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The Sforza restoration and the founding of the ducal chapels at Santa Maria della Scala in Milan and Sant'Ambrogio in Vigevano*
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 December 2008
Extract
Although a number of motet, madrigal and lute collections supported by local Milanese patrons were printed in Milan and Venice during the first half of the sixteenth century, modern scholars continue to regard this period in Milanese history as fallow in musical activity. This phenomenon has resulted from a lack of documentary evidence regarding both the activities of the musicians who contributed to these collections and the musical institutions with which these musicians and their patrons were associated. While several studies on music at the Duomo of Milan during the first half of the sixteenth century do esixt, Guglielmo Barblan's poineering study remains the only comprehensive survey of civic and courtly music of the period, and it focuses primarily spon instrumental musicians, thus leaving largely unanswered the questions of where and by whom the aforementioned Milanese motests and madrigals were performed.
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References
1 Sartori, C., ‘La cappella del duomo dalle origini a Franchino Gaffurio’, Storia di Milano, 16 vols., ix (Milan, 1961), ix, pp. 723–48Google Scholar; Mompellio, F., ‘La cappella del duomo da Matthias Hermann di Vercore a Vincenzo Ruffo’, Storia di Milano, ix, pp. 749–85Google Scholar; and Getz, C., ‘The Milanese Cathedral Choir under Hermann Matthias Werrecore, maestro di cappella 1522–1550’, Musica Disciplina, 46 (1992), pp. 169–222Google Scholar.
2 Barblan, G., ‘La vita musicale in Milano nella prima metà del Cinquecento’, Storia di Milano, ix, pp. 853–95Google Scholar.
3 See, for example, the sources listed above, as well as Noblitt, T. L., ‘The Ambrosian Motetti Missales Repertory’, Musica Disciplina, 22 (1968), pp. 77–103Google Scholar; Ward, L. H., ‘The Motetti Missales Repertory Reconsidered’, Journal of the American Musicological Society, 39, no. 3 (1986), pp. 491–583CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Noble, J., ‘The Function of Josquin's Motets’, Proceedings of the Josquin Symposium, Cologne 11–15 July 1984 in Tijdschrift van de Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis, 35 (1985), pp. 9–31Google Scholar, and Macey, P., ‘Galeazzo Maria Sforza and Musical Patronage in Milan: Compére, Weerbeke and Josquin’, Early Music History, 15 (1996), pp. 147–212CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
4 Archivio di Stato, Milan [hereafter ‘ASM’], Sforzesco 1422 (Milano città e ducato 1523–1525), busta 1525, non numerati [hereafter ‘n.n.’], 3 ottobre 1525, and Sforzesco 1424 (Milano città e ducato 1527–1529), busta ottobre, n.n., 14 ottobre 1529.
5 Although 29 November 1529 is the official date of investiture, some historical accounts indicate that Francesco II's administrative appointees did not actually begin officiating until January 1530. The series of events through which possession of the duchy was transferred by Carlo V to Francesco II Sforza is described in Franceschini, G., ‘Gli ultimi anni del ducato indipendente’, Storia di Milano, viii, pp. 310–13Google Scholar. A contemporary account is found in Burigozzi, M., Cronaca milanese di Gianmarco Burigozzi merzaro dal 1500 al 1544 (Milan, 1587), reprinted in Archivio Storico Italiano, 3 (1842), pp. 497–507Google Scholar.
6 See the discussion in Prizer, W. F., ‘Music at the Court of the Sforza: The Birth and Death of a Musical Center’, Musica Disciplina, 43 (1989), pp. 155–9Google Scholar.
7 See Starr's, P. F. discussion of benefices ‘pro augmento divini cultus’ in ‘Rome as the Center of the Universe’, Early Music History, 11 (1992), pp. 238–46Google Scholar. Between 1447 and 1471 petitions using this rationale arrived in Rome from dioceses in France, England, Spain, and the Low Countries. Fourteen collegiate chapters petitioned for papal support to either maintain or enlarge existing choral forces, including those in Mons, Thèux, Nivelles, Abbeville, Cambrai, Trier, Toul, Bourges, and Malines, the last of which actually requested permission to transfer support to the city government. Twenty-five others petitioned for support in establishing, maintaining, or increasing the size of choir schools, including Notre Dame in Paris and Our Lady at Antwerp, and churches in Tournai, Rennes, Limoges, Carcassonne, Condé, Soignies, Cambrai, Besançon, Tréguier, Tours, Saint-Brieuc, Vannes, Rennes, and Chartres. The absence of Italian petitions in Starr's ‘pro augmento divini cultus’ category is noteworthy, for it suggests that this approach was fostered primarily in the North during the late fifteenth century.
8 A study of the evolution of the episcopate and cathedral church in Vigevano under the Sforza is found in Ansani, M., ‘Da chiesa della communità a chiesa del Duca. Il vescovados fortiana’, Metamorfosi di un borgo. Vigevano in età visconteo-sforzesca. (Milan, 1992), pp. 117–44Google Scholar.
