Leonardo da Vinci was a composer and musician.

2022年12月04日

レオナルド・ダ・ヴィンチは、世界で最も有名な画家であり、究極の天才であり、あらゆる学問の発明者でした。ダ・ヴィンチは、イタリア・ルネッサンスを代表する芸術家であり、絵画や彫刻、建築、数学、幾何学、医学、天文学、土木工学など、さまざまな科学分野で目覚ましい業績を残しました。しかし、ダ・ヴィンチが作曲した音楽はほとんど現存せず、作曲家・演奏家としての彼の素顔はほとんど知られていません。今日は、作曲家、演奏家としてのレオナルド・ダ・ヴィンチの素顔を探っていきます。(English) Leonardo da Vinci was the world's most famous painter, the ultimate genius and inventor of all learning. Da Vinci was a leading artist of the Italian Renaissance and left remarkable achievements in painting and sculpture and various scientific fields, including architecture, mathematics, geometry, medicine, astronomy, and civil engineering. However, very little music composed by da Vinci has survived, and his true face as a composer and performer is mainly unknown. This blog will explore Leonardo da Vinci's true face as a composer and performer.

Leonardo da Vinci was a composer and Musician.

Leonardo da Vinci was the world's most famous painter, the ultimate genius and inventor of all learning.

The year 2019 marked the 500th anniversary of his death.

Da Vinci was a leading artist of the Italian Renaissance and left remarkable achievements in painting and sculpture and various scientific fields, including architecture, mathematics, geometry, medicine, astronomy, and civil engineering.

However, very little music composed by da Vinci has survived, and his true face as a composer and performer is mainly unknown.

Did da Vinci compose music? Did he play an instrument?

This blog will explore Leonardo da Vinci's true face as a composer and performer.

1. about Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci was born in 1452 in the village of Vinci, a suburb of Florence, Italy.

Leonardo da Vinci means "Leonardo born in the village of Vinci."

His father, Ser Piero da Vinci, was a talented notary, and his mother, Caterina, was a farmer's daughter, so da Vinci was born a bastard or an illegitimate child.

There is little record of his childhood except that he spent the first five years of his life with his mother in the village of Vinci.

At around 13, Vinci began his apprenticeship in the workshop of Verrocchio, a well-known painter in Florence.

He demonstrated his talents in the arts (painting, sculpture) and design, chemistry, metallurgy, metalworking, plaster mold casting, leatherworking, mechanics, woodworking, and many other fields.

Eventually, at the age of 30, he moved to the Duchy of Milan, where during his 19-year stay, he produced many works, including one of his greatest masterpieces, The Last Supper.

At age 48, he returned to Florence, where he painted his most famous work, The Mona Lisa.

Later, at the age of 64, he was invited by King François I of France to go to France, where he died at 67 years old.

It is said that da Vinci was a good-looking man, but he never married and remained celibate for the rest of his life.

It is almost certain that he was homosexual.

2. renaissance music in da Vinci's time

In Leonardo da Vinci's time, Renaissance music flourished in Europe, including Italy, led by Josquin des Prez of France.

Josquin des Prez was a masterful manipulator of all compositional techniques of the time. He was already a celebrated composer during his lifetime and is now regarded as one of the finest representatives of his era.

Josquin des Prez's main representative works are his religious works (masses), characterized by beautiful choral harmonies.

Josquin Des Prez "Ave Maria" Hilliard Ensemble Josquin Des Prez : Ave Maria

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMwz-XPfFC8

It was a time before the violin and harpsichord when vocal music dominated religious music.

You also composed other works for the lute. I prefer this music genre to that of only vocal music.

Mille regretz by Josquin des Prez -lute & viols

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK3pIkrDq9s

Josquin des Prez was born in 1450, which makes him almost the same generation as Leonardo da Vinci.

Baroque music (Bach and Vivaldi) would not appear until more than 200 years later.

The music of da Vinci's time was still before the remarkable evolution of music.

3. "Leonardo da Vinci Exhibition."

Leonardo da Vinci left many handwritten notes, or "manuscripts," of his observations, experiments, and ideas.

The manuscript contains approximately 8,000 pages, all written in mirror script.

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There is a theory that da Vinci was left-handed, which made it easier for him to write in mirror script.

However, surprisingly, the drawings and illustrations were also drawn backward, so there seemed to be a reason beyond simply being left-handed, but the truth remains a mystery.

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Incidentally, da Vinci never made any of his manuscripts public during his lifetime but entrusted them to his pupils just before his death.

