Cipriano de Rore
Cipriano de Rore (occasionally Cypriano) (1515 or 1516 – between 11 and 20 September 1565) was a
Life
Early years
Little is known of Rore's early life. His probable birth years (1515/1516) are known from his age at death (49, recorded on his tombstone in the cathedral in Parma), and his probable birthplace was a small town in Flanders, Ronse (Renaix), on the boundary between the French- and Dutch-speaking areas.[2] Research has established that his parents were Celestinus Rore (died before 1564) and Barbara Van Coppenolle, and he had at least two siblings, Franciscus and Celestinus. The family was active in Ronse at least since 1400, and its coat of arms appeared both on his personal seal and his tombstone in Parma Cathedral.[1]
Where Rore got his musical training is unknown. Based on a suggestive phrase in a 1559 madrigal dedicated to Margaret of Parma, the illegitimate daughter of
Venice and Ferrara
While it has long been claimed that Rore studied in Venice with
Rore then went to Ferrara, where payment records show he was maestro di cappella (choirmaster) beginning on 6 May 1546. This was the beginning of an extraordinarily productive portion of his life; while in the service of Duke Ercole II d'Este he wrote masses, motets, chansons, and of course madrigals, many of which were topical, some involving matters of the court itself. In 1556 Duke Ercole awarded Rore a benefice for his exceptional service. Also during the Ferrara years, Rore began cultivating his relations with the court of
Departure from Ferrara; last years
In July 1559 Rore left his post in Ferrara again, possibly because the new Duke Alfonso II d'Este preferred Francesco dalla Viola, a member of an old Ferrara family, to the foreigner.[1] Once again he went north to his homeland; this time he did not return to Este service.
The situation in his homeland had deteriorated due to the ravages of the
He died at Parma the next year of unknown causes at age 49 and was buried in the cathedral in that city. Lodovico Rore, his nephew, erected his tombstone, indicating in the epitaph that his name would not be forgotten, even in the distant future.[8]
Music and influence
Rore was one of the most influential composers of the mid-16th century, mainly through the dissemination of his madrigals. His 1542 book was an extraordinary event, and recognized as such at the time: it established five voices as the norm, rather than four, and married the polyphonic texture of the Netherlandish motet with the Italian secular form, bringing a seriousness of tone that became one of the predominant trends in madrigal composition all the way into the 17th century.[9] All the lines of development in the madrigal in the late century can be traced to ideas first seen in Rore; according to Alfred Einstein, his only true spiritual successor was Claudio Monteverdi, another revolutionary.[10] But in his sacred music, Rore was more backward-looking, showing his connection to his Netherlandish roots: his masses, for example, are reminiscent of the work of Josquin des Prez.[9]
Rore wrote 107 madrigals that are securely attributed to him; 16 secular Latin compositions, similar in form to madrigals; at least seven chansons; 53 motets, of which 51 survive; a Passion according to Saint John; five settings of the mass; some Magnificats; and a handful of other works.
