Giovanni da Cascia, alsoJovannes de Cascia,Johannes de Florentia,Maestro Giovanni da Firenze, was an Italian composer of themedieval era, active in the middle of the fourteenth century.
Virtually nothing is known about Giovanni's life. From his surname it is presumed that he was born in the village ofCascia, nearFlorence. It was once thought that he held a post atFlorence Cathedral, but this is no longer accepted. A Florentine chronicle states that Giovanni andJacopo da Bologna competed atMastino II of Scala's court; Mastino died in 1351. Themetaphors used in his works are consistent with prevailing idioms of the mid-14th century. His portrait in theSquarcialupi Codex shows him withoutpriestly garments.
Nineteen of Giovanni's compositions survive, scattered in nine manuscripts. Sixteen of these aremadrigals, and three of them arecacce. He is thought to have written some of his own texts. Musically, Giovanni's madrigals are of importance in the development of the style of the 14th-century madrigal. He tends to use extendedmelismas on the first and penultimate syllables of a poetic line, and sometimes introduceshockets at these points. The middles of the lines are generally syllabic. Many of his works are very similar in style to the anonymous works preserved in theRossi Codex.
Several of his works survive in quite different versions; this is evidence thatimprovisation was still an important aspect of musical performance up to this time. Giovanni's works tend not to betonally unified; they begin and end on different notes, and in some cases, such asNascoso el viso, each poetic line begins and ends on different notes. Occasionalimitation is found in his work.
(all for two voices)
(all for three voices)
Editions of all of Giovanni's works have been completed byW. Thomas Marrocco andNino Pirrotta in the twentieth century.
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