Class 15- The Italian Trecento

What is the definition of Trecento in Italian music history?

Trecento refers to the Italian term for the 1300s, significant for its artistic flourishing despite economic and social hardships.

What are the three main types of secular songs in Trecento music?

Madrigal, Caccia, and Ballata.

What is a Trecento Madrigal?

A poetic and musical form consisting of two or three stanzas with a ritornello, where all voices sing the same text.

Who are the Tre Corone of Italian literature?

Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch, who wrote major works in the Tuscan dialect during the Trecento.

What characterized the Italian notation vs. Ars Nova?

Italian notation allowed for complex subdivisions of the breve, suitable for decorative singing, unlike the simpler French system.

Describe the Caccia in Trecento music.

A form featuring two voices in canon over a free untexted tenor, often depicting lively scenes like hunts or marketplaces.

What is the structure of a Ballata?

The Ballata follows the form AbbaA, where A is the refrain and consists of two piedi and a volta.

What is a Landini Cadence?

A cadential device used by Francesco Landini consisting of a stepwise ascent in the upper voice, decorated by descending a step and skipping up a third.

What type of music did Jacopo da Bologna compose?

He composed the madrigal 'Non al suo amante' which sets a poem by Petrarch.

What is significant about Francesco Landini as a composer?

He was the foremost composer of the Italian Trecento, known for his ballate and unique cadences, and was blind from an early age.