Revisiting the tradition of late-medieval Florentine song: shedding multispectral light on Trecento music
The Florentine tradition of Trecento song has been investigated intensively based on surviving anthologies and fragments. Without a doubt, the Squarcialupi Codex has received a lot of attention from scholars due to its wide repertorial coverage, unusually large format, and its lavish illuminations. Because of its outstanding appearance it was even regarded as a consciously set endpoint to the tradition of an Italian Ars Nova, with Andrea da Firenze in the role of the “last Florentine.” At the beginning of the 1980s, however, another extensive Florentine anthology was discovered in the Archive of the Chapter of San Lorenzo with the call number 2211 (SL). This manuscript contains not only well-known songs such as the compositions of Jacopo da Bologna or Francesco Landini, it also includes new repertories, which unfortunately have been extremely difficult to read since the manuscript had been recycled as a palimpsest by the end of the fifteenth century.

In this paper, I will present recent research on SL that includes the recovery of the lost music, and the discussion of the works of composers such as Giovanni Mazzuoli, who were considered shadowy figures thus far, since their music was not known. Further, I want to highlight insights into the compiler-scribe of the music manuscript, who most likely was a singer or composer himself. SL is regarded as being compiled contemporaneously with the Squarcialupi Codex, providing an opportunity to compare the different scopes of these anthologies, and to also revisit the role of the Squarcialupi Codex within the tradition of Trecento music. The new material gained from SL enriches our view of secular music and composers at the beginning of the fifteenth century.
Date: 30 November 2017, 17:00 (Thursday, 8th week, Michaelmas 2017)
Venue: All Souls College, High Street OX1 4AL
Venue Details: Wharton Room
Speaker: Andreas Janke (University of Hamburg)
Organising department: Faculty of Music
Part of: Seminar in Medieval and Renaissance Music
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Members of the University only
Editor: Laura Spence