18 19
d i n k o  f a b r i s
U n i v e r s i t à  d e l l a  B a s i l i c a t a  &  U n i v e r s i t e i t  L e i d e n
THE EARLIEST VILLANELLE BY 
GIACOMO GORZANIS: NOTES ON 
THE LUTE MUS.MS. 1511 A IN MUNICH, 
BAYERISCHE STAATSBIBLIOTHEK
Iz v l eček:  Gorzanis je bil v šestdesetih 
letih 16. stoletja uspešen skladatelj lutenj-
skih del. Njegov rokopis (1567) v knjižnici 
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek vsebuje sedem 
vilanel, od katerih štiri niso bile objavljene 
v dveh knjigah, ki ju je natisnil v letih 1570 
in 1571. Rekonstrukcija ene od teh skladb iz 
tabulatur je predstavljena kot primer takrat 
razširjene izvajalske prakse.
K ljučne besede: Giacomo Gorzanis, vi-
lanela, lutenjska tabulatura, družina Herwart, 
Münchenski Mus.Ms. 1511 a
A bst r act:  Gorzanis was a successful 
lute composer during the period 1560–1570. 
His manuscript (1567) in the Bayerische 
Staatsbibliothek contains seven villanelle, 
four of which are not in the two books he had 
published in 1570 and 1571. A reconstruction 
from the tablature of one of these pieces is 
proposed as an example of a widespread 
performance practice.
K ey wor ds: Giacomo Gorzanis, villanella, 
lute tablature, Herwart family, Munich Mus.
Ms. 1511 a
CC BY-SA 4.0, DOI: 10.3986/dmd20.1–2.01
20 21
Giacomo Gorzanis was a very successful lute player and composer active in middle 
of the sixteenth century in the territories comprising north-east Italy (Trieste), Slo-
venia (Ljubljana), South Tyrol and Austria. Even though he was blind, Gorzanis pub-
lished in Venice six books containing his output in addition to producing a manuscript 
collection. Only on the title page of his first book (1561) is there any mention of his 
disability,1 while the self-description “cieco” (blind) disappears from the second book 
onwards. Gorzanis mentions his blindness again only in the dedication to Vito de 
Dornberg of Gorizia in his Terzo libro from 1564:2
Non senza maraviglia saran riguardate queste mie fatiche, considerando che, io, 
privo di lume, hora pressuma di darle in luce. Ma chi rivolgera nell’animo che molti 
per darsi alla contemplatione delle cose: habitarono le proffonde caverne, & le oscure 
grotte, & che quel gran Philosopho Democrito voluntariamente si privò del lume de 
gli occhi, giudicando che i pensieri dell’animo sarianno più disposti & piu accuti nel 
contemplar le raggioni della natura, se gli liberasse dalla vaghezza del vedere, la-
sciarìa in tutto di maravigliarsi. Né ciò dico perché mi tenga tale, che i miei pensieri 
ascendano all’altezza di così grandi huomini, ma perché se pur è ponto de pensiero in 
me, si sappia che più unitamente & con più accutezza possedo io cieco questo poco 
che non farei per aventura quel molto, che la natura vedendo mi concedesse. Ma 
come si sia, tale finalmente è stato il mio basso pensiero (non sia per arroganza detto,  
 
1 Gorzanis, Intabolatura di Liuto.
2 Gorzanis, Terzo libro: “Not without wonderment will these labours of mine be contemplated, 
seeing that, I, bereft of light, have presumed to place them in the light. But whoever will recall 
that many seeking to give themselves over to the contemplation of things have inhabited deep 
caverns and dim caves, and that the great philosopher Democritus voluntarily deprived himself 
of the light of his own eyes, judging that the thoughts of the mind would be more readied 
and sharpened for contemplating the ways of nature, if such a person can free himself from 
the vagueness of sight, his amazement will cease. Nor do I say this in order to claim that my 
thoughts could ever rise to the heights of such great men, but so that if there is a scintilla of 
thought in me, let it be known that I, a blind person, more resolutely and with more acuity pos-
sess this small gift that I would not perchance turn into that large one which nature, on seeing 
it, could have granted me. But be that as it may, such has finally been my humble thought (let 
this be said not from arrogance but with truth) that it has been able not only to persuade, but 
almost to spur on the elevated thought of the most proficient musicians to publish these works of 
mine. And thinking to myself at length under whose name [i.e., patronage] these works should 
be offered to the public gaze […]”. Two copies survive of this third book by Gorzanis: in Vienna, 
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, and Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Thibault 
collection). See also the facsimile edition of Gorzanis’s Books 1, 2 and 3 based on the example in 
Paris (Geneva: Minkoff, 1981). In the original wording transcribed in the main text I use bold 
type for terms relating to Gorzanis’s blindness.
ma per verutà) che ha potuto non solo indurre, ma quasi spronare l’alto pensiero de i 
valentissimi musici à dar fuori queste mie vigilie. Le quali fra me stesso lungamente 
ripensando sotto cui nome dovessero comparire à gli occhi delli huomini […].
This autobiographical fragment written by Gorzanis can help us to appreciate 
how strange the growing success of a blind lutenist may have appeared to his con-
temporaries within the social group he was attending, at a time when he was making 
preparation, via a fitting action, for his promotion to the rank of a Citizen of, and offi-
cial Lutenist to, the city of Trieste. The words “maraviglia” and “maravigliarsi” applied 
to works published by a sightless man (“privo di luce”) retain their validity today if 
one considers that this blind player was not only able to compose and to correct at 
least six books of varying types of music, but also to oversee personally the printing 
process in Venice, to travel from his native region of Puglia in southern Italy to Tri-
este and then move on from Trieste to Gorizia and the hinterland of Carniola on one 
hand, and also possibly visit Graz or Vienna in connection with the marriage of the 
Austrian Archduke. 
Gorzanis had resided in Trieste since at least 1557, since on 4 May of that year 
his daughter Domenica Giacoma — from his marriage to Dorotea — was baptized 
there. Later came his son Maximilian, who edited his father’s posthumous lute book 
Opera nova, published in 1579.3 It is likely that first his wife and then his children 
helped the blind composer prepare his tablatures for printing, but it is also notewor-
thy that the relevant method of printing, which used symbols that could be placed 
in relief, allowed some form of direct control through tactile contact by blind mu-
sicians. Throughout his artistic career Gorzanis enjoyed a continuous relationship 
with the wealthy bourgeoisie and the aristocracy of his time, as evidenced by the 
dedications of his prints: in particular, the Khisl family in Carniola, the Dietrich-
steins of Radovljica and the Dornbergs of Gorizia. Thanks to his high standing with 
the nobility of Ljubljana and Gorizia, Gorzanis entered into contact with the court of 
Archduke Charles II of Austria: in the dedication to the latter, dated 15 July 1571, from 
his second book of napolitane for three voices,4 the composer addresses the archduke 
in terms that appear to show that he knew the latter personally (“the memory I have 
[…] as your most humble servant, and the real affection I have for you”) and nour-
ished a hope of being taken into his service (“sustained, like a mighty column, by the 
desire of service […] Fortune does not allow me to make any other sort of gift at 
present”), as also a hope of participating in the festivities for the wedding of Charles 
to Princess Maria of Bavaria, planned for that same summer of 1571. Gorzanis was 
evidently hoping to be engaged on a temporary basis for the occasion, but there is no 
