Landini

Born in Fiesole around 1325, Francesco Landini was the most important composer of the Italian trecento period.  He lost his eyesight due to smallpox when he was a young boy, but this did not deter him from writing poetry and composing music.  He became well educated and was a master of the theory and practice of music.  He often worked as an organ builder and tuner.

He was renown for his talents as an organist.  He wrote over a hundred and fifty pieces, most of which are ballate.  He is pictured in and his music is contained in the manuscript belonging to organist Antonio Squarcialupi.  Because this manuscript survived, Landini is credited with a quarter of the trecento works.  His extant works consist of almost a hundred and fifty two and three part ballate, one caccia, and a dozen madrigals.  Landini is noted for his graceful melody lines and the rich, smooth harmonies.

Landini's most noticeable contribution to medieval and renaissance music is the Landini Cadence, which was used often in fifteenth and sixteenth centuy polyphony.  Whether he invented the cadence or whether his music is the first to survive is unknown.  Medieval music theory required outward motion to the cadence, and the Landini cadence, 8-7-7-6-8 (usually with a sharped fourth in a lower voice), conforms to that requirement.