Surname
Le Conte
Given Name
Bartholomeus
Variant Name
Bartholomeo
Comes
Cont
Conti
Conte (del)
El Conte
Il Conte
Role
Composer
Employee of a court chapel (musician)
Known voice range
Musician
Singer
Tenor
Active period
1547 - 1565
Biography
Dictionnaire
NG2
Le Conte [Comes, Cont, Conti, del Conte, El Conte, Il Conte], Bartholomeus [Bartolomeo]
(fl 1547–65). French singer and composer, active in Italy. His home diocese was Limoges or Noyon. He first appears in the historical record with El Conte: Bartholomei Comitis gallici … motetta … suavissime sonantia for five voices (Venice, 1547). From November 1550 to January 1554 he was a tenor in the choir of Siena Cathedral. He proceeded to Rome, where he briefly sang in the Capella Giulia (21 March – 31 May 1554). He entered the choir of the papal chapel on 9 September 1555, and was among the papal singers deputed to the Council of Trent in February 1561. He received permission to go abroad on 24 September 1564, and wrote the following spring to say he had accepted employment from ‘a lord of his own country’; his resignation was accepted on 13 April 1565. In documents connected with a shake-up of the papal chapel later that year, Le Conte’s voice was disparaged and he was described as ‘a terrible heretic’ (hereticus pessimus); he was expelled from the chapel on 1 October.
Besides Le Conte’s 20 five-voice motets of 1547, we have a four-voice madrigal, Di ciò, cor mio, ascribed to ‘Il Conte’ in Il vero terzo libro di madrigali … a note negre (154931; ed. in CMM, lxxiii/4, 1980), and a four-voice motet, Agnus Christus in cruce, printed without ascription in Susato’s second book of motets (15539). This was reprinted, along with five of the 1547 motets, under the name of ‘Comes’ in Berg & Neuber’s Evangelia (155511-12, 15568). There is also a five-voice madrigal, Mordi, mordi, ben mio, ascribed to ‘Bartolomeo Il Conte’ in the first book of madrigals of Francesco Usper (160420). Le Conte was a capable if conventional composer. He chose particularly weighty texts and was the first to set each of his madrigal poems. His vocal lines express the verbal rhythms fluently and the scoring is varied, though his harmonic range is limited and the pacing of the motets is rather uniform.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
VanderStraetenMPB, vi
A. Ducrot: ‘Histoire de la Cappella Giulia au XVIe siècle depuis sa Fondation par Jules II (1513) jusqu’à sa restauration par Grégoire XIII (1578)’, Mélanges d’archéologie et d’histoire, lxxv (1963), 179–240, 467–559, esp. 217
R. Sherr: ‘Competence and Incompetence in the Papal Choir in the Age of Palestrina’, EMc, xxii (1994), 607–29
F.A. D’Accone: The Civic Muse: Music and Musicians in Siena during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (Chicago, 1997), 318–29
JEFFREY DEAN
SHERR
Bartholomeus [Bartholomé] Le Conte {Paul IV-Pius IV}
Tenor; France (Limoges [according to the motu proprio admitting him to the choir] Noyon [according to Document...]); formerly in the Cappella Giulia (March-May 1554); admitted 2 September 1555 by a two-thirds plus three vote at the same time as Francisco Talavera; mandati September 1555-April 1565; on 24 December 1564, he asked for a leave of absence [ DS ] and on 13 April 1565, it was reported to the singers that he had entered the service of the King of France. In spite of already having left it, Le Conte was expelled from the chapel on 31 August 1565 by the commission of cardinals; it was reported that he was: "fuor di Roma, ne so rendere conte di lui, ma si dice che ha molto bona voce" [Document...], but perhaps the real reason for his departure and his decision to remain in France is contained in the second remark about him, that he was: "hereticus pessimus" [Document...]. He may very well be the composer Bartholomeus Comes Gallicus (El Conte), whose book of motets for five voices was printed by Gardane in 1547 ( LEWIS , No. 107).