3 Gorzanis, Opera nova.
4 Gorzanis, Il secondo libro delle napolitane.
de musica disserenda xx / ¡ –™ dinko fabris |   the earliest villanelle by giacomo gorzanis
20 21
Giacomo Gorzanis was a very successful lute player and composer active in middle 
of the sixteenth century in the territories comprising north-east Italy (Trieste), Slo-
venia (Ljubljana), South Tyrol and Austria. Even though he was blind, Gorzanis pub-
lished in Venice six books containing his output in addition to producing a manuscript 
collection. Only on the title page of his first book (1561) is there any mention of his 
disability,1 while the self-description “cieco” (blind) disappears from the second book 
onwards. Gorzanis mentions his blindness again only in the dedication to Vito de 
Dornberg of Gorizia in his Terzo libro from 1564:2
Non senza maraviglia saran riguardate queste mie fatiche, considerando che, io, 
privo di lume, hora pressuma di darle in luce. Ma chi rivolgera nell’animo che molti 
per darsi alla contemplatione delle cose: habitarono le proffonde caverne, & le oscure 
grotte, & che quel gran Philosopho Democrito voluntariamente si privò del lume de 
gli occhi, giudicando che i pensieri dell’animo sarianno più disposti & piu accuti nel 
contemplar le raggioni della natura, se gli liberasse dalla vaghezza del vedere, la-
sciarìa in tutto di maravigliarsi. Né ciò dico perché mi tenga tale, che i miei pensieri 
ascendano all’altezza di così grandi huomini, ma perché se pur è ponto de pensiero in 
me, si sappia che più unitamente & con più accutezza possedo io cieco questo poco 
che non farei per aventura quel molto, che la natura vedendo mi concedesse. Ma 
come si sia, tale finalmente è stato il mio basso pensiero (non sia per arroganza detto,  
 
1 Gorzanis, Intabolatura di Liuto.
2 Gorzanis, Terzo libro: “Not without wonderment will these labours of mine be contemplated, 
seeing that, I, bereft of light, have presumed to place them in the light. But whoever will recall 
that many seeking to give themselves over to the contemplation of things have inhabited deep 
caverns and dim caves, and that the great philosopher Democritus voluntarily deprived himself 
of the light of his own eyes, judging that the thoughts of the mind would be more readied 
and sharpened for contemplating the ways of nature, if such a person can free himself from 
the vagueness of sight, his amazement will cease. Nor do I say this in order to claim that my 
thoughts could ever rise to the heights of such great men, but so that if there is a scintilla of 
thought in me, let it be known that I, a blind person, more resolutely and with more acuity pos-
sess this small gift that I would not perchance turn into that large one which nature, on seeing 
it, could have granted me. But be that as it may, such has finally been my humble thought (let 
this be said not from arrogance but with truth) that it has been able not only to persuade, but 
almost to spur on the elevated thought of the most proficient musicians to publish these works of 
mine. And thinking to myself at length under whose name [i.e., patronage] these works should 
be offered to the public gaze […]”. Two copies survive of this third book by Gorzanis: in Vienna, 
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, and Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Thibault 
collection). See also the facsimile edition of Gorzanis’s Books 1, 2 and 3 based on the example in 
Paris (Geneva: Minkoff, 1981). In the original wording transcribed in the main text I use bold 
type for terms relating to Gorzanis’s blindness.
ma per verutà) che ha potuto non solo indurre, ma quasi spronare l’alto pensiero de i 
valentissimi musici à dar fuori queste mie vigilie. Le quali fra me stesso lungamente 
ripensando sotto cui nome dovessero comparire à gli occhi delli huomini […].
This autobiographical fragment written by Gorzanis can help us to appreciate 
how strange the growing success of a blind lutenist may have appeared to his con-
temporaries within the social group he was attending, at a time when he was making 
preparation, via a fitting action, for his promotion to the rank of a Citizen of, and offi-
cial Lutenist to, the city of Trieste. The words “maraviglia” and “maravigliarsi” applied 
to works published by a sightless man (“privo di luce”) retain their validity today if 
one considers that this blind player was not only able to compose and to correct at 
least six books of varying types of music, but also to oversee personally the printing 
process in Venice, to travel from his native region of Puglia in southern Italy to Tri-
este and then move on from Trieste to Gorizia and the hinterland of Carniola on one 
hand, and also possibly visit Graz or Vienna in connection with the marriage of the 
Austrian Archduke. 
Gorzanis had resided in Trieste since at least 1557, since on 4 May of that year 
his daughter Domenica Giacoma — from his marriage to Dorotea — was baptized 
there. Later came his son Maximilian, who edited his father’s posthumous lute book 
Opera nova, published in 1579.3 It is likely that first his wife and then his children 
helped the blind composer prepare his tablatures for printing, but it is also notewor-
thy that the relevant method of printing, which used symbols that could be placed 
in relief, allowed some form of direct control through tactile contact by blind mu-
sicians. Throughout his artistic career Gorzanis enjoyed a continuous relationship 
with the wealthy bourgeoisie and the aristocracy of his time, as evidenced by the 
dedications of his prints: in particular, the Khisl family in Carniola, the Dietrich-
steins of Radovljica and the Dornbergs of Gorizia. Thanks to his high standing with 
the nobility of Ljubljana and Gorizia, Gorzanis entered into contact with the court of 
Archduke Charles II of Austria: in the dedication to the latter, dated 15 July 1571, from 
his second book of napolitane for three voices,4 the composer addresses the archduke 
in terms that appear to show that he knew the latter personally (“the memory I have 
[…] as your most humble servant, and the real affection I have for you”) and nour-
ished a hope of being taken into his service (“sustained, like a mighty column, by the 
desire of service […] Fortune does not allow me to make any other sort of gift at 
present”), as also a hope of participating in the festivities for the wedding of Charles 
to Princess Maria of Bavaria, planned for that same summer of 1571. Gorzanis was 
evidently hoping to be engaged on a temporary basis for the occasion, but there is no 
3 Gorzanis, Opera nova.
4 Gorzanis, Il secondo libro delle napolitane.
de musica disserenda xx / ¡ –™ dinko fabris |   the earliest villanelle by giacomo gorzanis
22 23
certainty that this happened. At all events, Archduke Charles must have looked with 
favour on the gift, for in the following year, 1572, he sent money to Trieste to pay for 
the education of Gorzanis’s son.
All these elements can help us understand better the origin of Gorzanis’s sole 
surviving manuscript book, today preserved in Munich. Mus.Ms. 1511 a in the Bay-
erische Staatsbibliothek is an oblong volume very similar in size to one of Gorzanis’s 
own lute prints published in Venice. It contains thirty-six folios laid out with four 
hexagrams per page to accommodate the lute tablature. The title page and dedication 
placed at the opening also reinforce the idea that this is a manuscript designed to be 
sent to a publisher for printing. The title page reads:
LIBRO DE INTABULATURA DI LIUTO.
Nel qualle si contengano vinti quatro passa mezi dodeci per bemolle et | dodeci per 
be quadro sopra dodeci chiave. Novamente composte con alcune | napollitane de 
Jacomo Gorzanis Lautanista citadino de la mag.ca |citta de Trieste scritta de trieste. 
etc. Del mille et cinque cento et sasanta sette. Annj.
The dedication, on the next folio, is a mere draft awaiting completion:
AL MOLTO MAGNIFICO SIGNOR ODORICO | Erbert patron suo sempre 
osservandissimo etc. | Della Signoria Vosstra. servitore. Jacomo Gorzanis | Lauta-
nista de Trieste.
These two pages inform us that Gorzanis in 1567 had composed, and had the 
manuscript prepared, in Trieste, where, in that very year, he finally obtained the 
coveted title of “Citizen” (reserved for those who had resided in the city for at least 
ten years), which he immediately parades. The title page is in every way similar to 
those of his three previous lute books published in Venice respectively in 1561, 1563 
and 1564. The volume was dedicated — and probably sent — to Udalricus Herwart, 
who a few years later would serve on Augsburg’s Small Council (Kleiner Rat). In that 
same city the Herwart family was prominent during the whole of the sixteenth cen-
tury as collectors and patrons of music. Not fortuitously, Udalricus was a cousin of 
the better-known Johann Heinrich Herwart (1520–1583), a merchant with business 
links to the Fuggers (another famous German family of music-lovers)5 and so fond 
of music that he amassed a collection of about 500 music books, which included as 
5 By a strange coincidence, the copy of the Il secondo libro delle napolitane (1571) by Gorzanis pre-
served in Vienna comes from the library of Philipp Eduard Fugger.
