Gioseppe Caimo
Encyclopedia
Gioseppe Caimo (c. 1545 – between September 6, 1584 and October 31, 1584) was an Italian composer and organist of the Renaissance
, mainly active in Milan
. He was a prolific composer of madrigal
s and other secular vocal music, and was one of the most prominent musicians in Milan in the 1570s and early 1580s.
He was born in Milan. No biographical details about his early life are known, but he was evidently a precocious composer, for his first publication was a book of four voice madrigals in 1564, written when he was probably in his late teens, and one of his compositions was probably performed for Emperor Maximilian
when he was in Milan in 1563. This piece, Alli figliuoli del Sereniss. Re Massimigliano d'Austria Eccelsa e generosa prole degna, No. 5 in his 1564 publication, is taken by Alfred Einstein as evidence he was already renowned in his home city at this young age. Einstein called it "a fine, sonorous music to be played in the open."
Caimo was organist at the church of San Ambrogio Maggiore in Milan from 1564, as indicated on the title page of his madrigal book of that year, probably until 1580 when he became the organist at Milan Cathedral. During the 1570s he acquired a connection with Wilhelm V
's ducal court in Bavaria, which had one of the most distinguished musical establishments north of the Alps, but they never succeeded in persuading Caimo to leave Milan. Caimo died young and evidently suddenly: Pietro Tini, the publisher of Caimo's second book of canzonettas (Venice, 1584) wrote that it was an "acerba et impensata morte" (bitter and unexpected death).
canzoni (villanelle
) for three voices (Milan, 1566), and a second book of canzonette, this one for four voices (Venice, 1584). The lost publications include madrigals, canzonette and motets, published in Brescia and Venice.
His style represents the shift from the popular villanella for three voices to the later canzonetta which was much like a madrigal. His early music shows the influence of the French chanson, as well as the native tradition of popular song. Musically, his canzonettas are light, graceful, and unpretentious; Einstein said that he is "fresher and more naive than the poets whose texts he uses." Other music of his is more adventurous, such as three chromatic
madrigals in terza rima, referred to by musicologist Iain Fenlon
as "gloomy ... [and] entirely appropriate texts for a city suffering from exorbitant taxation, economic depression and violence caused by Spanish oppression."
Caimo's chromaticism is most extreme in his fourth book of madrigals, which was for five voices and published the year of his death (1584). He includes passages with chromatic mediant
s – chords with roots a third apart – as well as circle-of-fifths passages that reach harmonically remote regions, such as G-flat, something done rarely even during this experimental time, the decades prior to the development of functional tonality
.
Other composers who influenced Caimo included Vincenzo Ruffo
and Nicola Vicentino
. Ruffo was one of the most prominent of the northern Italian musicians who followed the suggested reforms of the Council of Trent
, and Nicola Vicentino was one of the most experimental musicians and music theorists of mid-century. Caimo himself seems to have had little influence outside of Milan, with his name only appearing a handful of times in literature of the era. Milan, under Spanish rule during Caimo's time, was not the musical center it had been under the Sforza dynasty a century earlier, having lost its place to Venice as the musical center of northern Italy.
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...
, mainly active in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. He was a prolific composer 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 and other secular vocal music, and was one of the most prominent musicians in Milan in the 1570s and early 1580s.
Life
Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian II was king of Bohemia and king of the Romans from 1562, king of Hungary and Croatia from 1563, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation from 1564 until his death...
when he was in Milan in 1563. This piece, Alli figliuoli del Sereniss. Re Massimigliano d'Austria Eccelsa e generosa prole degna, No. 5 in his 1564 publication, is taken by Alfred Einstein as evidence he was already renowned in his home city at this young age. Einstein called it "a fine, sonorous music to be played in the open."
Caimo was organist at the church of San Ambrogio Maggiore in Milan from 1564, as indicated on the title page of his madrigal book of that year, probably until 1580 when he became the organist at Milan Cathedral. During the 1570s he acquired a connection with Wilhelm V
William V, Duke of Bavaria
William V, Duke of Bavaria , called the Pious, was Duke of Bavaria from 1579 to 1597.- Education and early life :...
