In a study of textual criticism, the collation of sources is an operation of primary importance. It is a sophisticated process of comparing copies of the same text, looking for places where it differs. In early modern period, where corrections are common in printed books because the press could be…

The first step towards an extensive bibliographical survey of Nicola Vicentino’s L’antica musica ridotta alla moderna prattica (Rome 1555 and 1557) is the census of the today preserved copies of the print. This investigation yielded several interesting surprises.An important starting point for music bibliographical research is provided by RISM. Published writings on music…

To reach Ferrara from Venice, Nicola Vicentino had to cross the border that separated the Republic of Venice from the territories of the Este dukedom. The border guards would stop him and ask him to show the documents and the good health bulletin (‘bollettino di sanità’). The protection of his patron,…

There is a basilisk in Nicola Vicentino’s L’antica musica ridotta alla moderna prattica. It is hidden inside one of the five big capital letters, illustrated with a mythological scene, which open the different books of the treatise: precisely in the ‘P’ opening the third book of the Prattica (fol. 43r). In the capital letter we…

The present research project intends to investigate the historical, intellectual and musical context in which Nicola Vicentino (1510–1577) conceived his complex vision of music theory and musical praxis, transmitted in the treatise L’antica musica ridotta alla moderna prattica, published in Rome in 1555. The work in preparing the critical edition of this…