Perissone Cambio
Encyclopedia
Perissone Cambio was a Franco-Flemish
composer and singer of the Renaissance
, active in Venice
. He was one of the most prominent students and colleagues of Adrian Willaert
during the formative years of the Venetian School, and published several books of madrigal
s in the 1540s.
Nothing is known about his early life except that he was either from Flanders
or the immediately adjacent French-speaking areas. Two competing mentions of his origin exist in the historical record, one naming him as French and one as Flemish, with the Flemish mention coming from the Venetian Senate; the latter is considered more reliable. By the early 1540s he had come from his homeland to Venice, probably to study with Willaert, who was renowned as a teacher. This was near the end of the period during which musicians who received their early training in the Netherlands and adjacent areas left their homelands, going to Italy and other locations where demand for composers and singers was greatest. Perissone became one of Willaert's students, and part of a close group which included Girolamo Parabosco
, Baldassare Donato
, Jacques Buus
, Jacques Du Pont, and Cipriano de Rore
; in addition he acquired a reputation as an excellent singer, most likely of high vocal parts.
During the late 1540s he was the most prolific composer of the group around Willaert, publishing a total of four separate collections of secular music. In 1548 he finally became a member of the chapel of San Marco di Venezia, on an unpaid basis, which was an extraordinary event; presumably this occurred because his singing was highly desired, but there were no formal job openings. The doge
of Venice, Francesco Donà
, intervened on his behalf and made him a paid member of the chapel shortly thereafter.
While Perissone's last solo publication was in 1550, he continued as a singer at San Marco and presumably a composer throughout the decade. He also sang in the Compagnia di San Marco, a group of musicians associated with San Marco who performed in other locations in Venice. In 1557 he joined the brotherhood of the Scuola di San Marco. Nothing specific is known about his further career, and he is believed to have died around 1562; after his death, poet Domenico Veniero wrote a sonnet indicating that he had died young, but the date is not known.
, the principal figure in madrigal composition in the 1550s, and whose style marked an extraordinary increase in expressive intensity of the secular vocal form.
In all, Perissone published four books of secular music by himself: a book of villanella
s for four voices in 1545, a book of madrigals for four voices in 1547, and two books of madrigals for five voices, in 1545 and 1550. Some other individual madrigals appear in collections by others, particularly Cipriano de Rore
, and Perissone wrote a dedicatory letter for one of Rore's books, but only in the alto part-book (Perissone was probably an alto). If he wrote any sacred music aside from a single five-voice motet
setting of Ad Te, Domine (1549), it has not survived. While most of the composers who worked at San Marco in the 16th century left a substantial body of sacred music, Perissone was one of the few who did not.
Perissone was a versatile stylist, and wrote both light and serious madrigals, with a texture varying from the smooth polyphony
of the Netherlanders to bright, largely chordal
textures. Sometimes he anticipated harmonic developments of the 17th century, such as when he used the bass voice as a harmonic support rather than as an equal participant in the motivic interplay of a composition. He was also fond of false relations, as in his setting of Gottifredi's Deh, perchè com'è il vostro al nome mio, a madrigal which also contains deliberately mis-accented text setting, a characteristic which distinguishes him from his teacher Willaert, who was more inclined to follow Pietro Bembo
's strict advice on text setting.
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 and singer 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...
, active in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
. He was one of the most prominent students and colleagues of Adrian Willaert
Adrian Willaert
Adrian Willaert was a Flemish composer of the Renaissance and founder of the Venetian School. He was one of the most representative members of the generation of northern composers who moved to Italy and transplanted the polyphonic Franco-Flemish style there....
during the formative years of the Venetian School, and published several books of 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 in the 1540s.
Life
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
or the immediately adjacent French-speaking areas. Two competing mentions of his origin exist in the historical record, one naming him as French and one as Flemish, with the Flemish mention coming from the Venetian Senate; the latter is considered more reliable. By the early 1540s he had come from his homeland to Venice, probably to study with Willaert, who was renowned as a teacher. This was near the end of the period during which musicians who received their early training in the Netherlands and adjacent areas left their homelands, going to Italy and other locations where demand for composers and singers was greatest. Perissone became one of Willaert's students, and part of a close group which included Girolamo Parabosco
Girolamo Parabosco
Girolamo Parabosco was an Italian writer, composer, organist, and poet of the Renaissance.He was born in Piacenza, the son of a famous organist, Vincenzo Parabosco. Little is known of his childhood, but he went to Venice early for his musical education and is mentioned as a student of Adrian...
