Fiori musicali

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Title page of the first edition of Fiori musicali

Fiori musicali ("Musical Flowers") is a collection of liturgical organ music by
Girolamo Frescobaldi, first published in 1635. It contains three organ masses and two
secular capriccios. Generally acknowledged as one of Frescobaldi's best works, Fiori
musicali influenced composers during at least two centuries. Johann Sebastian Bach
was among its admirers, and parts of it were included in the celebrated Gradus ad
parnassum, a highly influential 1725 treatise by Johann Joseph Fux which was in use
even in the 19th century.
Contents
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1. 1 History
2. 2
Structure
3. 3
Influence
4. 4 Media
5. 5
Referenc
es
6. 6 Notes
[edit]
History

A 1630 painting of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, where Frescobaldi worked at the time of the
publication of Fiori musicali
Fiori musicali was first published in Venice in 1635, when Frescobaldi was working as
organist of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, under the patronage of Pope Urban VIII and
his nephew Cardinal Francesco Barberini. It may have been conceived as music for St
Mark's Basilica or a similarly important church.[1] The collection was printed by
Giacomo Vincenti (a celebrated publisher who had previously published reprints of
Frescobaldi's capriccios), and dedicated to Cardinal Antonio Barberini, Francesco's
younger brother. The full title of Frescobaldi's work is Fiori musicali di diverse
compositioni, toccate, kyrie, canzoni, capricci, e recercari, in partitura. The fiori musicali bit
was not uncommon in early 17th century, used by composers such as Felice Anerio,
Antonio Brunelli, Ercole Porta, Orazio Tarditi, and others.
Before Fiori musicali, Frescobaldi seldom published liturgical music. It only appeared
once, in Secondo libro di toccate of 1627; all other keyboard collections by the master
concentrated instead on various secular genres (canzonas, capriccios, toccatas, and
variations). The organ mass was still in its infancy, and composers seldom published
such music. Although 16th century composers did work on liturgical music, the
forms they used were a far cry from 17th century works. Early 17th century examples
from Italy include Adriano Banchieri's 1622 edition of L'organo suonarino (1 mass) and
Bernardino Bottazzi's Choro et organo of 1614 (3 masses and miscellaneous versets). in
France, Jean Titelouze published collections of liturgical music in 1624 and 1626 (but
the characteristic French Organ Mass did not appear until much later). After
Frescobaldi, however, several collections appeared: Giovanni Salvatore's Ricercari [...]
e versi per rispondere nelle messe (1641), Antonio Croci's Frutti musicali (1642), and
Giovanni Battista Fasolo's Annuale (1645)—all these contain three masses each,
similar to Frescobaldi's.
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Structure
The collection consists of three masses: Missa della Domenica (Sunday Mass), Missa
degli Apostoli ("Mass of the Apostles", for double feasts), Missa della Madonna
("Mass of the Virgin", for feasts of the Virgin). Each mass includes a number of pieces
to be played at key moments before and during the service, and several settings of
the first section of the Mass ordinary, Kyrie. Frescobaldi offers canzonas (Canzon dopo
l'epistola) for the Gradual section of the mass, and ricercars (Recercar dopo il Credo) for
the Offertory. The overall structure of Fiori musicali is as follows:

Mass section Missa della Missa degli Missa della Madonna

Domenica Apostoli
avanti la Messa Toccata Toccata Toccata
(before the
Mass)
Kyrie, Christe 12 versets 8 versets 6 versets
dopo l'epistola Canzona Canzona Canzona
(Gradual)
dopo il Credo Ricercar Toccata and Ricercar, Toccata and
(Offertory) Ricercar Ricercar (Recercar con
(Recercar obligo di cantare)
Chromaticho
post il Credo),
Ricercar (Altro
recercar)
per l'Elevazione Toccata Toccata, Toccata
(Elevation) (Toccata Ricercar
cromaticha per (Recercar con
le Levatione) obligo del
Basso come
apare)
post il Canzona Canzona  
Communio (Canzon quarti
(after the toni)
Communion)