Antonius Janue (?Antonio da Genova) (fl. ca. 1460) was an Italian composer of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

. He was one of few known Italian composers of

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...

in the middle of the 15th century, and left one of the few manuscripts of the time in the composer's own hand, showing erasures and corrections.Kanazawa, Grove online

Life

Little is known with certainty about his life. He may be the same as Antonio da Genova, a musician who worked in

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

in 1462, and he is probably the "Antonius de Jan." referenced in the archives of the Genoese ducal palace in 1456; "Janue" has been interpreted as meaning "of Genoa." If these are the same person, he would seem to have been an active composer in northern Italy in the 1450s. He may have been a priest, given the common use of the "p." prefix in the manuscript sources, and also considering that he seems to have written only sacred music.Kanazawa, Grove Janue probably compiled the manuscript ''I-Fn 112bis'', now in the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

. The manuscript contains pieces by

Guillaume Dufay Guillaume Du Fay ( , ; also Dufay, Du Fayt; 5 August 1397(?) – 27 November 1474) was a French composer and music theorist of the early Renaissance. Considered the leading European composer of his time, his music was widely performed and repr ...

Gilles Binchois Gilles de Bins dit Binchois (also Binchoys; – 20 September 1460) was a Franco-Flemish composer of early Renaissance music. A central figure of the Burgundian School, Binchois and his colleague Guillaume Du Fay were deeply influenced by the ...

John Dunstaple John Dunstaple (or Dunstable, – 24 December 1453) was an English composer whose music helped inaugurate the transition from the Medieval music, medieval to the Renaissance music, Renaissance periods. The central proponent of the ''Contenance ...

, and others, in addition to 16 pieces attributed to Janue himself. Since he has more pieces in the manuscript than anyone else, including the most famous names of the time, and many of the pieces signed "Janue" contain erasures and emendations, it is presumed that he was not only the copyist but did some of his composing during the compilation process. Many of the changes are reductions in complexity, suggesting that he was revising the works for less advanced singers. It has been suggested that the manuscript was put together in Genoa, since his name appears on the payment register of the Genoese ducal palace in 1456, as receiving an annual salary.

Music

Thirteen pieces are attributed directly to Janue in the ''I-Fn 112bis'' manuscript: eight hymns for

Vespers Vespers is a service of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern), Lutheranism, Lutheran, and Anglican ...

, two settings of the

Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for "

y soul Y, or y, is the twenty-fifth and penultimate letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. According to some authorities, it is the sixth (or sevent ...

magnifies

he Lord He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary, the Canticle of Mary and, in the Eastern Christianity, Byzantine tradition, the Ode of the Theotokos (). It is traditionally incorporated ...

, two

processional hymn A processional hymn is a chant, hymn or other music sung during the Procession, usually at the start of a Christian Church, Christian service, although occasionally during the service itself. The procession usually contains members of the clergy a ...

s, and a

laude The ''lauda'' (Italian pl. ''laude'') or ''lauda spirituale'' was the most important form of vernacular sacred song in Italy in the late medieval era and Renaissance. ''Laude'' remained popular into the nineteenth century. The lauda was often as ...

. Stylistically they are polyphonic, usually for three voices, and rather simple in texture compared to the work of the Burgundian and

Franco-Flemish The designation Franco-Flemish School, also called Netherlandish School, Burgundian School, Low Countries School, Flemish School, Dutch School, or Northern School, refers, somewhat imprecisely, to the style of polyphony, polyphonic vocal music com ...

composers of the same time. Janue often writes in ''

fauxbourdon Fauxbourdon (also fauxbordon, and also commonly two words: faux bourdon or faulx bourdon, and in Italian falso bordone) – French for ''false drone'' – is a technique of musical harmonisation used in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, ...

'' (in a similar manner to Dufay and

Binchois Gilles de Bins dit Binchois (also Binchoys; – 20 September 1460) was a Franco-Flemish composer of early Renaissance music. A central figure of the Burgundian School, Binchois and his colleague Guillaume Du Fay were deeply influenced by the ' ...

), and occasionally uses imitation. Transcriptions of Janue's music in modern notation usually have to use irregular meters in order to capture his metrical freedom. Some of his works, for example the setting of the ''Magnificat on Tone VI,'' were probably intended as replacements for equivalent settings by Dufay – perhaps because the originals were too hard for inexperienced singers.

Works

*''Lucis Creator optime'' *''Christe Redemptor omnium'' *''Crucifixum in carne'' (1) (anon in source; attrib) *''Crucifixum in carne'' (2) (anon in source; attrib) *''Gloria laus et honor'' *''Hostis Herodes impie'' *''Deus tuorum militum'' *''

Iste confessor Iste confessor is a Latin hymn used in the Divine Office at Lauds and Vespers on feasts of confessors. It exists in two forms. ''Iste confessor Domini sacratus'' is the original 8th Century hymn and ''Iste confessor Domini colentes'' is a 1632 ed ...

Domini'' *''Jesu, corona Virginum'' *''Quem terra pontus'' *''Ut queant laxis'' *''Magnificat'' (Tone V) *''Magnificat'' (Tone VI) (anon in source; attrib) *''Magnificat'' (Tone VII) *''Magnificat'' (Tone VIII) (anon in source; attrib) *''O redemptor, sume carmen'' (anon in source; attrib) *''Pange lingua'' (anon in source; attrib) *''Sanctorum meritis inclyta gaudia'' (anon in source; attrib) *''Verbum caro factum est''Works list from Corpus mensurabilis musicae, vol. 70

References

*Masakata Kanazawa: "Janue, Antonius", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed May 4, 2007)
(subscription access)
*Charles Hamm/Jerry Call: "Sources, MS, §IX", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed May 4, 2007)
(subscription access)
*''

Corpus mensurabilis musicae The ''Corpus mensurabilis musicae'' (CMM) is a collected print edition of most of the sacred and secular vocal music of the late medieval and Renaissance period in western music history, with an emphasis on the central Franco-Flemish and Italian re ...

'' (CMM), vol. 70 (edited by Masakata Kanazawa), contains all the works attributed to him. *R. Giazzoto: ''La musica a Genova nella vita pubblica e privata dal XIII al XVIII secolo''. Genoa, 1951.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Janue, Antonius 15th-century births 15th-century deaths Italian Renaissance composers Italian male classical composers 15th-century Italian composers