Butler - The Fantasia As Musical Image PDF

The Fantasia as Musical Image
Author(s): Gregory G. Butler

Source: The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 60, No. 4 (Oct., 1974), pp. 602-615
Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/741767
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THE FANTASIA AS MUSICAL IMAGE
By GREGORY G. BUTLER
TO DATE, terminological research on the fantasia has focused

almost exclusively upon the problem of genre definition.1
However, it is a disturbing fact that almost two decades before the
earliest datable use of the term in a generic sense - in Hans Kotter's
keyboard tablature (1513ff.) - the word fantasia makes a prior ap-
pearance in reference to the abstract thema of a freely composed in-
strumental motet by Heinrich Isaac.2 Is it not possible that, to begin
with, the term fantasia referred not to a particular genre but to much
more sharply defined small-scale musical structures which, as their
use gradually became widespread, eventually lent their name to the
particular type of composition in which they were employed? The
following discussion can perhaps serve to answer this question, re-
vealing at the same time the musical nature of the fantasia considered
as a short contrapuntal formula and clarifying to some extent the
sixteenth-century concept of the term.
An undated, untexted three-part work preserved in MS 2856 of
the Biblioteca Casanatense in Rome may represent the very first use
of the term fantasia in a musical source. This is a piece entitled
Fantasies de Joskin.3 Colin Slim compares this use of the term with
1 Of special interest for this discussion are: Margarete Reimann, "Zur Deutung des
Begriffs Fantasia," Archiv fiir Musikwissenschaft X (1953), and H. Colin Slim, "The
Keyboard Ricercar and Fantasia in Italy, c. 1500-1550, with Reference to Parallel
Forms in European Lute Music of the Same Period" (Ph.D. diss., Harvard University,
1960). Appendix III of Slim's dissertation, "Meanings of Fantasia, Ricercar, Prelude
to 1600," is invaluable for anyone undertaking a study of any of these terms, and
much of my discussion is based on material to be found in this appendix.
2 For the oft-quoted passage in an undated letter sent from a secretary Gian at
Ferrara to Ercole d'Este, Duke of Ferrara (d. 1505), see Slim, op. cit., p. 401.
3 Transcribed by Johannes Wolf in Sing- und Spielmusik aus dilterer Zeit (Leipzig,
1931), pp. 51-53. Reprinted by Broude Brothers (New York, n. d.).
602
The Fantasia as Musical Image 603
the clearly generic application in the compositions by Ko

ferred to above.4 However, in the former the plural numb
word (fantasies) is employed, while in the latter it is the
(fantasia) which appears. In both cases the terms refer to sing
positions. Fantasies de Joskin is in fact exactly what the title
- a number of "fantasias of Josquin" which are strung tog
form a longer work. There are five of these fantasias, set off
another by staggered rests in all three voices. It is significant
discussion that the two most prominent of the five fantasias,
the beginning and end of the composition, both consist of
constructed on highly regular fundaments consisting of
mechanical sort of sequential imitation (Ex. 1).5 The redu
mediately below Ex. 1 illustrates how the ascending third
voice is answered in contrary motion in the other voice b
scending fourth and vice versa to produce between cantus
(measures 2-5) a sequence of alternating vertical tenths and fi
Ex. 1 Fantasies deJoskin, Rome, Bibl. Casanat. MS 2856, fols. 87'-88
_ _4 5 6
A II I
to,
SI II
A44 45 67 49
II I I II
-" " II I 1F' I ' F I
4 Slim op. cit., p. 400.

5 Daniel Heartz has adopted the term "canonic sequence" for this s
Heartz, ed., Preludes, Chansons and Dances for Lute by Pierre Attaing
tions de la Soci&t& de Musique d'Autrefois, II (Neuilly-sur-Seine, 1964
ever, this implies strict canonic imitation, whereas in fact the imitati
with regard to the size of interval employed. For this reason it has b
adopt here the more general "sequential imitation."
604 The Musical Quarterly
between altus and tenor (measures 3-5), thirds an

