music.wikisort.org - Composer

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

• Music of the Trecento

References

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