Albert de Rippe (''Alberto da Ripa da Mantova'') (c. 1500–1551) was an Italian lutenist and composer. He was born in
Mantua
Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name.
In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...
and worked there before 1528, when he left for France. There, he joined the court of
Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to:
* Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407)
* Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450
* Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547
* Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...
. De Rippe was evidently held in great esteem at the court, as his annual salary was double that of any other lutenist, and he also frequently received gifts of land, money, wine, etc., and various other benefits. He only published three works during his lifetime, but six volumes of his music were published posthumously by his pupil,
Guillaume de Morlaye Guillaume de Morlaye (c.1510–c.1558) was a French Renaissance era lutenist, composer and music publisher. He was a pupil of Albert de Rippe and lived and worked in Paris. In 1552 he received a ten-year license to publish music from Henry II, and ...
. That edition was titled, and is now sometimes referred to as, ''tab
ature de leut''.
De Rippe's oeuvre consists of 26 fantasias, 59 intabulations (46 chansons, 10 motets and 3 madrigals) and 10 dances, all for six-course lute, and 2 fantasias for four-course Renaissance guitar. The lute fantasias are now considered his most important works: they represent a novel type for the time, of purely instrumental composition. Their dense polyphony and complex architecture (some evolve for several hundred bars), as well as the skill required to play them, make the fantasias some of the most important works in the repertoire.
References and further reading
* R.W. Bruggart. ''Alberto da Ripa: Lutenist and Composer'' (diss., U. of Michigan, 1956)
*
External links
Free scores at Luth-Librarieinclude the complete fantasies for six-course lute.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rippe, Albert De
1480s births
1551 deaths
Composers for lute
Italian musicians