The musical landscape in Dante and around Dante

Music by Arnaldo Daniello, Folchetto da Marsiglia, Bertram dal  Bornio, Giraldo di Borneil, Anonymous of the XIII and  XIV centuries.
Reconstructions and arrangements by  Gian Luca Lastraioli

L’Homme Armé
Luca Dellacasa – voice, organetto
Paolo Fanciullacci – voice, horn flute, percussions
Gabriele Lombardi – voce, percussions
Luigi Cozzolino – viella, ribeca
Ugo Galasso – recorders, percussions
Gian Luca Lastraioli – lute, citola, direction

Tickets € 10

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Fortunately, there are numerous clues and citations to be found in Dante’s works allowing us to reconstruct what we can define as the musical landscape in which Dante himself lived and worked and of which he was, as a poet, philosopher and man of culture, a profound connoisseur and, in some circumstances, even a direct protagonist. We know for example that Dante was very familiar with the poetic/musical world of the Provençal troubadours, so much so that some of the most representative of them (such as Arnaldo Daniello, Folchetto da Marseille, Bertram dal Bornio, Giraldo di Borneil and others) are mentioned in the Divine Comedy (in Purgatory and Heaven) and in the De Vulgari Eloquentia. We also know that, by admission of Dante himself, some of his verses (in particular those of the ballads, sonnets and songs) were in some cases intended not only for a flat reading or verbal declamation, but were conceived by Dante himself as forms of true poetry for music, that is poetry that assumed full meaning only when it was endowed with a “musical garment” and, consequently, was sung. On the basis of this knowledge, the concert that we present here includes the performance of a calibrated choice of pieces dating back to the second half of the thirteenth century and the first twenty years of the fourteenth century which, taken together, can represent a plausible representation of the musical world of which Dante was an interested spectator and in which, sometimes, was also directly involved. The concert will therefore perform secular pieces of a courtly character ascribed to the “Dante troubadours” (arranged both in monodic and heterophonic form), polyphonic pieces of devotional tradition taken from the repertoire of the so-called Ars Antiqua (regarding whose compositional and executive methods Dante himself makes us acquainted with some passages of the Divine Comedy), instrumental dance pieces that we know were popular in Dante’s time, and finally, to close the circle, our musical reconstructions of some of Dante’s own rhymes such as they could have been composed at the time by Tuscan musicians (for example the famous Casella and Lippo) with whom we know that Dante had professional relationships and to whom he often turned to have his verses set to music. The pieces of the concert are performed by three singers and three instrumentalists (lute, viella and flutes), who will thus reproduce an ensemble that is completely similar to that which is described in contemporary literary sources or depicted in the paintings and frescoes of the time.

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Because of the Covid19 restrictions booking of seats is recommended for all events. Access to events open to the public managed by L’Homme Armé, will be allowed only to people equipped with a Green Pass or equivalent certification of Covid vaccination or negative test resul

We inform our public that, as of 6 August, according to the provisions of the D.L. 23 July 2021 n. 105 relating to “urgent measures to deal with the epidemiological emergency from COVID19 and for the safe exercise of social and economic activities”, access to spaces open to the public managed by L’Homme Armé, will be allowed only to people equipped with a Green Pass. The Covid-19 Green Pass certification attests one of the following conditions:
– being vaccinated for Covid-19
– being negative on the rapid molecular or antigen test within the last 48 hours
– being healed of Covid-19 in the past six months
The verification of the Green Pass will be carried out at the entrance of the various venues by the festival staff and will take place by showing the QR code of the green certification and a valid identity document. Those who are not in possession of even one of these two documents will not be able to access the event. We also remind you that the use of the mask will remain mandatory throughout the duration of the concerts/conversations and interpersonal distancing of at least one meter must be observed (with the exception of family members or cohabitants).