1563 · Strasbourg
by SEBASTIANI, Claudius fl. 1557-1565
Strasbourg: Paulus Machaeropoeus (Messerschmidt), 1563. Octavo. Full 19th century dark tan calf. 78 of 88 leaves only.
With 3 full page and 1 half-page woodcuts, musical examples, tables, and historiated initials.
Previous ownership signatures of John C. Jackson 1848, and W. H. Monk 1859 to front flyleaf.
First and last leaves soiled; 3 worm holes to lower blank margins commencing at H1 and then throughout; British Museum and "Duplicate For Sale 1881" handstamps; lacking title, P3-4, T4, V4, and X1-4.
Binding somewhat worn and rubbed; free front endpaper detached. First Edition. Rare. Hirsch IV, 1542. Gregory-Bartlett I, p. 250. Wolffheim I, 1014. RISM Ecrits pp. 776-77. RBH records 4 copies only (including the present copy) at auction in over 50 years.
"In his Bellum musicale inter plani et mensuralis cantus reges (Strasbourg, 1563) he depicted the theories of plainchant and polyphony in the unusual form of a war between the 'kings' of the two 'provinces' about who should succeed Apollo to become supreme in the realm of music. Both kings deploy all their resources; the battle reveals all the advantages but also all the mistakes and weaknesses of each. Sebastiani named as his immediate model Guarna's Grammaticae opus novum seu bellum grammaticale. Ornithoparchus (Musicae activae micrologus) had described accentus and concentus in the form of a similar fable. Sebastiani not only adopted several sections (on accentus, concord, counterpoint and cadences, as well as the ten rules of singing) from Ornithoparchus, but also the characteristics that Ornithoparchus had ascribed to his 'kings': thus the 'king' of plainchant was 'gravis, fecundus, severus' and the 'king' of polyphony was 'hilaris, iucundus, amabilis'. He used Coclico's classification of musicians into four genera, placing Herpol and Sermisy in the third category alongside, strangely, Gregory, Berno and St Bernard. In discussing various tablatures he gave two examples of keyboard tablature: in the first each part has its own staff, in the second the parts are combined on two staves. Both examples have bar-lines throughout. Also noteworthy is a section for young organists on improvising variations on a given melody, in which he recommended changes of beat, tempo, mode and number of parts." Martin Ruhnke in Grove Music Online. (Inventory #: 39990)
With 3 full page and 1 half-page woodcuts, musical examples, tables, and historiated initials.
Previous ownership signatures of John C. Jackson 1848, and W. H. Monk 1859 to front flyleaf.
First and last leaves soiled; 3 worm holes to lower blank margins commencing at H1 and then throughout; British Museum and "Duplicate For Sale 1881" handstamps; lacking title, P3-4, T4, V4, and X1-4.
Binding somewhat worn and rubbed; free front endpaper detached. First Edition. Rare. Hirsch IV, 1542. Gregory-Bartlett I, p. 250. Wolffheim I, 1014. RISM Ecrits pp. 776-77. RBH records 4 copies only (including the present copy) at auction in over 50 years.
"In his Bellum musicale inter plani et mensuralis cantus reges (Strasbourg, 1563) he depicted the theories of plainchant and polyphony in the unusual form of a war between the 'kings' of the two 'provinces' about who should succeed Apollo to become supreme in the realm of music. Both kings deploy all their resources; the battle reveals all the advantages but also all the mistakes and weaknesses of each. Sebastiani named as his immediate model Guarna's Grammaticae opus novum seu bellum grammaticale. Ornithoparchus (Musicae activae micrologus) had described accentus and concentus in the form of a similar fable. Sebastiani not only adopted several sections (on accentus, concord, counterpoint and cadences, as well as the ten rules of singing) from Ornithoparchus, but also the characteristics that Ornithoparchus had ascribed to his 'kings': thus the 'king' of plainchant was 'gravis, fecundus, severus' and the 'king' of polyphony was 'hilaris, iucundus, amabilis'. He used Coclico's classification of musicians into four genera, placing Herpol and Sermisy in the third category alongside, strangely, Gregory, Berno and St Bernard. In discussing various tablatures he gave two examples of keyboard tablature: in the first each part has its own staff, in the second the parts are combined on two staves. Both examples have bar-lines throughout. Also noteworthy is a section for young organists on improvising variations on a given melody, in which he recommended changes of beat, tempo, mode and number of parts." Martin Ruhnke in Grove Music Online. (Inventory #: 39990)