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*** #8, Autumn 1999 ****
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*** Table of contents ***
Foreword -- by F. Marincola
Part I -- Half-serious considerations on a half-serious instrument:
the medieval lute (by Francis Biggi)
Part II -- About Francis Biggi

Part III -- About Federico Marincola
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
Foreword -- by F. Marincola
In this most interesting article by Francis Biggi you will find lots of musical
examples: please, follow the related web links. Otherwise you can download all t
hese
examples in one single zipped file (563 kb) from:
http://www.marincola.com/lutebot8/examples.zip
Many of the beautiful pieces quoted in the article can be heard in the CD
"In Cytaris/il liuto nel Medioevo" by Francis Biggi (with A. Janda, A. Gosfield,
T. Ohara and R. Mattes). Florentia Musicae, FLO 69002.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Part I -- Half-serious considerations on a half-serious instrument:
the medieval lute, by Francis Biggi (lucidarium@lucidarium.com)

Anyone who has anything to do with medieval music is familiar with the
perils of sailing in uncharted seas. Although the resources available
for study are neither scarce nor unclear, there is still an enormous
information gap, which one has the tendency to fill up with unverifiable
hypothesis. This absence of givens has pushed those investigating the
subject towards research in parallel disciplines, which are not in
direct connection with music: unfortunately, the further one wanders
from the primary material, the larger the margin for error.
A discussion of the reception of a specific piece composed during the 14th
or 15th centuries, the attitude which contemporaries had when confronted
with a polyphonic motet or a one-voice song, turns into a question of
personal interpretation: in other words, identical sources are sometimes
used to support wildly divergent theories. We are not discussing the
relative merits of musical analysis and musicology or music history here
- as Joseph Kerman says in Contemplating Music: "If the error of
musicologists is superficiality, than that of analysts is
nearsightedness."(1) We must simply admit the limitations of the
material and the method: tempering Pirro's(2) descriptive enthusiasm
with formal rigor of Dahlhaus.(3) In any case, the basic contradictions
between musical analysis and music history are still far from being
resolved.
It is when one takes the leap from the studies themselves to
the task of putting them into practice, that troubles really begin to
multiply. The performer has the difficult task of reconciling musical
givens, historical documents,(4) and iconography, to his or her own need
to produce an interpretation, even though these different elements are
often completely incompatible. Many experts have approached the
question, although not all have found a satisfactory answer. Two of the
most important works which attempt to integrate the various disciplines
involved in medieval performance practice are: "Voices and Instruments of
the Middle Ages" by Christopher Page,(5) and Howard Mayer Brown's
"Performance Practice".(6) Brown's book reunites articles written by
various specialists, while Page presents a synthesis of the evolution of
performance practice in France from the 12th to 14th centuries. These
works contain an enormous amount of useful information, and advance many
valid hypotheses. However, the tendency to follow purely intellectual
speculations, using the material presented in order to support the
authors' preconceived vision of musical practice is a somewhat less
convincing aspect of the two works. The information included in the
books is not always used in order to extract and compare the attributes
which the various sources might have in common, before using this data
to formulate a theory. Instead, the givens are often bent to fit an
already existing individual interpretation. To be fair, this process is
common practice in historical studies, from which it has obviously been
borrowed. In any case, one should not ignore the role that subjectivity
and individual opinion play in this type of theory.
A very clear example of this sort of procedure can be found in
Timothy McGee's article about the Faenza Codex;(7) his central
premise being that the Faenza codex was not conceived for organ,
but for two instruments: specifically, for two lutes.
This is certainly a compelling idea, however, the author
allows himself to make conclusions about 15th century lute
technique and repertory which are often overly dogmatic.
The interpretation of the sources, even the musical ones, is very
one-sided, oriented toward the confirmation of a set opinion. Any doubt
or contradictory interpretation is carefully ignored. On the other
hand, many organologists are so skeptical of any link to musical
practice that they lean towards a neo-positivist attitude in their
research, preferring musical analysis and a catalogization of
iconographical sources over any form of speculation about actual use of
the instruments: two periodicals which clearly exemplify this approach
are the Galpin Society Journal and Imago Musicae. Although this
attitude encourages the collection of a large amount of facts, their
usefulness as far as musical performance is concerned is not always
apparent. In any case, at this level, the appropriate use of an
instrument in relationship to a specific repertoire is never discussed.
