Programme
Antonio ‘Zacara’ da Teramo
A master of the late Middle Ages and his influence on 15th century music
​
Antonio Zacara da Teramo (ca. 1360/1416) is – together with Johannes Ciconia and Matteo da Perugia – one of the eminent musicians of the late Italian Ars Nova. His music presents the widest possible variety of styles, registers and forms. He was one of the most prolific, talented and widely diffused and copied composers of his time. And perhaps the one who had the greatest influence on the following generation, an authentic bridge between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. But music was not the only art in which he excelled. In fact, in 1390 he was said to be ‘optimo perito et famosi cantore, scriptore et miniatore’. Even in the 18th century he was known as a "successful composer and elegant scribe, short in stature, who had only ten fingers and toes". These details are confirmed by the famous miniature in the Squarcialupi Codex which portrays him wearing a red robe and with his arm in
a sling. He was a singer in the Papal Chapel, Cantor Domini Nostri Papae, as confirmed by the Squarcialupi miniature. The course, divided into 5 days, is aimed at all those who are interested in entering or deepening their knowledge of the universe of late medieval music and of Zacara in particular, placing it within a historical-musical and analytical framework in which the fundamental passage between the end of the Ars Nova and the advent of the "new style" that gave rise to Renaissance polyphony is understood starting from the analysis of the pieces and compositional techniques. The focus of the course will be the practical and theoretical study of Zacara's music, both to recognize the lines of his style and to construct an interpretation that is as informed as possible by manuscripts and treatises. Biographical, stylistic, and historical reconstructions will alternate with work on sources, notation, analysis of pieces, and their performance. The course is therefore aimed at both those who intend to participate actively as performers (singers, organists, harpists, lutenists, fiddle players, recorder and traverso players, and other instruments in use at the time) and those who are primarily interested in analysis (composers, for example, or scholars of historical counterpoint) and also those who simply intend to attend as listeners.
​
The course is limited in number, so a preliminary selection will be made on the basis of audio or video material containing at least 2 pieces. Please send video or audio to corsi@fima-online.org
Bio
Michele Pasotti is founder and director of the Early Music ensemble la fonte musica, the centre of his musical life. As a lute player he has a great experience in Basso Continuo practice with the best European Early Music ensembles like Il Giardino Armonico, Collegium Vocale Gent, Les Talens Lyriques, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Arcangelo, Les Musiciens du Prince, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and others. He loves playing chamber music with singers like Alena Dantcheva and Giuseppina Bridelli, and with Il Ricercar Continuo (Giulia Genini, Alessandro Palmeri, Margret Koell). With la fonte musica he received the “Premio Abbiati” of the Italian critics as the best ensemble of the year 2022. Among their other prizes: 2 Diapason d’Or (Diapason), Editor’s Choice by Gramophone, Preis der Deutschen Shallplattenkritik, Disc of the Month by Toccata, finalist at the ICMA (International classical music awards), Le Choix de Radio France, 5 stars of Music, Pizzicato Supersonic Award. They have performed in the major Early Music Festival throughout Europe, USA and Canada. Beyond the activity with la fonte musica, he is called to conduct other ensembles like Capella Cracoviensis and Harmonia Cordis and as assistant to conductor G. Antonini at Theater an der Wien and Teatro alla Scala. He was guested by the most eminent musical seasons and concert halls in Europe, United States and Asia and was directed by Claudio Abbado, John Eliot Gardiner, Giovanni Antonini, Philippe Herreweghe, Thomas Hengelbrock, Diego Fasolis, Christophe Rousset, Andrea Marcon, Monica Huggett, Nathalie Stutzmann, Barthold Kujiken. As a soloist (lutes, theorbo, baroque guitar), his repertoire spans from the Middle Ages to the late Eighteenth century. He recorded a cd devoted to the great 17th century guitarist Francesco Corbetta (Dynamic). Michele played in more than 80 recordings (beyond those for Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, EMI/Virgin Classics, Naïve, Warner, Sony/Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, SWR, Glossa, ORF, Ricercar, Avie, The Classic Voice, Amadeus) and took part in several live broadcasts (BBC, ORF, WDR, Radio Polskie, Rai Radio 3, Rete 2 of Rsi, France 2, France Musique, Mezzo). He is currently professor of Lute at the Conservatorio “Maderna” in Cesena e al Koninklijk Conservatorium van Brussel (Conservatorio Reale di Bruxelles), and has taught at the Civica Scuola di Musica di Milano and at Conservatorio “Vittadini” in Pavia. He regularly gives lectures, either on musicological subjects, or to introduce and spread the knowledge of lutes and early music, also with Radio Broadcasts (Rai Radio 3). He also received a first class degree in Theoretical Philosophy with a dissertation on Martin Heidegger.