many as 200 Italian books of madrigals and villanelle. After his death the collection 
was purchased by Duke Wilhelm of Bavaria and today constitutes a major part of 
the music collections of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich. Moreover, the 
Herwart family was particularly interested in musical instruments and lute music, as 
evidenced by the large number of lute tablature manuscripts from the Herwarts that 
have been identified in the same library.6
The Munich manuscript, as indicated on the flyleaf in an annotation by Julius 
Joseph Maier, a custodian of the music collection during the nineteenth century, was 
identified as “Autograph”, and its contents described as “24 Passemezzi e Saltarelli | 
7 Villanellen | 1 Ricercar, Von fremder Hand sind eingeschrieben 3 Villanellen, 1 
Ricercar”.7
The villanelle are as follows:
(1) fol. 34, no. 49: “Se io vegio o dormo sempre | penso atene: Napolitana.” = 
S’io veglio o dormo sempre pens’a tene (Gorzanis, Il primo libro di napolitane, no. 13);
(2) [fol. 34v], no. 50: “Ducha vevoio dir una novella napolitana d. Jacomo Gorza-
nis” = Duca vi voglio dir una novella (Gorzanis, Il primo libro di napolitane, no. 7);
(3) [fol. 34v/2], no. 51: “Tu ma inganato col tuo dolce viso. Napolitana” = Tu 
m’hai gabbato col tuo dolce viso (Gorzanis, Il primo libro di napolitane, no. 12);
(4) fol. 35, no. 52: “Tre giorni fa che mi dicesti vieni vieni Napolitana d. Jacopo 
Gorzanis”;
(5) [fol. 35v], no. 53: “Damo fallano son gia stato morto”;
(6) fol. 36, no. 54: “Bella che tieni li capelli doro”;
(7) [fol. 37v], no. 56: “Donna io te amo nō mi fa morire Napolitana.”.
These seven pieces constitute the only known handwritten copies of Gorzanis’s vil-
lanelle, leaving aside a single piece copied in the so-called Dallis Lutebook:8 
6 On the lute manuscripts from the Herwart collection, see Ness, “Herwart Lute Manuscripts”.
7 “Von fremder Hand sind eingeschrieben” means “in a different hand are inscribed”. A physical 
description of the manuscript is provided in Boettischer, Handschriftlich Überlieferte Lauten- und 
Gitarrentabulaturen, 218ff. Although this is unlikely to be an autograph of the blind lutenist 
Giacomo Gorzanis, the main hand is definitely Italian, belonging to a person close to the 
composer. In the manuscript, however, the presence on fols. 34 and 36v–37v of a different hand, 
labelled “scribe C” by Taricani, has been recognized. See Taricani, “Renaissance Bibliophile”, 
1369–1370.
8 Trinity College Library, Dublin (IRL-Dtc), Ms. 410/1, [p. 176]. The full manuscript is available 
in digital form on the Trinity College Dublin website: https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/concern/
works/z890rz728?locale=en. This volume was earlier reported and studied in Ward, Dublin 
Virginal Manuscript; Goodwin, English Lute Song; Craig-McFeely, “English Lute Manuscripts”.
de musica disserenda xx / ¡ –™ dinko fabris |   the earliest villanelle by giacomo gorzanis
22 23
certainty that this happened. At all events, Archduke Charles must have looked with 
favour on the gift, for in the following year, 1572, he sent money to Trieste to pay for 
the education of Gorzanis’s son.
All these elements can help us understand better the origin of Gorzanis’s sole 
surviving manuscript book, today preserved in Munich. Mus.Ms. 1511 a in the Bay-
erische Staatsbibliothek is an oblong volume very similar in size to one of Gorzanis’s 
own lute prints published in Venice. It contains thirty-six folios laid out with four 
hexagrams per page to accommodate the lute tablature. The title page and dedication 
placed at the opening also reinforce the idea that this is a manuscript designed to be 
sent to a publisher for printing. The title page reads:
LIBRO DE INTABULATURA DI LIUTO.
Nel qualle si contengano vinti quatro passa mezi dodeci per bemolle et | dodeci per 
be quadro sopra dodeci chiave. Novamente composte con alcune | napollitane de 
Jacomo Gorzanis Lautanista citadino de la mag.ca |citta de Trieste scritta de trieste. 
etc. Del mille et cinque cento et sasanta sette. Annj.
The dedication, on the next folio, is a mere draft awaiting completion:
AL MOLTO MAGNIFICO SIGNOR ODORICO | Erbert patron suo sempre 
osservandissimo etc. | Della Signoria Vosstra. servitore. Jacomo Gorzanis | Lauta-
nista de Trieste.
These two pages inform us that Gorzanis in 1567 had composed, and had the 
manuscript prepared, in Trieste, where, in that very year, he finally obtained the 
coveted title of “Citizen” (reserved for those who had resided in the city for at least 
ten years), which he immediately parades. The title page is in every way similar to 
those of his three previous lute books published in Venice respectively in 1561, 1563 
and 1564. The volume was dedicated — and probably sent — to Udalricus Herwart, 
who a few years later would serve on Augsburg’s Small Council (Kleiner Rat). In that 
same city the Herwart family was prominent during the whole of the sixteenth cen-
tury as collectors and patrons of music. Not fortuitously, Udalricus was a cousin of 
the better-known Johann Heinrich Herwart (1520–1583), a merchant with business 
links to the Fuggers (another famous German family of music-lovers)5 and so fond 
of music that he amassed a collection of about 500 music books, which included as 
5 By a strange coincidence, the copy of the Il secondo libro delle napolitane (1571) by Gorzanis pre-
served in Vienna comes from the library of Philipp Eduard Fugger.
many as 200 Italian books of madrigals and villanelle. After his death the collection 
was purchased by Duke Wilhelm of Bavaria and today constitutes a major part of 
the music collections of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich. Moreover, the 
Herwart family was particularly interested in musical instruments and lute music, as 
evidenced by the large number of lute tablature manuscripts from the Herwarts that 
have been identified in the same library.6
The Munich manuscript, as indicated on the flyleaf in an annotation by Julius 
Joseph Maier, a custodian of the music collection during the nineteenth century, was 
identified as “Autograph”, and its contents described as “24 Passemezzi e Saltarelli | 
7 Villanellen | 1 Ricercar, Von fremder Hand sind eingeschrieben 3 Villanellen, 1 
Ricercar”.7
The villanelle are as follows:
(1) fol. 34, no. 49: “Se io vegio o dormo sempre | penso atene: Napolitana.” = 
S’io veglio o dormo sempre pens’a tene (Gorzanis, Il primo libro di napolitane, no. 13);
(2) [fol. 34v], no. 50: “Ducha vevoio dir una novella napolitana d. Jacomo Gorza-
nis” = Duca vi voglio dir una novella (Gorzanis, Il primo libro di napolitane, no. 7);
(3) [fol. 34v/2], no. 51: “Tu ma inganato col tuo dolce viso. Napolitana” = Tu 
m’hai gabbato col tuo dolce viso (Gorzanis, Il primo libro di napolitane, no. 12);
(4) fol. 35, no. 52: “Tre giorni fa che mi dicesti vieni vieni Napolitana d. Jacopo 
Gorzanis”;
(5) [fol. 35v], no. 53: “Damo fallano son gia stato morto”;
(6) fol. 36, no. 54: “Bella che tieni li capelli doro”;
(7) [fol. 37v], no. 56: “Donna io te amo nō mi fa morire Napolitana.”.
These seven pieces constitute the only known handwritten copies of Gorzanis’s vil-
lanelle, leaving aside a single piece copied in the so-called Dallis Lutebook:8 
6 On the lute manuscripts from the Herwart collection, see Ness, “Herwart Lute Manuscripts”.
7 “Von fremder Hand sind eingeschrieben” means “in a different hand are inscribed”. A physical 
description of the manuscript is provided in Boettischer, Handschriftlich Überlieferte Lauten- und 
Gitarrentabulaturen, 218ff. Although this is unlikely to be an autograph of the blind lutenist 
Giacomo Gorzanis, the main hand is definitely Italian, belonging to a person close to the 
composer. In the manuscript, however, the presence on fols. 34 and 36v–37v of a different hand, 
labelled “scribe C” by Taricani, has been recognized. See Taricani, “Renaissance Bibliophile”, 
1369–1370.
