A letter from Paolo Animuccia: A composer's response to the Council of Trent

Abstract

All students of Renaissance music are familiar with the debates about sacred music during the last sessions of the Council of Trent, and with the eventual decision that'the whole plan of singing in musical modes should be constituted not to give empty pleasure to the ear, but in such a way that the words be clearly understood by all'.' Although the overall effect of the council's decree on music was perhaps not great, there can be little doubt that in Rome, at least, serious attempts were made to have music written in an 'intelligible' style by commissioning pieces from composers residing elsewhere (as Cardinal Carlo Borromeo did with Vincenzo Ruffo) or by having them written by composers in Rome (as the Cappella Giulia did with Giovanni Animuccia).2 But very few documents have come to light in which a composer, not responding to a set of instructions, addresses himself to the issues raised by the Council of Trent. Such is the letter presented below: a rare case of an autograph letter by a Renaissance composer that not only says something interesting, but also can be related to important events in the history of music. The letter was sent from Pesaro by Paolo Animuccia, brother of Giovanni Animuccia and maestro di cappella to the Duke of Urbino, to Simone Fortuna, one of the Duke's secretaries, in Rome. It is dated January 1566; the day is left blank, but it must be after 7 January, the date of the election of the 'new pope' (Pius V) to whom the letter refers. Not much is known about Paolo