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works of every description (from 1585) have much breadth and variety. Notable are his humorous part-songs or mascherate (1590).

Several other names might be added, such as Giovanni Ferretti of Ancona (canzone, 1567-91), Vincenzo Bell'Haver (d. 1588?), and Giovanni Bassano, long a choir-trainer at St. Mark's (works, 1585-1602).

57. Other North Italian Masters.—The Venetian school reaches far outside of Venice itself. With the whole of northern Italy Venice, as the metropolis, was in the closest commercial and social relations, so that the whole valley of the Po constituted a region musically united.

In the 16th century the Venetian Republic stretched along the north bank of the Po almost 150 miles, including cities like Padua, Vicenza, Verona, Mantua, Brescia, Cremona and Bergamo, while on its borders were Ferrara, Bologna, Modena, Parma and Milan.

Throughout this whole region the drift of composition by the best masters was strongly toward forms like the madrigal, the canzona and the like, in which fresh, varied and piquant sentiment might find expression. In sacred music the motet was much more cultivated than the mass, apparently because its treatment was not so conventional and its topics were more diversified. In the search for splendor and charm of effect there was a tendency to increase the number of voices and to introduce more and more license in their handling—all looking toward the later emancipation of harmony from the tyranny of the modes and of strict contrapuntal rules.

Connected with Padua is the name of Costanzo Porta (d. 1601), who was born at Cremona about 1530 and studied with Willaert. He was a Minorite who was constantly in request as choirmaster. His longest terms of service were at Osimo from 1552, at Ravenna from 1567, and at Loreto from 1578, but he was twice at Padua, from 1565 and 1595, where he died. His works (from 1555) range from sacred to secular in a style of dignity and beauty. Among his pupils was Lodovico Balbi (d. 1604), also a Minorite, a singer at St. Mark's and at Verona, and choirmaster at Padua in 1585-91 (works from 1570). A later writer of some power was Giulio Belli (d. 1613?), who was choirmaster from 1582 at many different places, including Padua from 1607 (works from 1584).

At Vicenza we note Giovanni Matteo Asola (d. 1609), choirmaster from 1581, with many able sacred works (from 1570), and Leone Leoni, from 1588 cathedral-choirmaster, whose many works, sacred and secular (1588-1622), were much used.

At Mantua was Jachet de Mantua [Jacques Colebaud] (d. before 1559), a Frenchman who appeared about 1527 as a singer and later became both ca