2 Contrapunti sopra il canto fermo (La Spagna)

*Two Renaissance Pieces.*

These two pieces from a collection of no less than 157 settings of the same cantus firmus, preserved in MSC36 of the Civico Museo Bibliografico Musicale in Bologna. Due to some misunderstanding, the title page of this collection attributes the pieces to Giovanni Maria Nanino (1543-1607), a student of Palestrina, and refers to melody used as "il canto fermo intitulato la base di Constanzo Festa". However it has been known for decades that Constanzo Festa (1490-1545) composed a large collection of settings of the cantus firmus in question, and anyway the style of these pieces is definitely that of the early sixteenth century. 

The melody used heree is essentially the same as that of the bassadanza La Spagna that occurs in many late fifteenth century settings, and which even forms the basis of a mass by Heinrich Isaac, it is however, somewhat shortened, with the 45 or so bars usual in the 15th century versions reduced to 37, by omitting notes that repeat. 

1. Contrapunto centesimoterzo
2. Contrapunto centesimoquarto

_5 x Score 4 pp._