LANDINO, FRANCESCO. - Musician, also called Franciscus de Florentia, Magister Franciscus, or the blind man of the organs. Born in Firenze in 1325 and died there on 2 Sept. 1397, he was buried in S. Lorenzo. Despite the blindness that afflicted him at a very early age, he became the most accomplished and renowned organist of his time.
He was organist at S. Lorenzo, an expert player of various instruments (he gave the name “siren of sirens” to a keyboard instrument he invented), and composed vocal music of fresh and graceful inspiration, with free melodic and harmonic devices. Summoned to Venezia in 1364 for the festivities in honour of the king of Cipro, he was crowned with laurel by the latter. He is regarded as one of the foremost representatives of the Florentine ore novo.
He composed numerous madrigals, ballads, and songs for up to three voices, most of which still survive in manuscript. Some compositions appear in modern notation in collections by Romagnoli, Riemann, etc.