Unfortunately, two-thirds to three-quarters of his manuscripts were either stolen or lost during the decades after his death.

Among the large models made based on such "manuscripts," this exhibition featured about 60 pieces focusing on hydraulics, flight, robots, musical instruments, and machines.

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There were three musical instruments on display.

3.1 Rilla in the shape of a dragon's head

During Leonardo da Vinci's time, from the 15th to 6th century, a violin-like instrument called the lira da braccio was used in Italy.

It is more significant than today's violins and consists of five melodies and two resonant strings.

The Lilla da braccio is shaped like a dragon's head.

See YouTube below for the sound of Lira.

Marco Cara- lyra da braccio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVtXsekoIpM

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3.2 Mechanical drum

This device has the same structure as a music box claw, and the drum (drum) is automatically struck by a rotating part that turns by a pre-set pattern of projections.

In modern terms, it would be a rhythm machine. But, as an idea, it was probably novel at the time.

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3.3 Robot drummer

This is a device in which a robot replaces a human drummer. It is a development of the mechanical drum, as shown above.

The gears in the center of the drummer's arms move by the mechanism of the bags in the rotating part.

It is fantastic that more than 500 years ago, there was an idea to have such a robot play a musical instrument.

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Considering that the invention of letterpress technology using metal type by Johannes Gutenberg was around 1450, which coincides with the birth of Leonardo da Vinci, it seems that during his lifetime, the spread of printed music scores finally began.

If music scores had become more widespread earlier, da Vinci would probably have invented the music-the-score-turning machine or something similar.

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Leonardo da Vinci also left something like a score in the manuscript.

The Lilla da Braccio was an instrument that was only used for improvisation, so there is no musical score left, but it seems that he was also a master of singing and improvisation.

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4. national geographic magazine, "the unfading talent da Vinci."

The May 2019 issue of National Geographic Magazine's feature "The Unfading Talent Da Vinci" also describes Da Vinci's talent as a musician.

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Leonardo, gifted with musical talent, devised various musical instruments, including drums, bells, and woodwinds."

This drawing depicts the idea of a "viola organista," a combination of keyboard and string instruments.

Slawomir Zubritski, a contemporary pianist who built it, praised him for "inventing the perfect instrument."

What a surprise, da Vinci had invented a new style of the instrument!

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The instrument, a reproduction of the "viola organista," with 61 keys and four circular bows that rotate to pluck the strings, was built for the first time in the 500 years since da Vinci's invention.

According to the description, the instrument cost $10,000 and took 5,000 hours to make.

The instrument's sound is orchestral, more like a string instrument than keyboard instrumental music.

Da Vinci Instrument Built and Played for the First Time, After 500 Years

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U78Km5SmGcg

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5. da Vinci Music Festival in Kawaguchi

The da Vinci Music Festival was held in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture.

There was a performance of the opera "The Tale of Orfeo" and a talk session titled "Leonardo da Vinci, the Musician.

The "Tale of Orfeo" was not composed by Leonardo da Vinci but was presented as an art of Leonardo da Vinci as a stage director of the time and performed with a Lyra performance.

THE HIGH ROAD TO KILKENNY (Live) // Les Musiciens De St Julien, F. Lazarevitch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ER7VQnKFKU

The talk session titled "Leonardo da Vinci the Musician" is introduced in detail in the article "The Lira, Da Vinci's Favorite Instrument, and the Only Music Score and Lyrics He Left Behind."

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Da Vinci is known as a painter and inventor of many things, but he was also a musician at the time. Indeed, sketches of the viola organista, an instrument invented by da Vinci, have survived.

In addition, he seems to have been a master of the Lyra, although neither sheet music nor performance records remain.

The Renaissance lira was a seven-stringed lira da braccio, of which only a few are known to exist in the world, and the lira used last night was a restoration made in Japan two years ago.

Since it was used exclusively for improvised performances, no musical score remains.

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Da Vinci's only remaining musical score

It seems that da Vinci regarded music as something immediate (unlike painting or sculpture).

So he did not leave a musical score or take the time to compose.

Considering that there were great composers like Josquin des Prez in his generation, it seems a pity that da Vinci did not have a passion for music creation.

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As a composer and Musician, Leonardo da Vinci was an excellent performer who loved to use the lyre and could improvise and even sing well, but it seems that he did not do much creative work as a composer (he did not see the point in doing so).

It was a surprising discovery that Leonardo da Vinci, who made significant contributions to various scientific fields by combining the arts of painting and sculpture with medicine and architecture, did not pursue the genre of music with such thoroughness.