PadA was originally a manuscript of at least 70 folios containing secular and sacred music compiled c. 1390-1415 in the Abbey of Santa Giustina in Padua.132 Portions of the manuscript survive today in three separate fragments. Two bifolios from the fourth gathering are found in the middle of Oxford, Bodleian Library Canonici Pat. Lat. 229, a manuscript containing plainchant in addition to verbal works. Three bifolios from gathering five were at one time used to strengthen the cover of Padua, Biblioteca Universitaria MS 1475. These folios, three of which suffered severe vertical cuts, are now sewn into the front of the manuscript. Padua, Biblioteca Universitaria MS 684 preserves a complete bifolio and half of a second bifolio. The complete bifolio is certainly from the gathering following I-Pu 1475, and it is not unreasonable to speculate that the cut folio is also from gathering six.
Reconstruction of the gathering structure of PadA reveals no particular ordering of the compositions within the manuscript. Sections of the mass, other sacred compositions, and secular compositions in French and Italian are all commingled. The lengths of all the gatherings have been assumed in this study to be equal: this assumption holds true for many trecento manuscripts, though certainly not all (Sq. is an important exception). Original foliation which is present on the manuscripts has been underlined in the far right column of the gathering structure diagrams. Other foliation is derived from the structure of the manuscript and distribution of compositions also discussed in "Codicological structure of the Paduan fragments". The position of I-Pu 684 f. C within gathering six is conjecture.
The three fragments of PadA record 17 complete compositions. Of the 35 total compositions and fragments of compositions, 15 are unique to PadA. 21 of the compositions have sacred texts. Of the remaining compositions, ten have Italian texts, three have French texts, and one has a secular Latin text. Due to limits of time and of the length of this study, only selected compositions in PadA have been examined, and discussion of notation and paleography is limited. To further save time, compositions by Landini will receive only the briefest of examinations.
The Oxford fragment of PadA, GB-Ob 229 consists of two bifolios containing sacred and secular music.133 The call number ZZ.2.nO.111 is found on f. DV; since this is a call number from a catalog of manuscripts at Santa Giustina in the middle of the fifteenth century, we can assume this fragment did not leave Padua during the time covered by this study. The layout of staves upon the page, the idiosyncrasies of the scribal hand, and the position of folio numbers in the outside margin confirm the linking of GB-Ob 229 with I-Pu 1475 and I-Pu 684 as part of the same original manuscript.
Folio DV has been this fragment’s most examined folio, since it contains Johannes Ciconia’s only surviving ars subtilior composition, Sus unne fontaine. The non-standard use of French mensuration signs in Sus unne fontaine has been cited as a peculiarity of the PadA version by many authors. However, it has not been mentioned that in PadA, PadB, and PadC, Sus unne fontaine is the only composition to have French mensuration signs of any sort. The evidence of interest in French styles by this Paduan scribe is augmented with evidence based on decoration and layout in the first folio of GB-Ob 229.
An upper voice and the second half of the tenor of an anonymous Sanctus are found on folio A of GB-Ob 229. The top voice and first half of the tenor would have been found on the previous folio in the original manuscript. The original layout was as follows:
The layout of parts and the florid vertical embellishments in the margins are most commonly seen in French manuscripts of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, such as the motet fascicles of the Montpellier and Bamberg codices.134 Letters with large vertical strokes, such as "l" and initial "s," are much longer and more highly decorated than in most Italian manuscripts. It is possible that the scribe is trying to deliberately incorporate French elements into the copying of this page, though it seems odd that he would choose a blatantly Italian composition to decorate in this French manner.
The Sanctus changes meter six times during the piece; three of these meters, .o., .d., and .s.p., are closely associated with Italian compositions. The notation is strictly Italian, with regular puncti divisionis and maior and minor semibreves. A peculiarity in the texting of ligatures in the tenor was mentioned in the paleography section of chapter 3. The placement of two syllables with the final ligature of the tenor’s first Hosanna argues for treating the final note of a section as a separate note even if it is connected to the previous notes of a ligature.
