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• Landini, Francesco: Musica son

Landini, Francesco: Musica son

for 3 instruments.

Landini´s Musica son is printed here after Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, MS Panciatichi 26, one of the main sources for Landini´s work. In the present transcription I have reduced the original note values by four, rather than the more usual eight used in editions of this type of music, in order to avoid the problem of confusing beams in the cross-rhythms. The few editorial accidentals appear above the stave in the usual way, applying to the one note only.
Musica son is Landin´s only madrigal to have a different text in each part, and this led Ellingwood, the editor of one the two modern complete editions, to suggest that the three texts are stanzas of a single poem. However, there is nothing in the rhythmic structure or rhyme-scheme of the texts to support this, and it is much more likely that Landini was influenced by the contemporary polytextual motet from France.
Although the tenor part is rhythmically the simplest of the three parts, all three have a strong melodic quality, and can be sung or played, though current theories on medieval performance practice tend to favour keeping voices and instruments separate. When performing this music instrumentally, it is worth experimenting a little with scoring, so that either of the top parts can be in the foreground. Musica son can be done with three recorders, or three bowed instruments, or three lutes; or mixed instruments. However it is performed, this piece will sound at its best if it is allowed to “sing”.