8 Trinity College Library, Dublin (IRL-Dtc), Ms. 410/1, [p. 176]. The full manuscript is available 
in digital form on the Trinity College Dublin website: https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/concern/
works/z890rz728?locale=en. This volume was earlier reported and studied in Ward, Dublin 
Virginal Manuscript; Goodwin, English Lute Song; Craig-McFeely, “English Lute Manuscripts”.
de musica disserenda xx / ¡ –™ dinko fabris |   the earliest villanelle by giacomo gorzanis
24 25
(8) “Chi in Donna | giacomo Gorzanis” = Chi in donna bella loca lo suo core (Gor-
zanis, Il secondo libro delle napolitane, no. 1).
The peculiarity of the last-mentioned manuscript piece is that it is a version for 
soprano solo voice and lute accompaniment in tablature, whereas the printed origi-
nal provided three separate partbooks for the three voices indicated by the title (c, t, 
b). However, the version copied in this Irish manuscript (belonging to a lute pupil of 
the composer Thomas Dallis), where the piece was included along with a few other 
songs and many instrumental dances prior to 1590, is written in French tablature for 
six-course lute, with no text provided for the melodic part (Cantus).9
Figure 1 | Giacomo Gorzanis, Chi in donna, from the Dallis Lutebook (IRL-Dtc, Ms. 410/1, [p. 176])
9 Gorzanis, Il secondo libro delle napolitane, originally printed in three partbooks, is edited together 
with the Il primo libro di napolitane by Alenka Bagarič in Gorzanis, Il primo libro (2007).
Of all the pieces copied in the Munich manuscript, only three have concordan-
ces in a known printed source by Gorzanis: namely, Il primo libro di napolitane che si 
cantano et sonano in leuto (Venice, 1570).10 Once again, the manuscript version differs 
from the printed one, since the three villanelle are presented solely in lute tablature, 
lacking the melodic Cantus part. However, already in the original printed version 
the tablature encompassed all three “ideal” voices belonging to the vocal original, in-
cluding the Cantus, thereby suggesting a possible purely instrumental performance 
(as the lack of any text underlaid to the tablature’s figures already implies). This edi-
torial practice causes difficulties for a modern performance of this repertoire, which 
obviously cannot tolerate an unvarying doubling of the vocal part by the instrument. 
Since I will publish all seven villanelle of the Munich manuscript, together with the 
other twenty-five instrumental compositions from the same source, in a volume of 
the so-called Gorzanis Opera Omnia planned for the series Monumenta artis musi-
cae Sloveniae, I will limit myself in this article to highlighting some elements that 
bring out the importance of this source.
The Munich manuscript reveals to us that in 1567 Giacomo Gorzanis decided 
to compile a fourth book of lute tablature (after the three already printed in Venice 
in the previous six years) and sent it to Udalricus, a member of the Herwart family 
in Augsburg, probably hoping to elicit a financial contribution sufficient to cover 
the printing costs (the dedication left blank suggests that the composer was waiting 
for a reply). We do not know where Giacomo had met the German merchant and 
whether the volume was ever printed, but it is unlikely that it could have been used 
in that precise form as printer’s copy, since the final section housing the villanelle 
is very disparate, some pieces having apparently been added at the last moment as 
fillers to augment the vocal section. There is another problem, one presented by the 
napolitane in the volume: it was rather unusual to include in a collection of lute music 
intabulations of vocal pieces not previously printed. Gorzanis’s villanelle all turn out 
to be not yet published, and only three would later (1570) be accepted into Il primo li-
bro di napolitane. However, it has already been mentioned by Alenka Bagarič that pre-
cisely in 1567 Gorzanis received ten florins from the Carniolan administration for his 
“Carmina”. These could conceivably be a collection of (villanesque) songs of which 
we have no knowledge, one containing the pieces copied in the Munich manuscript.
Only in one case are there other settings of a text attributed to Gorzanis in the 
Bavarian source: Bella che tieni li capigli d’oro was inserted without an author’s name 
in the collection Secondo libro delle muse a 3 voci. Canzon villanesche alla napolitana 
nuovamente raccolte, et date in luce (Rome: Antonio Barré, 1557), no. 14, reprinted in 
Li quattro libri delle villotte alla napolitana a 3 voci de diversi (Venice: Girolamo Scotto, 
1562) and also in Il Secondo libro delle villotte alla napoletana de diversi con due moresche 
10 See Appendix a.
de musica disserenda xx / ¡ –™ dinko fabris |   the earliest villanelle by giacomo gorzanis
24 25
(8) “Chi in Donna | giacomo Gorzanis” = Chi in donna bella loca lo suo core (Gor-
zanis, Il secondo libro delle napolitane, no. 1).
The peculiarity of the last-mentioned manuscript piece is that it is a version for 
soprano solo voice and lute accompaniment in tablature, whereas the printed origi-
nal provided three separate partbooks for the three voices indicated by the title (c, t, 
b). However, the version copied in this Irish manuscript (belonging to a lute pupil of 
the composer Thomas Dallis), where the piece was included along with a few other 
songs and many instrumental dances prior to 1590, is written in French tablature for 
six-course lute, with no text provided for the melodic part (Cantus).9
Figure 1 | Giacomo Gorzanis, Chi in donna, from the Dallis Lutebook (IRL-Dtc, Ms. 410/1, [p. 176])
9 Gorzanis, Il secondo libro delle napolitane, originally printed in three partbooks, is edited together 
with the Il primo libro di napolitane by Alenka Bagarič in Gorzanis, Il primo libro (2007).
Of all the pieces copied in the Munich manuscript, only three have concordan-
ces in a known printed source by Gorzanis: namely, Il primo libro di napolitane che si 
cantano et sonano in leuto (Venice, 1570).10 Once again, the manuscript version differs 
from the printed one, since the three villanelle are presented solely in lute tablature, 
lacking the melodic Cantus part. However, already in the original printed version 
the tablature encompassed all three “ideal” voices belonging to the vocal original, in-
cluding the Cantus, thereby suggesting a possible purely instrumental performance 
(as the lack of any text underlaid to the tablature’s figures already implies). This edi-
torial practice causes difficulties for a modern performance of this repertoire, which 
obviously cannot tolerate an unvarying doubling of the vocal part by the instrument. 
Since I will publish all seven villanelle of the Munich manuscript, together with the 
other twenty-five instrumental compositions from the same source, in a volume of 
the so-called Gorzanis Opera Omnia planned for the series Monumenta artis musi-
cae Sloveniae, I will limit myself in this article to highlighting some elements that 
bring out the importance of this source.
The Munich manuscript reveals to us that in 1567 Giacomo Gorzanis decided 
to compile a fourth book of lute tablature (after the three already printed in Venice 
in the previous six years) and sent it to Udalricus, a member of the Herwart family 
in Augsburg, probably hoping to elicit a financial contribution sufficient to cover 
the printing costs (the dedication left blank suggests that the composer was waiting 
for a reply). We do not know where Giacomo had met the German merchant and 
whether the volume was ever printed, but it is unlikely that it could have been used 
in that precise form as printer’s copy, since the final section housing the villanelle 
is very disparate, some pieces having apparently been added at the last moment as 
fillers to augment the vocal section. There is another problem, one presented by the 
napolitane in the volume: it was rather unusual to include in a collection of lute music 
intabulations of vocal pieces not previously printed. Gorzanis’s villanelle all turn out 
to be not yet published, and only three would later (1570) be accepted into Il primo li-
bro di napolitane. However, it has already been mentioned by Alenka Bagarič that pre-
cisely in 1567 Gorzanis received ten florins from the Carniolan administration for his 
“Carmina”. These could conceivably be a collection of (villanesque) songs of which 
we have no knowledge, one containing the pieces copied in the Munich manuscript.
Only in one case are there other settings of a text attributed to Gorzanis in the 
Bavarian source: Bella che tieni li capigli d’oro was inserted without an author’s name 
in the collection Secondo libro delle muse a 3 voci. Canzon villanesche alla napolitana 
nuovamente raccolte, et date in luce (Rome: Antonio Barré, 1557), no. 14, reprinted in 
Li quattro libri delle villotte alla napolitana a 3 voci de diversi (Venice: Girolamo Scotto, 
1562) and also in Il Secondo libro delle villotte alla napoletana de diversi con due moresche 
10 See Appendix a.
de musica disserenda xx / ¡ –™ dinko fabris |   the earliest villanelle by giacomo gorzanis
26 27
(Venice: Antonio Gardano, 1560, no. 29; repr. 1566 and 1571). In 1566 Bella che tieni li 
capigli d’oro was likewise set in Antonio Scandello, El primo libro de le canzoni napole-
tane a 4 voci (Nürnberg: Ulrich Neuber and Theodoricus Gerlach, 1566).
