Magister Franciscus was a French composer-poet in the ars nova style of late medieval music. He is known for two surviving works, the three-part ballades: De Narcissus and Phiton, Phiton, beste tres venimeuse; the former was widely distributed in his lifetime. Modern scholarship disagrees on whether Franciscus was the same person as the composer F. Andrieu.
Franciscus may be the same person as the F. Andrieu who wrote Armes, amours/O flour des flours, a déploration on the death of poet-composer Guillaume de Machaut (–1377). Although, the scholarly consensus on this identification is unclear. He may also be Franciscus de Goano or Johannes Franchois. Machaut was the most dominant and important composer of the 14th century, and Franciscus's works show many similarities to his, suggesting the two were contemporaries.
Only two of his works survive, the three-part ballades: De Narcissus and Phiton, Phiton, beste tres venimeuse. They are both contained in the Chantilly Codex. Reaney notes that Magister Franciscus's works are likely earlier than Andrieu's, between 1370 and 1376.
| + List of compositions by Magister Franciscus | |||||
| Title | of voices | Genre | Manuscript source: Folios | Apel | Greene |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| De Narcissus | 3 | Ballade | Chantilly Codex 19v | 26 | 16 |
| Phiton, Phiton, beste tres venimeuse | 3 | Ballade | Chantilly Codex 20v | 27 | 18 |
Franciscus's works are included in the following collections:
| + Recordings of music by Magister Franciscus[1] | |||||
| Year | Album | Performers | Piece | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 or before | Monuments of the Ars Nova, vol. 102 | Various | De Narcissus | Oiseau-Lyre OL 102 | |
| 1973 | The Late 14th Century Avant Garde | Early Music Consort of London | Phiton, Phiton, beste tres venimeuse | EMI/HMV ASD 3621 |