DOCUMENTS
DS 4
94r: entry dated 2 September 1555 [CASIMIRI (1937), p. 27]
Non cantavimus missam quia examinavimus novos cantores in capella in palatio videlicet d. Bartholomeum Cont et d. Franciscum de Talavera et fuerunt inventi idonei quia facto escutrino ut moris est per fabas seu balotas unuquisque habuit duas partes et tria vota in suum favorem et ideo acetati fuerunt in nostro comertio.
94v: entry dated 9 September 1555 [CASIMIRI (1937), p. 28]
Eodem die fuerunt admissi in novi cantores d Franciscus de Talavera et d. Bartholomeus Cont per R. p. d. episcopus Castrensis magistrum capelle, justa statuta collegii et motum prorpium pape. Deinde eodem die Bartholomeus Cont soluit ducatos duodecim pro jocundo introitu suo ut moris est.
VatS 679, fol. 13r [transcribed in FREY , pp. 138-139]: Undated original motu proprio ordering the admission of Le Conte and Francisco Talavera .
Paulus Papa IIII
Motu proprio etc. dilectos filios Franciscum Talavera clericum Seguntine ac Bartolomeum Campte [sic] clericum Lemovicensisi diocesium, quos sonora voce et musices scientia preditos ac probe et honeste vite esse fidedigna relatione accepimus, specialis gratie favore prosequi volentes dilectis filiis magistro ac cantoribus cappellanis cappelle nostre, quatenus ipsos Franciscum et Bartolomeum, si eos previo examine iuxta dicte cappelle statuta et constitutiones ad hoc habiles et idoneos esse repererint in dicte cappelle cantores cappellanos ad vitam, ut moris est, recipiant et admittant ac eorum numero et consortio favorabiliter aggregent, committimus et mandamus ac eis desuper licentiam et facultatem concedimus, volentes ac motu simil eisdem Francisco et Bartolomeo concedentes ac etiam decernentes, quod, postquam, ut prefertur, recepti et admissi fuerint, omnibus et singulis privilegiis, immunitatibus, exemptionibus, favoribus gratiis et indultis, quibus alii eiusdem cappelle cantores cappellani de iure et consuetudine ac per privilegia et indulta illis et eidem cappelle pro tempore concessa utuntur, potiuntur et gaudent ac uti, potiri et gaudere poterunt quomodolibet in futurum, uti, potiri et gaudere ac salaria iura et emolumenta eisdem cantoribus competentia et eis dari solita consequi et habere possint et valeant sibique de salariis, iuribus et emolumentis predictis responderi debeant. Non obstantibus constitutionibus et ordinationibus apostolicis ac quibusvis presertim per feleicis recordationis Iulium papam 3.m predecessorem nostrum de non recipiendis aliquibus in dicta cappella cantoribus, donec illorum numerus ad vigintiquatuor dumtaxat reductus existeret, ac alias quomodolibet et cum quibuscunque etiam dereogatoriarum derogatoriis clausulis irritantibusque et aliis decretis etiam motu proprio etc. factis, inhibitionibus ac statutis, decretis et ordinationibus quibuscunq ue latissime extendentibus, etiam si de illis etc. tenores illorum etc. hac vice latissime derogamus, ceterisque contrariis quibuscunque, presentis motus proprii solam signatura sufficere et ubique fidem facere regula contraria non obstante decernentes.
Placte D. N. pape Jo. Mi. Car.lis Saracenus
13v
Die 9 Settembris 1555 retroscripti Bartolomeus et Franciscus prius per cantores examinati et approbati iuxta formam constitutionem fuerunt admissi et recepti in cantores cappellanos iuxta formam retroscripti motus proprii etc. iuarunt etc. presentibus ibidem omnibus cantoribus etc.
Hieronimus Episcopus Castrensis
Magister Cappelle
DS 7
133v: entry dated 13 April 1565
Eadem die d, Antonius calasans decanus ostendit dominis cantoribus in capella congregatis quasque literas Bartholomei Conti in quibus illum faciebat versiorem se receptum fuisse in cantorum per dominum patrie sue et ita nullius servitio volle insistere et permanere idioque constaret collegio dominorum cantorum locum suum esse vacuum et ut talis per donari alio cantori, quibus intellectis habitas fuit per excluso a prefato collegio per omnes cantores.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: VANDER STRAETEN , pp. 408-411; FREY,Die Diairen, pp. 138-141; ROSTIROLLA , p. 157; LEWIS , pp. 571-574, SHERR, "Competence and Incompetence."