9 Ansani, ‘Il vescovado sfortiana’, pp. 121–34. A letter from Bartolomeo Chalco to Ludovico Maria Sforza dated 16 June 1490 reveals that the matter had been under discussion as early as Spring 1490. ASM, Sforzesco 1093 (Milano città e ducato: 1490 giugno-agosto), n.n.
10 Archivio Curia Vescovile, Vigevano [hereafter ‘AVV’], Sezione I R5 N5, fasc. 1–3. On the duties of the mansionarii see below at n. 60.
11 The position of organist at Sant'Ambrogio in Vigevano was created on 24 June 1533. AVV, Masso 5, numero 6 (Mensa vescovile). At that time Francesco II Sforza donated a ducal territory known as ‘La Costanza’ to the chapter at Vigevano for support of the benefice. AVV, Sezione I R5 N5, fasc. 4. This donation also provided for 400 lire per year for maintenance of the eight clerics.
12 Quintero died and was replaced in 1550. ASM, Autografi 12–1 (Galeazzo Petra: Vescovo di Vigevano 1530–1552), fols. 60 and 64.
13 ASM, Autografi 52–2 (Augustino Gerrero, Vescovo di Vercelli 1511–1536), n.nGoogle Scholar.
14 Rosarino is likely the Roserino who served as maestro di cappella at the Duomo of Modena from 1524 to 1526. See Roncaglia, G., La cappella musicale del Duomo di Modena (Florence, 1957), p. 22, p. 81, and p. 309Google Scholar. A setting of Sumens illud Ave that is attributed to a ‘Fran. Ros.’ is found in Modena, Biblioteca et Archivio Capitolare del Duomo, MS Mus. III. Rosarino served as cantor at Vigevano from 1530 until his death in late 1548. The chapter minutes for 9 November 1548 note that he was honoured with a long eulogy on that date. Archivio Capitolare, Vigevano [hereafter ‘ACV’], Serie II, numero 71 (Liber ordinationum Sancti Ambrogij 1543–50), n.n. A replacement for Rosarino was secured by 6 September 1549, at which time former canon Giovanni Maria Minoltus (= Giovanni Maria de Trivultio) first appears on the rolls as cantor. ACV, Serie II, Numero 71 (Liber ordinationum Sancti Ambrogij 1543–50), n.n. However, Minoltus actually may have begun serving in the office somewhat earlier, for Galeazzo Petra petitioned Francesco II for Minoltus's unpaid annual salary in a letter of 30 January 1550. It is unclear whether the salary was being requested for services rendered in 1549 or in 1550, but Rosarino usually received his remuneration during or at the end of the salary year. ASM, Autografi 12–1 (Galeazzo Petra: Vescovo di Vigevano 1530–1552)Google Scholar, fol. 58. There is also some contradictory evidence regarding the date of Rosarino's death, as a document dated 12 May 1561 detailing salary owed Minoltus for 1554–61 suggests that Rosarino died in late 1549 or early 1550. ASM, Culto p.a. 1420 (Vigevano, sezione 1: Canonici cantori), n.n.
15 ASM, Culto p.a. 2218 (Vescovi e Vescovati: Vigevano A–Z), Statuti del Capitolo di Vigevano.
16 ASM, Culto p.a. 1115 (Chiese-Communi, Milano: Santa Maria della Scala, Capitolo), n.n. This busta contains a printed copy of the 1385 ordinationes. Also see ASM, Culto p.a. 2126 (Patronati regi P.G. — 1734), fasc. 3, fols. 14–17, which is a 1651 manuscript history of the ducal benefices in Milan prepared by Agostino Bassanini. A second manuscript copy of Bassanini's history appears as Biblioteca Capitolare, Milan, Ms. 2F-1–18. A modern study of the early history of the chapter itself is provided in Meroni, P., ‘Santa Maria della Scala: un aspetto della politica ecclesiastica dei duchi di Milano’, Archivio Storico Lombardo, 115, no. 6 (1989), pp. 37–89Google Scholar.
17 ASM, Culto p.a. 2126 (Patronati Regi P.G. — 1734), fasc. 3, fol. 53.
18 ASM, Sforzesco 1428 (Milano città e ducato: 1530 ottobre e novembre), busta novembre, n.n. See Appendix, Document 1.
19 An excerpt from an unsigned letter dated 30 November 1530 to Jacopo Picenardo, an Episcopal Officer (economo) of the Diocese of Milan, indicates that this project was immediately given special attention. ‘Ci è piaciuto Intender’ habbiati Inthimati alli venerabili preposito Canonica et capitolo di Santa Maria della Scalla quanto hanno ad// far’ circa la loro residentia…’ ASM, Sforzesco 1428 (Milano città e ducato: 1530 ottobre e novembre), busta novembre, n.n.
