GAFURIUS, Franchinus

by Franchinus Gafurius

£75,000 · Offered by Sokol Books

.A very good copy, of illustrious provenance, of this ground-breaking work for the history of printed music. This second edition was revised and more complete than that of 1480. The t-p displays one of the most famous early music woodcuts, one of the earliest depictions of the organ; the four woodcuts of Pythagoras are the first to portray him as a musician ( History , 76). .Franchinus Gaffurius (Francesco Gaffori, 1451-1522) was an Italian music scholar and composer. A Benedictine monk and priest, he became maestro di cappella in the Duomo at Milan in 1484, which hosted one of the most renowned choirs in Europe, patronised by the Sforza family. In addition to writing church compositions for his choir, he also published on the theory and practice of music, and the harmony of instruments. Theoria begins with a general section on the benefits of music and the difference between celestial, human and instrumental music. From the second part onwards it is solely devoted to musical mathematics, as at the time music was correctly considered closely related to mathematics and geometry. Gaffori was heavily inspired by the ancient Greek tradition, by which all music intervals are established around set ratios a system illustrated with woodcut diagrams of proportions. Using the ratios of Pythagoras (himself portrayed in four handsome woodcuts) as well as Greek notation (diapason, diapentes, etc.) as a starting point, Gafurius discusses consonances with long analyses on the mathematical

• Binding: Hardcover

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