Antonio Squarcialupi (27 March 1416 – 6 July 1480) was an Italian

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational ...

and composer. He was the most famous organist in Italy in the mid-15th century.

Life

He was born in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

to a butcher with the family name of Giovanni; however he took the name of Squarcialupi, a well-known family from

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

, by mid-century, possibly to disguise his less than aristocratic origins. Most of his early life must have been spent in Florence, and he likely studied with both organist Giovanni Mazzuoli (also called Jovannes de Florentia, who was a pupil of

Francesco Landini Francesco Landini ( or 1335 – 2 September 1397; also known by many names) was an Italian composer, poet, organist, singer and instrument maker who was a central figure of the Trecento style in late Medieval music. One of the most revered c ...

), as well as Matteo di Pagolo da Prato. He acquired the post of organist at the

Orsanmichele Orsanmichele (; "Kitchen Garden of St. Michael", from the Tuscan contraction of the Italian word ''orto'') is a church in the Italian city of Florence. The building was constructed on the site of the kitchen garden of the monastery of San Mich ...

in Florence in 1431, but only remained there for two years, moving instead to the cathedral of

Santa Maria del Fiore Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...

, at which post he remained for the rest of his life. He has been honored with a bust in this church.

Music and influence

Squarcialupi was part of the court of

Lorenzo de' Medici Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (; 1 January 1449 – 8 April 1492) was an Italian statesman, banker, ''de facto'' ruler of the Florentine Republic and the most powerful and enthusiastic patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Also known as Lorenzo ...

, and was also a colleague of

Guillaume Dufay Guillaume Du Fay ( , ; also Dufay, Du Fayt; 5 August 1397(?) – 27 November 1474) was a French composer and music theorist of the early Renaissance. Considered the leading European composer of his time, his music was widely performed and repr ...

; there are numerous laudatory references to him in the middle of the 15th century, some, for instance that of diarist Luca Landucci, comparing him in stature to figures such as the sculptor

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Florence, he studied classical sculpture and used this to develop a complete Renaissance st ...

. Evidently he was quite close to Lorenzo, and this is mentioned in his epitaph in

Florence Cathedral Florence Cathedral, formally the (; in English Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower), is the cathedral of Florence, Italy ( it, Duomo di Firenze). It was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to a design of Arnolfo di Cambio and was structurally co ...

. None of his music has survived. His principal fame in music history, aside from his fame as an organist, is to have given his name to the splendid Squarcialupi Codex, a document he owned (but did not compile), and which is the richest source of music from Italy of the 14th century.

References

Kurt von Fischer Kurt von Fischer (25 April 1913 – 27 November 2003) was a Swiss musicologist and classical pianist. Life Fischer wurde was born on 25 April 1913 in Bern as the son of the mycologist Eduard Fischer. Fischer studied piano at the University of th ...

, "Antonio Squarcialupi", in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', ed. Stanley Sadie. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. {{DEFAULTSORT:Squarcialupi, Antonio Italian classical organists Male classical organists Cathedral organists Italian classical composers Italian male classical composers Renaissance composers 15th-century Italian composers Musicians from Florence 1416 births 1480 deaths 15th-century people of the Republic of Florence