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Donate Franco Alberto Gallo passed away on 30 June 2026. Gallo was one of the most eminent scholars in the field of medieval musicology. Following important work in medieval polyphony, notated sources and historical music theory, his significance lies primarily in his view of music history as part of history tout court, and in his approach to musicological research in the light of civil, social, and cultural history—while also taking into account the impact of musical events on human history.
This perspective was outlined in the introduction to Musica & Storia (I/1993) and further developed in 2001 in his Historia Civilis and Cultural Heritage (Il Saggiatore Musicale, VIII) and in 2007 in the preface to the proceedings of a Doctoral Workshop in Musicology and Musical Heritage (Per una storia dei popoli senza note) [Towards a History of Peoples Without Musical Notation], ed. Paola Dessì). In reiterating these concepts, he posed a ‘deliberately uncomfortable’ question: is the work we do ‘merely for personal gratification’, or is it also intended ‘to bring some real benefit to the community’? The answer lies in the idea that research premised on the ‘equal dignity of all the world’s peoples’ and ‘an interest in their musical expressions’, with or without musical notation, can claim to have general value, contributing (in its own small way) to a better understanding of human nature.
His numerous publications span various fields of musicological research—from essays on notational theory and musical treatises to the editing of works by medieval composers and major musical manuscripts, most notably the Squarcialupi Codex (MS Mediceo Palatino 87) held at the Laurentian Library in Florence. His output also encompasses studies on dance, translations of Greek and Latin texts on music, and the rediscovery of music’s role within Latin commentaries on Aristotle’s Politics, as well as work on musical anthropology, birdsong, and travelogues. It is an exceptionally broad range of interests, always approached with great methodological, philological, and historical rigor.
After earning degrees in Law and subsequently in Philosophy from the University of Padua, Franco Alberto Gallo first taught there (1960–1964, later holding positions at the University of Bologna (1964–2004)—including at its Ravenna campus—and at the University of Salento (1991–1993). He served as Director of the Department of Arts, Music, and Performing Arts (DAMS) and as the first director of the University of Bologna’s Department of Cultural Heritage; he also served as President of the Italian Society of Musicology and Vice-President of the International Musicological Society. As a Fellow of Harvard University, he chaired its Italian Committee for Villa I Tatti in Florence. A visiting professor at various international universities and research centers, he was awarded the Dent Medal in 1966. He also chaired the organizing committee for the first IMS congress held in Italy—marking the society’s 60th anniversary —which took place in Bologna in 1987. His extensive collaboration with the Centro studi sull’ars nova musicale del Trecento (Center for the Study of the 14th-Century Musical Ars Nova) included over twenty years of teaching at the international summer courses in Certaldo. Details regarding his career and publications are available on the website created for him in 2022 by Nicoletta Guidobaldi and Donatella Restani to mark his 90th birthday (https://francoalbertogallo.it).
–Agostino Ziino and Francesco Facchin
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