in the French Cypriot repertory...
style surfaces in one work noted above, and the late Medieval
Medieval music
Medieval music is Western music written during the Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire and ends sometime in the early fifteenth century...
style begins to morph into writing which points towards the melodic patterning 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...
, for instance in his setting of O rosa bella
O Rosa Bella
O Rosa Bella is a popular 15th century chanson, originally attributed to John Dunstable, but now to John Bedingham...
. He wrote music both secular (French virelai
Virelai
A virelai is a form of medieval French verse used often in poetry and music. It is one of the three formes fixes and was one of the most common verse forms set to music in Europe from the late thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries.A virelai is similar to a rondeau...
s, Italian ballate and madrigals
Madrigal (Trecento)
The Madrigal is an Italian musical form of the 14th century. The form flourished ca. 1300 – 1370 with a short revival near 1400. It was a composition for two voices, sometimes on a pastoral subject...
) and sacred (motet
Motet
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...
s, mass
Mass (music)
The Mass, a form of sacred musical composition, is a choral composition that sets the invariable portions of the Eucharistic liturgy to music...
movements, some of them isorhythm
Isorhythm
Isorhythm is a musical technique that arranges a fixed pattern of pitches with a repeating rhythmic pattern.-Detail:...
ic). He is also the author of two treatises on music, the Nova Musica, and De Proportionibus (which is an extract and expansion of some ideas from Nova Musica). His music-theoretical ideas stem from the more conservative Marchettian tradition, and can be contrasted with those of his Paduan contemporary Prosdocimus de Beldemandis
Prosdocimus de Beldemandis
Prosdocimus de Beldemandis was an Italian mathematician, music theorist, and physician.He studied at the University of Padua and the University of Bologna. The earliest works by him date from the early 15th century. He took the doctorate in arts at Padua on 15 May 1409, and received a physician's...
.
Though contrafacts and later sources of his compositions suggest that he was well-known in Florence, his music is scarcely represented in the large Florentine sources; for instance there is no section for his works in the Squarcialupi Codex
Squarcialupi Codex
The Squarcialupi Codex is an illuminated manuscript compiled in Florence, Italy in the early 15th century...
. Thus, the most relevant source for Ciconia's music is the Q15 Manuscript, (Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, International museum and library of music
International museum and library of music
-History:The Civico Museo Bibliografico Musicale, founded in 1959 to hold the Comune di Bologna’s collection of musical objects, was renamed International Museum and Library of Music in 2004 with the opening of the museum’s site, the Palazzo Sanguinetti, in the historic center of Bologna...
).
Example
Old French text:1 Sus un fontayne en remirant
2 Oy chanter si douchement
3 Que mon coeur, corps et pensement,
4 Remanent pris en attendant
5 D'avoir merchi de ma dolour
6 Qui me trepount au cuer forment
7 Seul de veoir ce noble flour
8 Qui tant cantoit suavement.
9 Que choise nulle say en recivant
10 Pavour, tremour et angossment
11 Que fer[e] duis certaynement,
12 Tant suy de ly veoir desirant.
[Sus un fontayne en remirant
Oy chanter si douchement
Que mon coeur, corps et pensement
Remanent pris en attendant.]
Translation
1 By a fountain while l am looking around
2 I hear such sweet singing
3 That my heart, body and mind
4 Remain captive while waiting.
5 To receive mercy from my grief
6 Which strongly strikes me in my heart
7 Only to this noble flower.
8 That was singing so beautifully
9 For I have no choice but to suffer
10 Fear, trembling and anguish
11 That I must bear certainly
12 So desirous am I to see
Here a short translation or explanation
And here the whole song on You tube
Recording
- 2004 – Zodiac. Ars NovaArs novaArs nova refers to a musical style which flourished in France and the Burgundian Low Countries in the Late Middle Ages: more particularly, in the period between the preparation of the Roman de Fauvel and the death of the composer Guillaume de Machaut in 1377...
and Ars SubtiliorArs subtiliorArs subtilior is a musical style characterized by rhythmic and notational complexity, centered around Paris, Avignon in southern France, also in northern Spain at the end of the fourteenth century. The style also is found in the French Cypriot repertory...
in the Low Countries and Europe Capilla FlamencaCapilla FlamencaCapilla Flamenca is a vocal and instrumental early music consort based in Leuven, Belgium. The group specialises in 14th to 16th Century music from Flanders and takes its name from the choir of the court chapel of Emperor Charles V...
. Eufoda 1360. - 1999 The Saracen and the Dove by the Orlando ConsortOrlando ConsortThe Orlando Consort is a British vocal consort which is best known for performing renaissance choral music one voice to a part. The Consort was founded in 1988 as part of the activities of the Early Music Centre of Great Britain, a forerunner of the NCEM, York....
, Deutsche Grammophon