Bernardino Cirillo Franco

Contents

Bernardino Cirillo Franco (20 May 1500 – 19 June 1575), also called Bernardino Cirillo and Cyrilo Franco, was a Roman Catholic archpriest of Loreto, Italy.[1]

He was born in the city of L'Aquila, Italy on 20 May 1500. His father was Pietro Sante de' Cirilli, and his mother was Gemma Bucci.[2]

He participated in the Council of Trent and was interested in improving Church music. He published litanies to the Virgin Mary.[1][3] Cirillo advocated a return to the simplicity and harmony of the earlier forms of Church music rather than elaborate forms of organ music.[4]

Cirillo attacked "modern" church music in a 1549 letter to Ugolino Gualteruzzi.[1][5] In 1649, King John IV of Portugal wrote a treatise entitled Defence of modern music against the mistaken opinion of Bishop Cyrilo Franco [i.e., Bernardino Cirillo],[6] presenting a point-by-point rebuttal of Cirillo's letter.[7]

He died in Rome on 19 June 1575.[2]

References

  1. 1.[1.2][1.3]Buelow, George J. (2004). A History of Baroque Music. Indiana University Press. p. 14. ISBN 9780253343659. Bishop Bernardino Cirillo Franco (c. 1500-1575) wrote, in a letter of 1549, thoughts about sacred music
  2. 2.[2.2]Lettere, Vera (1981). "CIRILLO, Bernardino". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 25: Chinzer–Cirni. Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. ISBN 978-88-12-00032-6.
  3. 3.Holweck, Frederick (1913). "Feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  4. 4.Trinchieri Camiz, Franca (2003). Art and music in the early modern period. p. 81. ISBN 0-7546-0689-9.
  5. 5.Stevenson, Robert (1961). Spanish Cathedral Music in the Golden Age. University of California Press. p. 333. Bishop Cirillo Franco's attack on 'modern' church music, first published in
  6. 6.John IV, King of Portugal (1965) [1649]. Ribeiro, Mário de Sampayo (ed.). Defensa de la musica moderna contra la errada opinion del Obispo Cyrilo Franco [Defence of modern music against the mistaken opinion of Bishop Cyrilo Franco]. Acta Universitatis Conimbrigensis (in Spanish) (reprint ed.). Portugal: University of Coimbra. ISBN 9789726160564. OCLC 258290532. View digitized copy of originai 1649 book
  7. 7.d'Alvarenga, João Pedro. "The Debate on Musical Aesthetics around 1600 and the Defensa de la mvsica moderna by King João IV (1649)". Academia.edu. p. 237. Defensa de la musica moderna, a short treatise written in 1649 by the Portuguese King João IV as a point by point response to Bishop Bernardo Cirillo's famous mid-sixteenth-century letter ... In 'New Music' 1400-1600: Papers from an International Colloquium on the Theory, Authorship and Transmission of Music in the Age of the Renaissance (Lisbon-Évora, 27-29 May 2003), ed. João Pedro d'Alvarenga e Manuel Pedro Ferreira, Lisboa, Évora: CESEM, Centro de História da Arte e Investigação Artística, Casa do Sul.