Vincenzo da Rimini, also Magister Dominus Abbas de Arimino, L’abate Vincençio da Imola, Frate Vincenço, was an Italian composer of the

medieval era In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and t ...

, active in the middle of the 14th century.

Life and career

All of the biographical details concerning Vincenzo's life are circumstantial.

Rimini Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...

is a city near

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, and is a probable place of birth or employment. He is depicted in the

Squarcialupi Codex The Squarcialupi Codex (Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, MS Mediceo Palatino 87) is an illuminated manuscript compiled in Florence in the early fifteenth century. It is named for the noted fifteenth-century organist Antonio Squarcialup ...

as a

Benedictine monk The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, they ...

. Scholars have proposed that he was at a Benedictine

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

Regola Regola is the 7th of Rome, Italy, identified by the initials R. VII, and belongs to the Municipio I. The name comes from (the name is recognizable in the modern ''Via Arenula''), which was the name of the soft sand ( in Italian) that the river T ...

between 1362 and 1364, but this is not strongly substantiated. Allusions in the lyrics of his works suggest he worked under the Alberti or Malatesta families in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

Music

Six of Vincenzo's pieces survive to the present day: four of them are

madrigal A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th centuries) and early Baroque (1580–1650) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the ...

s and two are '' cacce''. Stylistic indications place Vincenzo as younger than

Jacopo da Bologna Jacopo da Bologna (fl. 1340 – c. 1386) was an Italian composer of the Trecento, the period sometimes known as the '' Italian ars nova''. He was one of the first composers of this group, making him a contemporary of Gherardello da Firenze ...

and older than

Lorenzo da Firenze Lorenzo Masi, known as Lorenzo da Firenze (Magister Laurentius de Florentia; died December 1372 or January 1373), was an Italian composer and music teacher of the Trecento. He was closely associated with Francesco Landini in Florence, and was one ...

and

Donato da Cascia Donato da Cascia (also da Firenze or da Florentia) (fl. c. 1350 – 1370) was an Italian composer of the Trecento. All of his surviving music is secular, and the largest single source is the Squarcialupi Codex. He was probably also a priest, and ...

. Vincenzo makes more use of

imitation Imitation (from Latin ''imitatio'', "a copying, imitation") is a behavior whereby an individual observes and replicates another's behavior. Imitation is also a form of learning that leads to the "development of traditions, and ultimately our cu ...

in the madrigals than did Jacopo. Both of his cacce, which use the dialect of North Italy, depict

marketplace A marketplace, market place, or just market, is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a ''souk'' (from ...

scenes.

Works

;Madrigals ''(all for two voices)'' *''Ay, sconsolato ed amoroso'' *''Già era ’l sol'' *''Gridavan li pastor'' *''Ita se n’era a star'' ;Cacce ''(all for three voices)'' *''In forma quasi tra ’l veghiar'' *''Nell’acqua chiara''

References

*Fischer/D'Agostino. "Vincenzo da Rimini". ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...

'' online. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vincenzo Da Rimini Italian male classical composers Trecento composers Medieval male composers