The articles are much more concerned with the interpretation of the
structural peculiarities of certain instruments or the role of
iconography in determinating the geographical dissemination of a
particular instrument. These are certainly not secondary concerns, but
if our final goal is musical performance, there must be a limit to how
much we let doubts get in our way.
Although a certain degree of self-criticism is imperative to
intelligent work, we must learn to act, even if we are left with
some questions regarding authenticity.
We will never know the way in which musicians thought during the
Middle Ages, so why not try to understand the cultural differences
which separate us from the era and its music? After all, Marc
Bloch's lessons on the historian's trade still remain valid, even
for medieval musicians.(8) For the musician concerned with historical
performance practice, a methodology corresponding to Bloch's
is not easy to develop: although one could start by presenting a few
considerations about a minor theme. Due to the more limited surviving
resources from the earlier epochs, it is best to stick to an argument
from after the era of the Troubadours. A good subject might be, for
example, the evolution of lute technique in the 15th century. As a
matter of fact, a similar argument offers interesting features: first, a
large amount of clear visual sources, as well as numerous literary
references, and, towards the end of the century, an instrumental
repertoire written specifically for the instrument. We have all the
material necessary for building theories capable of inspiring fierce
arguments between specialists, without the danger of producing any real
revolutions at the interpretive level: all of the characteristics needed
to for an ideal subject.
As every lute player knows, the instrument underwent important
modifications at the end of the 15th century. A lower course was added,
increasing their number from five to six. A change from
plectrum to finger technique would also take place; the universally
accepted theory is that musicians abandoned the little piece of feather
which they had used until then as soon as a polyphonic interpretation
became necessary, in order to be able to play with more fingers. In
general, this is true. If one studies the countless lutenists
represented in the visual arts of the 1400's, they are almost always
holding a plectrum, while by the first decades of the 1500's, they are
usually depicted playing with fingers. Certain musicologists have
envisaged a transition period between the two techniques, while others
resolutely deny any intermediate level: please take note of the fiery
exchange which took place between the Italian musicologist and
organologist Benedetto Disertori and Genevieve Thibault during the
International Colloquium on the Lute and its Music held in Neuilly in
1957:
GT: The transition from plectrum to finger playing was not an abrupt
one, and the two techniques must have coexisted for a certain time.
BD: The use of the plectrum became inadmissible from the moment on that
one had to avoid striking one or more middle strings when playing a
chord, in other words, even before the use of polyphonic tablatures
became established.(9)
A perfect example of a flat refusal to a reasonable statement, when, in
fact, historical evidence points much more towards Mme. Thibault's
interpretation. Even more so, it seems as if several playing techniques
coexisted. Interaction between finger and plectrum playing is certainly
imaginable, especially from mid-century on. It would be the presence of
frets on the lute-neck, not the use of fingers or plectrum, which would
make the real difference in polyphonic execution. A fretless lute has
precise characteristics: limited sustain, a powerful rhythmic force, and
a good definition of modal intervals. A plectrum (or fingernails) are
necessary in order to obtain an appreciable volume and a clear attack.
It's certainly possible that the 14th and early 15th century lute, with
its four courses, had a sound close to that of the Arab oud or the North
African quitra. Polyphonic interpretation is certainly not forbidden on
this instrument: Italian madrigals and two-voice ballate can be played
on it quite easily, as one can see in the first two examples. The
piece, "Per tropo fede" (ex. #1 ---> http://www.marincola.com/lutebot8/ex1.htm )
,
a one-voiced ballata found in the Rossi Codex, can be played with an
accompaniment which is halfway between a drone and a tenor, by using the
plectrum to pick two neighboring courses: for example, the first and
second are used in the beginning of the composition. Neither does the
lute arrangement of Zachara da Teramo's two-voice ballata, "Non voler donna"
(ex. #2 ---> http://www.marincola.com/lutebot8/ex2.htm ), present any major
difficulties, especially on an instrument tuned in fourths, like the
one described in Vaillant's treatise.(10)
Execution becomes even easier on a lute with a fifth between the two
lowest courses.(11) Almost the whole piece can be played with plectrum:
when the interval between cantus and tenor is too large to play on two
adjacent courses, the tenor can be plucked with plectrum, while the cantus
is played with the middle or ring finger. Tuning problems need not be any
more serious than those faced by a 'cellist in a solo suite or sonata.