After the Munich manuscript dated 1567 the same text was set also by Giovan-
ni Zappasorgo, Napolitane a tre voci. Libro primo (Venice: Girolamo Scotto, 1571). 
Thanks to the printed sources, it is possible to reconstruct the full text to be 
underlaid to the tablature in the manuscript version. From the manuscript tablature, 
conversely, it is easy to extrapolate the melodic line of the song contained therein. 
From the melody it appears that the required instrument is a lute in A, just as in two 
of the villanelle taken from Gorzanis’s Il primo libro di napolitane. We have thus been 
able to reconstruct from the Munich manuscript a hitherto unpublished new villanel-
la by Gorzanis.11
The role of Gorzanis’s first book of villanelle printed in 1570 is remarkable.12 Ex-
actly around that year, in fact, a new notational format was established for this genre 
of music, which by then had become widespread throughout Europe, but previously 
had always been printed in separate parts, as in the second book of napolitane (1571) 
by Gorzanis.13 A score format for solo voice and lute tablature had been adopted as 
early as 1509–1520 in prints by Franciscus Bossinensis, Bartolomeo Tromboncino 
and Marchetto Cara. But this notational format was not repeated in Italy until 1570, 
when almost simultaneously three authors published villanelle with solo voice and 
tablature in score: Giacomo Gorzanis, Cornelio Antonelli and Gasparo Fiorino (the 
latter one year later, in 1571).14 The Munich manuscript establishes that Gorzanis may 
be considered the earliest among villanella composers to produce an intabulated ver-
sion of his own vocal pieces: “queste mie Napolitane, che si suonano, et si cantano”.
11 See Appendix b.
12 Gorzanis, Il primo libro di napolitane (1570).
13 Gorzanis, Il secondo libro delle napolitane.
14 Leaving aside those of Gorzanis, the other two books are: Il Turturino. Il primo libro delle napo-
litane ariose da cantare et sonare nel leuto composte da diversi eccellentissimi musici, et novamente 
per il Rev. P. F. Cornelio Antonelli de Rimino detto il Turturino, accomodate sul leuto (Venice: 
Girolamo Scotto, 1570); La Nobiltà di Roma. Versi in lode di cento gentildonne romane, et le villa-
nelle a tre voci di Gasparo Fiorino della città di Rossano […] intavolate dal magnifico M. Francesco 
di Parise, Musico eccellentissimo in Roma (Venice: Girolamo Scotto, 1573). Not by accident, the 
sole surviving copy of Gorzanis’s Il primo libro di napolitane, preserved today in Florence, is 
bound together with Antonelli’s and Fiorino’s books. In 2002 I suggested that the three books 
by Gorzanis, Antonelli and Fiorino were all part of an editorial project by Girolamo Scotto, who 
had already embarked on comparable sustained projects with lute books. See Fabris, “Role of 
Solo Singing”.
APPENDIX A
Differences between the manuscript versions of villanelle and those in printed 
editions
1. S’io veglio o dormo sempre pens’a tene (Gorzanis, Il primo libro di napolitane, no. 13)15 
The incorrect title in D-Mbs, Mus.Ms. 1511 a, fol. 34, is as follows: Se io vegio o dormo 
sempre penso atene. The manuscript indicates bars (absent in the Venetian print) af-
ter each double tactus (2 × ). The rhythm is indicated by the signs in use in late 
sixteenth-century vocal mensural notation (see Figure 2) instead of those typical of 
Italian lute tablature (see Figure 3). At b. 4 the Munich manuscript indicates in the 
two first chords c♯ instead of c♮, as in the inlaid part of the print (see Figure 4).
 
Figure 2 | Signs used for the vocal notation
Figure 3 | Signs used for the Italian lute tablature
Figure 4 | Giacomo Gorzanis, S’io veglio o dormo sempre pens’a tene (D-Mbs, Mus.Ms. 1511 a, 
fol. 34v)
15 Modern edition in Gorzanis, Il primo libro (2007), 27.
de musica disserenda xx / ¡ –™ dinko fabris |   the earliest villanelle by giacomo gorzanis
26 27
(Venice: Antonio Gardano, 1560, no. 29; repr. 1566 and 1571). In 1566 Bella che tieni li 
capigli d’oro was likewise set in Antonio Scandello, El primo libro de le canzoni napole-
tane a 4 voci (Nürnberg: Ulrich Neuber and Theodoricus Gerlach, 1566).
After the Munich manuscript dated 1567 the same text was set also by Giovan-
ni Zappasorgo, Napolitane a tre voci. Libro primo (Venice: Girolamo Scotto, 1571). 
Thanks to the printed sources, it is possible to reconstruct the full text to be 
underlaid to the tablature in the manuscript version. From the manuscript tablature, 
conversely, it is easy to extrapolate the melodic line of the song contained therein. 
From the melody it appears that the required instrument is a lute in A, just as in two 
of the villanelle taken from Gorzanis’s Il primo libro di napolitane. We have thus been 
able to reconstruct from the Munich manuscript a hitherto unpublished new villanel-
la by Gorzanis.11
The role of Gorzanis’s first book of villanelle printed in 1570 is remarkable.12 Ex-
actly around that year, in fact, a new notational format was established for this genre 
of music, which by then had become widespread throughout Europe, but previously 
had always been printed in separate parts, as in the second book of napolitane (1571) 
by Gorzanis.13 A score format for solo voice and lute tablature had been adopted as 
early as 1509–1520 in prints by Franciscus Bossinensis, Bartolomeo Tromboncino 
and Marchetto Cara. But this notational format was not repeated in Italy until 1570, 
when almost simultaneously three authors published villanelle with solo voice and 
tablature in score: Giacomo Gorzanis, Cornelio Antonelli and Gasparo Fiorino (the 
latter one year later, in 1571).14 The Munich manuscript establishes that Gorzanis may 
be considered the earliest among villanella composers to produce an intabulated ver-
sion of his own vocal pieces: “queste mie Napolitane, che si suonano, et si cantano”.
11 See Appendix b.
12 Gorzanis, Il primo libro di napolitane (1570).
13 Gorzanis, Il secondo libro delle napolitane.
14 Leaving aside those of Gorzanis, the other two books are: Il Turturino. Il primo libro delle napo-
litane ariose da cantare et sonare nel leuto composte da diversi eccellentissimi musici, et novamente 
per il Rev. P. F. Cornelio Antonelli de Rimino detto il Turturino, accomodate sul leuto (Venice: 
Girolamo Scotto, 1570); La Nobiltà di Roma. Versi in lode di cento gentildonne romane, et le villa-
nelle a tre voci di Gasparo Fiorino della città di Rossano […] intavolate dal magnifico M. Francesco 
di Parise, Musico eccellentissimo in Roma (Venice: Girolamo Scotto, 1573). Not by accident, the 
sole surviving copy of Gorzanis’s Il primo libro di napolitane, preserved today in Florence, is 
bound together with Antonelli’s and Fiorino’s books. In 2002 I suggested that the three books 
by Gorzanis, Antonelli and Fiorino were all part of an editorial project by Girolamo Scotto, who 
had already embarked on comparable sustained projects with lute books. See Fabris, “Role of 
Solo Singing”.
APPENDIX A
Differences between the manuscript versions of villanelle and those in printed 
editions
1. S’io veglio o dormo sempre pens’a tene (Gorzanis, Il primo libro di napolitane, no. 13)15 
The incorrect title in D-Mbs, Mus.Ms. 1511 a, fol. 34, is as follows: Se io vegio o dormo 
sempre penso atene. The manuscript indicates bars (absent in the Venetian print) af-
ter each double tactus (2 × ). The rhythm is indicated by the signs in use in late 
sixteenth-century vocal mensural notation (see Figure 2) instead of those typical of 
Italian lute tablature (see Figure 3). At b. 4 the Munich manuscript indicates in the 
two first chords c♯ instead of c♮, as in the inlaid part of the print (see Figure 4).
