Hymns and Hymnody: Historical and Theological Introductions, Volume 2

From Catholic Europe to Protestant Europe

Mark A. Lamport, Benjamin K. Forrest, Vernon M. Whaley, Mark A. Lamport, Benjamin K. Forrest

• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781532651274
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Rituals & Practice

Hymns and the music the church sings in worship are tangible means of expressing worship. And while worship is one of, if not the central functions of the church along with mission, service, education, justice, and compassion, and occupies a prime focus of our churches, a renewed sense of awareness to our theological presuppositions and cultural cues must be maintained to ensure a proper focus in worship. Hymns and Hymnody: Historical and Theological Introductions is a sixty-chapter, three-volume introductory textbook describing the most influential hymnists, liturgists, and musical movements of the church. This academically grounded resource evaluates both the historical and theological perspectives of the major hymnists and composers who have impacted the church over the course of twenty centuries. Volume 1 explores the early church and concludes with the Renaissance era hymnists. Volume 2 begins with the Reformation and extends to the eighteenth-century hymnists and liturgists. Volume 3 engages nineteenth century hymnists to the contemporary movements of the twenty-first century.Each chapter contains these five elements: historical background, theological perspectives communicated in their hymns/compositions, contribution to liturgy and worship, notable hymns, and bibliography. The mission of Hymns and Hymnody is (1) to provide biographical data on influential hymn writers for students and interested laypeople, and (2) to provide a theological analysis of what these composers have communicated in the theology of their hymns. We believe it is vital for those involved in leading the worship of the church to recognize that what they communicate is in fact theology. This latter aspect, we contend, is missing--yet important--in accessible formats for the current literature.

Part 4

Sixteenth Century

Chapter 1

Costanzo Festa

Christina Labriola

Historical Background

Costanzo Festa was a celebrated Italian composer of the High Renaissance of both secular and sacred music. Festa was a prominent member of the papal chapel choir1 (the Cappella Sistina) in the generation before Palestrina, his (far more familiar) younger contemporary and fellow countryman, on whom, it has been asserted, he was an important influence.2 Festa is chiefly remembered as one of the earliest madrigalists at a time when the genre was in its nascent stage, and as the composer of one of the first complete cycles of polyphonic hymns for the entire church year. The focus of this chapter will be on his hymn cycle, following a survey of his biography and historical context.

While many details of Festa’s biography are uncertain and indeed a matter of debate in the scholarly world, a rough sketch of his life can still be provided. He was born around 1485–90, possibly in Piedmont, near Turin (like his presumed relative, Sebastiano Festa, also a composer).3 He was a cleric in the diocese of Turin, though he seems not to have been ordained a priest; evidence reveals that he certainly spent time early in his career in Piedmont.4 A theory exists that Festa may have studied in France at the time of Louis XII, perhaps as an apprentice of the composer Jean Mouton.5 His motet Quis dabit oculis, written to mark the death of Anne of Brittany, Queen of France (1514), and evidence in his work of Mouton’s influence,6 seem to reinforce this claim, though it has not be definitively proven.7 We know from existing documents that Festa was employed on the island of Ischia, in the bay of Naples, as a music teacher for the sons of the noble family d’Avalos, at some point between 1510 and 1517. Festa visited Ferrara in March 1514, at which time he seems to have been already a composer of some renown. In 1517, he became a member of the papal chapel in Rome, in which capacity as singer and composer he lived out his remaining years (d. April 10, 1545).8 Connections with Florence are discernible in his works and other documents, but do not necessarily place him there;9 his service to two Medici popes, Leo X and Clement VII, is perhaps sufficient to explain them.10 Very likely he resided in Rome through the whole of his twenty-eight-year tenure in the papal chapel choir.

A letter from Costanzo Festa to a patron11 in September 1536 seeking the printing of his musical works refers to his hymns, Magnificats and basse. A petition from the composer two years later in March 1538 lists “masses, motets, madrigals, basse, contraponti, lamentations” and other works.12 A Venetian privilege was granted him, giving him the right to have all of his music printed. His hymn cycle appears to have been published together with the Magnificats in the same year, as well as a book of his madrigals.13 This establishes Festa as an important figure in the history of the development of printing and music publication. The printing of these works would have meant their wide dissemination and use. Festa’s inclusion in a significant Renaissance musical manuscript, the Medici Codex (c. 1518), a choirbook of motets given to Lorenzo de’ Medici as a wedding gift by Pope Leo X, who was an enthusiastic patron of music, places him alongside such names as Willaert, Josquin, and Mouton.14 According to James Haar, Festa composed about one hundred madrigals between 1525–40, and sixty motets, from simple to quite elaborate, for three to up to eight voices.15

Upon his death, Festa was hailed in a papal document as a “most excellent musician and eminent singer.”16 He is often regarded as the finest composer of his generation, “the first great Italian composer of the High Renaissance.”17 Indeed, Festa’s status as a native Italian composer of eminence in the time at which he lived, when Franco-Flemish polyphonists dominated the Italian scene, is rare and noteworthy.18 He is, says Lowinsky,

the first great Italian composer after Landini, the only Italian musician who had a share in the creation of the madrigal, the only Italian whose output of Masses, motets, hymns, lamentations, and Magnificats can compare with that of his Northern colleagues in quantity and in quality, and—above all—the only one whose mastery of all musical techniques of the time, especially of counterpoint, matches that of his Franco-Flemish contemporaries.19

If it is true that Festa’s career was not as “international” as some theories propose, his status as a native Italian comes again to the forefront: “perhaps,” says David Crawford, “the quality of his music emerges all the more impressive when seen as a product of Italian musicianship.”20 What is clear is that Festa produced music for both sacred and secular settings, which was not only highly serviceable but demonstrated an elegance and excellence on par with the distinguished northern polyphonists of the early sixteenth century. As an Italian composer of excellence, Festa proves for us, as Agee points out, that “Roman counterpoint did not begin with Palestrina.”21 He therefore stands as an important antecedent to the flourishing of works of impressive contrapuntal genius to come after him.22

Theological Perspectives

Costanzo Festa’s cycle of thirty hymns23 presents us with miniature compositional gems as exemplars of his style, and with a sense of his genius for long-term musical organization, and liturgical-mindedness and attentiveness. These “most celebrated of his sacred compositions”24 were composed for Vespers in the Sistine Chapel, and seem to have been used regularly at the chapel, replacing Du Fay’s hymns. Their appearance in five different manuscripts attests that they enjoyed wide usage in Italy du...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Dedications
• About the Editors, Introduction Contributors, and Editorial Advisory Board
• Introduction to Volume 2
• Part 4: Sixteenth Century
• Part 5: Seventeenth Century
• Part 6: Eighteenth Century
• Timeline for Volume 2
• Contributor Biographies for Volume 2