Nicolaus Zacharie ( or before – 1466) was an Italian composer of the early

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

. Until recently he had been confused with the earlier composer Zacara da Teramo, but recent research has established his identity; he was one of a few native Italian composers working in the early 15th century whose work has survived.

Life

He was probably from

Brindisi Brindisi ( ; ) is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Historically, the city has played an essential role in trade and culture due to its strategic position ...

or somewhere nearby, on the evidence of papal archives. The earliest solid record of his life is February 7, 1420, when he was employed at

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

Cathedral as a singer; on the evidence of his motet ''Letetur plebs'', which includes the comment in the score "composed in

Taranto Taranto (; ; previously called Tarent in English) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Taranto, serving as an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base. Founded by Spartans ...

, in a great hurry" it is presumed he was already active as a composer prior to coming to Florence in 1420. Just a few months later – June 1 –

Pope Martin V Pope Martin V (; ; January/February 1369 – 20 February 1431), born Oddone Colonna, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 November 1417 to his death in February 1431. His election effectively ended the We ...

hired him during a trip to Florence, taking him back to the papal choir in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, probably in September when he returned there, having successfully ended the

Western Schism The Western Schism, also known as the Papal Schism, the Great Occidental Schism, the Schism of 1378, or the Great Schism (), was a split within the Catholic Church lasting from 20 September 1378 to 11 November 1417, in which bishops residing ...

a few years before. Zacharie remained in the choir until 1424, and after an absence of ten years joined again for a few months in 1434; his whereabouts between those two periods is unknown. At the end of his life he was a chaplain at the church of Santa Maria in Ceglie Messapico, about 40 km west of Brindisi in the far southeast of Italy.

Music

Only three works by Zacharie have survived with reliable attribution: a

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...

, a Gloria, and a secular song, a

ballata The ''ballata'' (plural: ''ballate'') is an Italian poetic form, poetic and musical form in use from the late 13th to the 15th century. It has the musical form AbbaA, with the first and last stanzas having the same texts. It is thus most similar ...

. The longest is the motet ''Letetur plebs''. It begins with a long passage in

imitation Imitation (from Latin ''imitatio'', "a copying, imitation") is a behavior whereby an individual observes and replicates another's behavior. Imitation is also a form of learning that leads to the "development of traditions, and ultimately our cu ...

, but the rest of the composition uses none at all. As is true of much music from southern and central Italy of the

quattrocento The cultural and artistic events of Italy during the period 1400 to 1499 are collectively referred to as the Quattrocento (, , ) from the Italian word for the number 400, in turn from , which is Italian for the year 1400. The Quattrocento encom ...

, there is very little French influence; the influence of the '' ars subtilior'' is not to be found in Zacharie's surviving music. On stylistic evidence, all three of his surviving compositions were probably written around the same time, most likely between 1415 and around 1430.

Works

# ''Et in terra pax'' (3 voices) # ''Letetur plebs fidelis/Pastor qui revelavit'' (4 voices) # ''Già per gran nobeltà trihumpho et fama'' (2 voices) (ballata)

References

* David Fallows: "Zacharie, Nicolaus", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed January 20, 2006)
Grove Music Online
*

Gustave Reese Gustave Reese ( ; November 29, 1899 – September 7, 1977) was an American musicologist and teacher. Reese is known mainly for his work on medieval and Renaissance music, particularly with his two publications ''Music in the Middle Ages'' (1940 ...

, ''Music in the Renaissance''. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. {{DEFAULTSORT:Zacharie, Nicolaus Italian classical composers Italian male classical composers 1466 deaths Renaissance composers 15th-century Italian composers Year of birth uncertain