Syrena, ciecòla, monocordum and clavicembalum: the case for stringed keyboards in late Trecento and early Quattrocento Italy

Abstract

It is now generally assumed that stringed keyboards were widespread throughout Europe from the start of the 15th century onwards and that they represented a viable performance option for surviving intabulations and instrumental music from this time. The current article challenges this notion by re-examining one specific case where several sources of ‘keyboard’ music survive: that of late Trecento and early Quattrocento Italy. A close examination of Italian sources in fact strongly suggests that only one type of stringed keyboard—the clavichord—may have been widely known in Italy before 1450. Yet this instrument is repeatedly connected to the science of music and organ practice. Evidence for other types of stringed keyboards, by comparison, is not only very sparse but is also either too late, of dubious authority, or documents non-Italian practices. Collectively, this suggests that the surviving early Quattrocento ‘keyboard’ music was unlikely to have been intended for performance on stringed keyboards. Finally, the article invites a re-examination of the stringed-keyboard evidence and ‘keyboard’ manuscripts from other European countries in order to gain a more accurate picture of these instruments, their function and possible repertory.