MASTER PIETRO CERONE

A priest of the highest integrity, and the author of this great work.

We know, Amphion A son of Zeus in Greek mythology whose playing of the lyre was so beautiful that stones moved of their own accord to build the walls of Thebes., that not everything reported is true,
Which the ingenious minds of poets report concerning you:
Namely, that by singing so sweetly to your pleasant lyre,
You moved rough rocks in wondrous ways;
And that you once drew them to the new walls of Thebes,
And thus you were the founder of so great a city.
But truly, Cerone, our age is greater than that one;
We celebrate you no less than the husband of Niobe Amphion.:
For by this art of yours, you have dedicated new temples to the Muses;
Because through you, the way has been opened to us,
By which one may briefly produce noble songs.
If your voice, Amphion, was so sweet that it fitted
Hard stones, once softened, into a circle;
As that ancient age spoke concerning you,
It is seen today that Cerone performs this even better,
And he himself teaches countless peoples how to do it.
The rocks were forced by you to set aside their hardness,
Amphion, because you were full of charming prayer:
Yet no monuments of your people report the art
That you taught any nations the laws of rhythm original: "numerum" - referring to musical meter or number..
But this man of ours, in our day, instructs many "Amphions"
With all his learning and his art;
Who sing with a sweetness far greater than yours:
And he is the one of whom Fame, in speaking, swells with pride.

Thus they speak with rosy mouths;
This is PIETRO, who possesses a threefold honor from CERONE;
Every beauty of Parnassus, likewise the honor and praise
Of Helicon The mountain home of the Muses.:
For indeed, by his work, all our glory
Of wondrous novelty has been restored
(Let this truly be confessed)
By his deep song.
Therefore, Apollo descends from the high citadel
Upon his learned hair, encircled with laurel,
Weighing his good deeds
From above.
It likewise concerns our own honor
To return this man, celebrated on earth,
To the eternal air of the herald,
Perishing in no age:
By making his name eternal,
Our own name is, as it were, perennial;
And so it shall remain with us equally
For all time.
Since among musicians, he alone,
Of all who have been from the first, and are now,
Deserves to be the Master of all;
It is his right:
It is the highest law, therefore, that he alone,
Always sitting in our midst,
Should hold the scepter, while other singers
Are justly set aside.

A song of the Muses in praise of the author, by John de León, Priest and their student.

While the new light was rising and radiating,
And the shadow of night was fleeing from the sky,
And fair Euterpe The Muse of music and lyric poetry. was gathering
Charming flowers in the countryside:
I then seemed to be with the great
Lord of the Delian people Apollo, born on the island of Delos., and at the same time
With the choir whose honor rejoices
In the place of the Lyre.
It was there that Calliope The Muse of epic poetry, often considered the leader of the Muses. spoke thus:
"O nourishing offspring of our sisters,
Why do joys not now rightly take possession
Of our breast?
For today a man breathes the vital air,
By whom we are brought forth, and
By whose strings we are raised from all things
To the stars."
I myself, approaching them then, asked:
"Who is he, O Muse, nourishing child of Jove,
That man so excellent, and so fortunate?
Tell me, I pray."

If it were not a crime for a Father of a Race original: "Genearcha" - likely referring to Pythagoras and his theory of metempsychosis. to believe
That one soul passes into the body of another,
I myself could say that the soul of the wise Pythagoras
Has been poured, beyond doubt, into PIETRO Cerone.
But let the following opinion stand, as is lawful:
That the soul of PIETRO was sent from the heavens,
And when it glided down into his body through ethereal fires,
It took from that Harmony of the heavens
Its motion, and the measure of true melody. Therefore,
He who desires to learn heavenly Harmony,
Let him read through and frequently observe whatever
So great a man has written and taught in our days.
Let the ancient Singers yield to him, and let the palm be given:
Though the art of Pythagoras be high, let it lie low:
Let Orpheus, Amphion, and Arion, excellent with their picks,
Stand back from the Temple of the Muses; for our PIETRO
Alone is present, and he himself shows the way and the art of song:
Whose name, while Apollo spreads his shining hair,
Shall retain honor above all others;
And firm glory shall sing his praises.
And flying eternally, he shall fill the world with his merits,
And thus shall he wage bloody wars against Death original: "Libitina" - the Roman goddess of funerals and burial, used here as a personification of death..