of which descend conjunctly. In the final fantasia
a different sequential imitation is employed, in w
of alternating seconds and thirds constitutes the
upon which the progression is based.
The term is employed in the same way by Claud
his Missa ad placitum (published in Pierre Attaing
Liber secundus, 1534), which also carries the desig
tasie."6 Contrary to Slim's assumption that this de
onymous with the "ad placitum" of the title,7 "sur
refers to something much more specific. Gaston A
that the Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus I of th
with the first four measures of Kyrie I (Ex. 2a).8 It is
basic reduction immediately below the Kyrie I ex
passage is constructed on the same sequential imita
ployed at the beginning of the final fantasia (meas
Ex. 1, above. Here the first three measures serve some
which is repeated and extended to the final cadenc
fragmentary beginning of the progression in the can
is picked up at the lower octave in the tenor (measure
how the progression migrates progressively to th
voice - from altus to cantus (measures 5-6 and 9),
altus (measures 6-7), and from bassus to tenor (me
odic continuity as the progression changes voices
each case by tying over the note in the lower voice.
The same progression appears in paired point
almost devoid of any coloration at the beginning o
florid inversion at the close of the same section
occurs frequently in duo sections throughout the
ample, in the Et in terra and Agnus II (Ex. 2c-d).
From the musical evidence presented thus far,
and repetitious contrapuntal skeleton would seem to b
to which Claudin alludes. If this is the case, what
lationship between such a musical structure and th
It is highly significant for this study that seque
6 For a discussion of this designation and a facsimile repro

Allaire, "The Masses of Claudin de Sermisy" (Ph.D. diss., Bosto
p. 179 and Plate I on p. 180. For a transcription of the entire Mass,
7 Slim, op. cit., p. 401.
8 Allaire, op. cit., p. 179.
Ex. 2a. Claudin de Sermisy, Missa ad placitum, Kyrie I
1 i , 4
6 8
ir t i i F ..
Ex. 2b
24 25 26 27 28 34 35 36 37
... " I I "

OP
I t I I
Ex. 2c. Claudin de Sermisy, Missa ad plac

6 7 8 9 10
Ex. 2d. Claudin de

56 57 58 9 60
such as those given above make up the mainstay of

improvised vocal counterpoint, contrapunto a ment
tice two or three singers improvise a very close fug
with or without cantus firmus. If one examines the
by Gioseffo Zarlino in Le istitutioni harmoniche (1
sequenza is seen to consist largely of chains of t
imitations.
Ex. 3a. Zarlino, Le Istitutioni hbarmonicbe (1558), p. 305,"Consequenza a mente con soggetto"
A
- :- r F i i l
Ex. 3b. Zarlino, Le istitutioni barmonicbe (1573), p. 315, "Consequenza doppia a mente senza soggetto"
= . j 4t: j J ,
e)c
. . . - I I E I
- r r'-I T e &t-.
Interestingly enough, Zarlino elsewhere refers to this particular so
of construction as "a fantastic passage, and therefore not too real."'
The word stravagante here denotes something not "too real" b
rather fantastic or imaginary, which exceeds the bounds of com
hension. Zarlino reinforces this concept by referring to consequ
a mente senza soggetto11 as products "of the imagination."12 T
basic meaning of the word fantasia is simply "imagination," an
9 For a comprehensive treatment of this topic, see Ernst Ferand, "Improv
Vocal Counterpoint in the Late Renaissance and Early Baroque," Annales musi
giques, IV (1956), 129-74. Ferand discusses sequential imitations at some length
148-51) to which he refers as a "primitive imitation technique."
10o"Non sia troppo reale; essendo un passo stravagante: . ." - Zarlino, Le
istitutioni harmoniche (Venice, 1558), p. 314.
11 Ibid. (Venice, 1573), p. 314.
12 ". . . di fantasia ..." - Ibid., p. 302.
more concrete meaning by simple transferral is "the produ

imagination" or "image." In the musical application of t
fantasia, it would seem to be this concept of the image w
applied to such musical structures as the sequential imi
there a deeper significance to this concept of the "musical
Since images are closely bound up with musical improvisa
should come as no great surprise to find that they consti
of the basic elements of the ars mnemonica upon which ve
provisation (oratio mentalis) is so dependent."3 Memoria i
the most important of the five branches of rhetoric. Prob
most influential and widely read statement of the principle
ars mnemonica during the period under consideration is th
appears in the eleventh book of Marcus Fabius Quintilian's
on rhetoric, Institutio oratoria.
Quintilian begins his discussion by describing the vario
involved in the act of committing something to memory. T
of these is concerned with the implanting of a number of
the mind:
. .. memory is aided when localities have been impressed on the mind. .1. 15
In this way what is to be committed to memory is reduced to an

image or symbol. This image becomes the element which will act
directly on the memory to stimulate and activate it:
Then they distinguish those things which they have written or comprehended
through thought by some particular image, by which they are reminded....'I
Quoting Cicero as an authority, Quintilian stresses the need for

