I'm trying to become more fluent in playing and singing from medieval and renaissance notation, so I'm finding facsimiles of lots familiar pieces to practice on. Unsurprisingly, there are a few surprises on the way ...
Ave Vera Virginitas, Josquin
I learned this from the Big Lochac Snogbook (sic) - a fabulous collection of gorgeous pieces. The SATB setting of Josquin's Ave Vera Virginitas is indeed lovely.
From CPDL (Choral Public Domain Library) I learned that the "Ave Vera Virginitas" I know is an excerpt from a larger Ave Maria.
From that, I found what I wanted on IMSLP:
- this piece was tremendously popular in its day
- it survives in lots of MSS and 2 printed versions
- there are facsimiles of the 1502 printing by Petrucci on IMSLP
Voila! I have a delightfully readable facsimile to play with.
There are a few slight differences (!) from the version I've learned
- There's a lot more of it - quite a long section before the part I know starts. Brilliant! More to sing!
- It's a tone higher - also unsurprising.
- There's another unfamiliar section in the middle of the bit I know. Surprising, but exciting.
- The tenor line doesn't seem to go quite as I remember - the rhythm is different in "nostra fuit purgatio". The soprano line is what I expect (apart from the extra bits).
- On examination: tenor and soprano are still in canon, but the off-set is one note, not three ("A-Ave" not "Ave Ve-Ave ve"). That explains the unfamiliar rhythm in the tenor - it's 2/3 of a bar longer than the one I learned.
- (I haven't thoroughly compared alto and bass lines).
So, what I've found a facsimile for (and lots of good-looking modern editions for) is in fact a related-but-different piece of music: longer, and with something close-but-not-identical to "my" Ave Vera Virginitas in the middle.
I don't know where the version I learned came from. There are lots of 16th copies of this song (including versions that add extra voices) so it could be that the version I know simply comes from a different source. Equally possible, it could be a modern arrangement. It could even be a blend of the two. I'll post an update if I find out.
Until then: I have a new version to learn!
Recordings
There are a bunch of lovely recordings under the name "Ave Maria Virgo Serena".
Printing
Aside: it's great to have a facsimile to consult, even more fun if it comes in a form that can be printed into a booklet.
Petrucci's 1502 "Motetti A", which contains the long-form Aver Maria by Josquin, was printed in "Choirbook format. Landscape quarto-in-eights. 56 folios." (so says IMSLP).
That means (I write with authority, having consulted Wikipedia) that the pages are very roughly A4 landscape (give or take an inch or so) but a bit squarer. There are 8 leaves (16 pages, 4 thicknesses of paper) in each quire, the pages having been printed as quartos (four sheets to a page - 2 on the front side and two on the back).
Getting this into printable format might be a fun project. To print using using modern habits into quires at the original size, in landscape, you need big paper: A2 would work. (Unless, of course, I misunderstand how quartos-in-eights work in landscape, and actually the original is half that size; then A3 would do). A3 (for ~A5 landscape finished booklet) would be a readable size. A4 (for A6 landcape finished booklet) strains the eyes.