Beginning in 1441, one starts to hear about a certain Pietrobono around
the Italian courts. He was usually called Pietrobono dal chitarino, a
name which indicates that he was a lutenist. Enjoying enormous
popularity in Italy for more than forty years, he was famed for his
ability to improvise amazing diminutions upon any known song; the
"cortigiani" of his era were certainly not stingy with their compliments
in his regard.(12) In 1449, Pietrobono is registered as a chytaredo in
the clerks' payment booklet from the court of Leonello d'Este. Next to
him, a certain Zanetto is indicated as Pietrobono's tenorista: his job,
therefore, must have been to perform the tenor or combined tenor and
contratenor lines while the maestro improvised on the cantus with his
chitarino. Coming back to McGee's article: the Faenza Codex, written in
the first decades of the 1400's, gives important indications of
contemporary instrumental diminution technique, even if one has one's
doubts about the manuscript being specifically intended for two lutes.
Supposing that the tenorista performed the tenor line on the lute or
fiddle, while the chytaredo played the embellished top line with a
plectrum: a valid performance of the Faenza repertoire is possible when
arranged in this way, although some virtuosity is certainly required in
order to be able to execute the cantus quickly enough for the tenor to
remain intact and recognizable
(see ex. #3 ---> http://www.marincola.com/lutebot8/ex3.htm ) .
Other pieces are practically unplayable unless they are "domesticated"
by simplifying the most difficult passages
(like ex. #4 ---> http://www.marincola.com/lutebot8/ex4.htm ).
We know that Pietrobono was still active in 1497. Only a few years later,
Spinacino would publish his first book of lute pieces: there are a few duets
found in this collection. These pieces, with their rapid diminutions over
tenor and contra lines, resemble the Faenza repertoire. The two lower voices,

which remain quite close to the original source, are arranged for one
lute and put into tablature, while the monophonic diminution, a much freer
interpretation of the original, is entrusted to another performer.
Examples #5 ---> http://www.marincola.com/lutebot8/ex5.htm
and #6 ---> http://www.marincola.com/lutebot8/ex6.htm compare a well-known
three-voice chanson by Josquin des Pres in its original form and in
Spinacino's arrangement.
Although it's certainly possible to play the diminution with the
fingers, a painting by G. Bellini conserved in the Venice Academy Museum,
more or less contemporary with the publication of Spinacino's work, depicts
one angel playing the rebec and two others playing the lute: one with the
fingers, the other with plectrum.(13) These two techniques must have
coexisted for a fair amount of time. In fact, Tinctoris, in his De
inventione et usu musica,(14) writes: "some take the top part of the
composition, and add admirable inventions in an elegant way, the best of
all, according to my opinion, is certainly Pietrobono, the lutenist of
Hercules of Ferrara." Another quote, on the same page, says "others can
play not just two parts, but three or four all on their own [...], like
the German Blindman" - this is probably a reference to Conrad Paumann,
the organ and lute player whom Virdung claims invented German lute
tablature. (15) So, it seems as if polyphonic lute style was already
defined by the end of the 15th century, and that, in addition,
performers already had a clear idea of how to transcribe pieces.
The oldest surviving lute tablature goes back to around 1470: a few
one-voice compositions in German tablature found in the Knigstein
Liederbuch. (16) The first examples of French tablature date from the
first years of the 1490's: curiously enough, the manuscript in question
was compiled in Italy and conserved in Pesaro, (17) while the earliest
Italian tablatures are represented by the Thibault manuscript, (18) the
Petrucci edition of Spinacino's works (1507,) (19) Dalza (1508,)(20) and
Francesco Bossinensis' "Tenori e Contrabbassi Intabulati col Sopran in
Canto", (1509).(21) The compositions collected in these tablatures combine
varied and interesting structural characteristics: two or three voice
polyphony; four, five, and even six note chords, and long melodic "tirate"
played without the accompaniment of lower lines. There's a very good
possibility that we are dealing with a transitional repertoire: in fact,
almost everything can be performed with finger or combined
finger-plectrum technique, using the plectrum to pluck the tirate or the
tenor (in the two-voice sections) or the contrabasso in the three-voice
pieces. The middle finger can be used to play the cantus in the
two-voice passages, and the tenor or contratenor altus in the
three-voice sections, while the ring finger can alternate with the
middle finger, or play the cantus in the three-voice parts. Four
(always on neighboring courses) five or even six-note chords can be
played by strumming with a pick or fingernails. This all sounds very
complicated, but actually turns out to be quite feasible when put in to
practice. Here are a few examples:
The Pavan (ex. #7 ---> http://www.marincola.com/lutebot8/ex7.htm )
taken from the Thibault manuscript (fol. 25 v.), has long melodic lines
accentuated by chords played on adjacent strings: the entire piece can be
played without using finger technique.