these images to provide instant recall:
S.. 'by images, moreover, active, sharp, assailing ones, which are able to present
themselves and swiftly strike the mind.'17
Although the images are basic to what is committed to memory, they
13 For a fascinating glimpse into the practice of the ars mnemonica and its vital
role in Western thinking, see Frances A. Yates, The Art of Memory (London, 1966).
14 Literally, loci means "places," and Quintilian views the term in exactly this way,
recommending that the orator select a number of places, ideally, large rooms in build-
ings (Institutio oratoria, XI, ii, 18).
15 "... iuvari memoriam signatis animo sedibus.. ." - Ibid., XI, ii. 17.
18 "Tum quae scripserunt vel cogitant, ratione complectuntur et aliquo signo, quo
moneantur, notant. .. ." - Ibid., XI, ii, 19.
17 "... . 'imaginibus autem agentibus, acribus insignitis, quac occurrere celeriterque
percutere animum possint.' " - Ibid., XI, ii, 22.
do not properly form a part of it, but serve rather

are independent inventions:
The need, therefore, is for loci which either are invented or
and images or symbols which in any case are to be invented.
by which we distinguish those things which are to be committed
Once the localities have been imprinted and the im

the latter are deposited within the former:
For indeed they place, in the loci which they have learned, tho
images or symbols]: . . . Afterwards, recollecting, they discove
placed them.19
When a circumstance arises which necessitates callin

terial committed to memory, a quick survey of the
bring to light the image pertinent to that particular si
. . when we come to the locus we shall easily discern what is i
The image, once discovered in the locus, serves

memory, which not only transmogrifies the image, fil
elaborating it, but, just as important, acts as a conduct
this elaboration for delivery:
. . which [the memory], somewhat in the manner of a mediu

for oratorical execution what has been received from invention.21
The ars mnemonica was fundamental to elementary education

during the period under scrutiny. Is it possible that this process
was taken over into musical practice and that the use of the term
fantasia reflects the application of the concept of the memory-loc
and -images to certain imaginary musical structures such as the
sequential imitation? The most revealing reference to the fantasia
in this respect is that which occurs in chapter 33 of Claudius Se-
bastiani's treatise Bellum musicale (1563).22 This chapter deals with
18 "Opus est ergo locis, quae vel finguntur vel sumuntur, et imaginibus vel
simulacris, quae utique fingenda sunt. Imagines voces sunt quibus ea quae ediscend
sunt notamus." - Ibid., XI, ii, 21.
19 "Namque in iis quae didicerunt locis ponunt res illas: . . . deinde relegentes
inveniunt ubi posuerunt." - Ibid., XI, ii, 23.
20 ". . cum ad locum ventum erit, facile quod in eo est pervidebimus." - Ibid.,
V, x, 22.
21". . . quod illa quasi media quaedam manus acceptum ab inventione tradit
elocutioni." - Ibid,, XI, ii, 3-4.
22 Little is known of Sebastiani's life except that he was born in Metz, where
he served as organist until at least 1563. He held a position as organist simultaneously
in Freiburg from 1557 to 1565.
the acquisition of the basic skills required by a beginn

performance of instrumental music. Towards the end o
ter Sebastiani refers to the fantasia in connection with musical
memory:
Likewise it is of the greatest importance that they commit as much as they

can to memory, at least the loci, whether fugae or the more suitable fantasias.
In this way they will eventually manage to turn into men. That this may come
about more easily, they should know that the), will need to exercise and to run
through many musical passages. Whence it will come about that, what at the
moment it is not in their power to comprehend, hereafter the)y will recollect,
although they thought that they had completely forgotten [it] and had com-
mitted [it] to oblivion.23
Sebastiani begins by emphasizing the need to commit as much as

possible to memory, if not an entire piece of music, then at the
very least, "the loci, whether fugae or the more suitable fantasias."
This last passage is crucial. It marks the first known reference to the
application of the rhetorical locus to music. Further, it closely links
the term fantasia with the locus, and thus with the whole rhetorical
memory process. By Sebastiani's time the locus and the image (fan-
tasia) has become so nearly identified with one another that the
purely technical distinction between them has disappeared; thus in
fact the fantasia is a locus. Thus the fantasia is not placed in the
locus, as in Quintilian's scheme, but, like the locus, is implanted
directly in the memory. It is significant for the present study that in
this particular passage, as indeed throughout the whole chapter,
Sebastiani closely relates the fantasia and the fuga. This would
seem to bear directly on the stress placed on the sequential imitation
as a fantasia thus far. This, along with the question as to why the
fantasia is "more suitable" for committing to memory will be dealt
with presently.
Note the close parallels between Quintilian's and Sebastiani's
23 "Item illud maxima praecipuum est, ut quantum poterint memoriae com-

