Francesco Canova de Milano

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Francesco Canova de Milano

Francesco Canova de Milano, Italian lutenist, viol player, and composer; b. Monza, Aug. 18, 1497; d. Milan, April 15, 1543. He was a pupil of Giovanni Testagrossa. For periods between 1516 and 1539 he was active in Rome as a lutenist and viol player to the papacy, and he also served Ippolito de’ Medici and Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. His lute music—ricer-cares, fantasias, and arrangements of vocal pieces—comprises more than 40 tablatures (publ. 1536–1603) and 25 MSS. See A. Ness, ed., The Lute Music of Francesco Canova da Milano (1497–1543), Harvard Publications in Music, III-IV (1970), and R. Chiesa, ed., Francesco da Milano: Opere complete per liuto (Milan, 1971).

—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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