"Starala ben cussi'" (ex. #8 ---> http://www.marincola.com/lutebot8/ex8.htm )
a frottola by G. Zossi found in the Bossinensis collection (fol. XLIIII),
can be considered an excellent illustration of a long series of similar pieces:
four voice chansons where the highest voice was sung and the tenor and bassus
played upon the lute, leaving out the altus. This is how all of Bossiniensis'
book is conceived: the same is true in the case of the frottola
accompaniments found in the second part of the Thibault manuscript.
Obviously, this simplification can be considered a necessity, aimed at
allowing a public of amateurs to confront a complex polyphonic
repertoire: this explanation certainly seems logical as far as the
contents of Bossiniensis collection are concerned. It seems less
justified, however, in the case of the Thibault manuscript, which
probably belonged to a professional lutenist. Actually, all of the
accompaniments can be played with two fingers or with plectrum and one
or two fingers. In this case, the advantages of mixed technique are
obvious: the tenor and bass lines can be brought out by the differences
in sonority obtained by combining the two styles. If the lutenist of
the Thibault ms. was capable of mastering either style, changing
technique according to whim, this could certainly explain the vast
differences in structure and character between the pieces found in the
collection.
Another intriguing piece is found on folio 20 v. of the same manuscript,
the Recerchar de Benedictus (example #9 ---> http://www.marincola.com/lutebot8/e
x9.htm )
This composition, which comes right before a version of Isaac's famous
Benedictus,(22) alternates sections of 4 or 5 voice chords on neighboring
strings with monophonic tirate and two voice passages. Even this piece,
which calls for a good command of the instrument and a clear awareness
of counterpoint, can easily be played with plectrum and two fingers.
On the contrary, the other pieces prove to be much more manageable when
played only with the fingers. This is the case in "Ochi dolci hove
phrendesti", by Francesco DAna, found twice in the Thibault manuscript,
first in a two-voice version meant to accompany the voice, followed by a
three-part instrumental transcription (fol. 24 v.). This last version
(ex. #10 ---> http://www.marincola.com/lutebot8/ex10.htm ) can be played
with the combined finger/plectrum technique, but is certainly takes less
effort to master when played only with the fingers. The same holds true
for the next example, Gaspar Werbeke's "O Venus Bant". We have included
it here in the three voice version found in the Odhecaton, as well as in
Spinacino's transcription (ex. #11 ---> http://www.marincola.com/lutebot8/ex11.h
tm ).
The arrangement for lute follows the original quite faithfully, although one
should note that the tenor line is sometimes sacrificed to the more active
one of the contratenor bassus (see measure three, for example.)
It seems a natural choice to give precedence to a fast-moving line,
especially considering the lack of sustain on the lute, which doesn't
favor the execution of long notes. If our logic is based on musical
economy and minimum effort in playing, we must certainly admit that the
mixed plectrum/finger technique is less practical for these pieces,
although it is still a viable alternative, albeit with a bit of practice.
On the other hand, Dalza's Saltarello
(ex. #12 ---> http://www.marincola.com/lutebot8/ex12.htm ) with its full
chords and marked melodic lines, lends itself to interpretation with plectrum,
following the spirit of the piece perfectly.
However, the Saltarello on folio 14 vs. of the same collection
(ex. #13 ---> http://www.marincola.com/lutebot8/ex13.htm )
has many chords, often in open position, characteristics which seem better
adapted to fingers than to plectrum or mixed technique. We could go
on like this for hours: especially when discussing such varied and vast
material, a unique repertoire which calls for unfamiliar but efficient
solutions.