mendent, ad minus locos sive Fugas aut Fantasias magis idoneas: sic tandem ef-
ficient ut in viros evadant: quo facilius fiat, noverint exercitatione opus esse, &
multarum Musicarum rerum percurritatione. Unde fiet ut quod iam assequi non
valuerint, olim reminiscantur, cum maxime oblitos opus esse, oblivionique tradidisse
existimaverint" - Bellum tnusicali inter plani et mensuralis cantus reges de
principatu in Musicae Provincia (Strasbourg, 1563), XXX, 22, Slim, op. cit., pp. 405-6,
translates all pertinent passages relating to the fantasia from this chapter. In the case
of this particular passage, however, unaware of the rhetorical-musical significance of
the word loci, he mistranslates it as "passages," and he does not translate that portion
of the passage which follows the first sentence.
treatment of the memory process, even though Se

a fairly full grasp of the method from his studen
the image as a reduction of a larger complex which
memory in conjunction with the loci. Although Q
this elsewhere,24 both refer to the need for exercisin
refer to the rapid survey or running through of
until the pertinent image is discovered. At the en
sion Sebastiani makes the point that on the spur o
the student will not be able to recollect an entire w
passage by the time-consuming process of rethink
that is, by fully comprehending it. It is interestin
implies the same thing regarding the concept of co
noncomprehension at the beginning of his discussio
that "they distinguish those things which they have w
prehended through thought by some particular im
of the reduction of the comprehensible and real25
hensible and imaginary will be discussed at greater
With these important aspects in mind, let us re-
cryptic references to the fantasia in sixteenth-centur
Beginning in the mid sixteenth century, on the tit
from Pierre Phalkse's press, Hortus musarum (155
theatrum (1568), Theatrum musicum (1571), and P
(1584), the Greek word automata appears as a syn
tasiae.26 Automaton can be defined as "a piece of
concealed motive power endued with spontaneous
sult of an unthinking routine or action performe
or subconsciously." From the examples quoted thus
is certainly a piece of musical mechanism. Moreov
description of the fantasia as issuing forth with the e
prehending and unaware, in fact, unconscious of it
the memory, is remarkably close to the concept of
24 Quintilian, op. cit., X, v, 12.

25 There is, in fact, an existing Latin term for this concept -
is a complete, concrete thought, something which can be graspe
idea of polarity between the fantasia and comprehensio has alre
above and is especially significant in light of Sebastiani's statem
comes into play at the moment when, for musicians, "it is n
comprehend."
26See Reimann, op. cit., p. 263, note 2, and Slim, op. cit., p. 411. Reimann and
Slim both give basic definitions for automaton, but go little further into the matter
except for Slim's significant linking of the term with the voluntary.
as "the result of an unthinking routine or action perform

consciously or subconsciously." Further parallels will eme
Early in the seventeenth century, in his Disputatio mu
onda (1609), Johann Lippius makes the following commen
textless music:
. . . if on delivery, the music is not declaimed by means of words as is the case

in instrumental music and occasionally in vocal music, then it is effected by
means of elements beyond comprehension just as in an improvisatory oration
however varied it may be and however rambling it has often been in common-
place fantasias, as they are called.27
The description of fantasias as being effected "subintellegendius

is again very close to the concept of the automaton and furnishes yet
another link between the fantasia and the incomprehensible.
It is not clear whether Lippius is employing the term fantasiae
to refer to the small-scale musical image or to the large-scale genr
However, it is evident from a passage in one of the most influenti
terminological theoretical sources of this period, the third volum
of Michael Praetorius's Syntagma musicum (1619), that the term i
still used to mean musical image. In his definition of the canzon
Praetorius states that there are "also some with short fugae and
agreeable fantasias.'"28 Thus the fantasia as a versatile contrapunta
formula is not limited to that genre to which it gave its name, bu
applies to other genres. Over half a century after Sebastiani's discu
sion of the term the close relationship between fugae and fantasia
as constructional elements in improvisatory music is still clearly evi-
dent. To resolve the accumulated mystery surrounding the enigmatic
concept of the fantasia as the incomprehensible, the imaginary,
mere image or shadow of something more real, more concrete,
more comprehensible, it is necessary to trace briefly the continuin
tradition of the art of memory in music through the seventeenth
century.
In 1610 Giovanni Chiodino includes at the conclusion of his
27". . . si actu ille non pronunciatur verbis ut fit in Musica instrumentali, et