 
Figure 2 | Signs used for the vocal notation
Figure 3 | Signs used for the Italian lute tablature
Figure 4 | Giacomo Gorzanis, S’io veglio o dormo sempre pens’a tene (D-Mbs, Mus.Ms. 1511 a, 
fol. 34v)
15 Modern edition in Gorzanis, Il primo libro (2007), 27.
de musica disserenda xx / ¡ –™ dinko fabris |   the earliest villanelle by giacomo gorzanis
28 29
At b. 5 the last chord repeats the triad c-e-g instead of a-c♯-e; the repeat sign, which in 
the printed edition is inserted at the end of b. 6, appears in the Munich manuscript 
only at the end of b. 10; the last beat of b. 7 is a single semibreve chord instead of two 
minims with a repetition of the note c in the bass as in the printed edition; in b. 9 
the second tactus repeats the two triads D-d-f, instead of inserting the diminution of 
the bass as four crotchets, D-E-F-G, as in the printed edition; in b. 11 the first tactus 
ends with a crotchet dyad B♭-d instead of the triad B♭-d-f found in the print; in b. 13 
the two first triads include c♯ instead of c♮, as in b. 4; b. 14, the last minim adds a third 
note, D, to the bass instead of the dyad d-f found in the print.
2. Duca vi voglio dir una novella (Gorzanis, Il primo libro di napolitane, no. 9)16 
The incorrect title in D-Mbs, Mus.Ms. 1511 a, fol. 34v, is as follows: Ducha vevoio dir 
una novella napolitana d. Jacomo Gorzanis. The title is inserted vertically in the left 
margin of the composition instead of at the top. As in the previous piece, the Munich 
manuscript indicates bars (absent in the print) after each double tactus (2 × ), but 
this time the typical signs of Italian lute tablature are used. In b. 1, the third chord 
uses the same notes as the print (F-f-a) but in a different position on the instrument, 
as indicated by the tablature; the last chord has a D in the bass instead of B♭:
Figure 5 | Giacomo Gorzanis, Duca vi voglio dir una novella (D-Mbs, Mus.Ms. 1511 a,  
fol. 34)
16 Modern edition ibid., 15.
In b. 2 the manuscript adds a crotchet A to the bass, where the print has a rest; the 
second half of the same b. 2 repeats the triad C-e-g four times instead of varying the 
chords, as in the printed edition; in b. 3 the third chord uses the same notes of the 
print (F-f-a) — but in a different position on the instrument, as in b. 1; in b. 6 the 
first tactus uses only the bass motion of four crotchets instead of repeating on the 
third note the dyad d-f, as in the print; also in b. 6, similarly to b. 2; in triple time, 
b. 9 (and b. 12) differ from the print through the insertion of a diminution in the 
cantus part and a rhythmic shift. In b. 11 (and b. 13) the cadence resolves after the 
dissonance without repeating the bass note A, as the print does; the final chord 
adds the high notes f♯ and a, while the print has only a dyad D-d.
3. Tu m’hai gabbato col tuo dolce riso (Gorzanis, Il primo libro di napolitane, no. 14)17 
In the Munich manuscript, fol. 34v2, an incorrect title is inserted under the tabla-
ture at the bottom of the page: Tu ma inganato col tuo dolce viso. Napolitana. Once 
again, the rhythmic notation typical of mensural notation is used instead of the 
signs typical of Italian lute tablature. The division into bars follows the usage of the 
previous pieces.
Figure 6 | Giacomo Gorzanis, Tu m’hai gabbato col tuo dolce riso (D-Mbs, Mus.Ms. 1511 a, 
fol. 34v2)
In b. 2 the manuscript adds in the last movement a third minim d to the dyad B♭-d, 
which aids the part-writing in the next cadence; in b. 5 the first two chords have C 
as the bass note instead of A, as in the print; in the final bar the chord is completed 
with the two high semibreves e-g added to the dyad C-c of the print.
4. Chi in donna bella loca lo suo cuore (Gorzanis, Il secondo libro delle napolitane, no. 1)18
The title in the Dallis Lutebook, [p. 176] is: Chi in Donna, written in the top left-
hand corner of the page before the piece commences. In the bottom right-hand 
corner the inscription: “Finis d. Canzone” (see Figure 1) appears. This is a “mixed” 
17 Modern edition ibid., 25.
18 Modern edition ibid., 55.
de musica disserenda xx / ¡ –™ dinko fabris |   the earliest villanelle by giacomo gorzanis
28 29
At b. 5 the last chord repeats the triad c-e-g instead of a-c♯-e; the repeat sign, which in 
the printed edition is inserted at the end of b. 6, appears in the Munich manuscript 
only at the end of b. 10; the last beat of b. 7 is a single semibreve chord instead of two 
minims with a repetition of the note c in the bass as in the printed edition; in b. 9 
the second tactus repeats the two triads D-d-f, instead of inserting the diminution of 
the bass as four crotchets, D-E-F-G, as in the printed edition; in b. 11 the first tactus 
ends with a crotchet dyad B♭-d instead of the triad B♭-d-f found in the print; in b. 13 
the two first triads include c♯ instead of c♮, as in b. 4; b. 14, the last minim adds a third 
note, D, to the bass instead of the dyad d-f found in the print.
2. Duca vi voglio dir una novella (Gorzanis, Il primo libro di napolitane, no. 9)16 
The incorrect title in D-Mbs, Mus.Ms. 1511 a, fol. 34v, is as follows: Ducha vevoio dir 
una novella napolitana d. Jacomo Gorzanis. The title is inserted vertically in the left 
margin of the composition instead of at the top. As in the previous piece, the Munich 
manuscript indicates bars (absent in the print) after each double tactus (2 × ), but 
this time the typical signs of Italian lute tablature are used. In b. 1, the third chord 
uses the same notes as the print (F-f-a) but in a different position on the instrument, 
as indicated by the tablature; the last chord has a D in the bass instead of B♭:
Figure 5 | Giacomo Gorzanis, Duca vi voglio dir una novella (D-Mbs, Mus.Ms. 1511 a,  
fol. 34)
16 Modern edition ibid., 15.
In b. 2 the manuscript adds a crotchet A to the bass, where the print has a rest; the 
second half of the same b. 2 repeats the triad C-e-g four times instead of varying the 
chords, as in the printed edition; in b. 3 the third chord uses the same notes of the 
print (F-f-a) — but in a different position on the instrument, as in b. 1; in b. 6 the 
first tactus uses only the bass motion of four crotchets instead of repeating on the 
third note the dyad d-f, as in the print; also in b. 6, similarly to b. 2; in triple time, 
b. 9 (and b. 12) differ from the print through the insertion of a diminution in the 
cantus part and a rhythmic shift. In b. 11 (and b. 13) the cadence resolves after the 
dissonance without repeating the bass note A, as the print does; the final chord 
adds the high notes f♯ and a, while the print has only a dyad D-d.
3. Tu m’hai gabbato col tuo dolce riso (Gorzanis, Il primo libro di napolitane, no. 14)17 
In the Munich manuscript, fol. 34v2, an incorrect title is inserted under the tabla-
ture at the bottom of the page: Tu ma inganato col tuo dolce viso. Napolitana. Once 
again, the rhythmic notation typical of mensural notation is used instead of the 
signs typical of Italian lute tablature. The division into bars follows the usage of the 
previous pieces.
Figure 6 | Giacomo Gorzanis, Tu m’hai gabbato col tuo dolce riso (D-Mbs, Mus.Ms. 1511 a, 
fol. 34v2)
In b. 2 the manuscript adds in the last movement a third minim d to the dyad B♭-d, 
which aids the part-writing in the next cadence; in b. 5 the first two chords have C 
as the bass note instead of A, as in the print; in the final bar the chord is completed 
with the two high semibreves e-g added to the dyad C-c of the print.
