c. 1489—Mantua, Italy

Bartolomeo Tromboncino arrives in Mantua to serve as trombonist for the wind band of the Duke of Mantua. Soon thereafter, Lorenzo de’ Medici offers him a similar post in Florence, which Tromboncino declines (see 1489, below). He later becomes a well-known frottola composer (Sanders, Gonzaga 33). Tromboncino is one of several musicians who adopt the name of their instrument as a surname, including Antonio da Cornetto, Girolamo Trombetti, and Alfonso della Viola (Reese 546). For more on Tromboncino’s personal life, see 1499, below.

Lorenzo de Medici