(b Braine l′Alleud, c1435; d ?1511). Franco-Flemish theorist and composer. He may have been a singer at Cambrai Cathedral (under Dufay) in 1460. He was instructor of the choirboys at Orléans Cathedral in 1463. In c1472 he taught at the court of King Ferdinand I of Naples and in 1487 was commissioned by him to recruit singers from the French king, Charles VIII, and King Maximilian.
He was one of the most important music theorists of his time, whose writings provide information on the performing practice and notation of Renaissance music. Of his 12 surviving treatises, only two were published in his lifetime and only two can be dated precisely, though most seem to have been written during the 1470s. The most important, Terminorum musicae deffinitorium, contains 299 definitions of terms relating to musica plana and musica mensurabilis and is the oldest printed music dictionary. The others cover such topics as the powers attributed to music, mensural notation, solmization and mutation, singing and composition. Apart from some anonymous music examples in the treatises, he is known to have composed five masses, a setting of the Lamentations and a few motets and chansons.
Johannes Tinctoris gave Brain l'Alleud as his birthplace when he registered at the German Nation of Orleans University, which he entered on April 1, 1463. The name he used may have been a Latinized version of his actual vernacular name. His putative hometown is located 20 miles from Brussels, so he might have had a Dutch, French, Flemish, or German name, be it Tinctor, Teinturier, de Vaerwere, or Färbers, all of which have been used in writings about him. It is equivalent to the English Dyer, meaning a person who dyes things. All the original sources use Tinctoris.
By the time he entered that university, he had already been a director of choir boys and was listed elsewhere in the register as a "venerabilis dominus magister." Around 1472, he entered the service of the King of Naples, Ferdinand I, and served as tutor to his daughter, Princess Beatrice. In his own writings, Tinctoris referred to himself in various ways, including "magister" and "cappellanus," implying that he eventually had a major, perhaps the top, supervisory position among the musicians. This is supported by the fact that in 1487, Ferdinand instructed him to take charge of recruiting singers from the establishments of other kings. There is some slight hint that he may have been in Rome and performed for the Pope, though the time and place of his death are unknown. The date above is inferred by musicologists from the fact that on October 12, 1511, one of his positions was transferred to another musician. Tinctoris is valued especially highly by musicologists as a theorist, the author of several treatises on music. These are exceptionally valuable for their systematic and clear explanation of much that was going on in music at the time. The most revered is Terminorum musicae diffinitorium, a listing of 299 definitions of current musical terms. In short, it is the first printed music dictionary. Four of his tracts discuss the mensural notation in use at the time. Another, Tractatus de notis et pausis explains the notes and their time values. Another work, of 51 chapters, exhaustively discusses the system of church modes. There is a book on lute playing and an exceptionally valuable book in three volumes on counterpoint. In addition, Complexus effectum musices is a philosophical work thoroughly discussing the poetics of the art, its esthetics value, its role in religion, its part in education and the treatment of illnesses, and its traditional powers.
Most of these works are profusely illustrated with musical examples and citations to authorities from Plato and Aristotle to composers of Tinctoris' own time. A substantial number of examples are not attributed to anyone and it is clear that they were written by Tinctoris himself. In addition, Tinctoris published music outside the treatises, which he did sign, including sacred and secular vocal music characterized by gracefully flowing, though complex, polyphony. He was among the many composer who wrote a mass with the popular song L'homme armé as its cantus firmus; this is the Missa Cunctorum plasmator summus. During his time, he was extolled both as one of the most notable musicians of the time and as a great writer about music. ~ Joseph Stevenson, All Music Guide
Johannes Tinctoris (c. 1435 – 1511) was a Flemish composer and music theorist of the Renaissance. He is known to have studied in Orleans, and to have been master of the choir there; he also may have been director of choirboys at Chartres. Because he was paid through the office of petites vicars at Cambrai Cathedral for four months in 1460, it has been speculated that he studied with Dufay, who spent the last part of his life there; certainly Tinctoris must at least have known the elder Burgundian there. Tinctoris went to Naples in c. 1472 and spent most of the rest of his life in Italy.
Tinctoris published many volumes of writings on music. While they are not particularly original, borrowing heavily from ancient writers (including Boethius, Isidore of Seville, and others) they give an impressively detailed record of the technical practices and procedures used by composers of the day. He wrote the first dictionary of musical terms (the Diffinitorium musices); a book on the characteristics of the musical modes; a treatise on proportions; and three books on counterpoint, which is particularly useful in charting the development of voice-leading and harmony in the transitional period between Dufay and Josquin. The writings by Tinctoris were influential on composers and other music theorists for the remainder of the Renaissance.
While not much of the music of Tinctoris has survived, that which has shows a love for complex, smoothly flowing polyphony, as well as a liking for unusually low tessituras, occasionally descending in the bass voice to the C two octaves below middle C (showing an interesting similarity to Ockeghem in this regard). He wrote masses, motets and a few chansons.
Tinctoris was also known as a cleric, a poet, a mathematician, and a lawyer; there is even one reference to him as an accomplished painter (citation needed).
Rule #1 Begin and finish with perfect consonance. It is however not wrong if the singer is improvising a counterpoint and ends with imperfect consonance, but in that case, the movement should be many-voiced. Sixth or octave doubling of the bass is not allowed.
Rule #2 Follow together with ténor up and down in imperfect and perfect consonances of the same kind. (Third and sixth parallels are recommended, fifth and octave parallels are forbidden.)
Rule #3 If ténor remains on the same note, you can add both perfect and imperfect consonances.
Rule #4 The counterpointed part should have a melodic closed form even if ténor makes big leaps.
Rule #5 Don't put cadence on a note if it ruins the development of the melody.
Rule #6 It's forbidden to repeat the same melodic turn above a cantus firmus of equally long notes, unless cantus firmus has a repetition in itself.
Rule #7 Avoid two or more consecutive cadences of the same pitch even if cantus firmus allows it.
Rule #8 In all counterpoint, try to achieve manifoldness and variety by altering measure, tempo, and cadences. Use syncopes, imitations, canons, and pauses. But remember that an ordinary chanson uses less different styles than a motet and a motet uses less different styles than a mass.
Notable writings
the first dictionary of musical terms (Diffinitorum musices, c. 1475)
an introduction to the elements of musical pitch and rhythmic notation (Expositio manus and Proportionale musices); examples show how rhythmically elaborate extemporization may have been practiced
a thorough exposition of the modal system (Liber de natura et proprietate tonorum)
Liber de art contrapuncti – his main exposition of intervals, consonance and dissonance, and their usage. He devised strict rules for introducing dissonances, limiting them to unstressed beats and syncopations (suspensions) and at cadences.
a broad survey of the origins and evolution of music, its theological and metaphysical roots and ramifications, and vocal and instrumentation practice (De inventione et usu musice).
Heinrich Hüschen, "Johannes Tinctoris," in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. ISBN 1-56159-174-2
Palenik, Jeffrey, "The early career of Johannes Tinctoris: An examination of the music theorists Northern education and development". PhD Diss., Duke University: 2008.
