Magister Franciscus

Magister Franciscus (fl. 1370–80) was a French composer in the ars nova style of late Medieval music. He is known for two surviving works, the three-part ballades: De Narcissus and Phiton, Phiton, beste tres venimeuse. The former was widely distributed in his lifetime.[1]

Identity

Franciscus may be the same person as the F. Andrieu who wrote Armes, amours/O flour des flours, a déploration on the death of poet-composer Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300–1377).[2] Although, the scholarly consensus on this identification is unclear.[n 1] He may also be Franciscus de Goano or Johannes Franchois.[1] Machaut was the most dominate and important composer of the 14th century,[3] and Franciscus's works show many similarities to his, suggesting the two were contemporaries.[1]

Music

Only two of his works survive, the three-part ballades: De Narcissus and Phiton, Phiton, beste tres venimeuse.[1] They are both contained in the Chantilly Codex.[4] Reaney notes that Magister Franciscus's works are likely earlier than Andrieu's, between 1370 and 1376.[5]

Works
List of compositions by Magister Franciscus[2][1]
Title No. of voices Genre Manuscript source: Folios Apel Greene
De Narcissus 3 Ballade Chantilly Codex: 19v A 26 G Vol 18: 16
Phiton, Phiton, beste tres venimeuse 3 Ballade Chantilly Codex: 20v A 27 G Vol 18: 18
No other works by Magister Franciscus survive[n 2]

Editions

Franciscus's works are included in the following collections:

  • Apel, Willi, ed. (1970–72). French Secular Compositions of the Fourteenth Century. Corpus mensurabilis musicae. 53. Cambridge, Massachusetts: American Institute of Musicology. ISBN 9780910956291. OCLC 311424615.
  • Greene, Gordon K., ed. (1982). Manuscript Chantilly, Musée Condé 564 Part 1, nos. 1–50. Polyphonic Music of the Fourteenth Century. 18. Monaco: Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre. OCLC 181660103.

Notes
  1. Scholars identify F. Andrieu as Magister Franciscus with varying degrees of certainty:
    • Reaney 2001: Their works being from the same manuscript "suggest that the two composers may be the same person".
    • Abraham & Hughes 1960, p. 27: "Franciscus is doubtless the same man as the F. Andrieu..."
    • Reaney 1954, p. 67: "It would not be impossible for Magister Franciscus and F. Andrieu to be one and the same person"
    • Günther 2001: "[Magister Franciscus] may be the F. Andrieu..."
    • Strohm 2005, p. 53: "[F. Andrieu] may be the same man as Magister Franciscus"
    • Magnan 1993, p. 49: "[On the identification between Andrieu and Franciscus] this tenuous identification leads nowhere."
  2. If Magister Franciscus is identifiable with F. Andrieu, then Andrieu's compositions would be his as well.

References
  1. Günther 2001.
  2. Reaney 2001.
  3. Reese 1940, p. 359.
  4. Abraham & Hughes 1960, p. 27.
  5. Reaney 1954, p. 67.

Sources
Books
Journals and articles
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