Philippus de Caserta, (; also Philipoctus, Filipotto, or Filipoctus) was a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

music theorist Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

associated with the style known as ''

ars subtilior ''Ars subtilior'' (Latin for 'subtler art') is a musical style characterized by rhythmic and notational complexity, centered on Paris, Avignon in southern France, and also in northern Spain at the end of the fourteenth century.Hoppin 1978, 47 ...

''.

Life and career

Philippus' name indicates that he came from

Caserta Caserta () is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. It is an important agricultural, commercial, and industrial ''comune'' and city. Caserta is located on the edge of the Campanian plain at the foot of the Camp ...

near

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. He is generally thought to have worked at the Papal court at

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...

in the 1370s as his ballade, ''Par les bons Gedeons'', praises

antipope Clement VII Robert of Geneva, (french: Robert de Genève; 1342 – 16 September 1394) elected to the papacy as Clement VII (french: Clément VII) by the cardinals who opposed Pope Urban VI, was the first antipope residing in Avignon, France. His election l ...

. However, it has been suggested that Philippus never left Italy, that he wrote the above ballade at

Fondi Fondi ( la, Fundi; Southern Laziale: ''Fùnn'') is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Latina, Lazio, central Italy, halfway between Rome and Naples. As of 2017, the city had a population of 39,800. The city has experienced steady population ...

near Caserta, where Clement was elected Pope, and that he worked at the francophile court of

Gian Galeazzo Visconti Gian Galeazzo Visconti (16 October 1351 – 3 September 1402), was the first duke of Milan (1395) and ruled the late-medieval city just before the dawn of the Renaissance. He also ruled Lombardy jointly with his uncle Bernabò. He was the foundi ...

.Yolanda Plumley and Iain Fenlon
''Early Music History''
vol. 18: ''Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Music'',

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

, 2001, , pp.334-346.

Music

Most of his surviving works are

ballade Ballad is a form of narrative poetry, often put to music, or a type of sentimental love song in modern popular music. Ballad or Ballade may also refer to: Music Genres and forms * Ballade (classical music), a musical setting of a literary ballad ...

s, although a

Credo In Christian liturgy, the credo (; Latin for "I believe") is the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed – or its shorter version, the Apostles' Creed – in the Mass, either as a prayer, a spoken text, or sung as Gregorian chant or other musical setti ...

was recently discovered, and a rondeau has been attributed to him. His ballade ''En attendant souffrir'' was written for

Bernabò Visconti Bernabò or Barnabò Visconti (1323 – 19 December 1385) was an Italian soldier and statesman who was Lord of Milan. Along with his brothers Matteo and Galeazzo II, he inherited the lordship of Milan from his uncle Giovanni. Later in 1355, he an ...

, confirmed by the presence of Visconti's motto in the upper voice. Two of Caserta's pieces, ''En remirant'' and ''De ma dolour'', use fragments of text from

chanson A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic s ...

s by the most famous composer of the century,

Guillaume de Machaut Guillaume de Machaut (, ; also Machau and Machault; – April 1377) was a French composer and poet who was the central figure of the style in late medieval music. His dominance of the genre is such that modern musicologists use his death to ...

. Caserta's own repute was significant enough for

Johannes Ciconia Johannes Ciconia ( – between 10 June and 13 July 1412) was an important Flemish composer and music theorist of trecento music during the late Medieval era. He was born in Liège, but worked most of his adult life in Italy, particularly i ...

to borrow portions of Caserta's ballades for his own

virelai A ''virelai'' is a form of medieval French verse used often in poetry and music. It is one of the three ''formes fixes'' (the others were the ballade and the rondeau) and was one of the most common verse forms set to music in Europe from the lat ...

, ''Sus une fontayne''. Five theoretical treatises have been attributed to Caserta, with some in dispute among scholars.

Music

All pieces are for three voices. ;Ballades * * * * * * ;Other *''Credo'' *Rondeau, ''Espoir dont tu m'as fayt'' (disputed)

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Caserta, Philippus de Ars subtilior composers Italian male classical composers Italian music theorists Trecento composers Medieval male composers