, Baldassare Donato
Baldassare Donato
Baldassare Donato was an Italian composer and singer of the Venetian school of the late Renaissance. He was maestro di cappella of the prestigious St...
, Jacques Buus
Jacques Buus
Jacques Buus was a Franco-Flemish composer and organist of the Renaissance, and an early member of the Venetian School. He was one of the earliest composers of the ricercar, the predecessor to the fugue, and he was also a skilled composer of chansons.-Life:Buus was probably born in Ghent around...
, Jacques Du Pont, and Cipriano de Rore
Cipriano de Rore
Cipriano de Rore was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active in Italy...
; in addition he acquired a reputation as an excellent singer, most likely of high vocal parts.
During the late 1540s he was the most prolific composer of the group around Willaert, publishing a total of four separate collections of secular music. In 1548 he finally became a member of the chapel of San Marco di Venezia, on an unpaid basis, which was an extraordinary event; presumably this occurred because his singing was highly desired, but there were no formal job openings. The doge
Doge
Doge is a dialectal Italian word that descends from the Latin dux , meaning "leader", especially in a military context. The wife of a Doge is styled a Dogaressa....
of Venice, Francesco Donà
Francesco Donato
Francesco Donato was the Doge of Venice from 1545 to 1553.-References:...
, intervened on his behalf and made him a paid member of the chapel shortly thereafter.
While Perissone's last solo publication was in 1550, he continued as a singer at San Marco and presumably a composer throughout the decade. He also sang in the Compagnia di San Marco, a group of musicians associated with San Marco who performed in other locations in Venice. In 1557 he joined the brotherhood of the Scuola di San Marco. Nothing specific is known about his further career, and he is believed to have died around 1562; after his death, poet Domenico Veniero wrote a sonnet indicating that he had died young, but the date is not known.
Music and influence
Perissone was one of the followers of Willaert in the early time of development of the Italian madrigal, the period referred to by Alfred Einstein as the "madrigal's age of innocence". Even though he was a personal friend, he was not significantly influenced by fellow Willaert student Cipriano de RoreCipriano de Rore
Cipriano de Rore was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active in Italy...
, the principal figure in madrigal composition in the 1550s, and whose style marked an extraordinary increase in expressive intensity of the secular vocal form.
In all, Perissone published four books of secular music by himself: a book of villanella
Villanella
In music, a villanella is a form of light Italian secular vocal music which originated in Italy just before the middle of the 16th century...
s for four voices in 1545, a book of madrigals for four voices in 1547, and two books of madrigals for five voices, in 1545 and 1550. Some other individual madrigals appear in collections by others, particularly Cipriano de Rore
Cipriano de Rore
Cipriano de Rore was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active in Italy...
, and Perissone wrote a dedicatory letter for one of Rore's books, but only in the alto part-book (Perissone was probably an alto). If he wrote any sacred music aside from a single five-voice 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...
setting of Ad Te, Domine (1549), it has not survived. While most of the composers who worked at San Marco in the 16th century left a substantial body of sacred music, Perissone was one of the few who did not.
Perissone was a versatile stylist, and wrote both light and serious madrigals, with a texture varying from the smooth polyphony
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 ....
of the Netherlanders to bright, largely chordal
Homophony
In music, homophony is a texture in which two or more parts move together in harmony, the relationship between them creating chords. This is distinct from polyphony, in which parts move with rhythmic independence, and monophony, in which all parts move in parallel rhythm and pitch. A homophonic...
textures. Sometimes he anticipated harmonic developments of the 17th century, such as when he used the bass voice as a harmonic support rather than as an equal participant in the motivic interplay of a composition. He was also fond of false relations, as in his setting of Gottifredi's Deh, perchè com'è il vostro al nome mio, a madrigal which also contains deliberately mis-accented text setting, a characteristic which distinguishes him from his teacher Willaert, who was more inclined to follow Pietro Bembo
Pietro Bembo
Pietro Bembo was an Italian scholar, poet, literary theorist, and cardinal. He was an influential figure in the development of the Italian language, specifically Tuscan, as a literary medium, and his writings assisted in the 16th-century revival of interest in the works of Petrarch...
's strict advice on text setting.