The birth of the first religious songs in the Romance language and, consequently, of the lauda was favored, in the thirteenth century, by an intense religious sentiment that developed in Italy and Europe following the reformist action of some popes, including Innocent III, and the foundation of the mendicant orders by Saint Dominic and Saint Francis. The diffusion of this renewed sentiment was notable thanks to the adoption of the vernacular, a form of literary communication easily understandable not only by the higher and more educated social classes, but also by the less well-off classes who were ignorant of Latin, the official language of culture and of the Church. The first literary document in the Umbrian vernacular can be considered the Canticle of the Creatures by Saint Francis (1224), originally intended for song, as can be seen from the blank spaces left for musical notation in the manuscript. In it the Saint, expressing his love for creation, raises a hymn of praise to God, Creator and Lord of the universe. The cultural and religious climate of which the Canticle is the most effective testimony created the spiritual conditions for the flourishing of laudi (from the Latin laus , "praise"), which were most widespread in Tuscany and Umbria. In the latter region in particular, Ranieri Fasani fostered a great mystical-religious movement, closely linked to lay brotherhoods such as the Flagellants or Disciplinati. Their itinerant followers moved from city to city praying and singing, alongside liturgical hymns in Latin, songs in the vernacular. From these devotional practices arose the laudi, initially transmitted orally and later collected in special anthologies called Laudari. Formally, thirteenth-century laudi, created to commemorate the life of Christ and, especially, his Passion, were monodic in nature. Their strophic structure with refrain, similar to the ballad of the troubadour tradition, required alternating performances between soloist and chorus. Along with the Laudario Magliabechiano 18 (preserved at the National Central Library of Florence), the main source for reconstructing these melodies is the Laudario 91 of Cortona, dating back to the 13th century and belonging to the Fraternity of Santa Maria delle Laude. Probably copied between 1270 and 1297, this codex, now held at the Cortona Municipal Library, is the oldest known collection of laud melodies. Written in square notation and devoid of illuminations, this codex is distinguished by its austere simplicity. Here, the purity of these profoundly intense and moving songs is revived and expressed through thoughtful instrumental reworkings.

Goffredo Degli Esposti

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Oct 6, 2026

68th WEEK OF SACRED MUSIC OF MONREALE - THE LIFE OF CHRIST · Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana

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