Bassadanza La Spagna (1480-1500), Variations on a late medieval theme

Описание: To skip to a different piece, click on the time stamp on the left:

0:04 Falla con Misuras (Guglielmo Ebreo)
1:33 La Bassadanza I (Anonimo)
3:23 La Bassadanza II (Anonimo)
5:13 Danza alta (Francisco de la Torre)
6:28 La Spagne (Josquin des Prez)
10:27 La Spagna (Johannes Ghiselin)
13:50 Agnus Dei La Spagna (Heinrich Isaac)

PROGRAM NOTES:

The basse danse likely originated in the Netherlands in the first half of the 15th century but appeared in various incarnations throughout Western Europe over the next century. There are more than 100 surviving variations on the La Spagna theme including instrumental, vocal, secular and sacred arrangements. This simple, slow cantus firmus melody which does not seem particularly stirring or inspired, became the most widely parodied song for many a leading Renaissance composer including both Josquin des Prez and Heinrich Isaac. In this video, I included pieces that are raucous and aggressive like the Spagna I and II by Anonymous as well as gentle and ethereal like the Missa la Spagna by Isaac. Compared with Guglielmo Ebreo's "Falla con misuras" which has a recognizable triplet or 6/8 rhythm, the later variations morphed into increasingly more complex forms that were quite abstract, improvisatory and undance-like.

The 7 musical selections in this video are all MIDI files that I edited using the iPhone app MusicStudio 2. I arranged most of the pieces for wind band with various combinations of cornetti, shawms, sackbuts and percussion. The credits for the original, unadulterated MIDI files are listed below:

Falla con Misuras (Guglielmo Ebreo) uploaded Dillon Upton to IMSLP.com
La Spagna I & II (Anonimo) uploaded by by Ulrich Alpers to IMSLP.com
Danza alta (Francisco de la Torre) uploaded by Marc Lanoiselée to IMSLP.com
La Spagne (Josquin des Prez) uploaded by Christian Mondrug to IMSLP.com
La Spagna (Johannes Ghiselin) uploaded by Albert den Teuling to IMSLP.com
Agnus Dei La Spagna (Heinrich Isaac) uploaded by William Evans to IMSLP.com

The paintings captured in the video are mostly pieces from Italy and Spain from the late 15th century. The manuscript artists who illuminated the Books of Hours are mainly Burgundian or Northern French - like the composers. The manuscript pages are matched with the musical selections and are facsimiles from various original sources including the printed tomes of Ottavino Petrucci. The artworks depicted in the segment containing Bassadanza Agnus Dei are mostly Florentine in origin in homage to Isaac for whom Firenze was his adopted home. The marble carvings are parts of the cantoria overhanging the alter of Santa Maria del Fiore (a.k.a. il Duomo) where Isaac likely conducted many a mass in his twilight years (perhaps including this mass setting). Even though the entire Missa is based on the original La Spagna theme, I included only the Agnus Dei movement in the interest of time. I significantly shortened the note values in the of the original MIDI file in order to bring clarity and lightness to the performance instead of the muddied sound in my earlier Youtube video.