Grazioso da Padova or Gratiosus de Padua (fl. 1391–1407)[1] was an Italian composer of the Middle Ages and early Renaissance.[2]

Life and career

A priest,[3] Gratiosus was active in the chapter at Padua Cathedral where a document from 1391 indicates he was custos and by 8 June 1392 mansionarius.[3] A "Gracioso" is listed as a monk of the Abbey of Santa Giustina in 1398;[3] whether this man is the composer is unclear, but every one of Grazioso's compositions is found in a fragment from the Abbey.

Music

Of his output only three fragments remain, two sacred and one secular. He wrote two three-voice settings of portions of the Mass, a Gloria and a Sanctus, as well as ballata (Alta regina de virtute ornata). Stylistic characteristics – a mix of French and Italian traits – indicate he may have been acquainted with Johannes Ciconia, a northerner who spent some time in Padua during the period when Grazioso was active there.[2] The inventiveness of his "French" Gloria was praised by Layton while the "Italian" Sanctus was criticized for a "poverty of melodic invention";[4] these characteristics were disputed by Cuthbert on the basis of recent discoveries of Italian Mass movements.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Cuthbert, Michael Scott. "Trecento fragments and Polyphony beyond the Codex," (Ph.D. dissertation: Harvard University, 2006): notes that the manuscripts containing Gratiosus's work were probably completed by 1407. Cited in Prosdocimi, Lavinia. "Frammenti musicali nelle legature dei codici della Biblioteca Universitaria di Padova," in I frammenti musicali padovani tra Santa Giustina e la diffusione della musica in Europa, ed. Facchin, Francesco and Gnan, Pietro (Padua, 2011), pp. 155–82.
  2. ^ a b Fischer, Kurt von; Gianluca D’Agostino. "Grazioso da Padova (Gratiosus de Padua)". Grove Music Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
  3. ^ a b c Hallmark, Anne. "Gratiosus, Ciconia, and other Musicians at Padua Cathedral," L’Ars Nova italiana del Trecento 6 (1992), 69–84
  4. ^ Layton, Billy Jim. "Italian Music for the Ordinary of the Mass 1300–1450" (Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University, 1960), 118
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