This episode will feature music by composer Zacara da Teramo (ca. 1360-1416), who composed sacred music as well as secular songs. Performed by La Fonte Musica conducted by Michele Pasotti.
Zacara da Teramo was born around the year 1360 in Teramo, likely into a family of book illustrators, as he too worked in this field despite his physical disabilities: he was missing several fingers and toes.
In 1390, his name was first mentioned in Rome as a book illustrator, and the following year he began working in that capacity for the pope. It is likely that he was already a member of the papal chapel as a singer by then.
As a composer, he left behind both sacred and secular music. The sacred part mainly consists of settings of two parts of the Mass: Gloria and Credo. In the surviving sources, they typically appear together as a pair; in this programme, we will hear three of these pairs.
The secular music poses quite a few challenges. The texts are often difficult to understand. Alongside love songs, there are also satirical songs. Some relate to church-related and political events. As for the music: some songs are written in a declamatory style. Others have a dialogic character, where the text jumps from one voice to another, in imitation and sometimes in echo form.
In a number of songs, Zacara combines these two styles.
We will hear four songs from the recording of the complete works of Zacara da Teramo, performed by Michele Pasotti with his ensemble La Fonte Musica.
Zacara da Teramo (ca. 1360-1416)
1. Gloria (I)
2. Credo (II)
3. Gloria ‘Anglicana’
4. Credo ‘du Vilage’
5. Gloria ‘Gloria laus honor’
6. Credo (III)
7. Aymè per tutto l’or
8. Amor né tossa
9. Movti’a pietade
10. Dime, Fortuna
La Fonte Musica olv. Michele Pasotti
(cd: “Enigma Fortuna – Complete Works” – Alpha 640, 2021)
additionally:
anonymous
11. Constantia
La Fonte Musica conducted by Michele Pasotti
(cd: see 1-10)
