Heinrich Isaac - A la battaglia (1487)

I-Fn MS Panciatichiano 27: "A la battaglia" (early 16th century)
Chanson instrumentale : A la battaglia
Jordi Savall · Heinrich Isaac · Hespèrion XXI
Henricus Isaac
℗ 2017 Alia Vox
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 Prez, Isaac influenced the development of music in Germany. Several variants exist of his name: Ysaac, Ysaak, Henricus, Arrigo d'Ugo, and Arrigo il Tedesco among them. (Tedesco means "Flemish" or "German" in Italian.)
Heinrich Isaac's career spanned well over thirty years and allowed him to travel far from his homeland of Flanders into Germany, Italy, and Austria, as well as other parts of central Europe. While the absence of plentiful primary sources makes it hard for us to map out Isaac's life, piecing together the sources we do have along with the works he wrote gives us a good picture of just how popular this Franco-Flemish composer was in his time. Isaac was probably writing music by the 1470s, and the first document mentioning his name dates back to 15 September 1484, placing him in Innsbruck as a singer for Duke Sigismund of Austria, of the House of Habsburg. The following year Isaac migrated to Florence since documents show that by July 1485 Isaac had become employed as a singer at the church Santa Maria del Fiore. By the middle of 1491, he was designated as a singer at Santissima Annunziata, a position that he held until 1493.
Several documents illustrate Isaac's long stay in Florence under the employment of Santa Maria del Fiore and Santissima Annunziata as a singer, and also suggest that he may have developed a close working relationship with Lorenzo de Medici. It is speculated that it was Medici who may have summoned Isaac to Florence from Innsbruck in 1484. Previously, Isaac had been identified as an organist to Lorenzo but the Isaac who served in this post is now known to have been Isaac Argyropoulos. During his presence in Florence from 1484 until the end of 1496, Isaac probably composed several masses, motets, and secular songs, including missa “J'ay pris amours” and the carnival song "Hora è di Maggio". In 1487 Isaac composed the piece “A la battaglia” to commemorate the battle between Genoa and Florence for the castle Sarzanello although there is much debate over the exact date and purpose of the piece. Isaac's relationship with Lorenzo de' Medici must have been fairly close because allegedly between 1488 and 1489 he composed the music for a play called “San Giovanni e San Paolo”, written by Medici himself. Moreover, when Lorenzo died in April 1492 Isaac composed two motets in his memory. Lorenzo's son Piero inherited everything he owned, including his musical groups. In September 1492 Piero took his musical groups to Rome to perform for the coronation of Pope Alexander VI. Records show that Isaac was one of the three singers for whom clothing was purchased for the trip, implying that he probably performed for the Pope.

[@luciaparra4231]

Excellent, I loved it!