Although everything said in this article is certainly open to
discussion, the techniques delineated here, hypothetical, perhaps, but
drawn from actual and admissible evidence, present alternatives which
remain valid from a musical point of view. Before closing, I would like
to propose a few pieces, in lute tablature, not drawn from
lute-manuscripts, but arranged according to the suggestions in this
article. They are taken from the "Buxheimer Orgelbuch", an organ
manuscript dating from the second half of the 15th century.(23) Example
#14 --- > http://www.marincola.com/lutebot8/ex14.htm , "Je loymors"
(Je loue amour), has the title: "Jeloymors M.C.C. in cytaris vel etiam
in organis". In other words: "Magister Conradus Cecus' (Conrad
Paumann, the blind organ and lute player mentioned earlier in this
article) Je loue amours, for lutes or organs". This piece, with
three voices, is easily played if the two lower voices are arranged for
solo lute; while the cantus is performed on a guiterne or a small 4 or 5
course lute tuned a fourth or fifth above the standard instrument. The
guiterne, also known as the chitarino or mandora, was always played with
plectrum, even during the centuries which followed; it is considered the
ancestor of the mandolin.
Example #15 ---> http://www.marincola.com/lutebot8/ex15.htm also comes
from the Buxheimer Orgelbuch: although, at first glance it appears
to be quite simple, but upon closer examination one finds colorful
counterpoint and lively voice-crossing.
The counterpoint in example #16 ---> http://www.marincola.com/lutebot8/ex16.htm
(still from the same source) creates some technical difficulties, especially
in the three voice imitative passages, where the melodic movement of each line n
eeds
to be clearly defined.
The next example (#17 ---> http://www.marincola.com/lutebot8/ex17.htm )
is even more problematic: the highly articulated counterpoint is not easy to bri
ng
out on the lute. In any case, with a bit of practice, this last piece
can also be played with the plectrum/finger technique.
A fitting end to a half-serious article, the following poem probably
gives a better idea of how things actually sounded at the time than any
of our poor attempts at writing about performance practice. The poem,
usually attributed to Franceso di Vanozzo, a contemporary of Petrarch's,
has been brought down to us in a collection which belonged to Filippo
Scarlati: pauper, Florentine, poet and tavern musician.
I quote:
Con tutto il mio liuto
Over chitarra
Per tenda e per isbarra
mi vo grattando
E vo cantando Fole
Su pelle tole(24)
Altrui
Con questi e con colui
Per un bicchier di vino.
With my lute,
or perhaps my guittern(25)
in cabarets or taverns
I go scratching
and singing nonsense
standing on top of the table
with one chap or another
For a glass of wine
What kind of music was he scratching out of his poor lute, that rascal,
while standing on table tops? I would like to think that "Petit Riense"
(ex. #18 ---> http://www.marincola.com/lutebot8/ex18.htm ), in its "chordal"
version, isn't too far from that which Filippo Scarlati's drinking buddies
might have heard...
Francis Biggi
translation Avery Gosfield
---------- Notes ------------------------------------------------------
1) J. Kerman, Contemplating Music: Challenges to Musicology.
Cambridge, 1985
2) A. Pirro, "Histoire de la Musique de la fin du XIV siecle a' la fin du
XV. Paris, 1940". One should take particular note of the incredible
amount of literary, musical and iconographic sources which are quoted in
each chapter. His hypothetical description of the first performance of
Dufay's Nuper Rosarum Flores is a masterful illustration of literary
style.
3) see, for example: C. Dahlhaus, "Grundlagen der Musikgeschichte", Kln,
1975
4) Theoretical works such as the texts of Moravia, Tinctoris, Paulrinus;
poems such as Machaut's "Le Voir Dict", or "El libro de Buen Amor"; literary
works like the "Decameron"; the chronicles of Fra Salimbene de Adam, or
the description of the Banquet du Voeu. Primary sources, such as
contracts, inventories or wills are less easy to some by...
5) C. Page, "Voices and Instruments of the Middles Ages". London, 1987
6) H.M. Brown, "Performance Practice, music before 1600". London, 1989
7) T. McGee, "Instruments and the Faenza Codex." Early Music: November,
1986
8) M. Bloch, "Apologie de lhistoire ou metier d' historien". Paris,
1949
9) J. Jacquot, "Le Luth et sa Musique- Colloques Internationaux du
C.N.R.S." held from the 10th to 14th of September 1957 in Neuilly-Sur
-Seine. Paris, 1958 (reprint 1976)
10)see "J. Vaillant - Berkeley Manuscript, Ms 744" ed. O.B.