interdum vocali, turn rebus subintellegendius est tanquam oratio mentalis quam
varia quoque illa sit et vaga qualis esse consuevit in vulgaribus Phantasiis uti
nominant." - Disputatio musica seconda (Wittenberg, 1609), quoted in Martin
Ruhnke, Joachim Burmeister: ein Beitrag zur Musiklehre um 1600, Schriften des
Landesinstitutes fiir Musikforschung Kiel, V (Kassel, 1955), 139.
28". . . seynd auch etliche mit kurtzen Fugen und artigen Fantaseyen."
Praetorius, Syntagma musicum, tomus tertius (Wolfenbuttel, 1619), p. 23, quoted in
Reimann, op. cit., p. 263, note 2.
treatise Arte prattica latina e volgare di far contra

penna an appendix entitled "De locis communib
which consists of thirty short two-part musical ex
as one might expect, close sequential imitations fig
This same appendix appears under the title "Dr
munes Musicales, pro Tyronibus" at the conclu
Andreas Herbst's Musica poetica (1643). It make
pearance in Herbst's German translation of the C
published in 1653, attesting to the continuing inte
memory with its loci and images, and its impo
instruction of musical improvisation.
Later in the century Roger North's fascinating
cellent Art of Voluntary (ca. 1695), in dealing wi
provisation, shows close parallels with the earl
memory:
By this he will know the fluency and emphases of musick, and his memory
will be filled with numberless passages of approved ayre, . . . And all these in
a manner as may be termed memoriter, in a like manner as persons that deal
in tunes and lessons have them by heart and can performe without thinking, and
even as sometimes comon fidlers will play when fast asleep; which I mention
to shew what exactness and perfection of memoriall habit a master ought to
be armed with, to enable him to be a perfect voluntier.
It is not to be expected that a master invents all he plays in that manner.
No, he doth but play over those passages that are in his memory and habituall
to him.29
The "numberless passages" to which North refers slightly later as

"precontrived stratagems"30 clearly refer to what earlier would have
been termed loci or fantasias. North's description of the musician's
ability to perform such passages "without thinking" is remarkably
close to the previous definition of the automaton as "the result of an
unthinking routine." It is significant that throughout this discussion
the memorization of "fuges" is stressed.
After tracing a tradition which spans over two centuries, one
finally arrives at what is at the same time the first and last explicit
and unambiguous linking of the sequential imitation with the fan-
tasia. This occurs in Moritz Vogt's discussion of musical invention
from his treatise Conclave thesauri magnae artis musicae (1719):31
29 North, The Excellent Art of Voluntary (ca. 1695) in Roger North on Music,
ed. John Wilson (London, 1959), p. 141.
30 Ibid.
31 Like Sebastiani before him, Vogt was an organist. This is significant for it
Fugae which are born of a fantasia are in substance, nothing other

version of this fantasia, as in this example:32
PHANTASIA SIMPLEX
A PHANTASIA VARIATA
46=1
40 4t1 ,w i ' t I I ! I,
t ............. ! I , .l ? I v--op
It has become readily apparent in the foregoing discussion that the
sequential imitation is in fact a fantasia, and the above passage with
its accompanying musical example constitutes an unequivocal state-
ment of this identity. More than that, however, it serves to clarify
some of the questions posed above.
According to Vogt, the fuga, here a point of imitation, is "born
of a fantasia," and it is clear from the given musical examples
exactly how this process operates. The naked skeleton of the se-
quential imitation (phantasia simplex) is clothed by suitable colora-
tions to give rise to the fuga (phantasia variata). This serves to ex-
plain Sebastiani's insistent reference to fuga and fantasia in the same
breath and sheds light on his claim that the fantasia is "more suit-
able" for committing to memory. Since the fantasia is a bare reduc-
tion of the fuga in its finished, elaborated form, it is naturally much
simpler to retain. Vogt's elaboration is illustrative and intentionally
kept quite simple, but, as we have seen from Claudin's treatment of
it, the elaboration of the fantasia is more often highly complex, with
all manner of melodic and rhythmic distortion, and therefore not
well disposed for retention by the memory.
It is significant in light of the polarity between fantasia and
comprehensio which has been touched on above that later in his
discussion of the fantasia Vogt presents comprehensio and fantasia as
antithetical terms: "Comprehensio is defined thus: comprehensio
seems clear that the tradition of the fantasia as musical image was carried on within
the art of keyboard improvisation. In the Protestant countries, where the Ramian
system of rhetoric was adopted, memoria disappeared as a branch of rhetoric and
along with it, the ars mnemonica with its loci and images. However, the concept thrived
in Catholic circles and so it is not surprising to see it being propagated by Vogt, a
monk of the Cistercian order.
32"Fugae quae nascuntur ex phantasia, nihil sunt aliud in substantia, quam par
p.phantasia
213. variata. Ut in exemplo. ... ." - Conclave thesauri . . . (Prague, 1719),
is all that which does not concern fantasia, . . ."33 P

