Leonardo Da Vinci: Musician
Someone searched today using the term: "Did Leonardo play a musical instrument?". Knowing the answer, I thought I would reply to them, lest they visit this site, again.
Leonardo da Vinci, 1452 - 1519, had many gifts, but one of them was for music. He composed music, spontaneously, improvising freely as he went - and presumably he recorded some of this. However, no written record of his music survives. So we may never know whether he was, in fact, a good composer, to add to all his other wonders.
We do know however that he had a great reputation for being able to play ANY stringed musical instrument, at first sight, even if he had never encountered the particular type of instrument before. Though, his official instrument was the lyre, he was able to play others, too. Presumably, he was physically dextrous and so comfortable with music as an art, that he could respond to the opportunities and constraints of a new instrument well enough to coax adequate music from it.
So, not only could Leonardo da Vinci play an instrument - he had shown himself able to play any stringed instrument of his time.
Labels: composer, Leonardo Da Vinci, Music, musician, stringed instruments
4 Comments:
I am helping my daughter with a paper on Da Vinci and came across you blog post while searching the internet about him as a musician... would you mind directing me to your source? Information about this part of his life is so limited. Thanks, in advance!
Hi Shawn,
Thanks for your question. Unfortunately, it is such a long time since I wrote this post, that I can't recall where I saw this information. I think though it was a book on Leonardo da Vinci I browsed in a book shop, one day. I remembered the entry on his musical gifts - and remarked on it here. I wish I could tell you more...but quite a few years have passed since I picked up this data. Sorry.
However, you might have luck with the Google search engines to see if you can find any other references. The reason that info is limited on his musical life is that NONE of his music (except I understand possibly the odd fragment) of his compositions survived to today. All his music was lost. Very sad.
Happy hunting.
They were ALL lost? That really is sad.
Oh, I told my dad about this and his eyes literally popped out of his head. ;)
Yes, Ashley: Leonardo the composer, will be forever unknown. It is such a pity since it would be very interesting to hear the take of such a mind, on the musical opportunities (instrument wise) of his time. I am sure he would have made something interesting of it.
It is good that your Dad cares about this. We live in a world in which many people just wouldn't.
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