Canzoniere for three and four voices

This manuscript is one of the most complete Song Books of the later fifteenth century. The authors mainly represented are Heinrich Isaac (1450-1517) a Flemish composer active in Florence in the court of Lorenzo il Magnifico, and Johannes Martini (c. 1440-1498), a musician at the Este court in 1491. There are also other texts in French, Italian, Spanish and German, out of a total of 268 compositions, 110 are anonymous and 158 are more or less well-known musicians.

The music, copied by a single hand, and the texts, copied in script of the late fifteenth century, are set out on 384 paper leaves decorated with borders and illuminated initials. Folio 229, shown here, is a typical musical page.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 6 minutes): Josquin Desprez: Benedicta es coelorum Regina, motet