Ellsworth, 1984; and C. Page, "Fourteenth Century Instruments and
Tunings: a Treatise by Jean Vaillant?" in the Galpin Society Journal
No. XXXIII (1980)
11) this depends on our acceptance of the theory that the lute, like the
fiddle, had different tuning systems at the time. In any case,
"scordatura" tunings were already used in the first collections of lute
music in the 16th century.
Concerning medieval fiddle tunings, see: J. de Moravia, "Tractatus de
Musica" (ca. 1300) ed. S.M. Cserba, Regensburg, 1935; and C. Page, "Jerome
de Moravia on the Rubeba and Viella" in the Galpin Society Journal No.
XXXII (1979)
12) see: N. Pirrotta, "Musica e orientamenti culturali nellItalia del
Quattrocento," in Musica tra Medioevo e Rinascimento. Torino, 1988, and
L. Lockwood, Music in Renaissance Ferrara 1400-1505. Oxford, 1984
13) it's even possible to play the two lower voices with a mixed
plectrum / finger technique
14) J. Tinctoris (1445-1511), De Inventione et usu musicae; edited by
Karl Weinmann, Tutzing, 1961
15) S. Virdung, "Musica Getutsch". Basel, 1511
16) P. Sappler, "Knigstein Liederbuch". Mnchen 1970, vol. XX of the
Mnchener Texte zur deutschen Literatur des Mittelalters;
H. Tischler, "The Earliest Lute Tablature?" in the Journal of the
American Musicological Society, XXV.
17) W. Rubsamen, "The Earliest French Lute Tablature" in J.A.M.S, XXI,
286-99; see also "Pesaro Handschrift", facsimile ed., edited by Robert
Crawford Youg, Edition Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, in preparation.

18) Anonymous, "Tablature de Luth Italienne", facsimile of ms. Bibl. Nat.
Paris, Res. Vmd. 27, olim, ms. "", Geneve 1981
19) F. Spinacino, "Intabulatura de lauto", facsimile of the Petrucci
edition of 1507; Geneva, 1980
20) J. Dalza, "Intabulatura de lauto", facsimile of the Petrucci edition
of 1508; Geneva, 1980
21) F. de Bosnie (Bossinensis), "Tenori e contrabbassi intabulati col
sopran", facsimile of the Petrucci edition of 1511; Geneva, 1982
22) see: "Harmonice Musices Odhecaton", Petrucci, 1501; modern edition by
H. Hewitt, Cambridge, 1942
23) E. Southern, "The Buxheim Organ Book", New York, 1963
24) "pelle" = "per le"
25) alternate reading: "With my lute, also known as chitarra"
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Part II -- About Francis Biggi
Francis Biggi was born in Carrara (Italy.) Co-founder of Alia Musica
and Ars Italica, two of the most influental Italian medieval groups
of the 1980's, he is considered a reference point in the development
of the Italian "School"of medieval music interpretation. He has played
with several early music ensembles, such as: the Boston Camerata, The Ferrara
Ensemble, Micrologus, Dedalus, and Hesperion XX; and is the first person to have

received a diploma in medieval lute at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis.
Francis Biggi has published various articles concerning the medieval
lute and Italian music of the 14th and 15th centuries.
He regularly gives lectures, courses and master classes dedicated to the
lute and music in the Middle Ages. Since 1999, he directs an annual
project consecrated to the interpretation of the music of the early
"Trecento" at the Centre de Musique Ancienne de Geneve; in the same
year, he was named artistic director of the early music festival "Il
Canto delle Pietre."
