The Chigi codex is a music

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

originating in

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

. According to Herbert Kellman, it was created sometime between 1498 and 1503, probably at the behest of

Philip I of Castile Philip the Handsome (22 June/July 1478 – 25 September 1506), also called the Fair, was ruler of the Burgundian Netherlands and titular Duke of Burgundy from 1482 to 1506, as well as the first Habsburg King of Castile (as Philip I) for a bri ...

. It is currently housed in the

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library (, ), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City, and is the city-state's national library. It was formally established in 1475, alth ...

under the

call number A library classification is a system used within a library to organize materials, including books, sound and video recordings, electronic materials, etc., both on shelves and in catalogs and indexes. Each item is typically assigned a call number ...

Chigiana, C. VIII. 234. The Chigi codex is notable not only for its vivid and colorful illuminations, which were probably done in

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

in the workshop of the Master of the

Hortulus Animae ''Hortulus Animae'' (, , , ) was the Latin title of a prayer book also available in German. It was very popular in the early sixteenth century, printed in many versions, also abroad in Lyons and Kraków. History An earlier well-known work of de ...

, but also for its very clear and legible

musical notation Musical notation is any system used to visually represent music. Systems of notation generally represent the elements of a piece of music that are considered important for its performance in the context of a given musical tradition. The proce ...

. It contains a nearly complete catalogue of the

polyphonic 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 ...

masses by

Johannes Ockeghem Johannes Ockeghem ( – 6 February 1497) was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer of early Renaissance music. Ockeghem was a significant European composer in the period between Guillaume Du Fay and Josquin des Prez, and he was—with his colle ...

and a collection of five relatively early

L'homme armé "L'homme armé" () is a secular song from the Late Middle Ages, of the Burgundian School. According to Allan W. Atlas, "the tune circulated in both the Mixolydian mode and Dorian mode (transposed to G)." It was the most popular tune used for mus ...

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

settings, including Ockeghem's. Several folia, comprising eight works, were added to the original

codex The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...

at some point after the manuscript's original creation. These are indicated as such in the list below. The two coats of arms in the page from ''Missa Ecce ancilla Domini'' refer to the Fernández de Córdoba family. A facsimile of the Chigi Codex in seven parts is available to view online, in the International Music Scores Library Project, or IMSLP. The Petrucci Music Library/IMSLP is run by Project Petrucci LLC in the U.S.A.The IMSLP web site refers: http://imslp.org/wiki/IMSLP:About

The manuscript contains the following works (this list is distilled from that found in Kellman's article): * Alexander Agricola **Missa In myne zyn (without Kyrie) *

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, Franco-Flemish school of the Renaissance music, Renaissance, and, after Josquin des Prez, was one of t ...

**Missa L'homme armé *

Antoine Busnois Antoine Busnois (also Busnoys; – before 6 November 1492) was a French composer, singer and poet of early Renaissance music. Busnois and colleague Johannes Ockeghem were the leading European composers of the second half the 15th century, and ...

**Missa L'homme armé * Antoine de Févin **Sancta Trinitas unus Deus (addition) *

Gaspar van Weerbeke Gaspar van Weerbeke ( – after 1516) was a Netherlandish composer of the Renaissance. He was of the same generation as Josquin des Prez, but unique in his blending of the contemporary Italian style with the older Burgundian style of Dufay. L ...

**Stabat mater *

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

**Angeli archangeli *

Jacobus Barbireau Jacobus Barbireau (also Jacques or Jacob; also Barbirianus) (1455 – 7 August 1491) was a Franco-Flemish Renaissance composer from Antwerp. He was considered to be a superlative composer both by his contemporaries and by modern scholars; howev ...

**Missa Virgo parens Christi (without Agnus Dei) *

Jean Mouton Jean Mouton (c. 1459 – 30 October 1522) was a French composer of the Renaissance music, Renaissance. He was famous both for his motets, which are among the most refined of the time, and for being the teacher of Adrian Willaert, one of the f ...

**Quis dabit oculis (addition; no attribution) *

**Ave Maria (addition) **Intemerata Dei Mater **Missa Mi-mi **Missa Ecce ancilla Domini **Missa L'homme armé **Missa Fors seulement (Kyrie, Gloria and Credo only) **Missa sine nomine (Kyrie, Gloria and Credo only) **Missa Ma maistresse (Kyrie and Gloria) **Missa Caput **Missa De plus en plus **Missa Au travail suis ** Missa cuiusvis toni **Missa Prolationum **Missa quinti toni **Missa pro defunctis * Johannes Regis **Celsi tonantis **Clangat plebs **Lauda Sion Salvatorem **Lux solempnis (no attribution) **O admirabile commercium *

Josquin des Prez Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prez ( – 27 August 1521) was a composer of High Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he was a central figure of the ...

**Missa L'homme armé sexti toni (Kyrie, Gloria and Credo only) **Stabat mater *

Loyset Compère Loyset Compère ( – 16 August 1518) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. Of the same generation as Josquin des Prez, he was one of the most significant composers of motets and chansons of that era, and one of the first musicia ...

**Ave Maria (addition) **Missa L'homme armé **Sancte Michael ora pro nobis (addition; no attribution) **Sile frago ac rerum (no attribution) *

Pierre de la Rue Pierre de la Rue ( – 20 November 1518) was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer of the Renaissance. His name also appears as Piersson or variants of Pierchon and his toponymic, when present, as various forms of de Platea, de Robore, or de Vic ...

**Credo Sine nomine **Missa Almana *Anonymous works **Ave rosa speciosa **Regina coeli (addition) **Vidi aquam (addition) **one

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...

without text

Contents

References

Further reading