From the sonorities of the cadences between the surviving upper voice and the tenor, we can deduce some information about the lost voice. In the cadences at the end of the first and second Hosanna, the two voices move outwards from a major sixth to an octave. This indicates that the missing voice is either below the second voice (sounding the fifth of the triad) at both the major cadences of the second half of the composition or is a very high voice sounding a perfect twelfth above the tenor. In either case, the role of the top voice, which usually cadences above the second voice, but no more than an octave above the tenor, is somewhat unusual.
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Range: 2: g3-b4; T: c3-b3.
Clefs: 2: C2; T: F3.
Edition: von Fischer and Gallo, PMFC 13 no. A11.
The two voice Benedicamus domino on f. B is remarkable in several important respects. The texture of the piece consists of a florid upper line over a liturgical tenor written entirely with longs. The top voice is somewhat archaic, remaining in the first rhythmic mode throughout most of the composition. In places where the top voice is not in the first mode, it usually consists of three minims in a lower neighbor figure (e.g., D-C-D in measure 2). This figure could originally have also been written in the first rhythmic mode through the use of a plica. The notation of the tenor in longs does not work perfectly; two of the longs in the tenor must be read as breves in order for the voices to remain aligned.
The Benedicamus domino ("Let us bless the Lord") text was often substituted for the Gloria in the mass during Lent, when the Gloria is not sung. This Benedicamus domino tenor is a textbook example of an (harmonic) mode two, dorian chant.
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Range: C: a3-c5; T: a2-a3 (lowest notes in the fragments studied).
Clefs: C: C2, C1; T: F3.
Edition: von Fischer and Gallo, PMFC 12, no. 26.
This composition belongs to what seems to have been a Paduan tradition of the singing of ritornelli without terzetti (see Si e piena la terra in PadC, chapter 5). For a discussion of the musical aspects of this madrigal, see information under the concordance, O cieco mondo, also in PadC, chapter 5.
transcription: [page 1]
Range: C: c4-d5; T: f3-e4.
Clefs: C: C1; T: C3.
Edition: Marrocco, PMFC 6 (16). Marrocco, The Music of Jacopo de Bologna, p. 71.
The Sanctus by Mediolano is the only four part composition found in the Paduan fragments. It is discussed extensively in the section on Mediolano in chapter 2.
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Range: 1: c4-b4; 2: c4-b4; Ct: c3-d4; T: c3-b3.
Clefs: 1: C1; 2: C1; Ct: C4-F2, C5-F3; T: C5-F3.
Edition: von Fischer and Gallo, PMFC 12, no. 18.
The Credo by Berlatus is in tempus imperfecta cum prolatione maiore. In the transcription, an attempt was made to notate the piece with the longa marking the bar, but this works only sporadically. Longs and breves are imprefected by minims in this composition. There seems to have been a conscious avoidance of remaining in a single rhythmic mode, though strings of minims are rarely used. Toward the middle of the composition (mm. 75-85) there is a short section which features breves imperfected both a parte ante and a parte post alternating with perfect breves and semibreves creating a strong series of short syncopations. See the discussion of Berlatus in chapter 2 for more information about this composition.
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Range: C: c4-d5.
Clefs: C: C1.
Edition: no edition.
Only a single voice, probably the contratenor, of this Gloria is preserved in GB-Ob 229. The composition is written using pure French notation in tempus imperfectum cum prolatione maiore. The recitation on a single tone in places such as "Qui sedes ad desterra [sic]" is unusual and suggests an imitation of plainsong and psalm recitation. The "Amen" of this fragment is quite extended.
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Range: 2: b3-c5.
Clefs: 2: C1.
Edition: von Fischer and Gallo, PMFC 13, no. A5.
