Vicente Lusitano
Liber Primus Epigramatum (1551)
Arte Minima/Pedro Sousa Silva
rec. 2024, Igreja do Mosteiro de São Bento de Vitória, Porto, Portugal
Reviewed as a download
Pan Classics PC10466 [56]

There is no lack of recordings of polyphony by composers of the Iberian peninsula. However, there are a number of composers that have largely escaped the attention of performers, and the disc under review is devoted to one of them. Vicente Lusitano is not an entirely unknown quantity, but has been known mainly as a theorist; his music has not been given much attention. Since 2022, the ensemble Arte Minima focuses on the studying, performing and recording the only collection of music by Lusitano that has been printed, the Liber Primus Epigramatum of 1551.

Whether Lusitano is his family name is unknown; it refers to an old name for the region that today is known as Portugal. He was born in Olivença (today Olivenza, Spain). In the 18th century a biography was published; one of the sources of the biographer calls Lusitano mestizo, another refers to him as pardo. If these statements are correct (but they can’t be verified), Lusitano may have been the first composer of colour in history whose music was published. It is not known for sure who was his teacher; it may have been a certain Pero Brujel or Brugel, possibly of Flemish origin. That may also explain the strong influence of two composers of the Franco-Flemish school: Josquin Desprez and Nicolas Gombert.

The collection of motets of 1551 was published in Rome; Lusitano had moved to Italy, but it is not known exactly when. Given that some pieces in the collection may have been written during his time in Rome, it was probably at least a few years earlier. In Rome he also published a treatise in 1553, which was reprinted in Venice in 1558 and 1561, and in Lisbon in 1603. It was the direct result of a debate with the composer and theorist Nicolà Vicentino, which is too complicated to summarize here. Pedro Sousa Silva, in his liner-notes, states: “This debate centred on contrasting perspectives regarding 16th-century interpretations of theoretical concepts from Greek antiquity, particularly concerning the tuning of specific musical intervals, a topic requiring such nuanced understanding that it borders on the limits of human perception.” This treatise has received quite some interest from scholars, and has overshadowed Lusitano’s compositions.

At some time he left Rome, and was active as a music teacher in Padua and Viterbo. In 1561, he converted to Protestantism, married and moved to France and Germany. He sought a post at the Württemberg court in Stuttgart, but to no avail, although he was paid for compositions he had sent. The last trace of his existence is a madrigal that was included in an anthology published in Venice in 1562.

As mentioned, Lusitano was influenced by Josquin and Gombert. The former’s influence comes specifically to the fore in the first and last items on the programme: Inviolata, integra et casta es Maria and Praeter rerum seriem. In both cases Lusitano reworked pieces by Josquin; this was a common way to pay homage to an admired master. However, in such cases composers always tried to surpass the model. In this case Lusitano does so by extending the number of parts. Both motets are for eight voices, whereas the originals are for five and six voices respectively.

The motet Lusitano may have written in Rome is Sum servus. It is based on the same plainchant as Palestrina’s mass on Ecce sacerdos, an antiphon and a responsory from the common of confessor bishops in the Liturgy of the Hours and in the Graduale Romanum, and the Epistle in their proper Mass. Lusitano’s motet may have been intended for the same occasion.

The influence of Gombert is probably specifically demonstrated in the density of the polyphony and the lack of breathing spaces. The latter is a particular challenge to the singers, and this leads to the way the motets are performed here. Most notable – and different from common practice in performances of Renaissance polyphony – is the participation of a consort of recorders. Robert Stevenson, in an article on Lusitano (1962), he explains that one of the reasons that his motets did not meet much success is “the difficulty of the inner voices, which, in such motets as Clamabat autem, Emendemus, and Preter rerum, seem to be instrumentally conceived.” Rather than performing them instrumentally, the ensemble chose another option: “We observed that one of Lusitano’s melodic idiosyncrasies is the use of ‘melismatic tails’ following the final note of a phrase, often beginning with clichéd motifs that recur across all voices and motets. We interpreted this as a possible indication of a division between the vocal and instrumental parts, marking the point where the singer might stop and the instrument would continue. Other oddities in the text underlay, such as the inclusion of musical segments without text or the separation of letters within the same syllable (a phenomenon that is more unique than rare), lend support to this hypothesis.”

There is another argument in favour of the use of recorders. It is questionable whether these motets were intended for liturgical use. The length and complexity of the motets suggest that they were rather intended as what was known as musica reservata or musica secreta: music to be performed before an intimate circle of aristocrats. A famous example of such music is the collection of Psalmi poenitentiales by Orlandus Lassus. The performance of the Salve Regina by a soprano and a consort of recorders fits well into this concept.

The purpose of Arte Minima to focus on the oeuvre of Lusitano can only be applauded. He undoubtedly was a very interesting composer, and his music is of high quality, as this recording convincingly demonstrates. The performances are admirable. The ensemble is outstanding, as is the balance within the ensemble. The recorders can be heard, but don’t get too much prominence. The density of these pieces explains why the text is not always easy to understand. But that was not the main concern of composers at the time. The delivery is here as good as is possible.

Anyone interested in Renaissance polyphony should investigate this recording. The combination of historical interest and the high quality of music and performance justifies a special recommendation.

Johan van Veen
www.musica-dei-donum.org
twitter.com/johanvanveen
https://bsky.app/profile/musicadeidonum.bsky.social

Contents
Inviolata, integra et casta es Maria a 8
O beata Maria a 6
Sancta Maria a 6
Salve Regina misericordiae a 6
Sum servus domini a 6
Aspice domine a 6
Praeter rerum seriem a 8

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