Aug 11 2009
Original Lute Music of the Famous Italian Renaissance Composer
One of the most important part of the early Renaissance music belongs to lute compositions. Sadly, the biographies of the majority Renaissance musicians and their heritage still remain an enigma for us. Joan Ambrosio Dalza, an Italian lutenist and composer brought us through the centuries 42 dances and a couple of minor pieces. It happened quite by chance because all of them were published in 1508 in an influential series of lute music in Venice. Dazla is refered there as a milanese, so we assume that he was either born or lived in Milan. Nothing else is known about his life.
Danza pieces are extremely important for our understanding of Renaissance music as all his pieces consist of entirely original music without then usual vocal singing. His dances are arranged in miniature suites. They are easy to perform and comparatively simple. This comes as no surprise because in the series Danza admits this fact and promises to publish more complex pieces later. Whether this famous Italian composer ever fulfilled his promise remains unknown up to this day.
