Landini, Francesco
Period: Medieval
Born: c. 1325 in Fiesole, Italy
Died: Saturday, September 2, 1397 in Florence, Italy
Nation of Origin: Italy
Major Works:
Madrigals
Cacce
Ballate
Non avrà má pietà
Sy dolce non sonò
De dimmi tu
Other Information:
He was born in Fiesole, Italy and was rendered blind by smallpox as a child. He played many instruments including lute, flute, and organ. His virtuosity on the organ made him famous. He worked in Florence at the San Lorenzo church from 1365 until his death in 1397. He was a master of the "Ars Nova" style of the 14th century. He and Machaut were the chief music representatives of their period.
Landini wrote no music to sacred texts. His extant works comprise about 90
2-part and 50 3-part ballate, besides a couple of cacce and a dozen madrigals. Many of the 3-part ballate are like Machaut's French ballades, for solo voice with two accompanying parts. It should always be remembered, however, that there was never any fixed way of performing secular works of this era.
Landini's music is most important for its suave harmonies. No parallel 2nds and 7ths as in 13th c. and few if any parallel fifths and octaves. Instead, full triad sonorities are plentiful, though never used as first or final chords.
Landini Cadence - This cadence is characterized by a movement from sixth to octave ornamented by a lower auxliary leaping up a third in the upper part. Sometimes the two voices that rise to the final chord do so by semitone motion, either written or by musica ficta. This form of the cadence is known as the double leading-tone cadence.
General Bibliography:
Reese, Gustave, Music in the Middle Ages : With an Introduction on the Music of Ancient Times, W.W. Norton & Company, October 1940, ISBN: 0393097501
Sachs, Curt, The Rise of Music in the Ancient World, W. W. Norton & Company, 1943, ASIN: 0393097188
Seay, Albert, Music in the Medieval World, W. W. Norton & Company, 1943, ASIN: 0393097188
Slonimsky, Nicolas and Kuhn, Laura; Editors, Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Gale Group, December 2000, ISBN: 0028655257
Sadie, Stanley and Tyrrell, John; Editors, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Groves Dictionaries, Inc., January 2004, ISBN: 0195170679
Rutherford-Johnson, Tim, Kennedy, Michael, and Kennedy, Joyce The Oxford Dictionary of Music, Oxford University Press, 6th Edition, 2012, ISBN: 0199578109
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