Giovanni Tommaso Benedictis da Pascarola
Encyclopedia
Giovanni Tommaso Benedictis da Pascarola, also Giovanni Benedetti da Pascarola (ca. 1550-1560 – before 1601) was an Italian composer of the Renaissance
.
Little is known of Giovanni's life. He was presumably born in Pascarola, a village just north of Naples
. In 1589, he published a set of madrigal
s entitled Primo libro de madrigali for five voices, dedicated to Giovan Thomaso Saracino (who is otherwise unknown). He was considered as a replacement for Giovanni Domenico da Nola
as maestro di cappella at SS Annunziata in Naples, but Nola was able to retain his position. In 1601, Scipione Cerreto, in his Della prattica musica, notes that Giovanni was an excellent composer but was no longer alive; no other evidence exists to suggest a date of death.
Califano included a madrigal of Pascarola's in his 1584 book of madrigals. Pascarola's works are distinguished by their use of imitation
in fugue
-like ways. He set twenty poems by Sannazaro, four of Petrarch
, and one of Tansillo.
Renaissance music
Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given that its defining characteristics were adopted only gradually; musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.Literally meaning...
.
Little is known of Giovanni's life. He was presumably born in Pascarola, a village just north of Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
. In 1589, he published a set of madrigal
Madrigal (music)
A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, usually a partsong, of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Traditionally, polyphonic madrigals are unaccompanied; the number of voices varies from two to eight, and most frequently from three to six....
s entitled Primo libro de madrigali for five voices, dedicated to Giovan Thomaso Saracino (who is otherwise unknown). He was considered as a replacement for Giovanni Domenico da Nola
Giovanni Domenico da Nola
Giovanni Domenico da Nola was an Italian composer and poet of the Renaissance.He was born in the town of Nola, Italy. He was a founding member of the Accademia dei Sereni in 1546-47, where he knew Luigi Dentice and Marchese della Terza, who was a patron of Orlando di Lasso...
as maestro di cappella at SS Annunziata in Naples, but Nola was able to retain his position. In 1601, Scipione Cerreto, in his Della prattica musica, notes that Giovanni was an excellent composer but was no longer alive; no other evidence exists to suggest a date of death.
Califano included a madrigal of Pascarola's in his 1584 book of madrigals. Pascarola's works are distinguished by their use of imitation
Imitation (music)
In music, imitation is when a melody in a polyphonic texture is repeated shortly after its first appearance in a different voice, usually at a different pitch. The melody may vary through transposition, inversion, or otherwise, but retain its original character...
in fugue
Fugue
In music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....
-like ways. He set twenty poems by Sannazaro, four of Petrarch
Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca , known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar, poet and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch is often called the "Father of Humanism"...
, and one of Tansillo.