Donato da Cascia

He was probably also a priest, and the picture that survives of him in the Squarcialupi Codex shows him in the robes of the Benedictine order.

He was probably from Cascia, near Florence, and all of his music, with one exception (the virelai), is found in sources in Tuscany.

Seventeen compositions by Donato survive, including: fourteen madrigals, one caccia, one virelai, and one ballata.

Except for one piece, his music is all for two voices, typical of mid-century practice in that regard, but unusually virtuosic; according to Nino Pirrotta, it "represents the peak of virtuoso singing in the Italian madrigal, and therefore in the Italian Ars nova as a whole."

In addition he uses repeated words and phrases, often with a humorous intent; the influence of the caccia is evident in this device.