9 / 28 (The Italian Trecento)

Italy

a collection of city-states "competing" for prestige
- music was important but rarely written down
- church polyphony was mostly improvised
- most surviving music is secular in connection with thriving poetry tradition.

Florence

- a republic (power held by people + elected representatives) unlike most cities (despots
- more power to citizens; social mobility among classes, municipal support for the arts

Trecento

flourishing of arts in 14th century Italy

Madrigal

secular settings of Italian poetry (themes of love, pastoral life, satire)
- AAB
- stanzas (A) and ritornello / refrain (B)
- long melodic lines ("Italian") less "French" rhythmic complexity
- 2 or 3 voices

Caccia

"hunt," popular 1345-70
- canon in two voices, with slower tenor (untexted) underneath
- text often describes hunts, both literal and figurative.

Ballata

similar to verelai (ABbaA), especially popular after 1365

Francesco Landini

ca, 1325-1397)
- popularized the ballata
- leading intellectual (politics, religion) / poet
- longtime organist at San Lorenzo church in Florence (yet composed no sacred music)
- blinded by smallpox during childhood