Musica e arte della memoria nell'Italia del Rinascimento

Since memory was, in the classical tradition, one of the five parts of rhetoric, its importance was transferred to a variety of different activities. From among plentiful examples, a significant one could be drawn from Italian sixteenth-century music. Analyzing the treatises of Silvestro Ganassi, Gioseffo Zarlino, and Ludovico Zacconi, this paper aims to underline the role of memory in the act of producing and playing music.