Dear David,

There is a tradition of Laude in the oratorio literature that kind of matches
what Peres is talking about, I think.  It's been written up to a small degree
in Smither's history of the oratorio at the beginning, with discussion of
Philip Neri and music at the oratorio in Rome in the 1560s.  (I read a paper
which considered this at the AMS meeting in KC last year.)  

There's a fair amount of evidence about instruments in processions around Rome
w/ Neri; as well as some instruments and perf. prac. comments at the oratorio. 
It appears to be a pretty low-sophistication movement using popular idioms (see
the laude published in the 1560s and 70s for exx.).  

The confraternities that I've read about assisted with "schools of Christian
doctrine" (see articles by Paul Grendler on this), which used music to assist
(aide memoire) in teaching.  It's interesting and little-explored, as far as I
can tell.

Bob Judd


At 01:33 PM 6/6/00 -0700, you wrote: 
>
> Greetings:
>  
> I am writing about a passage in the notes of Marcel Peres' 'Old Corsican
> Polyphonic Chants' (Harmonia Mundi, HMC 901495, 1994): 
>  
> "All of this music that originated among the Franciscans is characteristic of
> the musical movements that developed in Italian cultural areas after the
> Council of Trent. The Franciscans played a leading part n the diffusion of a
> new aesthetic of plainsong, called Canto Fratto. this new style impregnated
> popular singing through the medium of the confraternities. Outside the
> cathedrals and the princely courts, these exptremely rich and varied
> repertories constituted the essential body of religious music practised in
> the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Most of this music remains to be
> discovered..."
>  
> I would be very grateful for any information regarding these
> 'confraternities'  (and 'Canto Fratto') with reference to the Council of
> Trent. I'd also appreciate any evidence of original performance practice,
> including the use of instruments. The matter is of compelling interest. 
>  
> Thanks much.
>  
> David Jensen
> Portland, Oregon





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