Gherardello da Firenze
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Gherardello da Firenze (also Niccolò di Francesco or Ghirardellus de Florentia) ( 1320–1325 – 1362 or 1363) was an Italian composer of the ''
Trecento The Trecento (, also , ; short for , "1300") refers to the 14th century in Italian cultural history. Period Art Commonly, the Trecento is considered to be the beginning of the Renaissance in art history. Painters of the Trecento included Giot ...
''. He was one of the first composers of the period sometimes known as the '' Italian ars nova''.


Life

Gherardello was a member of a musical family, and both his brother Jacopo and his son Giovanni were also composers; however, none of their music survives. He was probably born in or near
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 ...
, and spent most of his life there. In 1343 he appears in the records of the cathedral of Florence, Santa Reparata (this was before the building of the main cathedral,
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 ...
) as a clerk. Later he became a priest, and then served as chaplain of Santa Reparata from 1345 until 1351—during the years that the
Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
ravaged the city. Probably around 1351 he joined the order of the
Vallombrosa Vallombrosa is a toponym which indicates both a forest and a ''frazione'', located within this forest, in the territory of the Commune of Reggello, in the Metropolitan City of Florence, in the Italian region of Tuscany. The village of Vallombrosa ...
, a
Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...
order with an abbey about 30 km from Florence. Details of the last years of his life are lacking, and his death date is inferred from a
sonnet A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's inventio ...
written in 1362 or 1363, probably by
Simone Peruzzi Simone may refer to: * Simone (given name), a feminine (or Italian masculine) given name of Hebrew origin * Simone (surname), an Italian surname Simone may also refer to: * ''Simone'' (1918 film), a French silent drama film * ''Simone'' (1926 fi ...
, mourning his death, which occurred at Florence.


Music

Although Gherardello was renowned during his time for his sacred music, little of it has survived. A ''
Gloria Gloria may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music * Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise * Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise ** Gloria (Handel) ** Gloria (Jenkins) ...
'' and an ''
Agnus Dei is the Latin name under which the "Lamb of God" is honoured within the Catholic Mass and other Christian liturgies descending from the Latin liturgical tradition. It is the name given to a specific prayer that occurs in these liturgies, and i ...
'', both by Gherardello, are among just a handful of
mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different ele ...
movements by Italian composers from before 1400. The style of Gherardello's mass movements is similar to that of the
madrigal A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th c.) and early Baroque (1600–1750) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the number ...
, although more restrained emotionally: they are for two voices, which sing together most of the time, with occasional passages where they sing in alternation. Gherardello's secular music has survived in greater abundance. Ten madrigals, all for two voices; five ''
ballata The ''ballata'' (plural: ''ballate'') is an Italian poetic and musical form in use from the late 13th to the 15th century. It has the musicapenim AbbaA, with the first and last stanzas having the same texts. It is thus most similar to the Fre ...
s'', all for a single voice; and a very famous '' caccia'', ''Tosto che l'alba'', which is for three voices, survive. Stylistically his music is typical of the early ''Trecento'', with the voices usually singing the same words at the same time, except for the ''caccia'', in which the upper two voices sing a quickly moving canon, and the lowest voice sings a freely composed part in longer notes. Most of Gherardello's music has been preserved in the 15th century '' Squarcialupi Codex'', although several other manuscripts, all from
Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...
, contain works of his. A portrait on the pages of the ''Codex'' devoted to his music is most likely him (each composer in that
illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, th ...
is pictured).


See also

* Music of the Trecento


References and further reading

*''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. * Gustave Reese, ''Music in the Renaissance''. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. *Richard H. Hoppin, ''Medieval Music''. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1978. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Firenze, Gherardello Da 1320s births 1360s deaths People from the Province of Florence Italian Benedictines Trecento composers Italian male classical composers Medieval male composers