Maestro Piero (Magister Piero or Piero) (born before 1300, died shortly after 1350) was an Italian composer of the late

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

era. He was one of the first composers 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 ...

who is known by name, and probably one of the oldest. He is mainly known for his

madrigals 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 ...

Life

No details are known of his life other than what can be inferred from his music, and from an illustration which probably contains his picture. He is depicted as a man of 50–60 years old in a Bolognese illustration from the first half of the 14th century, so he was probably born before 1300. Unlike many of the Trecento composers, he was not a Florentine, since he does not appear in the chronicle by

Filippo Villani Filippo Villani (fl. end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century) was a chronicler of Florence. Son of the chronicler Matteo Villani, he extended the original '' Nuova Cronica'' of his uncle Giovanni Villani down to 1364. Career Fili ...

, which includes all of the musicians active there throughout the 14th century. Piero was possibly from

Assisi Assisi (, also , ; from la, Asisium) is a town and '' comune'' of Italy in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio. It is generally regarded as the birthplace of the Latin poet Propertius, born arou ...

, and is known to have been in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

and

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

, employed by the

Visconti Visconti is a surname which may refer to: Italian noble families * Visconti of Milan, ruled Milan from 1277 to 1447 ** Visconti di Modrone, collateral branch of the Visconti of Milan * Visconti of Pisa and Sardinia, ruled Gallura in Sardinia from ...

and della Scala families, respectively; in addition, he may have been in

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

with

Antonio della Scala Antonio della Scala (1362 – 3 September 1388) was Lord of Verona from 1375 until 1387, initially together with his brother Bartolomeo. Antonio was the illegitimate son of Cansignorio della Scala. At the latter's death, he was associated in the lo ...

before going to Verona, along with composer Giovanni da Cascia (Giovanni da Firenze). He was also associated with composer Jacopo da Bologna during this period, and the three composers appear to have engaged in a contest to set the same madrigal text, effectively forming a madrigal cycle: the date of this contest was in or after 1349, very near the end of Piero's life. There is no trace of any activity by Piero, or Giovanni da Cascia, after 1351; one or both composers may have died in 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 ...

which swept through northern Italy during this time.

Music and influence

A total of eight compositions by Piero have survived, plus two more cacce which have been attributed to him based on stylistic similarities. All eight are secular pieces: six

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 ...

s, and two cacce. All eight of the attributed compositions are preserved in the Biblioteca Nazionale in Florence. Two of his works are preserved in the Rossi Codex. Kurt von Fischer, "Piero", Grove Piero's madrigals are the earliest surviving works in that form which are canonic. The madrigals are for two voices, and the two cacce are for three; what distinguishes his work from that of his contemporaries is his frequent use of canon, especially in the ritornello passages in his madrigals. Piero's works clearly show the evolution of the three-voice canonic caccia form from the madrigal, in which the canonic portion of the madrigal became a two-voice canon, over a tenor, characteristic of the caccia.

Works

Two-voice madrigals and caccia-madrigals

#''All'ombra d'un perlaro'' #''Cavalcando con un giòvine'' #''Ogni diletto'' #''Quando l'àire comença'' #''Sì com'al canto'' #''Sovra un fiume regale''

Cacce (three voices)

#''Con brachi assai'' #''Con dolce brama''

Life

Music and influence

Works

Two-voice madrigals and caccia-madrigals

Cacce (three voices)

See also

References

Further reading