's ducal court in Bavaria, which had one of the most distinguished musical establishments north of the Alps, but they never succeeded in persuading Caimo to leave Milan. Caimo died young and evidently suddenly: Pietro Tini, the publisher of Caimo's second book of canzonettas (Venice, 1584) wrote that it was an "acerba et impensata morte" (bitter and unexpected death).
Music and influence
Caimo published four books of music which have survived, and six which are lost. The four surviving collections are two books of madrigals, for four and five voices respectively (Milan, 1564 and Venice, 1584), a book of NeapolitanNaples
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...
canzoni (villanelle
Villanelle
A villanelle is a poetic form that entered English-language poetry in the 19th century from the imitation of French models. The word derives from the Italian villanella from Latin villanus . A villanelle has only two rhyme sounds...
) for three voices (Milan, 1566), and a second book of canzonette, this one for four voices (Venice, 1584). The lost publications include madrigals, canzonette and motets, published in Brescia and Venice.
His style represents the shift from the popular villanella for three voices to the later canzonetta which was much like a madrigal. His early music shows the influence of the French chanson, as well as the native tradition of popular song. Musically, his canzonettas are light, graceful, and unpretentious; Einstein said that he is "fresher and more naive than the poets whose texts he uses." Other music of his is more adventurous, such as three chromatic
Chromaticism
Chromaticism is a compositional technique interspersing the primary diatonic pitches and chords with other pitches of the chromatic scale. Chromaticism is in contrast or addition to tonality or diatonicism...
madrigals in terza rima, referred to by musicologist Iain Fenlon
Iain Fenlon
Iain Fenlon is a British musicologist who specializes in music from 1450-1650; particularly Renaissance and early Baroque music from Italy. He has contributed articles to several music publications and is the author of the books Music and Culture in Late Renaissance Italy , The Ceremonial City:...
as "gloomy ... [and] entirely appropriate texts for a city suffering from exorbitant taxation, economic depression and violence caused by Spanish oppression."
Caimo's chromaticism is most extreme in his fourth book of madrigals, which was for five voices and published the year of his death (1584). He includes passages with chromatic mediant
Mediant
In music, the mediant is the third scale degree of the diatonic scale, being the note halfway between the tonic and the dominant. Similarly, the submediant is halfway between the tonic and subdominant...
s – chords with roots a third apart – as well as circle-of-fifths passages that reach harmonically remote regions, such as G-flat, something done rarely even during this experimental time, the decades prior to the development of functional tonality
Tonality
Tonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center", or tonic. The term tonalité originated with Alexandre-Étienne Choron and was borrowed by François-Joseph Fétis in 1840...
.
Other composers who influenced Caimo included Vincenzo Ruffo
Vincenzo Ruffo
Vincenzo Ruffo was an Italian composer of the Renaissance. He was one of the composers most responsive to the musical reforms suggested by the Council of Trent, especially in his composition of masses, and as such was an influential member of the Counter-Reformation.Vincenzo Ruffo was born at...
and Nicola Vicentino
Nicola Vicentino
Nicola Vicentino was an Italian music theorist and composer of the Renaissance. He was one of the most visionary musicians of the age, inventing, among other things, a microtonal keyboard, and devising a practical system of chromatic writing two hundred years before the rise of equal...
. Ruffo was one of the most prominent of the northern Italian musicians who followed the suggested reforms of the Council of Trent
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils. It convened in Trent between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods...
, and Nicola Vicentino was one of the most experimental musicians and music theorists of mid-century. Caimo himself seems to have had little influence outside of Milan, with his name only appearing a handful of times in literature of the era. Milan, under Spanish rule during Caimo's time, was not the musical center it had been under the Sforza dynasty a century earlier, having lost its place to Venice as the musical center of northern Italy.