In 1568, the Venetian printer Antonio Gardano released an enormous collection of 254 motets under the title Novi thesauri musici. This five-volume collection of 254 liturgically-related motets was financed and overseen by Pietro Giovanelli, a member of a wealthy family from the Bergamo region of Italy. The massive compilation consists of music written by composers stationed at the Hofkapellen of Graz, Innsbruck, Prague, as well as the Imperial Hofkapelle in Vienna. While some degree of scholarship has been carried out concerning this very significant publication, there are many composers in the Novus Thesaurus who are still virtually unknown today. One such composer was the young Michael Deiss, a choirboy at the Imperial Hofkapelle in Graz. Deiss is the third-most prolific composer in the collection, contributing fourteen motets spanning over each of the five books in the collection.
Despite his conspicuous representation in the Thesaurus, however, only one of his motets had been previously transcribed and discussed in any detail until this edition. Also, beyond Giovanellis collection, there is no knowledge of any other compositions by Deiss that survive. Though Deiss certainly does not rank with the established masters of the sixteenth-century motet, his music is worthy of study from a different standpoint. Little is known about the compositional process of renaissance music, and examining the work of an apparent student could provide valuable insight into answering some of the questions that arise when investigating pedagogical relationships and localized stylistic conventions.
I have prepared a critical edition in modern transcriptions of all fourteen motets by Deiss that appear in the Novus Thesaurus. In addition, I have provided a historical and stylistic background to Deisss music, as well as a detailed commentary for each motet. It is my aim here to provide the foundation necessary to commence more specific research into issues concerning the style of the sixteenth-century Hapsburg Hofkapellen and the learning process, as well as offering some observations and conclusions of my own.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-04262007-160752 |
| Date | 13 June 2007 |
| Creators | Ruth, Christopher Thomas |
| Contributors | Anna Nisnevich, PhD, James P. Cassaro, MA, MLS, Mary S. Lewis, PhD |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04262007-160752/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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