Francesco Landini

Biography
Francesco Landini (c.1325-1397) was the most widely praised
composer of the Italian Ars Nova, and a leading representative of
the Florentine style which came to dominate subsequent appraisal
of the art and music of the Trecento. Landini's life & interests reflect
the early humanist movement, and indeed some accounts of the
Renaissance place the origin of that phenomenon in his time &
place, with the school of the painter Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337).
Landini's own father, Jacopo del Casentino (c.1310-1349), was a
painter of the school of Giotto, and Francesco himself contributed
poetry in the style of Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio. Landini's
humanist orientation manifested itself in his writings on ethics and
William of Ockham's new logic, as well as in his multifaceted work in
music. Blind since childhood, Landini was not only a leading
composer, but a prominent organist and designer & tuner of
instruments. Landini evidently mastered instruments other than the
organ, and has been portrayed as an integral member of Florentine
society, adept at the erudite philosophical & political discussions
which marked this increasingly self-aware age.
The nature of the surname attributed to Landini (sometimes
Landino) is a matter of some debate, as he is named only as
Francesco in musical sources. His place of birth may have been
Fiesole, and it seems he may have spent some time in Venice before
1370. In any case, the center of Italian music in the Ars Nova style
moved from Venice to Florence during the period, a period during
which Landini was the most prominent of an accomplished group of
composers. He can be connected directly to both Lorenzo da Firenze
(d.1372/3) and Andreas de Florentia (d.c.1415), and his works
appear in sources which also feature the music of those and other
Trecento composers. It is believed that Landini may have held the
post of organist at San Lorenzo as long as from 1365 until his death,
and he was certainly buried there. One concrete reference to his
activity occured in 1387, when he was called upon to plan the new
organ for Florence Cathedral.
Perhaps in keeping with his humanist orientation, Landini's surviving
music is entirely secular. Landini may have written motets, but none
are securely attributed, and at most one survives intact. Aside from
these works and one French virelai, his surviving music is entirely in

Italian, and almost entirely in the ballata form he apparently

pioneered. Fully 154 songs are securely attributed to Landini (140
ballate!), approximately two thirds of which are in two parts with the
remainder in three. Some texts are almost certainly by Landini, and
while some are known to be by others, most of the texts he set may
have been his own. Landini is the best-represented composer in
the Squarcialupi Codex, the most important single source for
Trecento secular polyphony, while the unnamed
manuscript Florence Biblioteca nazionale 26 was apparently
compiled at least partially under his direction. Landini wrote about
one quarter of the surviving Italian Ars Nova secular music.
Landini's music is known for its progressive tonal layout and clearly
defined parts. There is often a logical formal design to Landini's
settings, and one characteristic cadence of the period has been
named for him. Although it did not remain in fashion for long,
Landini's music was used as a model by Italian Ars Subtilior
composers, who sometimes added new parts. It did not survive the
Franco-Flemish Renaissance; the use of the madrigal form by Landini
and other composers of his era is not connected to the flowering of
that genre in the 16th century. Since they were rediscovered in
modern times, however, several of Landini's songs (especially the
two-part ballata Ecco la primavera) have remained popular. Landini's
clear melodic vision and expressivity serve to assure his music's
place in the Ars Nova repertory. However, as one can easily observe
by perusing the following discography, the majority of his works
have yet to be recorded.

Project
In
Music

Submitted to: Pastor Ryan Ronquillo

Submitted by: Judy Ann Suarez