Sacred music
While best known for his Italian madrigals, Rore was also a prolific composer of sacred music, both masses and motets.[5] Josquin was his point of departure, and he developed many of his techniques from the older composer's style.[5] Rore's first three masses are a response to the challenge of his heritage and to the music of Josquin.[5] In addition to five masses, he wrote about 80 motets, many psalms, secular motets, and a setting of the St. John Passion.[5]
Secular music
It was as a composer of madrigals that Rore achieved enduring fame. With his madrigals published primarily between 1542 and 1565, he was one of the most influential madrigalists at mid-century.[5] His early madrigals reflect Willaert with the use of clear diction, thick and continuous counterpoint, and pervasive imitation.[11] These works are mostly for four or five voices, with one for six and another for eight.[12] The tone of his writing tends toward the serious, especially as contrasted with the light character of the work of his predecessors Arcadelt and Verdelot.[13] Rore chose not to write madrigals of frivolous nature, preferring serious subject matter, including the works of Petrarch and tragedies presented at Ferrara.[13] He carefully brought out the varying moods of the texts he set, developing musical devices for this purpose; additionally he often ignored the structure of the line, line division, and rhyme, deeming it unnecessary that the musical and poetic lines correspond.[13]
In addition, Rore experimented with chromaticism, following some of the ideas of his contemporary Nicola Vicentino.[14] He used all the resources of polyphony as they had developed by the mid-16th century, including imitation and canonic techniques, all in the service of careful text setting.[12]
Rore was the model many of the great madrigalists of the late 16th century followed, including Monteverdi.[15] According to Alfred Einstein, writing in The Italian Madrigal (1949), Rore's true spiritual successor was Monteverdi. Einstein also said, "Rore holds the key to the whole development of the Italian madrigal after 1550."[16]
Rore also composed secular Latin motets, a relatively unusual "crossover" form in the mid-16th century.[1] These motets, a secular variation of a normally sacred form, paralleled the sacred madrigal, the madrigale spirituale, a sacred variation on a popular secular form.[17] Stylistically they are similar to his madrigals, and he published them throughout his career; occasionally they appeared in collections of madrigals, such as in his posthumous Fifth Book for five voices (1566), and he also included some in a collection of motets for five voices published in 1545.[18]
Works
Secular
- I madrigali (Venice, 1542, five voices)
- Il primo libro de madregali cromatici (Venice, 1544, five voices; enlargement of 1542 publication)
- Il secondo libro de madregali (Venice, 1544, five voices)
- Il terzo libro di madrigali, (Venice, 1548, five voices)
- Musica ... sopra le stanze del Petrarcha ... libro terzo (Venice, 1548, five voices)
- Il primo libro de madrigali (Ferrara, 1550, five voices) (also contains chansons in French)
- Il quarto libro d'imadregali (Venice, five voices)
- Il secondo libro de madregali, (Venice, 1557, four voices)
- Li madrigali libro quarto, (Venice, 1562, five voices)
- Le vive fiamme de' vaghi e dilettevoli madrigali, (Venice, 1565, four and five voices) (also contains secular Latin pieces)
- Il quinto libro de madrigali (1566, five voices) (also contains secular Latin pieces)
- Numerous additional works in anthologies, between 1547 and 1570
Sacred
- Motectorum liber primus (Venice, 1544, five voices)
- Motetta (Venice, 1545, five voices)
- Il terzo libro di motetti (Venice, 1549, five voices)
- Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem (Paris, 1557; two to six voices)
- Motetta (Venice, 1563, four voices)
- Sacrae cantiones (Venice, 1595; five to seven voices)
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Owens, Grove Online
- ^ Einstein, Vol.1 p. 384
- ^ Johnson, p 185
- ^ Johnson, p 185-187.
- ^ a b c d e f Johnson, p 186
- ^ Einstein, Vol. I p. 386
- ^ Einstein, Vol. I, p. 388
- ^ Owens, Grove online
- ^ a b Johnson, p. 186-7
- ^ Einstein, p. xxx
- ^ Brown, p 202
- ^ a b Johnson 187
- ^ a b c Reese, p 330
- ^ Reese, p 329
- ^ Brown p 205
- ^ Einstein, The Italian Madrigal
- ^ Atlas, p 598
- ^ Johnson, p. 187, 189
References and further reading
- Atlas, Allan W. Renaissance Music. New York, Norton, 1998. ISBN 0-393-97169-4
- Brown, Howard M. and Louise K. Stein. Music in the Renaissance, Second Ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999.
- Einstein, Alfred. The Italian Madrigal. Three volumes. Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 1949. ISBN 0-691-09112-9
- Johnson, Alvin H. "Cipriano de Rore," in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. ISBN 1-56159-174-2
- Owens, Jessie Ann: "Rore, Cipriano de", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed November 18, 2007), (subscription access) Archived 2008-05-16 at the Wayback Machine
- Reese, Gustave. Music in the Renaissance. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. ISBN 0-393-09530-4
External links
- Free scores by Cipriano de Rore in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
- Free scores by Cypriano de Rore at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
- Free scores by Cipriano de Rore from VistaMare Musica early music site