225:(ancient music adapted to modern practice), in which he fully explained his ideas linking ancient Greek musical theory and practice with contemporary works. In this work, he expanded and justified many of the ideas which he first brought up in his debate with Lusitano. Whether or not Lusitano ever attempted to refute Vicentino's expanded version is not known; however, Vicentino's book was influential with the group of madrigalists working in Ferrara in the next two decades, including
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Frontispiece in the
Vicentino's treatise on music. Inscriptions: 1 (outer circle) Incerta et occulta scientiae tuae manifestasti mihi; 2 (inner circle) Archicymbali divisionis chromaticique ac enarmonici generis praticae inventor; 3 (under the portrait) Nicolas Vicentinus anno aetatis
124:, being more like a refereed prize fight, with a panel of judges; they awarded the prize to Lusitano. In 1555 Vicentino published an account of the debate that was recognised as misleading at the time, but nevertheless went on to influence later composers.
82:, which was to become the center for experimental secular music in Italy from the middle to the end of the 16th century. Apparently, he served as a music tutor to the Duke of Ferrara and some of his family members in the House of
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survives from the
Renaissance: the ‘Clavemusicum Omnitonum Modulis Diatonicis Cromaticis et Enearmonicis', built by Vito Trasuntino of Venice in 1606 to play the diatonic, chromatic and enharmonic. It is on display at the
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and others wrote music which was impossible to sing in tune without having a system for adjusting the pitch of chromatic intervals in some way. Several theorists attacked the problem, including
Vicentino.
277:, and therefore some of the recently composed music in a chromatic style, which was only in tune when sung, could be played on the keyboard. Later he applied the same keyboard layout to the
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are not well tuned. Vicentino's solution in effect divides the octave into 31 equal parts, with good intonation for the thirds and sixths but somewhat beating narrow fifths.
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in all keys. The standard way to modulate through all keys on a keyboard instrument later became to divide the octave into twelve equal parts, called
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Edwin M. Ripin: "Arcicembalo", Henry W. Kaufmann/Robert L. Kendrick, "Nicola
Vicentino," Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed January 8, 2005),
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Grantley McDonald. “Music, Magic, and
Humanism in Late Sixteenth-Century Venice: Fabio Paolini and the Heritage of Ficino, Vicentino and Zarlino.”
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During the late 1540s, his reputation as a music theorist grew. He established his reputation as a composer with his publication of a book of
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In the 1550s, in Italy, there was a surge of interest in chromatic composition, some of which was part of the movement known as
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genus alone (as
Lusitano claimed) or (as Vicentino claimed) was best described as a combination of the diatonic, chromatic, and
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in Venice in 1546, and in 1551 he took part in one of the most famous events in 16th century music theory, the debate between
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Cathedral of
Ferrara. Ferrara was the principal center of chromatic experimentation in the second half of the 16th century.
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and performance practice (about which little was known, but was then being uncovered, through the work of scholars such as
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This article includes several remarkable recordings of vocal groups, retuned in the studio to the 31-tone system.
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Grantley McDonald. “Proportions of the Divine: Nicola
Vicentino and Augustine’s Theology of the Trinity.” In
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The Arch-Musician. BBC Radio 3 programme broadcast
Saturday 27 March 2010; rebroadcast Saturday 23 July 2011
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to contemporary music practice, in particular whether contemporary music could be explained in terms of the
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in a harmonically sophisticated style, it was his work as a music theorist that gained him renown.
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and some of which was motivated by research into ancient Greek music, including
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After a short time in Rome, Vicentino returned to
Ferrara, and later moved to
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in 1565. Around 1570, he had some connection with the Bavarian court in
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Unbowed, Vicentino continued his experiments, and went on to build the
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Inventor of practical division of chromatic and enharmonic genus.
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of 1575–1576, though his exact date of death is not known.
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While Vicentino was known as a composer, and wrote two books of
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Rasch, Rudolf (2002). "Why were enharmonic keyboards built?".
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Another area in which Vicentino did original work was musical
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in 1551. The topic of the debate was the relationship of the
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Proportions. Science, Musique, Peinture & Architecture
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At some time in the 1530s or early 1540s, he went to
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Twelve Microtonal Etudes for Electronic Music Media
399:. The Life and Works of Nicola Vicentino. (s.l.),
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438:The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
498:. Translated, with Introduction and Notes, by
482:L' antica musica ridotta alla moderna prattica
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391:He described it briefly in a handbill named
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221:In 1555, he published his most famous work,
489:Enharmonic instruments and music, 1470-1900
457:. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954.
51:Little is known of his early life. Born in
31:(1511 – 1575 or 1576) was an Italian
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430:. The Life and Works of Nicola Vicentino.
261:Vicentino's most famous invention was the
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348:Schumann, Garrett (2020-04-23).
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434:, 1966. OCLC 906570.
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209:. Composers such as
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1023:Alpha scale
1013:Non-octave-
1003:Tunings and
964:Ivor Darreg
789:Béla Bartók
658:(1533–1604)
646:(1527–1575)
640:(1525–1603)
634:(1517–1590)
37:Renaissance
1319:Categories
1201:Groups and
1160:techniques
1028:Beta scale
879:Joe Maneri
839:Alois Hába
819:John Eaton
359:2021-09-09
280:arciorgano
114:enharmonic
43:keyboard.
41:microtonal
1182:Sonido 13
947:Inventors
899:Ezra Sims
777:Composers
589:Composers
271:intervals
185:madrigals
118:microtone
91:madrigals
1177:Semitone
716:See also
682:(d.1601)
670:(d.1587)
472:Archived
377:(Book).
252:Keyboard
238:dynamics
110:diatonic
542:(IMSLP)
538:at the
273:in any
254:of the
80:Ferrara
53:Vicenza
1256:Mother
1005:scales
894:Sevish
461:
444:
267:octave
207:genera
189:motets
165:plague
161:Munich
106:genera
61:Venice
1167:Limit
308:Notes
298:major
286:organ
203:modes
171:Works
157:Milan
145:Siena
459:ISBN
442:ISBN
300:and
229:and
205:and
187:and
99:Rome
84:Este
71:and
47:Life
275:key
151:at
75:).
59:in
1321::
1122:96
1117:72
1112:58
1107:53
1102:41
1097:34
1092:31
1087:24
1082:23
1077:22
1072:19
1067:17
1062:15
453:,
379:22
352:.
233:.
213:,
762:e
755:t
748:v
574:e
567:t
560:v
502:.
422:.
362:.
282:,
199:,
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