Albert de Rippe (''Alberto da Ripa da Mantova'') (–1551) was an Italian lutenist and composer. He was born in
Mantua
Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province.
In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...
and worked there before 1528, when he left for France. There, he joined the court of
Francis I in 1529.
De Rippe was evidently held in great esteem at the court, as his annual salary was double that of any other lutenist, and he also frequently received gifts of land, money, wine, etc., and various other benefits. Francis I granted Rippe a letter of naturalization, guaranteeing his descendants an inheritance.
At Rippe's death,
Pierre de Ronsard
Pierre de Ronsard (; 11 September 1524 – 27 December 1585) was a French poet known in his generation as a "Prince des poètes, prince of poets". His works include ''Les Amours de Cassandre'' (1552)'','' ''Les Hymnes'' (1555-1556)'', Les Disco ...
wrote a aulogy that claimed Rippe's lute continued to create music from his tomb.
His earliest known compositions date from 1536.
[Pratt, Waldo Selden. ''The History of Music''. New York: G. Schirmer, Inc., 1907. 121.] He only published three works during his lifetime, but six volumes of his music were published posthumously by his pupil,
Guillaume de Morlaye
Guillaume de Morlaye (c.1510–c.1558) was a French Renaissance era lutenist, composer, and music publisher. He was a pupil of Albert de Rippe and lived and worked in Paris. In 1552, he received a ten-year license to publish music from Henry II, a ...
. That edition was titled, and is now sometimes referred to as, ''tab
ature de leut''.
De Rippe's oeuvre consists of 26 fantasias, 59 intabulations (46 chansons, 10 motets and 3 madrigals) and 10 dances, all for six-course lute, and 2 fantasias for four-course Renaissance guitar. The lute fantasias are now considered his most important works: they represent a novel type for the time, of purely instrumental composition. Their dense polyphony and complex architecture (some evolve for several hundred bars), as well as the skill required to play them, make the fantasias some of the most important works in the repertoire.
References and further reading
* R.W. Bruggart. ''Alberto da Ripa: Lutenist and Composer'' (diss., U. of Michigan, 1956)
*
External links
Free scores at Luth-Librarieinclude the complete fantasies for six-course lute.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rippe, Albert De
1480s births
1551 deaths
Composers for lute
Italian musicians