ABSTRACT
And concerning the canzona you made and that Zanobi set to music, you thought this arrived but I am still waiting for it with great desire because I believe it will be pleasing.'i I will do as you wish, for I see you want to show it to Simone Orlandini, and if he likes it I will give him a copy, and keep [the original] for myself.s (Doc. 1a)
I understand you are saying that you've promised the singers over there [in Nantes] that in case there were a new and pleasing fantasia [from Florence], you would manage to provide them a copy. I will do everything in my power to help you, [and] I believe you will be able to keep the promise, because I hear that there is a new composition
by Arigo, in which I understand he has demonstrated great fantasia. 6 It has been organized for this coming carnival, but I do ·not believe things are going as planned because a good friend has obtained a copy, and I don't believe it can be kept a secret until the performance, and because they say it is not an easy thing. So I do not believe they will be able to perform it if Piero di Lorenzo does not return from Rome; I hope he will take on the enterprise, otherwise it will not succeed because it is very expensive. (Doc. 1 b)
This [older] manner of singing il Magnifico considered always the same, [and so] he thought to vary it, and not only the music but also the invention and the way of composing the words, making songs with verses of different length and the music composed with new and diverse melodies. And the first song, or mascherata, that one sang in this manner was of the men who were selling sweet cakes ( berriquocoli e confortini), written for three voices by a certain Arrigo Tedesco, then maestro di cappella at [the Baptistry of] S. Giovanni, and a musician most famous in those times. But before long they were writing them in four parts, and thus little by little well-known composers and poets began to write them, so that we arrive at the present situation.••
trionjiadornedwithartandtheatricaldisplayrecalledtheeternalfame andgloryoftheancients,whichhadbeenwonthroughthepoeticand oratoricalcompetitionsthatwereamongtheinjinitimirabilissimiornamentiattendingtheancientOlympicgamesinGreeceandthestaged militarytriumphsinRome. 2 7AsthemusicalcenterpieceofaFlorentine stagedmilitarytriumph,Altabattagliaappearstohavebeenanoccasionalpieceparexcellence,soitissurprisingtolearnthatitspremierein the1488carnivalwasnotasuccess.