20 ASM, Culto p.a. 2216 (Vescovi e Vescovati: Vigevano 1530–1672), Busta 1530–38, contains a list of miscellaneous expenses for the bishop of Vigevano from 8 October to 19 December 1530. It shows that several payments were made for the horses used by the organist and singers. Egidio is not identified as an organist in this document, but another entry from the Cathedral of Vigevano for the year 1535 does identify him as an organist from Milan. AVV, Sezione II R5 Nl, fasc. 2, busta 3 (Spese della Fabbrica 1535).
21 ASM, Sforzesco 1429 (Milano città e ducato: 1530 dicembre e non datato), n.n. See Appendix, Document 2.
22 ASM, Sforzesco 1429 (Milano città e ducato: 1530 dicembre e non datato), n.n. See Appendix, Document 3.
23 Although some of the documents refer to this church as ‘Santo Giovanni ad viperam’, the name ‘Santo Giovanni ad vedra’ is found most frequently in documents from the 1530s and 1540s, several of which note the transfer of its benefices to Santa Maria della Scala. Two documents from 1545 regarding the removal of some Capuchin monks who had been living at San Giovanni al vedra to the monastery of San Vitorello suggest that the church was in the Porta Vercellina district. ASM, Cancelleria dello Stato 57 (1545 luglio), fols. 49–52. I have not found a church with either name on extant maps from the mid sixteenth century, but passing references to it in the Biblioteca Trivulziana and Archivio Storico Diocesano in Milan indicate that it was located outside the Porta Vercellina. ‘Ad viperam’ may be a reference to the blue viper, a well-known symbol of the Sforza, while ‘al vedra’ may describe the church as seen from any of a number of vantage points in the Castello Sforzesco.
24 ASM, Sforzesco 1431 (Milano città e ducato: 1531 febbraio), n.n. See Appendix, Document 4.
25 See Starr, ‘Rome as the Center of the Universe’, pp. 243–4.
26 ASM, Sforzesco 1431 (Milano città e ducato: 1531 febbraio), n.n. See Appendix, Documents 5 and 6.
27 ASM, Sforzesco 1431 (Milano città e ducato: 1531 febbraio), n.n. See Appendix, Document 4.
28 ASM, Sforzesco 1431 (Milano città e ducato: 1531 febbraio), n.n. See Appendix, Document 5.
29 ASM, Sforzesco 1432 (Milano città e ducato: 1531 marzo), n.n. See Appendix, Document 7.
30 ASM, Sforzesco 1432 (Milano città e ducato: 1531 marzo), n.n. See Appendix, Document 8.
31 ASM, Culto p.a. 1115 (Chiese-Communi, Milano: Santa Maria della Scala in San Fedele traslocata), n.n.
32 Archivio Storico Diocesano, Milano [hereafter ASDM], San Fedele XXII-155 (Santa Maria della Scala: Visite pastorali e documenti aggiunti), q. 4(D).
33 ASDM, San Fedele XXII-155 (Santa Maria della Scala: Visite pastorali e documenti aggiunti), q. 4(D).
34 ASM, Culto p.a. 1115 (Chiese-Communi, Milano: Santa Maria della Scala in San Fedele traslocata), n.n. Segments of this bull are also discussed in ASDM, San Fedele XXII-150 (Santa Maria della Scala: Visite pastorali e documenti aggiunti), q. 25.
35 A large body of this correspondence is preserved in ASM, Sforzesco 934–36 (Potenze estere: Ferrara 1500–33).
36 ASDM, San Fedele XXII-150 (Santa Maria della Scala: Visite pastorali e documenti aggiunti), q. 25. Also see Bendiscioli, M., ‘Carlo Borromeo cardinal nipote arcivescovo di Milano e la riforma della Chiesa milanese’, Storia di Milano, x (Milan, 1957), pp. 187–9Google Scholar.
37 In the lists of delegates selected and number of horses requested by them for the trip to Venice, the Provost's name appears second and third, respectively. ASM, Sforzesco 1471 (Potenze sovrani: Francesco II Sforza 1499–1535), fols. 18–19. A letter dated 19 October 1530 from a Frate Octavianus of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Soncino to De Matia in Venice indicates that the provost traveled with the delegation as the ducal chaplain. ASM, Sforzesco 1428 (Milano città e ducato: 1530 ottobre and novembre), n.n.
38 According to a brief from Augustino Ritio, a member of the Milanese delegation, to Alessandro Bentivoglio in Milan, the delegation attended a mass at San Marco on 14 October 1530. ASM, Sforzesco 1428 (Milano città e ducato: 1530 ottobre and novembre), n.n.
39 On 25 February 1533 he received 63 lire to finance the trip to Bologna. ASM, Sforzesco 1443 (Milano città e ducato: 1533 febbraio), n.n.
40 ASM, Sforzesco 1438 (Milano città e ducato: 1532 giugno-luglio), n.n., 25 Giugno 1532; Sforzesco 1444 (Milano città e ducato: 1533 marzo e aprile), busta 1–20 aprile, n.n., 7 aprile 1533; and Sforzesco 1513 (Milano città e ducato: 1535 giugno-dicembre), busta giugno, n.n., 22 giugno, 1535.
