Francesco Landini and the Florentine cultural élite

Abstract

The French orientation of Florentine music in the second half of the Trecento, particularly with regard to the practice and theory of notation, has been recognised by music historians since the surveys of medieval sources and style made by Johannes Wolf and Friedrich Ludwig at the beginning of this century. The evidence for the ‘contenance française’ that has been most frequently cited includes texting procedures in three-voice compositions, structural features (such as the appearance of verto and chiuso endings in the polyphonic ballata), textual gallicisms and the presence of French compositions in Florentine musical manuscripts. The network of transmission which accounts for the appearance of these features in Italian music and musical sources has remained a matter for speculation. The fusion of French and Florentine traits of style in the last quarter of the fourteenth century has traditionally been viewed, at least in part, as a result of presumed personal contacts between French and Italian composers. The changing face of musical style does not, however, reflect a totally independent musical process; style is a function of the tastes and demands of an audience, as well as of the artistic personalities of specific composers. Florentine receptivity to French stylistic influences was determined by a number of factors, not the least important of which was the nature of the audience for music.