Vicentino, Nicola (1511–c. 1576)

Italian composer and theorist. He sought to revive the Greek modes in his madrigals, and invented an instrument he called the archicembalo, which could play various microtones.

Vicentino studied with Adrian Willaert at Venice, then entered the service of Ippolito d'Este, cardinal of Ferrara, with whom he went to live in Rome. His treatise L'antica musica ridotta alla prattica moderna (1555) involved him in a controversy with Vicente Lusitano in which he was defeated. He returned to Ferrara with his patron and became his maestro di cappella. He wrote madrigals and motets.