Abstract
The object of this thesis is to contribute to a neglected area of musical scholarship, that of music and performance practice in late 16th-century Rome. Annibale Stabile, the composer chosen as the vehicle for this study, was one of a number of composers working in Rome during this time and he achieved considerable recognition in his day and made significant contributions to the music of the period, particularly in the area of rhythmic development. He served as maestro di cappella at three important Roman institutions, S. Giovanni in Laterano, the Collegio Germanico, and S. Maria Maggiore.
This thesis consists of two volumes. Volume I contains a discussion of Stabile, his career and music, and Volume II contains an edition of his sacred music. In Part One of Volume I a chronological survey of Stabile's biography and rediscovery of his works is followed by a discussion of performance practice at the three institutions where he served as maestro, based upon new information from original sources. Part Two is an analysis of his musical style, followed by some observations on mensuration signs, dissonance and chromatic alteration, musica ficta, canon, cantus firmus and large scale structures, cadences and clefs, and mode, in which Stabile is compared where possible to other Roman composers. Part Three consists of a commentary on the various sources, their contents, dedicatees and editors, with a full listing of contents where known. Included in the Appendices is a table of composers active in Rome between 1570 and 1600, a chronological list of Stabile's publications, and a Thematic Catalogue of Stabile's sacred works. An index of names concludes this volume.
The accompanying edition of Stabile's sacred music also includes several works by some previously unknown composers whose compositions are discussed in the body of the thesis: Salvatore Sacchi, Paolo Papini, Jacopo Corfini, Antonio Gualteri, and Giovanni Andrea Dragoni.