NG2
Le Conte [Comes, Cont, Conti, del Conte, El Conte, Il Conte], Bartholomeus [Bartolomeo]
(fl 1547–65). French singer and composer, active in Italy. His home diocese was Limoges or Noyon. He first appears in the historical record with El Conte: Bartholomei Comitis gallici … motetta … suavissime sonantia for five voices (Venice, 1547). From November 1550 to January 1554 he was a tenor in the choir of Siena Cathedral. He proceeded to Rome, where he briefly sang in the Capella Giulia (21 March – 31 May 1554). He entered the choir of the papal chapel on 9 September 1555, and was among the papal singers deputed to the Council of Trent in February 1561. He received permission to go abroad on 24 September 1564, and wrote the following spring to say he had accepted employment from ‘a lord of his own country’; his resignation was accepted on 13 April 1565. In documents connected with a shake-up of the papal chapel later that year, Le Conte’s voice was disparaged and he was described as ‘a terrible heretic’ (hereticus pessimus); he was expelled from the chapel on 1 October.
Besides Le Conte’s 20 five-voice motets of 1547, we have a four-voice madrigal, Di ciò, cor mio, ascribed to ‘Il Conte’ in Il vero terzo libro di madrigali … a note negre (154931; ed. in CMM, lxxiii/4, 1980), and a four-voice motet, Agnus Christus in cruce, printed without ascription in Susato’s second book of motets (15539). This was reprinted, along with five of the 1547 motets, under the name of ‘Comes’ in Berg & Neuber’s Evangelia (155511-12, 15568). There is also a five-voice madrigal, Mordi, mordi, ben mio, ascribed to ‘Bartolomeo Il Conte’ in the first book of madrigals of Francesco Usper (160420). Le Conte was a capable if conventional composer. He chose particularly weighty texts and was the first to set each of his madrigal poems. His vocal lines express the verbal rhythms fluently and the scoring is varied, though his harmonic range is limited and the pacing of the motets is rather uniform.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
VanderStraetenMPB, vi
A. Ducrot: ‘Histoire de la Cappella Giulia au XVIe siècle depuis sa Fondation par Jules II (1513) jusqu’à sa restauration par Grégoire XIII (1578)’, Mélanges d’archéologie et d’histoire, lxxv (1963), 179–240, 467–559, esp. 217
R. Sherr: ‘Competence and Incompetence in the Papal Choir in the Age of Palestrina’, EMc, xxii (1994), 607–29
F.A. D’Accone: The Civic Muse: Music and Musicians in Siena during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (Chicago, 1997), 318–29
JEFFREY DEAN
SHERR
Bartholomeus [Bartholomé] Le Conte {Paul IV-Pius IV}
Tenor; France (Limoges [according to the motu proprio admitting him to the choir] Noyon [according to Document...]); formerly in the Cappella Giulia (March-May 1554); admitted 2 September 1555 by a two-thirds plus three vote at the same time as Francisco Talavera; mandati September 1555-April 1565; on 24 December 1564, he asked for a leave of absence [ DS ] and on 13 April 1565, it was reported to the singers that he had entered the service of the King of France. In spite of already having left it, Le Conte was expelled from the chapel on 31 August 1565 by the commission of cardinals; it was reported that he was: "fuor di Roma, ne so rendere conte di lui, ma si dice che ha molto bona voce" [Document...], but perhaps the real reason for his departure and his decision to remain in France is contained in the second remark about him, that he was: "hereticus pessimus" [Document...]. He may very well be the composer Bartholomeus Comes Gallicus (El Conte), whose book of motets for five voices was printed by Gardane in 1547 ( LEWIS , No. 107).
DOCUMENTS
DS 4
94r: entry dated 2 September 1555 [CASIMIRI (1937), p. 27]
Non cantavimus missam quia examinavimus novos cantores in capella in palatio videlicet d. Bartholomeum Cont et d. Franciscum de Talavera et fuerunt inventi idonei quia facto escutrino ut moris est per fabas seu balotas unuquisque habuit duas partes et tria vota in suum favorem et ideo acetati fuerunt in nostro comertio.