41 ‘Signor tutto el mondo non cazaria fora di fantasia a questi regio bidello cantorij piferij trombetti custodi del domo che vostra Excellentia non mi habia facto dar dinarij per pagarli di modo che mi son tanto fastidiosi che me acuzano Dove supplico vostra Eccellentia la si degni avisarmj se la vol che se pagano ma mj non ne pagaria niuno excepa quella cera che vostra Eccellentia. disse al regio che sopra di Lej la tolesse dece scuti pagaria tutta questa generation se fara quello meglio pareva ad vostra Eccellentia El prevosto da la Scalla.’ ASM, Sforzesco 1444 (Milano città e ducato: 1533 marzo e aprile), 1533 marzo, n.n. This missive is an addendum to a letter from the Provost of La Scala to Francesco II dated 21 May 1533 that apparently has been filed in the wrong cartella. Prior to the establishment of the new ducal chapels, one of the musicians evidently was given the responsibility of paying his colleagues. On 26 February 1532, for example, the money for the salaries of the musicians was given to a musician named Monzino. ASM, Sforzesco 1431 (Milano città e ducato: 1531 febbraio), n.n.
42 A similar system of payment was used at the sixteenth-century chapel of Santa Maria presso San Celso.
43 ASM, Autografi 12–1 (Galeazzo Petra, Vescovo di Vigevano 1530–52), fols. 64a (28 dicembre 1550), 64b (27 dicembre 1550), 65a (21 dicembre 1550), 65b (27 dicembre 1550), and 66.
44 ‘… sarebbe la ruvina di questa musica et succesivamrate della chiesa.’ ASM, Autografi 12–1 (Galeazzo Petra, Vescovo di Vigevano 1530–1552)Google Scholar, fol. 66.
45 ASM, Autografi 12–1 (Galeazzo Petra, Vescovo di Vigevano 1530–1552)Google Scholar, enclosure of fol. 66.
46 ‘Illustrissimo et Excellentissimo princeps. Expone il devoto et humil servo de vostra Excellenza prete Francesco rosarino de Vercelli Canonico et Cantor’ della chiesa de vigevano qualmente vivendo la felice memoria del signor Duca Francesco piglava faticha insegnar la musica in questa chiesa ali clerici et altri per mantener essa musica a laude de Iddio et honor di essa chiesa, et per non haver quello aiuto che gli dava il prefato signor Duca, ne autorita di eliger' clerici idonei di voce, non puo continuar' quella si bona musica come faceva per il passato, per la qual gliera ordinato et dato lire 200 ogni anno …’ Excerpt from a letter of Francesco Rosarino to Alfonso d'Avalos, governor of Milan 1538–46. ASM, Cancelleria dello Stato di Milano 32 (1541 gennaio)Google Scholar, fol. 62.
47 ASDM, San Fedele XXII-155 (Santa Maria della Scala: Visite pastorali e documenti aggiunti), q. 13 (Q)Google Scholar. These statutes will be discussed at length below.
48 ASDM, San Fedele XXV-158 (Santa Maria della Scala: Visite pastorali e documenti aggiunti), q. 2Google Scholar. The organist received 24 scudi, which was noted as equivalent to 141 lire 12 soldi.
49 ASDM, San Fedele XIII-146 (Santa Maria della Scala: Visite pastorali e documenti aggiunti), q. 5–6Google Scholar. Extensive water damage has rendered portions of this document virtually unreadable.
50 ‘Item ordinaverunt dicti offitiales ut supra quod quilibet tam mansionarius Capellanus, quam et levita de nova admittendus ad rescidentiam sive ad distributiones quottidianas ipsius ecclesie teneatur et debeat per tres menses continuos deservire ipsi ecclesie in divinis offitijs et horis canonicis absque aliqua perceptione distributionum ipsius ecclesie Et non possit admitti ad dietas distributiones nisi fuerit Idoneus in cantu plano et optime, sciat legere libros maxime eiusdem ecclesie et etiam cantare more ambrosiano cognoscere omnes tonos ac eos bene anuntiare et non solum psalmos sed etiam Evangelia Epistolas ac lectiones Benedictione Cerei pascalis ac omnia alia circa dictum offitium necessaria et opportuna, et laudatus et aprobatus per Reverendum Capitulum dominorum Canonicorum et etiam per dictos dominos Mansionarios Capellanos et levitas pro Idoneo et sufficienti nec aliter possit admitti nisi sit Idoneus ut supra, et laudatus ut supra.’ ASDM, San Fedele XXII-155 (Santa Maria della Scala: Visite pastorali e documenti aggiunti), q. 13 (Q)Google Scholar.
