- Squarcialupi Codex
The Squarcialupi Codex (Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Med. Pal. 87) is an illuminated manuscript compiled in
Florence ,Italy in the early15th century . It is the single largest primary source of music of the 14th-century Italian "Trecento " (also known as the "Italian ars nova").It consists of 216 parchment folios, richly illuminated and in good condition, so complete pieces of music are preserved. Included in the codex are 146 complete pieces by
Francesco Landini , 37 byBartolino da Padova , 36 byNiccolò da Perugia , 29 byAndrea da Firenze , 28 byJacopo da Bologna , 17 byLorenzo da Firenze , 16 byGherardello da Firenze , 15 byDonato da Cascia , 12 pieces byGiovanni da Cascia , 6 byVincenzo da Rimini , and smaller amounts of music by others. It contains 16 blank folios, intended for the music ofPaolo da Firenze , since they are labeled as such and include his portrait; the usual presumption by scholars is that Paolo's music was not ready at the time the manuscript was compiled, since he was away from Florence until 1409. There is also a section marked out forGiovanni Mazzuoli which contains no music.The manuscript was almost certainly compiled in Florence at the monastery of
Santa Maria degli Angeli , probably around1410 –1415 .Paolo da Firenze may have had some part in supervising the effort, though it cannot be proven, and the omission of his music has been a puzzle for musicologists. The manuscript was owned by renowned organist Antonio Squarcialupi in the middle of the 15th century, then by his nephew, and then passed into the estate ofGiuliano de' Medici , who gave it to theBiblioteca Palatina in the early 16th century. At the end of the 18th century it passed into the ownership of theBiblioteca Medicea Laurenziana .The first folio in the codex states: "This book is owned by Antonio di Bartolomeo Squarcialupi, organist of Santa Maria del Fiore." Illumination is done in gold, red, blue and purple.
All of the compositions in the codex are secular songs:
ballata , madrigals, and cacce: there are 353 in all, and they can be dated to the period from1340 to1415 . The other substantial collection of music from the period, theRossi Codex (compiled between 1350 and 1370), contains some earlier music.ee also
*
Music of the Trecento References
* Kurt von Fischer, "Antonio Squarcialupi," "The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians", ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. ISBN 1-56159-174-2
* Kurt von Fischer/Gianluca d'Agostino, "Sources, MS, Italian Polyphony, 1325-1420", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed June 24, 2005), [http://www.grovemusic.com (subscription access)]
* Richard H. Hoppin, "Medieval Music". New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1978. ISBN 0-393-09090-6External links
* [http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/MMDB/Mss/SQ.htm La Trobe University Library Medieval Music Database]
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