Franco-Flemish composer of vocal music, active mostly in Italy. Ciconia was one of the most important composers of the generation which made the shift from the complex and rhythmically animated lines of the late Medieval period to the smoother harmonic contours of the early Renaissance. His works exhibit both of these divergent styles to varying degrees, some making an interesting synthesis. He composed in all genres of the time: mass movements, motets, canons, virelais, madrigals, ballatas, etc. Together with his English contemporary Leonel Power, he represented one of the two stylistic poles which would yield the landmark music of the Franco-Flemish Renaissance, Guillaume Dufay being the most important synthesizer of the two. ~ Todd McComb