La prassi del canto cristiano liturgico nel Cinquecento veneto

The first part of the paper considers the passages concerning plainchant in Zarlino’s Le istitutioni harmoniche (1558) and in his book of motets (1549), with the consideration of examples which reveal some issues concerning chant and its interaction with polyphony in the sixteenth century. In the light of the Gradual printed in Venice by Gardano in 1591, we consider the enthusiasm for the revision of plainchant and the fundamental evidence on liturgical practice represented by various sixteenth-century editions: the Libellus by Biagio Rossetti (Verona, 1529), Pietro Cinciarino’s Introduttorio (1555), Guidetti’s very widespread Directorium Chori (first edition in 1582) and Giovanni Matteo Asola’s Canto fermo (Venice, 1592). Finally, the melody of the hymn Ave, maris stella is examined: the practice is reconstructed by taking into account the clear testimonies of the theorists and of the editions that provide us with many liturgical songs written in proportional notation.