AMS Philadelphia 2009 Abstracts - American Musicological Society

152 saturday afternoon AMS Philadelphia 2009
particularly as members during the earlier 1430s of two other important Florentine musical
institutions: the oratory of Orsanmichele and the Baptistry of San Giovanni.
Our fresh archival work drawing on unpublished and published documents offers a detailed
and coherent picture of Florentine (sacred) musical culture during the period surrounding the
Florence council. The major figure among the musicians is “Benotto da Francia” (Benedictus
Sirede), whose surprisingly early (1432) presence as a teacher and laudese at Orsanmichele and
cantore di San Giovanni was key to his 1438 appointment—first as the magister of young clerics
and then as leader of the other three professional singers at the Duomo: Beltramus Feragut,
Johannes de Monte, and Francesco Bartoli. Of special interest to us are the recorded deliberations
of the operai in breaking with the established performance tradition at the Duomo and
the impressive efforts undertaken by Benotto and his companions in satisfying the liturgical
requirements of their new positions—highlighted by the preparation and completion of a
major collection of early fifteenth-century polyphony (Mod B). This climax in Quattrocento
Florentine musical culture, favorably competing for recognition with the best of Italian institutions,
was unfortunately not to last beyond the piecemeal disbanding of the original
cappella in the early 1440s and Benotto’s eventual departure for Ferrara in 1448.
THE COMPILATION AND COPYING OF MOD
B (MODENA, BIBL. EST., MS α X.1.11)
James Haar
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
One of the most attractive and interesting collections of sacred polyphony in the Quattrocento
is the volume known to scholars as Mod B. The manuscript is usually described as
Ferrarese in origin and c. 1450 in date, but both date and provenance have been questioned,
as they will be here. The bulk of the volume, indeed all of its original contents, is written in
a single hand—or hands, if the suggestion that the music and text hands may be the work of
two people is favorably received (there is no internal indication of scribal identity).
Our interest was sparked by Pamela Starr’s remark that the singer Benotto or Benoit might
be a “promising candidate” for such an identification. Our work has since led us to conclude
that Mod B is Florentine (copied c. 1435–45), destined for the chapel of the Duomo, and that
only after completing work on it did its compiler-copyist take it to Ferrara. We have found
no “smoking arquebus” but are convinced that it is indeed the work of Benotto/Benoit. Our
reasons for this conclusion are summarized here.
i) Watermark evidence supports Florentine origin; one mark is even found in paper used
in the 1430s by the Opera del Duomo. The musical hand has been called French, but neither
text nor music hands can as yet be identified. ii) The first half of Mod B, consisting of hymns,
antiphons, and Magnificat settings, fits perfectly with the purpose for which the Duomo chapel
singers were hired, namely the performance of Vespers on feast days. iii) Even the twenty
folios that follow, designated “motetti” in the volume’s index, could have been used, possibly
after Vespers. iv) The last third of Mod B is devoted to English music (not so indicated), motets
and antiphons for varied use but not excluding Vespers, the latter viewed in this regard less
as liturgical observance than as a public occasion for performance of sacred polyphony. v) This
section has been thought of as evidence for Ferrarese provenance, showing the importance
of English clerics, nobles, and young students in Ferrara. Here our argument turns negative,
pointing out the lack of connection between such groups and the contents of Mod B.