The lower two voices of the anonymous composition Sones ces nachares are found at the bottom of f. C. The piece is in two sections of about equal length and is written in French notation, tempus imperfectum cum prolatione maiore. The style of the voices implies not only instrumental performance, but possibly performance by trumpet or other lip-reed instrument; there are many passages in both the lower voices where a C-E-G triad is outlined with repeated notes in the manner of a fanfare. "Nachares" may possibly be related to the English term "Nakers" for kettledrums, allowing the incipit to be read "strike those drums," which would concord with the fanfare style of the piece.135
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Range: Ct: g3-b4; T: f3-g4.
Clefs: Ct: C3, C2, C1; T: C3.
Edition: no edition.
The three voice Sanctus on f. CV is the only known composition by Barbitonsoris. The piece can be divided into two parts on the basis of musical style and notation. The Sanctus and first Hosanna are in ternaria, or senaria imperfecta without minims (there is also the possibility that they are in novenaria; see "Notation", in chapter 3), with a switch to quaternaria (without puncti divisionis marks but with puncti additionis) for the Benedictus and second Hosanna. In the first section, points of division were used irregularly, while in the second they are almost non-existent.136
See "Barbitonsoris" in chapter 2 for more information about the Sanctus.
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Range: C: b3-d5; Ct: b3-c5; T: f3-f4.
Clefs: C: C1; Ct: C1; T: C3.
Edition: von Fischer and Gallo, PMFC 12, no. 19.
This two voice ballata is written in Italian notation without divisio letters. Although the composition is in .q. in PadA, the strong modus perfectum feel suggests the composition was originally conceived in .d. The oblique stemmed semibreve is used to indicate a note worth three minims (dotted quarter note in the transcription).
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Range: C: e3-a4; T: d3-d4.
Clefs: C: C3, C2, C3; T: C4-F2.
Edition: Schrade, PMFC 4, no. 1.
The canonic three part rondeaux Ma fin est mon commencement by Guillaume de Machaut is discussed in the section on Machaut in chapter 2. It should be reiterated that we would have no idea this composition is a rondeaux were it not for readings in concordant manuscripts.
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Range: 1,2: g3-a4; T: c3-a3.
Clefs: C: C3, C2; T: F3.
Edition: Schrade, PMFC 3, rondeaux 14.
The three voice composition Sus unne fontaine uses completely different mensuration signatures than any other composition in the Paduan fragments. While other compositions use letters, Sus unne fontaine uses 
, 
, 
, and 3. The mensuration signatures are used differently than in other compositions outside the Paduan context which use the same shapes. They are also used differently than the way Ciconia himself defines them in his treatise De proportionibus. Unfortunately, a detailed discussion of the composition and especially of authorial intention is far beyond the scope of this study.137 The quotation in Sus unne fontaine of three texts from ballades by Philipoctus da Caserta allows us to date PadA as being not before 1390.138
An aspect of Sus unne fontaine which has not been discussed is the use of clefs. In both PadA and ModA, a C-clef on the fourth line is used for the contratenor while the tenor uses an F-clef on the second line.139 These two clefs allow for an identical range of music to be written (and indeed, the range of the contratenor and the tenor are very similar), so why would different clefs have to be used? It is possible that the choice in clef says something about the nature of the voice in addition to specifying a possible range for the notes. This theory will have to be explored in a later study.
Range: C: g3-a4; Ct: d3-e4; T: d3-d4.
Clefs: C: C2; Ct: C4; T: F2.
Edition: Bent and Hallmark, PMFC 24, no. 45. Nemeth, p. 232. Clercx, no. 16.
Padua, Biblioteca Universitaria MS 1475 contains three bifolios of music which seem to have been removed from the front cover and have now been placed at the beginning of the manuscript. The parchment of I-Pu 1475 is thinner than that of I-Pu 684. This is probably the effect of being stuffed in a book cover for so many centuries. I-Pu 1475 is the only fragment where the prickings on the outside edges are still visible. Parchment manuscripts often have one or two sets of small holes as guides to ruling the pages. There is a single set of prickings per staff on the first two bifolios (ff. A-D). The third bifolio has a second set of prickings, but these prickings are found between the staves, so they were probably see as erroneous and not used. The pricking is somewhat irregular on first bifolio.