Since 1992 he partecipates in the direction of the Ensemble Lucidarium
of Basel ---> http://www.lucidarium.com/
* DISCOGRAPHY:
1979 Alia Musica "Cantigas" Polygram
1984 Fabrizio De Andre' "Creuza de ma" Ricordi
1987 Ensemble Sator Musicae "Musicalis Scientia" Tactus
1988 Ensemble Ars Italica "Musica del XV s. in Italia" Tactus
1990 Ensemble Ferrara "Music at the Sforza Court" WDR (radio)
1990 Ensemble Micrologus "Cantigas de Santa Maria" Quadrivium
1991 Ensemble Retrover "La robe dechiree" WDR (radio)
1993 Ensemble Hesperion XX "Cantigas de Santa Maria" Auvidis
1994 Ensemble Hesperion XX "Jeanne la Pucelle" Auvidis
1996 Francis Biggi & A.A. "Il liuto nel Medioevo" Florentia Musicae
1996 Ensemble Lucidarium "Lo mio servente core" l'empreinte digitale
1998 Ensemble Lucidarium "En chantan m'aven a membrar " l'empreinte
digitale
2000 Ensemble Lucidarium "Le Droict Chemin" l'empreinte digitale
2000 Ensemble Lucidarium "Ninphale" l'empreinte digitale
* SELECTED ARTICLES, ESSAYS AND LECTURES:
"Il diavolo e l'acqua santa:
alcune inaspettate parentele tra musica popolare e musica medievale.
La zampogna di Amatrice e le clausolae di Perotino" (with Sigrid Lee)
Laboratorio Medievale di Assisi, 1984
"Musiche medievali e loro influenza"
"Guitar Club", July 1986, ed. F. Muzio Editore.
"Il liuto medievale"
In: "Iconografia musicale in Umbria - XV. secolo" (with Adolfo Broegg)
ed. Il Laboratorio Medievale, Assisi, 1987.
"Autour de quelques compositions du XV siecle:
le chant populaire et son influence sur le repertoire italien du
Quattrocento."
lecture given at the international congress
"15th Century Performance Practice"
Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, March 1989.
"L'evoluzione del pensiero musicologico in relazione alla Musica
Medievale."
Dissertation University of Siena, April 1991.
"La musique au temps de Dante Alighieri"
Four broadcasts written for BRTN 3, the classical channel of the Belgian
Radio, 1997
"Laude
evoluzione storica e formale delle Laude dal XIII secolo ai giorni
nostri."
essays and commentaries about the general program for 1999
Festival presentation booklet for "Il canto delle Pietre"
"La musique autour de Dante"
Publication of the conference "La Musique autour de Dante"; Geneva 1999
in preparation
CD liner notes:
"Musica e poesia dei goliardi"
CD "Musicalis Scientia", ed. Tactus, Bologna 1987.
"Gli strumenti musicali nella Spagna del XIII secolo:
problemi organologici delle fonti iconografiche e testimonianze
letterarie."
CD "Cantigas de Santa Maria"; ed. Quadrivium, Perugia 1990.
"La musica in Italia nel XV secolo"
CD "Musica in Italia nel XV secolo"; ed. Tactus, Bologna 1991.
"Il liuto nel Medioevo"
CD "In Cytaris, il liuto nel Medioevo"; ed. Florentia Musicae, Florence
1995.
"La musique au temps de Dante Alighieri"
CD "Lo mio servente core"; ed. l'empreinte digitale, Eguilles 1996.
* ADDRESS:
Francis Biggi
via Bonaparte 92/d
20030 Bovisio Masciago (MI)
Italy
tel and fax: +39 0362 57 11 84
cell. +39 (0)335 60 96 514
email <lucidarium@lucidarium.com>
homepage of the Ensemble Lucidarium <http://www.lucidarium.com>
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Part III -- About FEDERICO MARINCOLA
I live at the border between France and Italy, but I spend a lot of time
traveling around to play my concerts and to teach. Usually I have a quite
tight schedule, but if you contact me well in advance I might be available
for recitals and seminars, or for collaborations with professional
renaissance and baroque ensembles.
Here are my addresses and phone numbers:
email: lute@marincola.com
Lute Page: http://www.marincola.com
snailmail: C.P. 50, 18039, Ventimiglia (IM), Italy
French Tel. + 33 4 93 35 66 58
French Fax + 33 4 93 35 56 68
Italian mobile + 39 347 73 09 321
If you want to read my CV, to check my complete discography, to see some press
reviews etc, you are warmly invited to visit my Lute Page at
http://www.marincola.com or you can get my Electronic Brochure
(send an email to info@marincola.com).
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######### end of the "LuteBot Quarterly" #8, Autumn 1999 ##########
(by Federico Marincola <lute@marincola.com>)