Luscinius 1536: Description

Thematic Index: see Virdung 1511

(f. 1r) Musurgia seu praxis musicae. Illius primo quae Instrumentis agitur certa ratio, ab Ottomaro Luscinio Argentino duobus Libris absoluta. Eiusdem Ottomari Luscinii, de Concentus polyphoni, id est, ex plurifariis vocibus compositi, canonibus, Libri totidem.  Argentorati apud Joannem Schottum, Anno Christi. 1536. Cum gratis & privilegio Imperiali, ad Quinquennium.

This is a free translation into Latin of Virdung 1511. Luscinius probably completed it around 1517 (see Bullard 1993), but it was not published until 1536. The translation was undertaken upon the request of a Milanese bookseller who wanted Virdung's treatise available to his Italian clientele.

The book can be divided into two parts: a translation of Virdung's instrumental treatise and an additional treatise on mensural notation and polyphonic composition. In the first part, Luscinius retains Virdung's dialogue format, copies of many of the original woodcuts, and the emphasis on modern instruments. He adds digressions into the Classical origins of music, quoting liberally from ancient sources. The division of instruments is essentially the same as in Virdung 1511, but Luscinius divides stringed instruments into those that can play more than one line (e.g., lute, harp) and those that play only one line (e.g., bowed instruments). The drawing of the quintern is now called a "lutina." The explanation of German lute tablature is the same as in Virdung, although simplified, and the musical example is identical to the edition of 1511.

Brown lists 20 extant copies of this treatise: A:Wn, B:Br, CH:Lcortot, D:Bds-Tü D:Mbs, D:Rp, D:W, DK:Kk, E:Mmc, E:Mn, F:CV, F:Pc, GB:Lbl, I:Bc, I:Rsc, NL:DHgm, US:Cn, US:NYp, US:R, and US:Wc. Additional copies are in RISM: CH:W, D:LEm (incomplete), F:Pa, F:Pm, F:Psg, GB:Cu, GB:Ge, GB:Ob (two copies), GB:T, I:Fc, I:PAc, I:Rc, I:Rli, I:Vnm, I:VIb, US:AAu, US:Bpr, and US:Lu.

Bullard, Beth. "Musical Instruments in the Early Sixteenth Century: A Translation and Historical Study of Sebastian Virdung's Music getutscht (Basel, 1511)." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1987.

________. Musica getutscht: A Treatise on Musical Instruments (1511) by Sebastian Virdung (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993).

Thematic Index: see Virdung 1511

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