short glossary at the beginning of his treatise, Vogt
fantasia as "an unelaborated, ordered progression o
the comprehensio as "a long span of elaborated voic
identifies thema as the elaborated fantasia, referri
which is "deduced by artificial means."36 He describ
hensio as "music which can be grasped or appreh
mind"37 and gives the following example of the com
0o W F ___ AMA_ - Ab
The fantasia, then, is seen

inary, something unreal an
regularity, it is looked upo
inherently unnatural progr
ination. The comprehensio,
can be grasped, something
in its irregular windings it i
and exhibits none of the ri
It is imperative that fan
generic term. Prior to its fir
was used to refer to certain
so called because they were
imagination. Soon thereaft
(Fantasies de Joskin is an e
fantasia was elaborated and
(Claudin's Missa ad placitum
adopting the same term as
is only one of countless fant
s33"Comprehensio indica sic: es

phantasia,...." - Ibid., p. 161.
34 ". ... simplex & ordinatus proc
35 "Ein Griff voller Stimmen."
term. It can mean "pattern" but t
stract meaning derives from the v
is the German equivalent of com
"a long span."
36 ". .. artificiose deducendum
ridette (a term given by Zarlino
earlier by Giovanni Doni as "arti
(Rome, 1635) entitled "Discorso sop
37 ". . . musicae comprehensivae.
most common of these and, to quote Cicero once again, o

most "striking" of all the musical images.
In order to acquire a fuller understanding of some of t
enigmatic musical terms, such as fantasia, one must, it is c
the foregoing, go further afield in tracing the extramusic
tions of such terms. The vast domain of rhetoric is a par
relevant and fertile field for such endeavors.38
38 This paper was read before the Pacific-Northwest Chapter of the American
Musicological Society on April 6, 1974.

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The Fantasia as Musical Image

Author(s): Gregory G. Butler

TO DATE, terminological research on the fantasia has focused

the clearly generic application in the compositions by Ko

-" " II I 1F' I ' F I

4 Slim op. cit., p. 400.

between altus and tenor (measures 3-5), thirds an

6 For a discussion of this designation and a facsimile repro

... " I I "

Ex. 2c. Claudin de Sermisy, Missa ad plac

Ex. 2d. Claudin de

such as those given above make up the mainstay of

more concrete meaning by simple transferral is "the produ

In this way what is to be committed to memory is reduced to an

Quoting Cicero as an authority, Quintilian stresses the need for

Although the images are basic to what is committed to memory, they

do not properly form a part of it, but serve rather

Once the localities have been imprinted and the im

When a circumstance arises which necessitates callin

The image, once discovered in the locus, serves

. . which [the memory], somewhat in the manner of a mediu

The ars mnemonica was fundamental to elementary education

the acquisition of the basic skills required by a beginn

Likewise it is of the greatest importance that they commit as much as they

Sebastiani begins by emphasizing the need to commit as much as

23 "Item illud maxima praecipuum est, ut quantum poterint memoriae com-

treatment of the memory process, even though Se

24 Quintilian, op. cit., X, v, 12.

as "the result of an unthinking routine or action perform

. . . if on delivery, the music is not declaimed by means of words as is the case

The description of fantasias as being effected "subintellegendius

27". . . si actu ille non pronunciatur verbis ut fit in Musica instrumentali, et

treatise Arte prattica latina e volgare di far contra

The "numberless passages" to which North refers slightly later as

Fugae which are born of a fantasia are in substance, nothing other

is all that which does not concern fantasia, . . ."33 P

The fantasia, then, is seen

s33"Comprehensio indica sic: es

most common of these and, to quote Cicero once again, o

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