4. Chi in donna bella loca lo suo cuore (Gorzanis, Il secondo libro delle napolitane, no. 1)18
The title in the Dallis Lutebook, [p. 176] is: Chi in Donna, written in the top left-
hand corner of the page before the piece commences. In the bottom right-hand 
corner the inscription: “Finis d. Canzone” (see Figure 1) appears. This is a “mixed” 
17 Modern edition ibid., 25.
18 Modern edition ibid., 55.
de musica disserenda xx / ¡ –™ dinko fabris |   the earliest villanelle by giacomo gorzanis
30 31
score that presents the cantus part in mensural notation, written on the prepared 
hexagram in the soprano clef (and the indication on the left-hand side: “sup.[eri-
us]”); underneath is the accompaniment in French lute tablature (using letters in-
stead of the figures employed by Italian tablature) and the rhythmic signs in use in 
the English lute music of late sixteenth century. The barlines (absent in the poly-
phonic parts of the printed edition) are placed after every two tactus (2 × ). The 
text under the cantus part is omitted, as in the villanelle copied in the Munich man-
uscript. The tablature reveals that a lute in G is required. In b. 5, in the final cadence 
corresponding to the Tenor voice, the minim F♯ is missing before the resolution to 
G, and the last chord has the incorrect bass note G instead of D; in b. 8 the second 
chord has the incorrect bass note C instead of B♭; b. 15, the first chord has the incor-
rect bass note B♮ instead of B♭; in b. 18, the last chord has a fourth note, G, added to 
the three voices to reinforce the sonority: this may denote a typical performance 
practice; in the last bar, after the cadenza, the bass is mistakenly given as F instead 
of C (the incorrect string of the instrument is indicated).
APPENDIX B
Reconstruction of Gorzanis’s napolitana entitled Bella che tieni li capigli d’oro19 
Words by an anonymous author (reconstructed from the setting in Zappasorgo, Na-
politane a tre voci. Libro primo)
 
Bella che tieni li capigli d’oro
Ch’el tuo bel nome dire non si può,
Meschino che farò?
Bisognerà morire,
Ch’el non vederti non si può soffrire.
Se veder né sentire non ti posso
Scontiento e disperato morirò,
Meschino che farò?
Mi converà morire,
Ch’el non vederti non si può soffrire.
19 I wish to thank Gianluigi Bello for his kind assistance in editing the electronic version of the 
piece with the software Fronimo 3.0.
Se di tutto il mio ben io son son privato,
Dimmi crudel fortuna dove andrò?
Meschino che farò?
Dove potrò fuggire?
Se questo ha da durar voglio morire.
Starò mirando tanto a sse finestre,
Fin che mi veda, o senta lamentare,
Ma forte me ne par, 
che mi possa sentire:
O fortuna crudel fammi morire.
Figure 7 | Giacomo Gorzanis, Bella che tieni li capigli d’oro (D-Mbs, Mus.Ms. 1511 a, fol. 36v)
de musica disserenda xx / ¡ –™ dinko fabris |   the earliest villanelle by giacomo gorzanis
30 31
score that presents the cantus part in mensural notation, written on the prepared 
hexagram in the soprano clef (and the indication on the left-hand side: “sup.[eri-
us]”); underneath is the accompaniment in French lute tablature (using letters in-
stead of the figures employed by Italian tablature) and the rhythmic signs in use in 
the English lute music of late sixteenth century. The barlines (absent in the poly-
phonic parts of the printed edition) are placed after every two tactus (2 × ). The 
text under the cantus part is omitted, as in the villanelle copied in the Munich man-
uscript. The tablature reveals that a lute in G is required. In b. 5, in the final cadence 
corresponding to the Tenor voice, the minim F♯ is missing before the resolution to 
G, and the last chord has the incorrect bass note G instead of D; in b. 8 the second 
chord has the incorrect bass note C instead of B♭; b. 15, the first chord has the incor-
rect bass note B♮ instead of B♭; in b. 18, the last chord has a fourth note, G, added to 
the three voices to reinforce the sonority: this may denote a typical performance 
practice; in the last bar, after the cadenza, the bass is mistakenly given as F instead 
of C (the incorrect string of the instrument is indicated).
APPENDIX B
Reconstruction of Gorzanis’s napolitana entitled Bella che tieni li capigli d’oro19 
Words by an anonymous author (reconstructed from the setting in Zappasorgo, Na-
politane a tre voci. Libro primo)
 
Bella che tieni li capigli d’oro
Ch’el tuo bel nome dire non si può,
Meschino che farò?
Bisognerà morire,
Ch’el non vederti non si può soffrire.
Se veder né sentire non ti posso
Scontiento e disperato morirò,
Meschino che farò?
Mi converà morire,
Ch’el non vederti non si può soffrire.
19 I wish to thank Gianluigi Bello for his kind assistance in editing the electronic version of the 
piece with the software Fronimo 3.0.
Se di tutto il mio ben io son son privato,
Dimmi crudel fortuna dove andrò?
Meschino che farò?
Dove potrò fuggire?
Se questo ha da durar voglio morire.
Starò mirando tanto a sse finestre,
Fin che mi veda, o senta lamentare,
Ma forte me ne par, 
che mi possa sentire:
O fortuna crudel fammi morire.
Figure 7 | Giacomo Gorzanis, Bella che tieni li capigli d’oro (D-Mbs, Mus.Ms. 1511 a, fol. 36v)
de musica disserenda xx / ¡ –™ dinko fabris |   the earliest villanelle by giacomo gorzanis
32 33
de musica disserenda xx / ¡ –™
Music example 1 | Transcription of Giacomo Gorzanis’s Bella che tieni li capigli d’oro (D-Mbs, Mus.
Ms. 1511 a, fol. 36v)
dinko fabris |   the earliest villanelle by giacomo gorzanis
32 33
de musica disserenda xx / ¡ –™
Music example 1 | Transcription of Giacomo Gorzanis’s Bella che tieni li capigli d’oro (D-Mbs, Mus.
Ms. 1511 a, fol. 36v)
dinko fabris |   the earliest villanelle by giacomo gorzanis
34 35
BIBLIOGRAPHY
MANUSCR IPT MUSICAL SOURCES
Dublin, Trinity College Library (IRL-Dtc), Ms. 410/1 (Dallis Lutebook).
Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (D-Mbs), Mus.Ms. 1511 a.
PR INTED MUSICAL SOURCES
Gorzanis, Giacomo. Il primo libro di napolitane che si cantano et sonano in leuto. Venice: Girolamo 
Scotto, 1570.
Gorzanis, Giacomo. Il secondo libro delle Napolitane à tre voci. Venice: Girolamo Scotto, 1571.
Gorzanis, Giacomo. Intabolatura di Liuto di Messer Iacomo Gorzanis Cieco Pugliese, Habitante 
nella Città di Trieste. Novamente da lui composto. Venice: Gardano, 1561.
Gorzanis, Giacomo. Opera nova de lauto composed by Misier Jacomo Gorzanis citadino della 
magnifica città di Trieste messa in luce da suo figliolo Massimiliano. Libro quarto. Venice: 
Alessandro Gardane, 1579.
Gorzanis, Giacomo. Terzo libro de intabulatura de liuto. Venice: Antonio Gardano, 1564.
Zappasorgo, Giovanni. Napolitane a tre voci. Libro primo. Venice: Girolamo Scotto, 1571.
MODER N MUSICAL EDITION
Gorzanis, Giacomo. Il primo libro di napolitane che si cantano et sonano in leuto (1570) & Il secondo 
libro delle napoletane a tre voci (1571). Edited by Alenka Bagarič. Monumenta artis musicae 
Sloveniae 51. Ljubljana: Slovenska akademija znanosti in umetnosti, Muzikološki inštitut 
Znanstvenoraziskovalnega centra Slovenske akademije znanosti in umetnosti, 2007.
LITERATUR E
Boettischer, Wolfgang. Handschriftlich Überlieferte Lauten- und Gitarrentabulaturen des 15. bis 
18. Jahrhunderts. rism b vii. Munich: Henle Verlag, 1978.
Craig-McFeely, Julia. “English Lute Manuscripts and Scribes, 1530–1640”. PhD diss., University 
of Oxford, 1993.