51 ASDM, San Fedele XXV-158 (Santa Maria della Scala: Visite pastorali e documenti aggiunti), q. 1. GGoogle Scholar. de Luca, ‘“Traiettorie” ecclesiastiche e strategie socio-economiche nella Milano di fine Cinquecento. II Capitolo di S. Maria della Scala dal 1570 al 1600’. Nuova Rivista Storica, 77, no. 3 (1993), p. 531Google Scholar, gives the date of Pelizono's appointment as 1565. De Luca's date appears to be based upon a series of later documents.
52 De Luca, ‘Il Capitolo di S. Maria della Scala’, pp. 568–9, contains a statistical analysis of the benefice holders listed in the documents between 1570 and 1600. A late seventeenth-century list of the choral beneficiaries that notes their respective nationalities is found in ASM, Culto p.a. 1115 (Chiese-Communi, Milano: Santa Maria della Scala in San Fedele traslocata), n.n.
53 De Luca, ‘Il Capitolo di S. Maria della Scala’, pp. 505–69.
54 ASM, Culto p.a. 2218 (Vescovi e Vescovati: Vigevano A–Z), Statuti del Capitolo di Vigevano, fol. 10r.
55 San Fedele XXII-155 (Santa Maria della Scala: Visite pastorali e documenti aggiunti), q. 13 (Q).
56 ASM, Culto p.a. 2218 (Vescovi e Vescovati: Vigevano A–Z), Statuti del Capitolo di Vigevano, Addenda. The order of each daily service observed at Sant'Ambrogio is detailed here.
57 Each singer received a daily distribution specifically for the singing of these additional items. ASM, Culto p.a. 2218 (Vescovi e Vescovati: Vigevano A–Z), Statuti del Capitolo di Vigevano, fols. 3r, 7r–v and 10v.
58 See P.Macey, ‘Galeazzo Maria Sforza and Musical Patronage in Milan’, pp. 147–212.
59 Brobeck, J. T., ‘Music and Patronage in the Royal Chapel of France under Francis I (r. 1515–1547)’, Journal of the American Musicological Society, 48, no. 2 (1995), p. 227CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Such use of votive antiphons occurred frequently in connection with foundations as well, particularly in the North. See the paper and discussion in Noble, ‘The Function of Josquin's Motets’, pp. 10–15.
60 ASDM, San Fedele XXII-155 (Santa Maria della Scala: Visite pastorali e documenti aggiunti), q. 13 (Q).
61 ASM, Culto p.a. 2218 (Vescovi e Vescovati: Vigevano A–Z), Statuti del Capitolo di Vigevano, fol. 2v. See Appendix, Document 9.
62 ASM, Culto p.a. 2218 (Vescovi e Vescovati: Vigevano A–Z), Statuti del Capitolo di Vigevano, fol. 7v and Autografi 12–2 (Galeazzo Petra, Vescovo di Vigevano 1530–1552), fol. 65b.
63 ASM, Culto p.a. 2218 (Vescovi e Vescovati: Vigevano A–Z), Statuti del Capitolo di Vigevano, fol. 7v.
64 ASM, Culto p.a. 2218 (Vescovi e Vescovati: Vigevano A–Z), Statuti del Capitolo di Vigevano, fol. 8r and 10r.
65 ASM, Culto p.a. 2218 (Vescovi e Vescovati: Vigevano A–Z), Statuti del Capitolo di Vigevano, fol. 2v and 10r.
66 AVV, Visite Pastorali 8 (1578), Capitolo.
67 ASDM, San Fedele XXII-155 (Santa Maria della Scala: Visite pastorali e documenti aggiunti), q. 13 (Q); and Archivio della Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano [hereafter ‘AVFDM’], Ordinazioni VIII (1532–34), fol. 98v.
68 ASDM, San Fedele XXII-155 (Santa Maria della Scala: Visite pastorali e documenti aggiunti), q. 13 (Q).
69 These entries include AVFDM, Vacchette 391 (1522), fol. 37r, Registri 717 (1525–27), fols. 80r-v and 108v, Vacchette 397 (1528–29), fol. 186r, and Registri 723 (1532–33), fols. 36v and 50v. The pages in many of these registers were recently renumbered. Where two different page numbers appear on the same page of the register, the newer of the two numbers is given.
70 AVFDM, Ordinazioni VIII (1532–34), fol. 98v.
71 ASM, Culto p.a. 2218 (Vescovi e vescovati: Vigevano A–Z), Statuti del Capitolo di Vigevano, fols.7v–8r.
72 ASDM, San Fedele XXII-155 (Santa Maria della Scala: Visite pastorali e documenti aggiunti), q. 4(D).
73 Two letters from Galeazzo de Petra to Francesco II dated 3 and 7 August 1531 discuss the recruiting trips made by Rosarino to Vercelli. ASM, Autografi 12–1 (Galeazzo Petra, Vescovo di Vigevano 1530–52), fols. 27 and 28. A letter dated 5 January 1532 from Augustino Gerrero, Bishop of Vercelli, to Francesco II also mentions Rosarino's recruiting ventures. ASM, Autografi 52–2 (Augustino Gerrero, Vescovo di Vercelli 1511–36), n.n.
