The Medici Codex of 1518 is a music book prepared for the Pope Leo X, the second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent of the Medici family, who was pope from 1513 to 1521.
The codex contains 53 motets by 21 composers, and was presented to Leo's nephew Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, at his wedding to the French princess Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne in 1518. The wedding was held on 2 May 1518 in Amboise, France. The book was given to the nuptial couple at their triumphant return to Florence on 8 September 1518.
Edward Lowinsky, in the three-volume facsimile edition (1968), proposed that Jean Mouton, a leading court composer for the French king, Francis I, was the editor. [1] Ten motets by Jean Mouton were included in the Medici Codex.
The book also contains a tribute motet to Leo Gaude felix Florentia by Andreas de Silva, and motets by composers of the Franco-Flemish School, including Johannes de la Fage, Josquin des Prez, Pierrequin de Thérache, Adrian Willaert and Inviolata integra et casta es by the Italian Costanzo Festa. The most famous motet in this collection, Déporation de Ockeghem, based on a French poem by Jean Molinet, was a heartfelt lament on the composer Ockeghem's death in 1497.
In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margaret Bent, "a piece of music in several parts with words" is as precise a definition of the motet as will serve from the 13th to the late 16th century and beyond. The late 13th-century theorist Johannes de Grocheo believed that the motet was "not to be celebrated in the presence of common people, because they do not notice its subtlety, nor are they delighted in hearing it, but in the presence of the educated and of those who are seeking out subtleties in the arts".
Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prez was a composer of High Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he was a central figure of the Franco-Flemish School and had a profound influence on the music of 16th-century Europe. Building on the work of his predecessors Guillaume Du Fay and Johannes Ockeghem, he developed a complex style of expressive—and often imitative—movement between independent voices (polyphony) which informs much of his work. He further emphasized the relationship between text and music, and departed from the early Renaissance tendency towards lengthy melismatic lines on a single syllable, preferring to use shorter, repeated motifs between voices. Josquin was a singer, and his compositions are mainly vocal. They include masses, motets and secular chansons.
Heinrich Isaac was a Netherlandish composer of south Netherlandish origin during the Renaissance era. He wrote masses, motets, songs, and instrumental music. A significant contemporary of Josquin des Prez, Isaac influenced the development of music in Germany. Several variants exist of his name: Ysaac, Ysaak, Henricus, Arrigo d'Ugo, and Arrigo il Tedesco among them.
Johannes Ockeghem was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer of early Renaissance music. Ockeghem was the most influential European composer in the period between Guillaume Du Fay and Josquin des Prez, and he was—with his colleague Antoine Busnois—the leading European composer in the second half of the 15th century. He was an important proponent of the early Franco-Flemish School.
Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici was the ruler of Florence from 1516 until his death in 1519. He was also Duke of Urbino during the same period. His daughter Catherine de' Medici became Queen Consort of France, while his illegitimate son, Alessandro de' Medici, became the first Duke of Florence.
Alexander Agricola was a Netherlandish composer of the Renaissance writing in the Franco-Flemish style. A prominent member of the Grande chapelle, the Habsburg musical establishment, he was a renowned composer in the years around 1500, and his music was widely distributed throughout Europe. He composed music in all of the important sacred and secular styles of the time.
Robert de Févin was a French composer of the Renaissance. He was the brother of Antoine de Févin, a considerably more famous composer at the court of Louis XII of France. Whether he was older or younger than Antoine is not known.
Jean Mouton was a French composer of the Renaissance. He was famous both for his motets, which are among the most refined of the time, and for being the teacher of Adrian Willaert, one of the founders of the Venetian School.
Mathieu Gascongne was a French composer of the Renaissance. Contemporaries, such as Adrian Willaert grouped him with Josquin, Ockeghem, and Jean Mouton as among the finest composers of the time. Compared with those others, however, little of his output has survived.
Pierre Moulu was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance who was active in France, probably in Paris.
Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne was a younger daughter of Jean III de La Tour, Count of Auvergne and Lauraguais, and Jeanne de Bourbon, Duchess of Bourbon (1465–1511). She was a penultimate representative of the senior branch of the House of La Tour d'Auvergne. Madeleine is best known for being the mother of Catherine de' Medici, the future Queen of France.
The Chigi codex is a music manuscript originating in Flanders. According to Herbert Kellman, it was created sometime between 1498 and 1503, probably at the behest of Philip I of Castile. It is currently housed in the Vatican Library under the call number Chigiana, C. VIII. 234.
France has a rich music history that was already prominent in Europe as far back as the 10th century. French music originated as a unified style in medieval times, focusing around the Notre-Dame school of composers. This group developed the motet, a specific musical composition. Notable in the high Middle Ages were the troubadours and trouvères soon began touring France, composing and performing many original songs. The styles of ars nova and ars subtilior sprung up in the 14th century, both of which focused on secular songs. As Europe moved into the Renaissance age, the music of France evolved in sophistication. The popularity of French music in the rest of Europe declined slightly, yet the popular chanson and the old motet were further developed during this time. The epicenter of French music moved from Paris to Burgundy, as it followed the Burgundian School of composers. During the Baroque period, music was simplified and restricted due to Calvinist influence. The air de cour then became the primary style of French music, as it was secular and preferred by the royal court.
Antoine de Longueval was a French singer and composer of the Renaissance. A contemporary of Josquin des Prez, he was singing master of the French royal chapel under King Francis I, and was important in the history of the polyphonic setting of the Passion.
Andrea Antico was a music printer, editor, publisher and composer of the Renaissance born in the Republic of Venice, of Istrian birth, active in Rome and in Venice. He was the first printer of sacred music in Rome, and the earliest competitor of Venetian Ottaviano Petrucci, who is regarded as the first significant music printer.
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in 1555.
The decade of the 1510s in music involved some significant events.
Innocenzo Cibo was an Italian cardinal and archbishop.
Huelgas Ensemble is a Belgian early music group formed by the Flemish conductor Paul Van Nevel in 1971. The group's performance and extensive discography focuses on Renaissance polyphony. The name of the ensemble refers to a manuscript of polyphonic music, the Codex Las Huelgas.
Pierrequin de Thérache also Pierre or Petrus de Therache (c.1470-1528) was a French renaissance composer from Nancy.