Simone de' Prodenzani (
Orvieto
Orvieto () is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy, situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff. The city rises dramatically above the almost-vertical faces of tuff cliffs that are compl ...
, b. 1351? d. 1433–8), also spelled Prudenzani, was an
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
known for his narrative stories in the form of
sonnet
A sonnet is a fixed poetic form with a structure traditionally consisting of fourteen lines adhering to a set Rhyme scheme, rhyming scheme. The term derives from the Italian word ''sonetto'' (, from the Latin word ''sonus'', ). Originating in ...
s and
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...
es.
Life
Prodenzani was a descendant of a French noble family from
provençal who moved to
Umbria
Umbria ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Italian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula. The re ...
in the thirteenth century, settling in the town of
Prodo (from which his familial name comes). Prodenzani held important public offices in Orvieto.
Works
Prodenzani's two most important works are ''Il Sollazzo'' which tells a series of popular folk tales as short stories and ''Il Saporetto'' (''The little tastes'') which speaks of bourgeois customs, including concerts and banquets, surrounding the main character Sollazzo, taken from the previous work. The descriptions of concerts and of the pieces performed at the concerts are particularly detailed and have furnished
musicologists with information about
performance practice
Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of classical music which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of the musical era in which ...
and knowledge of repertory of the
late fourteenth and early fifteenth century. Among the composers specifically mentioned are
Jacopo da Bologna
Jacopo da Bologna (fl. 1340 – c. 1386) 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 ...
,
Bartolino da Padova,
Francesco il Cieco,
Johannes Ciconia
Johannes Ciconia ( – between 10 June and 13 July 1412) was an important Franco-Flemish composer and music theorist of trecento music during the late Medieval era. He was born in Liège, but worked most of his adult life in Italy, parti ...
, and
Antonio Zacara da Teramo.
''Il Sollazzo'' and ''Il Saporetto'' were first published in modern editions in 1913 by Santorre Debenedetti, and have been republished several times since the late 1990s. Further poetic and prose works were edited in 2003.
[Simone Prodenzani, ''Opere inedite in poesia e in prosa'', ed. Massimo Seriacopi (Genoa: San Marco dei Giustiniani, 2003)]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prodenzani, Simone de
Italian male poets
14th-century Italian writers
14th-century Italian poets
15th-century Italian poets