74 The letter from Augustino Gerrero to Francesco II dated 5 January 1532 also discusses the release of a soprano named Vincenzo to Francesco II for the Vigevano choir. ASM, Autografi 52–2 (Augustino Gerrero, Vescovo di Vercelli 1511––36), n.n.
75 A number of documents housed in the Cancelleria dello Stato di Milano, including ASM, Cancelleria dello Stato 32 (1541 gennaio), fol. 62, and Registri della Cancelleria dello Stato XXII-4 (Mandati 1542–5) fol. 34v, identify Rosarino as a native of Vercelli.
76 ASM, Registri della Cancelleria dello Stato XXII/4 (Mandati 1542–1545), fols. 44r and 47v. The singers from San Giovanni were awarded a total of 200 lire, while those from San Nazarro received a total of 52 lire 10 soldi.
77 Ruffo, V., Il primo libro de motetti a cinque voci (Milan, 1542)Google Scholar, dedication. The exact date of Ruffo's arrival in Milan is unknown. The preface to his 1542 motet book notes that at the time of its publication he was a musician in the household of Alfonso d'Avalos, governor of Milan 1538–46. Lewis Lockwood suggests that Ruffo probably did not arrive there before 1541, as an isolated entry of 20 lire 6 soldi paid him ‘when he left Verona’ appears in the pay registers at the Duomo of Verona in 1541. See Lockwood, L., The Counter-Reformation and the Masses of Vincenzo Ruffo (Venice, 1967), pp. 18–21Google Scholar. Since Ruffo had been formally released from service at the Duomo of Verona as early as 1534, it is possible that the isolated 1541 payment was either for temporary services or for past services rendered. However, his presence in Milan cannot be firmly documented before 1541, at which time six of the motets included in his 1542 collection appeared anonymously in Nicolai Gomberti musici excellentissimi pentaphthongos harmonia … Liber primus (Venice, 1541 = RISM 15413), a collection that also includes several motets by Jachet of Mantua and Cristóbal Morales. This book, which currently is the earliest known source containing motets by Ruffo, bears no dedication, but possesses a possible connection to Milan because Scotto released a volume of four-voice masses featuring several of the same composers while Ruffo was serving in Milan in 1542 (= RISM 15423). Moreover, Scotto's 1539 publication of Gombert's four-voice motets bears a dedication to Alfonso d'Avalos, who appears to have sponsored its publication. Thus, a trail leading from the court of Milan to Scotto in Venice that would place Ruffo in Milan in 1541–1542 can be tenuously constructed via the printed evidence. The Milanese notary Petro Maria Crivelli's application for a privilege to protect the printing of Ruffo's Il primo libro de motetti, which is dated 2 June 1542, supports Ruffo's claim to be a musician in the household of Alfonso d'Avalos during the year 1542. ASM, Studi: parte antica 97, fol. 3Google Scholar. In any case, Ruffo had vacated his post in Milan by 27 October 1542, at which time he accepted the position of maestro di cappella at the Cathedral of Savona, where he remained for approximately one year. See Scogna, F. E., ‘La musica nel Duomo di Savona dal XVI al XVIII secolo’, Nuova Rivista Musicale Italiana, 16 (1981), pp. 261–2Google Scholar, and Scogna, F. E., Vita musicale a Savona dal XVI al XVIII secolo (Savona, 1982), pp. 27–8Google Scholar.
78 The two occasional motets are Uxor sicut tua vitis abundans, a Baptismal motet supposedly intended for Hermes Visconti, and Laudibus laudemus, a ceremonial motet for the cavalry captain Melchoir Saavedra, who served under D'Avalos from 1532 to 1546.
79 Battista da Bussero and Laurentio de Putheo; the latter, who was also designated in the later years as ‘falsettist’, received the lesser salary. The cathedral choir consisted of no fewer than eighteen members during this period. See the rosters for the Milanese cathedral choir found in Appendices A and B of Getz, ‘The Milanese Cathedral Choir’, pp. 208–21.
80 A modern edition of the Mass can be found in Lockwood, L., ed., Vincenzo Ruffo. Seven Masses Part I: Three Early Masses in Recent Researches in Music of the Renaissance, 32 (Madison, 1979), pp. 1–35Google Scholar.
81 For example, services that included music were held at the Duomo during the triumphal entries of Charles V in 1533 and 1541, Ferrante Gonzaga in 1546, and Philip II in 1548, as well as during the official celebrations of the return of Francesco II Sforza to Milan as Duke in February 1531. The funerals of both Francesco II Sforza and Alfonso d'Avalos, both of which supposedly included music, were also held there. See Getz, ‘The Milanese Cathedral Choir’, pp. 193–7; Bugati, G., Cronaca milanese di Gianmarco Burigozzi merzaro dal 1500 al 1544 (Milan, 1587)Google Scholar, reprinted in Archivio Storico Italiano, Primo serie, 3 (1842), pp. 507, 513–14 and 525–6; Besozzo, C., Cronaca, trans. Malfatti, C. (Trent, 1967), p. 43Google Scholar.
