Amor mi fa cantar a la Francesca
In 14th-century Italy, a distinct musical landscape flourished, which in the early 15th century was increasingly influenced by French and Northern European composers. This CD explores the contrast between the Italian and the adopted French repertoire. Tracks 1 to 9 demonstrate the vitality of the Italian tradition in the time of Petrarch and Boccaccio. The monophonic ballad "Amor mi fa cantar a la Francesca" from the Vatican manuscript Rossi 215, in particular, evokes how young noblemen made music in Tuscan villas during the plague of 1348. Similarly, the polyphonic piece "Quando i oselli canta" illustrates the typical Trecento style and highlights its formal characteristics. A madrigal, embodying the characteristic two-part writing of this era, demonstrates the complex interplay of the voices, with the lower voice often carrying a clear melody and the upper voice serving as ornamentation. To illustrate later North Italian polyphony, instrumental pieces from the Frankish-Italian repertoire and ballads by Florentine masters such as Francesco Landini and Andreas de Florentia are included. Compositions in rondeau format, illustrating the development of the song genre in the 15th century, are selected from the Italian manuscript Canonici misc. 213. Andreas de Florentia, who joined the Servite Order in Florence in 1375, and Francesco Landini shaped the music of their time with their sophisticated two-part style. The CD also contains a Latin motet from the Codex Faenza as well as three-part rondeaux, highlighting the diversity of the North Italian musical landscape of the 15th century. Works by Hugo de Lantins, Richard Loqueville, and Guillaume Dufay demonstrate impressive stylistic and sonic experimentation.