94v: entry dated 9 September 1555 [CASIMIRI (1937), p. 28]
Eodem die fuerunt admissi in novi cantores d Franciscus de Talavera et d. Bartholomeus Cont per R. p. d. episcopus Castrensis magistrum capelle, justa statuta collegii et motum prorpium pape. Deinde eodem die Bartholomeus Cont soluit ducatos duodecim pro jocundo introitu suo ut moris est.
VatS 679, fol. 13r [transcribed in FREY , pp. 138-139]: Undated original motu proprio ordering the admission of Le Conte and Francisco Talavera .
Paulus Papa IIII
Motu proprio etc. dilectos filios Franciscum Talavera clericum Seguntine ac Bartolomeum Campte [sic] clericum Lemovicensisi diocesium, quos sonora voce et musices scientia preditos ac probe et honeste vite esse fidedigna relatione accepimus, specialis gratie favore prosequi volentes dilectis filiis magistro ac cantoribus cappellanis cappelle nostre, quatenus ipsos Franciscum et Bartolomeum, si eos previo examine iuxta dicte cappelle statuta et constitutiones ad hoc habiles et idoneos esse repererint in dicte cappelle cantores cappellanos ad vitam, ut moris est, recipiant et admittant ac eorum numero et consortio favorabiliter aggregent, committimus et mandamus ac eis desuper licentiam et facultatem concedimus, volentes ac motu simil eisdem Francisco et Bartolomeo concedentes ac etiam decernentes, quod, postquam, ut prefertur, recepti et admissi fuerint, omnibus et singulis privilegiis, immunitatibus, exemptionibus, favoribus gratiis et indultis, quibus alii eiusdem cappelle cantores cappellani de iure et consuetudine ac per privilegia et indulta illis et eidem cappelle pro tempore concessa utuntur, potiuntur et gaudent ac uti, potiri et gaudere poterunt quomodolibet in futurum, uti, potiri et gaudere ac salaria iura et emolumenta eisdem cantoribus competentia et eis dari solita consequi et habere possint et valeant sibique de salariis, iuribus et emolumentis predictis responderi debeant. Non obstantibus constitutionibus et ordinationibus apostolicis ac quibusvis presertim per feleicis recordationis Iulium papam 3.m predecessorem nostrum de non recipiendis aliquibus in dicta cappella cantoribus, donec illorum numerus ad vigintiquatuor dumtaxat reductus existeret, ac alias quomodolibet et cum quibuscunque etiam dereogatoriarum derogatoriis clausulis irritantibusque et aliis decretis etiam motu proprio etc. factis, inhibitionibus ac statutis, decretis et ordinationibus quibuscunq ue latissime extendentibus, etiam si de illis etc. tenores illorum etc. hac vice latissime derogamus, ceterisque contrariis quibuscunque, presentis motus proprii solam signatura sufficere et ubique fidem facere regula contraria non obstante decernentes.
Placte D. N. pape Jo. Mi. Car.lis Saracenus
13v
Die 9 Settembris 1555 retroscripti Bartolomeus et Franciscus prius per cantores examinati et approbati iuxta formam constitutionem fuerunt admissi et recepti in cantores cappellanos iuxta formam retroscripti motus proprii etc. iuarunt etc. presentibus ibidem omnibus cantoribus etc.
Hieronimus Episcopus Castrensis
Magister Cappelle
DS 7
133v: entry dated 13 April 1565
Eadem die d, Antonius calasans decanus ostendit dominis cantoribus in capella congregatis quasque literas Bartholomei Conti in quibus illum faciebat versiorem se receptum fuisse in cantorum per dominum patrie sue et ita nullius servitio volle insistere et permanere idioque constaret collegio dominorum cantorum locum suum esse vacuum et ut talis per donari alio cantori, quibus intellectis habitas fuit per excluso a prefato collegio per omnes cantores.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: VANDER STRAETEN , pp. 408-411; FREY,Die Diairen, pp. 138-141; ROSTIROLLA , p. 157; LEWIS , pp. 571-574, SHERR, "Competence and Incompetence."