82 This may have applied only to those who were awarded ducal benefices. See Getz, C., ‘Hermann Matthias Werrecore and the North Italian Circle of Liberal Humanists in Counter-Reformation Italy’, Arte Lombarda, Nuova serie, 118 (1996-1993), pp. 18–19Google Scholar.
83 Documents for only five such singers have surfaced thus far for the years 1525–57. These include Andrea de Germanis (1530–1), Guglielmus ‘cantor flamengus’ (1532), Otto ‘cantore’ (1532) Vincenzo Ruffo (1541–2), and Hoste da Reggio (1554–5).
84 ASM, Sforzesco 1445 (Milano città e ducato: 1533 aprile e maggio), busta 1533 maggio, n.nGoogle Scholar. See Appendix, Document 10.
85 ASM, Sforzesco 1449 (Milano città e ducato: 1534 marzo), n.nGoogle Scholar.
86 ASM, Sforzesco 1449 (Milano città e ducato: 1534 marzo), n.nGoogle Scholar.
87 ASDM, San Fedele XIII-146 (Santa Maria della Scala: Visite pastorali e documenti aggiunti), q. 4Google Scholar.
88 Prizer, ‘Music at the Court of the Sforza’, p. 150 and pp. 178–9.
89 ASDM San Fedele XIII–146 (Santa Maria della Scala: Visite pastorali e documenti aggiunti), q. 4.
90 ‘Offertoria igitur, Confractoria, et Transitoria si brevia fuerint tantum temporis in ijs canendis adhibeatur [quantum] (vocem modo ut Infracanatur et si longa fuerint non mittantur) Praefectus ipse chori opus esse indicarit habita ratione sacerdotis hebdomadarij. Neque enim omnes eodem passu currunt … Si longa et prolixa fuerint celerius et festinatius agi poterit, Illud tamen in offertorijs cavendum, ne secunda pars, quae inscribitur, versus omittatur, sed totum canantur, prout in missali legitur. Huiusmodi autem animaversiones diligentur observande sunt, quo tempore: organum non pulsatur, aut Musicorum chorus desideratur’. ASDM San Fedele XIII–146 (Santa Maria della Scala: Visite pastorali documenti aggiunti), q. 4Google Scholar.
91 For information on D'Avalos as a patron, see Lockwood, L., The Counter-Reformation and the Masses of Vincenzo Ruffo (Venice, 1967), pp. 22–5Google Scholar, and Getz, C., ‘Francesco II Sforza's Forgotten Cantor: Evidence of Image Propaganda in Sixteenth-Century Milan’, Explorations in Renaissance Culture, 18 (1992), pp. 27–54CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
92 Werrecore, H. M., Cantuum quinque vocum quos motetta vocant… liber primus (Milan, 1555)Google Scholar.
93 ‘AD ILLUSTRISSIMUM ALPHONSUM AVALUM// HYSTONII MARCHIONEM MEDIOLANENSIS// Provinciae ac reliquae totius Galliae Cisalpinae praefectum.// Epistola dedicatoria.// Et si videbam Princeps humanissime te maximis teneri Publicarum rerum occu-//pationibus, quippe, ad quern. M. Imp. Cisalpinae galliae ac totius ferè hetruriae negotia deferri voluit, cui demandarunt suos exercitus Italia, Germania, & His-//pania, tamen, cum nuperrimè quasdam cantiones in lucem miserim, qualescunque // sunt, non dnbitavi [sic.] eas nomini tuo velut certissimae tutelae consecrare: Quarum// non vulgari armonia (quod procul ab arrogantia dictum sit) ubi liceret aliquando pu-//blicos labores intermittere…’ Calusco, B., ed., Mutetarum divinitatis liber primus (Milan, 1543), dedicationGoogle Scholar.
94 In Milanese documents dating from the reigns of Charles V and his successors, Santa Maria della Scala is usually described as either the ‘ducal chapel’ or the ‘royal ducal chapel’ of Santa Maria della Scala. The same cannot be said of Sant'Ambrogio in Vigevano.
95 Spirito, L'Hoste, Magnificat cum omnibus tonis hymnis et motetta (Milan, 1550)Google Scholar. It should be noted that the name Spirito is not used in any of nearly a dozen Milanese documents dating from 1554 to 1571 that mention Hoste da Reggio. It is clear, however, that Hoste was known in ecclesiastical circles as Bartolomeo Torresani. The documents to which I refer will be discussed at length in a forthcoming article entitled ‘The Milanese Career of Hoste da Reggio’.
