Johannes Tinctoris (1435? -1511), one of the most authoritative treatise writers of the late fifteenth century, gave to the music of his time a theoretical framework which constitutes a point of reference for those who want to unravel the complex issues of counterpoint, notation and lexical items born from mensural polyphony.
The two treatises presented here in translation, as well as providing appropriate keys to understanding the temporal patterning of music (the Proportionale musices) or the vertical organization of sound (the Liber de arte contrapuncti), appear as documents of humanistic culture and conscious expression of the role acquired by the music among the liberal arts.
Introduction, translation and commentary by Gianluca D'Agostino.