The late sixteenth-century repertory of Florentine lute song
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Title
The late sixteenth-century repertory of Florentine lute song
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Creator
Richard Keith Falkenstein
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Abstract
The present study examines the repertory of lute song in eight Florentine sources dating from the 1570s to the 1590s. These sources are the lute books of Raffaello Cavalcanti (Brussels, Bibliotheque du Conservatoire royal de musique, Cod. 704) and Cosimo Bottegari (Modena, Biblioteca Estense, Ms. C311), two manuscript collections by Vincenzo Galilei (Florence, Biblioteca nazionale centrale, Ms. Landau-Finaly Mus. 2; Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, Ms. F III 10431), his Fronimo dialogo (Venice: her. di G. Scotto, 1584), and three anonymous manuscripts (Florence, Biblioteca nazionale centrale, Mss. Magliabechiano XIX 109 and 168; Haslemere, Dolmetsch Library, Ms. II C 23). The Florentine repertory of late sixteenth-century lute song is a rich and unique collection that covers a variety of secular and sacred genres, some of which are poorly or not at all represented in non-Florentine sources. Many of the pieces have been arranged from part-music, and others are original works for voice and lute. The lute songs in each of the sources are described in the main body of the study, with the discussion centering on concordances, texts, genres of composition, musical style, and arranging techniques. The study also includes an introduction that briefly surveys lute song throughout Italy during the last half of the sixteenth century. Appendices One through Three provide a catalogue of the Florentine lute song repertory, lists of the complete contents of the sources concerned, and bibliographical information concerning non-Florentine sources of Italian lute song. Appendix Four is an index of the contents of the lute book of Hieronimo Ferrutio.