Crux fidelis. Manuscript musical setting for 4 voices in score. Italian, first half of the 17th century.
Large oblong octavo (ca. 163 x 225 mm). 2 pp. Notated in ink on 4 six-line staves per page of a bifolium. With early ownership signature to foot of first page of music.
Minor spotting and browning.
Crux fidelis is a hymn sung on Good Friday. This setting presents a small portion of what may be a larger composition, five phrases of music for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass voices. The first two phrases of music are composed in a homophonic style (where the voices move together). The following three phrases incorporate imitation between the voices. Where the music cuts off, the start of the next phrase is visible: a return to the homophonic style from the beginning. Vocalists singing multi-voice works in the 16th and 17th centuries most often used individual parts. As the music in this piece is in score and includes several cancellations and corrections, it may have been the composer's working manuscript. The bottom line of each six-line staff includes numerous vertical dashes, the meaning of which is not indicated by the author of the manuscript, but they may shed light on the composition or performance practice of the hymn.
We have not located any other sources of this composition.
Item #39479
Price: $1,350.00 other currencies