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BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

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Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

Composer of the Week - Brand

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Birth of Polyphony

Composer of the Week: Birth of Polyphony: Episode 5: Composers of the Trecento

Episode 5

Episode 5: Composers of the Trecento

Birth of Polyphony

Composers of the Trecento

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Birth of Polyphony, Composers of the Trecento

Donald Macleod explores the growth of polyphony in Italy and the birth of the madrigal.

Donald Macleod uncovers the fascinating early days of polyphony in Italy, as rival composers competed for prizes at Verona, and a blind organist astounded Florence with his talent.

Rival composers compete for prizes at Verona, and a blind organist astounds Florence with his talent. Donald Macleod uncovers the fascinating early days of polyphony in Italy during the 'trecento'. 

The transition from pure monophony to complex polyphony was a gradual one. It is argued that polyphony was never entirely absent from European music-making; nor did monophony suddenly go out of fashion. Nevertheless, a fascinating development can be traced between the 12th and 14th centuries, with new musical forms, new rhythmic modes, and new methods of musical notation.

In today's programme the art of polyphonic composition comes of age in the Italian states. Italian musicians of the 1300s are deeply indebted to certain of their French counterparts (two of today's composers chose to set words by Guillaume de Machaut). But they also develop a distinctive style, and develop new forms such as the madrigal - a very different form to its later incarnation. Rivals such as Giovanni da Cascia and Jacopo da Bologna compete for favours from a noble patron. But the greatest of all trecento composers - or at least the most prolific - is the blind Francisco Landini, who stunned the citizens of Florence with his skills as an organist, and as a composer of polyphonic music. 

Anthonello de Caserta: Beaute parfait
Ensemble Alba Musica Kyo

Giovanni da Cascia: Sedendo all'ombra d'una bella mandorla 
La Bella Stella 
Palatino87

Giovanni da Cascia: Quando la stella 
Gothic Voices
Christopher Page, director

Jacopo da Bologna: Aquil'altera, ferma; Elas mon cuer 
Francesco Landini: Non ara may pieta 
Ensemble Unicorn
Michael Posch, director

Francesco Landini: Ochi dolente mie; Per seguir la speranca 
Gothic Voices
Christopher Page, director

Francesco Landini: Nessun ponga speranca; Giunta vaga bilta 
Gothic Voices
Christopher Page, director

Francesco Landini, Adiu, adiu, dous dame yoli 
Ensemble Alba Musica Kyo 
 
Producer Geoff Ballinger.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Donald Macleod takes a look at the  transition from pure monophony to complex polyphony

The transition from pure monophony to complex polyphony is a gradual one. Donald Macleod takes a close look at the change

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Episode 5: Composers of the Trecento

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