Firenze 1350
About
The concert programme reflects the ethical problem, which we take up at this point in our deliberations on the events of Holy Week. Following the tragedy and trauma of Good Friday, the experience of emptiness and abandonment on Holy Saturday leads us to a kind of denial. In this context, the programme proposed by Anna Danilevskaia, which takes us on a journey to medieval Florence seems like an apt fit.
It is an extraordinary repertoire representing a highly developed musical culture with a very strong sense of identity; however, when listening to this music, we have to put aside the romantic narratives about Florence that we have known. In the mid-14th century, the city was going through a rough time. Back in the 1340s, several important banker families, including Bardi and Peruzzi, went bankrupt plunging the city into a deep economic crisis. In 1348, the plague started, decimating the population. Despite these tragic events, the local musical culture survived. The idyllic lyrics certainly clashed with the dramatic situation of the city and its residents, but the music also carried consolation. In Giovanni Boccaccio’s famous Decameron, a group of young people fleeing the plague gathers in a garden in the hills around Florence, spending time telling stories and making music. In a way, the Sollazzo Ensemble’s concert is meant to be such a metaphorical musical garden where you can forget about the outside world.
Programme:
Johannes Ciconia (ca. 1370 – 1412) – Ut per omnes celitus / Ingens alumnus Padue
Francesco degli Organi “Landini” (1325?–1397) – Chosi pensoso (instr.)
Francesco degli Organi – Una colomba candida
Peccatrice nominata (14th c., anonymous, Laudario di Firenze)
Francesco degli Organi – Mostrommi amor
Estampie (14th c., anonymous, Robertsbridge Codex, instr.)
Litanie discordante (anonymous, arr. by Anna Danilevskaia after the rules of Franchinus Gaffurius, 1451–1522)
Benedicamus Domino, cantasi come Ja Falla (anonymous)
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Francesco degli Organi – Che cosa quest’amor (instr.)
Francesco degli Organi – Tante belleçe (instr.)
Niccolò da Perugia (fl. second half of the 14th century) – Il megli’ è pur tacere
Francesco degli Organi – Vaga fanciulla (instr.)
Francesco degli Organi – Poi che veder (instr.)
***
Giovanni da Firenze (fl. 1340–1360) – Quand Amor
Andrea da Firenze (d. 1415) – Non più doglia ebbe Dido (instr., Squarcialupi Codex)
Giovanni da Firenze – Per larghi prati
Vincenzo da Rimini (fl. 1350) – In forma quasi
Francesco degli Organi – Quel sole che raggia
Kyrie “Rondello” (14th c., anonymous)
Performers:
Sollazzo Ensemble
Anna Danilevskaia – vielle, artistic director
“Wieliczka” Salt Mine, St Kinga’s Chapel
Duration: 1,5 h
Organizers