Folios B, D, and F have been cut vertically causing the endings of each staff of the rectos and the beginnings of each staff of the versos to be missing (see plate 4, appendix B). Because of the limits of time and of the damage to the folios, only two compositions from the manuscript will be discussed.
Qui pandis is a three voice motet found on f. EV (f. 48V). This composition was omitted from the RISM catalog of I-Pu 1475. To the best of my knowledge no edition has been made of it despite its being complete in all voices. The motet is written with French notation in the standard tempus imperfectum cum prolatione maiore. Alteration of minims occurs in several places. Dots of division are used primarily to designate breves to be imperfected both ante and post. When the movement is in semibreves and minims, the majority of the rhythmic material is derived from the first rhythmic mode: long-short-long-short. The lower voices are somewhat paired and move in slightly slower note values. The phrase "Cum sancto spiritu" is shorter in the lower voices than it is in the top voice; I have read one breve in each voice as if it were a long in order to make the length of the lines equal.
The speaker in the text addresses himself or herself to Christ, imploring him to send Mary as a blessed advocate for the people.140 The piece is divided into four parts of roughly equal length: "Qui pandis," "Tu solus dominus," "Tu cuncta tenes fortiter [you hold everything securely]," and "Cum sancto spiritu." The piece concludes with a short "Amen".
Qui pandis begins on an A-C-E triad and is the only composition studied in the Paduan fragments to begin with the third of the chord present. Even the 6-3 dominated Sanctus by Barbitonsoris moves into imperfect harmonies only after the opening sonority. Qui pandis might be a presentation of the added tropes of a troped Gloria. Other troped Glorias are found in PadA, (e.g., Et in terra...Qui sonitu and Et in terra...Clementi) and Et in terra...Clementi is even presented a second time, without the liturgical sections of the Gloria. The 6-3 opening would not be so unusual if Qui pandis were an excerpt from a larger Gloria, and some of the so-called "dead intervals" between phrases would be explained. If Qui pandis is part of a larger composition, it would add weight to my hypothesis that there was a Paduan interest in excerpts possibly for didactic reasons.
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Range: C: c4-c5; Ct: f3-g4; T: f3-g4.
Clefs: C: C1; Ct: C3; T: C3.
Edition: no edition.
The two part ballata Die non fugir di mi is interesting particularly for its use of single-note ligatures at the beginning and middle of the composition. The piece is in .d. (though without divisio letters) and thus has two primary semibreve types, minor and maior. However, since the breve cannot be imperfected in true Italian notation, as this piece represents, the note worth the value of 8 minims must also be a semibreve. In order to distinguish this third type of semibreve, the scribe has chosen to invent a symbol consisting of two adjacent caudata semibreves (
) known as a single-note ligature. The invention of new notation types to solve particular compositional difficulties testifies to the flexibility of the notational systems in use in late medieval Padua.
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Range: C: f3-a4; T: d3-d4.
Clefs: C: C2; T: C4-F2.
Edition: Schrade, PMFC 4, no. 31.
Biblioteca Universitaria MS 684 contains a single bifolio of music at its front and a single folio at the back.141 Two modern flyleaves have been added to the front of this manuscript. The music fragments have been trimmed on their top and outside edges to make them fit the dimensions of 21.2 x 31.2 cm manuscript. The trimming of the right edge of the rectos has removed the original foliation. Since different edges were trimmed between I-Pu 1475 and I-Pu 684, an estimate of the size of the original folios of PadA can be determined. Each folio of PadA originally measured 21.7-22.2 cm in length and 33.9-34.4 cm in height. It is hoped that measurements of GB-Ob 229 would confirm these results.
