Marco Dall'Aquila

Who was Marco Dall'Aquila?

Marco Dall'Aquila was a Venitian lutenist and composer known for musical forms called polyphonic ricercars. He was born in L'Aquila but lived and worked in Venice. He often performed at concerts in the houses of nobles in the city, and in 1505 he published Tabullatura et rasone de metter ogni canto in liuto.

On 11 March 1505, Dall'Aquila also received a grant for a petition where he claimed to have developed a method of printing tablature which he could use to score any lute composition into tablature. In the petition for the grant, he also asked for a ban on other printing methods and imports of music scored by other methods, and for a portion of penalties paid for infringement. However, no printed editions demonstrating his method survive.