Fortuna desperata is a secular Italian song, possibly originally by Busnois (but others credit

Antoine Brumel Antoine Brumel (c. 1460 – 1512 or 1513) was a French composer. He was one of the first renowned French members of the Franco-Flemish school of the Renaissance, and, after Josquin des Prez, was one of the most influential composers of his gene ...

). It was used by many other authors in the following 75 years, for both variations and

cantus firmus In music, a ''cantus firmus'' ("fixed melody") is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition. The plural of this Latin term is , although the corrupt form ''canti firmi'' (resulting from the grammatically incorrect tre ...

masses, and over 30 such reworkings are known. Words in the original Italian and in English and German are available at Choral Wik

The first verse is :'Fortuna desperata :Iniqua e maledecta :Che de tal dona electa :La fama hai denigrata.' translated as :'Desperate fate, :iniquitous and maledicted :who blackened the good name :of a woman beyond compare.' Amongst the more well-known versions of the song are the three-voice version by Busnois, its reworking for six voices by

Alexander Agricola Alexander Agricola (; born Alexander Ackerman; – 15 August 1506) was a Netherlandish composer of the Renaissance writing in the Franco-Flemish style. A prominent member of the ''Grande chapelle'', the Habsburg musical establishment, he wa ...

, a three-part instrumental version possibly by Josquin, three-voice version by

Heinrich Isaac Heinrich Isaac (ca. 1450 – 26 March 1517) was a Netherlandish Renaissance composer of south Netherlandish origin. He wrote masses, motets, songs (in French, German and Italian), and instrumental music. A significant contemporary of Josquin des ...

, and seven settings (including

quodlibet A quodlibet (; Latin for "whatever you wish" from '' quod'', "what" and '' libet'', "pleases") is a musical composition that combines several different melodies—usually popular tunes—in counterpoint, and often in a light-hearted, humorous m ...

s) by

Ludwig Senfl Ludwig Senfl (born around 1486, died between December 2, 1542 and August 10, 1543) was a Swiss composer of the Renaissance, active in Germany. He was the most famous pupil of Heinrich Isaac, was music director to the court of Maximilian I, Holy R ...

. Se

(archive from 29 December 2014, accessed 26 February 2016) for several others.

Parody masses

Amongst the mass-settings are those by Josquin and Jacob Obrecht, Obrecht and Pierquin de Thérache.Symphonies lorraines: compositeurs, exécutants, destinataires ; Yves Ferraton - 1998 -"ette œuvre attribuée à Periquin par les copistes espagnols, Pierquin de Thérache sélectionne la partie de tenor extraite d'une chanson italienne à trois voix composée par Antoine Busnois "5 : Fortuna desperata iniqua maledicta che di tal dona electa la fama ay denegata."

References

Renaissance chansons Year of song unknown {{song-stub