Ruggiero Giovannelli
Encyclopedia
Ruggiero Giovannelli was an Italian
composer of the late Renaissance
and early Baroque
eras. He was a member of the Roman School
, and succeeded Palestrina
at St. Peter's
.
, near Rome
. It has been claimed that he was a student of Palestrina, but there is no documentary evidence of this; stylistic similarities between their music, and an obvious close career association, make it a reasonable assumption. Not much is known about Giovannelli's life until 1583 when he became maestro di cappella at S Luigi dei Francesi, a post which he held until 1591, at which time he went to the Collegio Germanico. In addition to these posts he was maestro di cappella for Duke Giovanni Angelo of Altaemps, at his private chapel, probably concurrently with his other jobs. He also sang, and served in various administrative posts.
Giovannelli's most important appointment was as the replacement for Palestrina as the maestro di cappella at the Julian Chapel at St. Peter's, on March 12, 1594, a position which he held until 1599, when he became a singer at the Sistine Chapel
. In 1614 he became maestro di cappella at the Sistine Chapel, and he retired in 1624. He is buried in the church of Santa Marta.
principle and the basso continuo. His output of sacred music fell off dramatically late in his life, and at least one scholar has suggested that this was because he was uncomfortable with the new style. In 1615 he created a new edition of the Gradule known as the Medicean, published by the Medici press. (The Encyclopedia Americana may contradict this, writing that a Editio Medicæa of the Graduale of 1614 was created by Felice Anerio
.)
He wrote mass
es and motet
s, some of which are for as many as 12 voices, and which often use polychoral techniques.
For a Roman School composer and a priest he wrote a surprising amount of secular music, mostly madrigal
s and canzonetta
s, some of which are in a light-hearted style influenced by northern Italian models, or by Luca Marenzio
, who had spent time in Rome. He wrote three books of madrigals for five voices and two books for four voices, as well as a large quantity of other secular songs which were not collected in publications; most have been dated to the 1580s and 1590s.
Giovannelli's music was reprinted widely, in Italy and elsewhere, indicating his broad popularity.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
composer of the late Renaissance
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...
and early Baroque
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
eras. He was a member of the Roman School
Roman School
In music history, the Roman School was a group of composers of predominantly church music, in Rome, during the 16th and 17th centuries, therefore spanning the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. The term also refers to the music they produced...
, and succeeded Palestrina
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was an Italian Renaissance composer of sacred music and the best-known 16th-century representative of the Roman School of musical composition...
at St. Peter's
St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian as ' and commonly known as Saint Peter's Basilica, is a Late Renaissance church located within the Vatican City. Saint Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world...
.
Life
He was born in VelletriVelletri
Velletri is an Italian town of 53,298 inhabitants. It is a comune in the province of Rome, on the Alban Hills, in Lazio - Italy. It is bounded by other communes of Rocca di Papa, Lariano, Cisterna di Latina, Artena, Aprilia, Nemi, Genzano di Roma, Lanuvio...
, near Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. It has been claimed that he was a student of Palestrina, but there is no documentary evidence of this; stylistic similarities between their music, and an obvious close career association, make it a reasonable assumption. Not much is known about Giovannelli's life until 1583 when he became maestro di cappella at S Luigi dei Francesi, a post which he held until 1591, at which time he went to the Collegio Germanico. In addition to these posts he was maestro di cappella for Duke Giovanni Angelo of Altaemps, at his private chapel, probably concurrently with his other jobs. He also sang, and served in various administrative posts.
Giovannelli's most important appointment was as the replacement for Palestrina as the maestro di cappella at the Julian Chapel at St. Peter's, on March 12, 1594, a position which he held until 1599, when he became a singer at the Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. It is famous for its architecture and its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio...
. In 1614 he became maestro di cappella at the Sistine Chapel, and he retired in 1624. He is buried in the church of Santa Marta.
Music and influence
Giovanelli composed and published a large number secular pieces. He is noted for his church music, most of which also survives in manuscript.. As could be expected for a composer of the Roman School, his sacred music was conservative, and mostly in the Palestrina style for the first part of his career; however, after 1600 he experimented with some of the stylistic innovations which defined the beginning of the Baroque era, such as the concertatoConcertato
Concertato is a term in early Baroque music referring to either a genre or a style of music in which groups of instruments or voices share a melody, usually in alternation, and almost always over a basso continuo...
principle and the basso continuo. His output of sacred music fell off dramatically late in his life, and at least one scholar has suggested that this was because he was uncomfortable with the new style. In 1615 he created a new edition of the Gradule known as the Medicean, published by the Medici press. (The Encyclopedia Americana may contradict this, writing that a Editio Medicæa of the Graduale of 1614 was created by Felice Anerio
Felice Anerio
Felice Anerio was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras, and a member of the Roman School of composers. He was the older brother of another important, and somewhat more progressive composer of the same period, Giovanni Francesco Anerio.-Life:Anerio was born in Rome and...
.)
He wrote mass
Mass (music)
The Mass, a form of sacred musical composition, is a choral composition that sets the invariable portions of the Eucharistic liturgy to music...
es and motet
Motet
In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...
s, some of which are for as many as 12 voices, and which often use polychoral techniques.
For a Roman School composer and a priest he wrote a surprising amount of secular music, mostly 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 and canzonetta
Canzonetta
In music, a canzonetta was a popular Italian secular vocal composition which originated around 1560...
s, some of which are in a light-hearted style influenced by northern Italian models, or by Luca Marenzio
Luca Marenzio
Luca Marenzio was an Italian composer and singer of the late Renaissance. He was one of the most renowned composers of madrigals, and wrote some of the most famous examples of the form in its late stage of development, prior to its early Baroque transformation by Monteverdi...
, who had spent time in Rome. He wrote three books of madrigals for five voices and two books for four voices, as well as a large quantity of other secular songs which were not collected in publications; most have been dated to the 1580s and 1590s.
Giovannelli's music was reprinted widely, in Italy and elsewhere, indicating his broad popularity.
Compiled works
Sources are incomplete, and may differ about his published works. There appear to have been at least three volumes of five books, five- and eight-part motets and three part canzonets (or canzonettes, instrumentals performed as entrances or introductions) (1592); Villanelle a 3 voci (1593); Misse (1593); Motetti (1594); Madrigale (1586); Book Three for Five Voices (1599); Vilanelle a 5 voci (1608); There are masses, motets, and psalms in manuscript at the Vatican, among them a Miserere for four and eight voices and a mass for eight, on Palestrina's madrigal Vestiva i colli. Other madrigals are in the collections of Scotto and Phalesisu; and motets and psalms in those of Fabio Constantini and Proske.Various named works
- Il primo libro de madrigali (1586)
- Il secondo libro de madrigali (1593)
- Terzo libro de madrigali a cinque voci
- 3 motets for equal voices
- Carmina Sacra; 17 motets for 3 equal voices
- La Terra, che dal fondo
- O Fortunata Rosa
- Tu nascesti
Available scores
- Deus noster fidelis
- O quam inanes
- Sanctissima Maria
- Moritur in ligno
- Suauissime Iesu
- Dulce est & iucundum
- L'Amorosa Ero