Jacopo da Bologna

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Jacopo da Bologna (fl. 1340–1360) was an Italian composer of the trecento, the period sometimes known as the Italian ars nova. He was one of the first composers of this group, making him a contemporary of Gherardello da Firenze and Giovanni da Firenze. He is mostly known for his madrigals but also composed several cacce and caccia/madrigal hybrids.

His setting of Non al suo amante, written about 1350, is the only known contemporary setting of Petrarch's poetry.

Jacopo's style was known for sweet, clean melodies; fully texted voice parts that never crossed; and noncanonical writing. Noteworthly are the untexted passages which connect the textual lines in many of his madrigals. His most famous madrigal is Fenice fu', written c. 1360.

He is well-represented in the Squarcialupi Codex, the large collection of 14th century music long owned by the Medici family; 28 compositions of his are found in that source, the principal source for music of the Italian ars nova, alongside music by Francesco Landini and others.

In addition to his compositions, Jacopo also wrote a short theoretical treatise, L'arte del discanto misurato.

[edit] Selected bibliography

Fischer, Kurt von. "Drei unbekannten Werke von Jacopo da Bologna und Bartolino da Padova?" In Miscelánea en homenaje a Mons. Higinio Anglés. Barcelona: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, 1958-61. vol. 1. pp. 265–81; reprinted in Studi musicali 17 (1988). pp. 3–14.

Fischer, Kurt von. "'Portraits' von Piero, Giovanni da Firenze und Jacopo da Bologna in einer Bologneser Handschrift des 14. Jahrhunderts?" Musica Disciplina 27 (1973). pp. 61–64.

Marrocco, W. Thomas. The Music of Jacopo da Bologna. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1954. (Includes an edition of Jacopo's treatise)

Marrocco, W. Thomas, editor. Italian Secular Music, by Magister Piero, Giovanni da Firenze, Jacopo da Bologna. (Polyphonic Music of the Fourteenth Century, vol. 6). Monaco: Editions de l'Oiseau-lyre, 1967.