Fabris, Dinko. “The Role of Solo Singing to the Lute in the Origins of the Villanella alla Napolitana, 
c. 1530–1570”. In “Gesang zur Laute”, edited by Nicole Schwindt. Special issue, Trossinger 
Jahrbuch für Renaissancemusik 2 (2002): 133–145. https://doi.org/10.25371/troja.v20022982.
Goodwin, Christopher. The English Lute Song before Dowland. Vol. 1, Songs from the Dallis 
Manuscript. London: Lute Society Music editions, 1996.
Ness, Arthur J. “The Herwart Lute Manuscripts at the Bavarian State Library, Munich: 
A Bibliographical Study with Emphasis on the Works of Marco dall’Aquila and Melchior 
Newsidler”. PhD diss., New York University, 1984.
Taricani, JoAnn. “A Renaissance Bibliophile as Musical Patron: The Evidence of the Herwart 
Sketchbooks”. Notes 49, no. 4 (1993): 1357–1389. https://doi.org/10.2307/899359.
Ward, John. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript. 3rd ed. London: Schott, 1983.
de musica disserenda xx / ¡ –™
P o v z e t e k
najzgodnejše vilanele giacoma gorzanisa:  
opombe o lutenjski tabulaturi mus.ms. 1511 a  
v münchnu, bayerische staatsbibliothek
 
Čeprav slep, je bil Giacomo Gorzanis v desetletju od 1560 do 1570 zelo uspešen lutnjist 
in skladatelj. Bil je tržaški meščan, ki je deloval na ozemljih severovzhodne Italije, Slo-
venije, južne Tirolske in Avstrije. Poleg šestih knjig, natisnjenih v Benetkah, je Gorza-
nis zapustil rokopisno zbirko iz leta 1567, danes hranjeno v münchenski knjižnici Baye-
rische Staatsbibliothek (Mus.Ms. 1511 a). Namenjena je bila članom družine Herwart 
v Augsburgu. Načrtovan je izid moderne edicije v zbirki Monumenta artis musicae 
Sloveniae kot del t. i. zbranih del Giacoma Gorzanisa.
Vsebina rokopisa, na kratko opisana že v naslovu, je že od nekdaj vzbujala pozornost 
muzikologov in glasbenikov, saj vsebuje cikel 24 plesov v vseh tonalitetah. Nasprotno 
pa je bilo premalo pozornosti namenjene vokalnemu repertoarju tega rokopisa: ta ob-
sega sedem vilanel alla napoletana, od katerih so bile le štiri že znane iz dveh Gorzani-
sovih zbirk, natisnjenih v Benetkah v letih 1570 in 1571, torej nekaj let po nastanku ro-
kopisa. Kot primer je predstavljena rekonstrukcija ene od neobjavljenih Gorzanisovih 
vilanel, Bella che tieni li capigli d’oro, pri čemer sta bili melodija cantusa in instrumen-
talna spremljava izpeljani iz tabulature, besedilo pa je bilo prevzeto iz ene od drugih 
takratnih uglasbitev.
34 35
BIBLIOGRAPHY
MANUSCR IPT MUSICAL SOURCES
Dublin, Trinity College Library (IRL-Dtc), Ms. 410/1 (Dallis Lutebook).
Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (D-Mbs), Mus.Ms. 1511 a.
PR INTED MUSICAL SOURCES
Gorzanis, Giacomo. Il primo libro di napolitane che si cantano et sonano in leuto. Venice: Girolamo 
Scotto, 1570.
Gorzanis, Giacomo. Il secondo libro delle Napolitane à tre voci. Venice: Girolamo Scotto, 1571.
Gorzanis, Giacomo. Intabolatura di Liuto di Messer Iacomo Gorzanis Cieco Pugliese, Habitante 
nella Città di Trieste. Novamente da lui composto. Venice: Gardano, 1561.
Gorzanis, Giacomo. Opera nova de lauto composed by Misier Jacomo Gorzanis citadino della 
magnifica città di Trieste messa in luce da suo figliolo Massimiliano. Libro quarto. Venice: 
Alessandro Gardane, 1579.
Gorzanis, Giacomo. Terzo libro de intabulatura de liuto. Venice: Antonio Gardano, 1564.
Zappasorgo, Giovanni. Napolitane a tre voci. Libro primo. Venice: Girolamo Scotto, 1571.
MODER N MUSICAL EDITION
Gorzanis, Giacomo. Il primo libro di napolitane che si cantano et sonano in leuto (1570) & Il secondo 
libro delle napoletane a tre voci (1571). Edited by Alenka Bagarič. Monumenta artis musicae 
Sloveniae 51. Ljubljana: Slovenska akademija znanosti in umetnosti, Muzikološki inštitut 
Znanstvenoraziskovalnega centra Slovenske akademije znanosti in umetnosti, 2007.
LITERATUR E
Boettischer, Wolfgang. Handschriftlich Überlieferte Lauten- und Gitarrentabulaturen des 15. bis 
18. Jahrhunderts. rism b vii. Munich: Henle Verlag, 1978.
Craig-McFeely, Julia. “English Lute Manuscripts and Scribes, 1530–1640”. PhD diss., University 
of Oxford, 1993.
Fabris, Dinko. “The Role of Solo Singing to the Lute in the Origins of the Villanella alla Napolitana, 
c. 1530–1570”. In “Gesang zur Laute”, edited by Nicole Schwindt. Special issue, Trossinger 
Jahrbuch für Renaissancemusik 2 (2002): 133–145. https://doi.org/10.25371/troja.v20022982.
Goodwin, Christopher. The English Lute Song before Dowland. Vol. 1, Songs from the Dallis 
Manuscript. London: Lute Society Music editions, 1996.
Ness, Arthur J. “The Herwart Lute Manuscripts at the Bavarian State Library, Munich: 
A Bibliographical Study with Emphasis on the Works of Marco dall’Aquila and Melchior 
Newsidler”. PhD diss., New York University, 1984.
Taricani, JoAnn. “A Renaissance Bibliophile as Musical Patron: The Evidence of the Herwart 
Sketchbooks”. Notes 49, no. 4 (1993): 1357–1389. https://doi.org/10.2307/899359.
Ward, John. The Dublin Virginal Manuscript. 3rd ed. London: Schott, 1983.
de musica disserenda xx / ¡ –™
P o v z e t e k
najzgodnejše vilanele giacoma gorzanisa:  
opombe o lutenjski tabulaturi mus.ms. 1511 a  
v münchnu, bayerische staatsbibliothek
 
Čeprav slep, je bil Giacomo Gorzanis v desetletju od 1560 do 1570 zelo uspešen lutnjist 
in skladatelj. Bil je tržaški meščan, ki je deloval na ozemljih severovzhodne Italije, Slo-
venije, južne Tirolske in Avstrije. Poleg šestih knjig, natisnjenih v Benetkah, je Gorza-
nis zapustil rokopisno zbirko iz leta 1567, danes hranjeno v münchenski knjižnici Baye-
rische Staatsbibliothek (Mus.Ms. 1511 a). Namenjena je bila članom družine Herwart 
v Augsburgu. Načrtovan je izid moderne edicije v zbirki Monumenta artis musicae 
Sloveniae kot del t. i. zbranih del Giacoma Gorzanisa.
Vsebina rokopisa, na kratko opisana že v naslovu, je že od nekdaj vzbujala pozornost 
muzikologov in glasbenikov, saj vsebuje cikel 24 plesov v vseh tonalitetah. Nasprotno 
pa je bilo premalo pozornosti namenjene vokalnemu repertoarju tega rokopisa: ta ob-
sega sedem vilanel alla napoletana, od katerih so bile le štiri že znane iz dveh Gorzani-
sovih zbirk, natisnjenih v Benetkah v letih 1570 in 1571, torej nekaj let po nastanku ro-
kopisa. Kot primer je predstavljena rekonstrukcija ene od neobjavljenih Gorzanisovih 
vilanel, Bella che tieni li capigli d’oro, pri čemer sta bili melodija cantusa in instrumen-
talna spremljava izpeljani iz tabulature, besedilo pa je bilo prevzeto iz ene od drugih 
takratnih uglasbitev.