96 All four of the 1554 madrigal collections identify him as maestro di cappella at the Milanese court of Ferrante Gonzaga. By the following year he had been awarded an ecclesiastical benefice in the diocese of Milan. On 13 January 1558, Hoste was appointed maestro di cappella at the Duomo of Milan. AVFDM, Ordinazioni XI (1552–1561)Google Scholar, 229r–231v, and ASDM, Metropolitana XXXIII–406 (Visite pastorali e documenti aggiunti), q. 9.
97 Hoste, da Reggio, Il primo libro de madrigali a tre voci (Milan, 1554)Google Scholar.
98 ‘certi canti novi de Trinitate, tanto dolci et gratti al horechia’. ASM, Autografi 12–1 (Galeazzo Petra, Vescovo di Vigevano 1530–1552)Google Scholar, fol. 22.
99 ASM, Autografi 12–1 (Galeazzo Petra, Vescovo di Vigevano 1530–1552), fol. 22Google Scholar. See Appendix, Document 11. ASM, Autografi 12–1 (Galeazzo Petra, Vescovo di Vigevano 1530–1552)Google Scholar, fol. 23, which is an addendum to the 5 June 1531 letter, outlines preparations for the esequie to be held in memory of Francesco II's older brother Duke Massimiliano Sforza. The services were to include polyphonic performance during the mass and the office. The practice of performing polyphony during Mass and Vespers at the Duomo of Milan and at Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence is discussed in Prizer, ‘Music at the Court of the Sforza’, p. 150 and pp. 178–9, and D'Accone, F., ‘The Musical Chapels at Florentine Cathedral and Baptistery during the First Half of the 16th Century’, Journal of the American Musicological Society, 24, no. 1 (1971), pp. 1–51CrossRefGoogle Scholar, respectively.
100 ‘Item quod nullus etiam in dignitate constitutus aut Canonicus aut beneficiatus ut supra in choro dum divina celebrantur: audeat nec presumat contrapontezare nisi de licentia Domini Cantoris: sed omnes parimodo cantent iuxta formam cantus firmi et non aliter sub pena soldorum quinque applicandorum ut supra … Item quod nullus etiam in dignitate constitutus aut Canonicatus aut alius beneficiatus ut supra in choro dormiat aut Imodeste rideat aut aliquid rixibile faciat aut nugetur sub penis continentibus in statutis: et quod nullus ut supra in choro dicat officium private aut alias orationes dum divina celebrantur nisi// aut quando pulsatur organum pro offertorium: aut quando cantatur in cantu figurato: aut dum facta fuerit ellevatio missae: usque ad post comunionem sub pena soldorum quinque pro quamlibet vice applicandorum ut supra.’ ASM, Culto p.a. 2218 (Vescovi e Vescovati: Vigevano A-Z), Addenda. The performance of motets during similar sections of the Mass in sixteenth-century Rome is discussed in Cummings, A. M., ‘Toward an Interpretation of the Sixteenth-Century Motet’, Journal of the American Musicological Society, 34, no. 1 (1981), pp. 43–59CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
101 Biblioteca Trivultiana, Milano [hereafter ‘BTM’], Codice 1252 (Ceremoniale Spagnolo, 1629), fols. 3r–24v, and Codice 1490 (Ceremoniale per i governatori di Milano, 1591), fols. lr–13r. These two codices were dated by the scribes as shown above, but actually contain miscellaneous records and entries from a number of different years surrounding the date given at the head of the manuscript.
102 AVV, Visite pastorali 8 (1578), Divina officia.
103 ASM, Autografi 12/1 (Galeazzo de Petra, Vescovo di Vigevano 1530–52), fol. 22.
104 BTM, Codice 1252 (Ceremoniale Spagnolo, 1629), fols. 9r–18r. The responsibilities for the plainchant items of the mass appear to be divided among the beneficiaries in a manner derived from the directions found in the 1539 statutes.
105 ASM, Sforzesco 1444 (Milano città e ducato: 1533 marzo e aprile), busta 1533 marzo, n. n. See Appendix, Document 12.
106 ‘Il Cardinal di Trento in sula mezza notte in pontificate andò a udir Messa in corte vecchia con sua Maestà dove con solennità grandissima di Musica si cantò il Matutino, il Te Deum con la risposta dell'organo et una divina voce che dentro cantava. E così la messa con solenne ceremonie alla Spagnola degne veramente da esser da un tanto Principe e Signori udite e vedute.’ Besozzi, C., Cronaca, p. 43Google Scholar. Also see Barblan, ‘La vita musicale in Milano’, p. 873. During the sixteenth century, the Palazzo Reale was often described as the ‘corte vecchia’ in order to distinguish it from the newly constructed Castello Sforzesco.
107 Barblan, ‘La vita musicale in Milano’, pp. 873–4.
108 By the early eighteenth century San Gottardo in Corte had a number of singers as well as a full string orchestra. Documentation of musical activity surviving from the period is found in ASM, Culto p.a. 1079 (Chiese, Communi-Milano: San Gottardo in Corte, Musica).
109 These archives, which had been open to scholars during the mid 1990s, were closed indefinitely for restoration when I visited them in June 1997.