See "Gratiosus de Padua," in chapter 2 for information on this composition.
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Range: C: b3-b4; Ct: d3-e4; T: d3-d4.
Clefs: C: C2; Ct: C4; T: C4-F2, F2.
Edition: von Fischer and Gallo, PMFC 12, no. 17.
Gran pianto agli ochi is a three voice ballata by Landini. This composition in .q., like Dona s’ i’ to falito, may have been conceived as a piece in duodenaria. Although the piece is securely in modus perfectum (three breves to the long), the concept of modus imperfectum (two breves per long) is so pervasive in Paduan music at the end of the fourteenth century that to indicate a perfect long here a dot of addition must be used. Despite having letter indications of .q. in all voices, the composition does not use puncti divisionis of any sort.
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Range: C: d4-d5; Ct: b3-c5; T: f3-f4.
Clefs: C: C1; Ct: C1; T: C3.
Edition: Schrade, PMFC 4, no. 104.
This two voice ballata, also by Landini, is copied directly below Gran pianto agli ochi, but has no letter indication of its meter. It is in quaternaria, and, like Landini’s other .q. ballate, S’ i’ te so stato may have originally been conceived of in duodenaria.
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Range: C: b3-c5; T: e3-e4.
Clefs: C: C1; T: C4.
Edition: Schrade, PMFC 4, no. 16.
The lower two voices of a Gloria with added tropes are found on f. B of I-Pu 684. The voices are nearly identical in range. This is the only composition in the fragments studied to begin with long rests before all voice parts enter.
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Range: Ct: e3-g4; T: f3-g4.
Clefs: Ct: C3; T: C3.
Edition: Cattin and Facchin, PMFC 23B, no. 27.
The three voice ballata Poy che partir is written in French notation but with an Italian indication of .i. at the beginning of the contratenor part. The piece has first and second (chiuso) endings, which is a French influenced characteristic. The end of the first section in the contratenor seems to violate similis ante similem. A punctus divisionis would have been helpful here for deciphering what rhythm was intended.
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Range: C: f3-a4; Ct: e3-e4; T: d3-d4.
Clefs: C: C2; Ct: C4; T: C4.
Edition: Schrade, PMFC 4, no. 98.
transcription: [page 1] [page 2]
Although it frequently switches from .p. to .o., Gratiosus’s Alta regina de virtute does not use any divisio letters; one must count the number of minims between puncti divisionis and adjust their length accordingly. The scribe uses a normal semibreve to indicate an imperfect semibreve in .p. and a semibrevis caudata (
) to indicate a perfect (3 minim) semibreve. A more detailed discussion of Alta regina de virtute can be found in chapter 2.
Range: C: b3-d5.
Clefs: C: C1.
Edition: Marrocco, PMFC 10, fragment a.
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See "Gratiosus de Padua," in chapter 2 for an examination of style in Gratiosus’s mass movements.
Range: C: b3-a4; T: c3-d4.
Clefs: C: C2; T: F3, C4-F3.
Edition: von Fischer and Gallo, PMFC 12, no. 6.
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The layout of Perneth’s Credo is similar to that of No. 11 Sanctus in GB-Ob 229, though without the French influence in decoration. The surviving page here is the first page rather than the second. Although Perneth’s credo is in four voices in other manuscripts, in order to have all the voices have page turns at the same place, the version in PadA must consist of only three voices. This supposition is supported by the amount of free space seen in the sixth and tenth staves of f. CV: the scribe is clearly not concerned about trying to cram extra music onto the page.
A discussion of possible instrumental performance or instrumental doubling of voices of this Credo can be found in the discussion on the life of Perneth in chapter 2.
Range: C: b3-d5; T: d3-d4;
Clefs: C: C1; T: C4-F2.
Edition: Cattin and Facchin, PMFC 23B, no. 51.
