Giovanni Bassano
Encyclopedia
Giovanni Bassano was an Italian
Venetian School composer and cornett
ist of the late Renaissance
and early Baroque
eras. He was a key figure in the development of the instrumental ensemble at St. Mark's basilica, and left a detailed book on instrumental ornamentation
, which is a rich resource for research in contemporary performance practice. It is not known if he was related to Antonio Bassano
a member of a well-known Venetian family of musicians.
, and by 1585 had published his first book, Ricercate, passagi et cadentie, which details exactly how best to ornament passages when transcribing vocal music for instruments. In that same year he became a music teacher at the seminary associated with St. Mark's. In 1601 he took over the job as head of the instrumental ensemble from Girolamo Dalla Casa
, and he remained at this post until his death in the summer of 1617. The exact date of his death is not known, but the approximate date is inferred from both of his posts becoming vacant simultaneously.
had Bassano in mind for his elaborate cornett parts.
In addition to directing the music at St. Mark's, Bassano was busy elsewhere in Venice; he directed several groups of piffari, bands of wind players including bagpipes, recorder
s, shawm
s, flageolet
s, bassoon
s, and conceivably other instruments, which were used in other churches (such as San Rocco) or even street festivals.
Bassano was also a composer, though his accomplishment in this regard has been overshadowed by his renown as a performer and his associated performance treatise. He wrote motet
s and concerti ecclesiastici (sacred concertos) in the Venetian polychoral style
; and he also wrote madrigals, canzonettas and some purely instrumental music. His canzonetta
s achieved some fame outside of Italy: Thomas Morley knew them, printing them in London
in 1597 in English translation.
Some of Bassano's instrumental music is ingeniously contrapuntal
, as though he were indulging a side of his personality he was unable to display in his more ceremonial, homophonic compositions. His fantasias
and ricercar
s are densely imitative and contain retrograde
and retrograde inversion
s of motivic ideas, a rarity in counterpoint before the 20th century.
The similarity of Bassano's motets to the early work of Heinrich Schütz
, who studied in Venice with Gabrieli, suggests that the two may have known each other; certainly Schütz knew Bassano's music. At any rate Schütz carried the Venetian style back with him to Germany where it continued to develop into the Baroque era.
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...
Venetian School composer and cornett
Cornett
The cornett, cornetto or zink is an early wind instrument, dating from the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods. It was used in what are now called alta capellas or wind ensembles. It is not to be confused with the trumpet-like instrument cornet.-Construction:There are three basic types of...
ist 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 key figure in the development of the instrumental ensemble at St. Mark's basilica, and left a detailed book on instrumental ornamentation
Ornament (music)
In music, ornaments or embellishments are musical flourishes that are not necessary to carry the overall line of the melody , but serve instead to decorate or "ornament" that line. Many ornaments are performed as "fast notes" around a central note...
, which is a rich resource for research in contemporary performance practice. It is not known if he was related to Antonio Bassano
Anthony Bassano
Anthony Bassano was a 16th century Italian musician.Bassano, born in Bassano del Grappa, Italy, was one of six sons of Jeronimo Bassano who moved from Venice to England to the household of Henry VIII to serve the court, probably in 1540...
a member of a well-known Venetian family of musicians.
Life
Nothing is known of Bassano's life before his arrival as a young instrumental player at St. Mark's, probably in 1576 at the age of 18. He quickly acquired a reputation as one of the finest instrumentalists in VeniceVenice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, and by 1585 had published his first book, Ricercate, passagi et cadentie, which details exactly how best to ornament passages when transcribing vocal music for instruments. In that same year he became a music teacher at the seminary associated with St. Mark's. In 1601 he took over the job as head of the instrumental ensemble from Girolamo Dalla Casa
Girolamo Dalla Casa
Girolamo Dalla Casa was an Italian composer, instrumentalist, and writer of the late Renaissance. He was a member of the Venetian School, and was perhaps more famous and influential as a performer than as a composer....
, and he remained at this post until his death in the summer of 1617. The exact date of his death is not known, but the approximate date is inferred from both of his posts becoming vacant simultaneously.
Music and influence
Bassano was the person most responsible for the performance of the music of the Gabrielis, both as a performer and a director. Most likely Giovanni GabrieliGiovanni Gabrieli
Giovanni Gabrieli was an Italian composer and organist. He was one of the most influential musicians of his time, and represents the culmination of the style of the Venetian School, at the time of the shift from Renaissance to Baroque idioms.-Biography:Gabrieli was born in Venice...
had Bassano in mind for his elaborate cornett parts.
In addition to directing the music at St. Mark's, Bassano was busy elsewhere in Venice; he directed several groups of piffari, bands of wind players including bagpipes, recorder
Recorder
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
s, shawm
Shawm
The shawm was a medieval and Renaissance musical instrument of the woodwind family made in Europe from the 12th century until the 17th century. It was developed from the oriental zurna and is the predecessor of the modern oboe. The body of the shawm was usually turned from a single piece of wood,...
s, flageolet
Flageolet
The flageolet is a woodwind musical instrument and a member of the fipple flute family. Its invention is ascribed to the 16th century Sieur Juvigny in 1581. There are two basic forms of the instrument: the French, having four finger holes on the front and two thumb holes on the back; and the...
s, bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s, and conceivably other instruments, which were used in other churches (such as San Rocco) or even street festivals.
Bassano was also a composer, though his accomplishment in this regard has been overshadowed by his renown as a performer and his associated performance treatise. He wrote 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 and concerti ecclesiastici (sacred concertos) in the Venetian polychoral style
Venetian polychoral style
The Venetian polychoral style was a type of music of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras which involved spatially separate choirs singing in alternation...
; and he also wrote madrigals, canzonettas and some purely instrumental music. His canzonetta
Canzonetta
In music, a canzonetta was a popular Italian secular vocal composition which originated around 1560...
s achieved some fame outside of Italy: Thomas Morley knew them, printing them in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1597 in English translation.
Some of Bassano's instrumental music is ingeniously contrapuntal
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
, as though he were indulging a side of his personality he was unable to display in his more ceremonial, homophonic compositions. His fantasias
Fantasia (music)
The fantasia is a musical composition with its roots in the art of improvisation. Because of this, it seldom approximates the textbook rules of any strict musical form ....
and ricercar
Ricercar
A ricercar is a type of late Renaissance and mostly early Baroque instrumental composition. The term means to search out, and many ricercars serve a preludial function to "search out" the key or mode of a following piece...
s are densely imitative and contain retrograde
Permutation (music)
In music, a permutation of a set is any ordering of the elements of that set. Different permutations may be related by transformation, through the application of zero or more of certain operations, such as transposition, inversion, retrogradation, circular permutation , or multiplicative operations...
and retrograde inversion
Retrograde inversion
Retrograde inversion is a musical term that literally means "backwards and upside down": "The inverse of the series is sounded in reverse order." This is a technique used in music, specifically in twelve-tone technique, where the inversion and retrograde techniques are performed on the same tone...
s of motivic ideas, a rarity in counterpoint before the 20th century.
The similarity of Bassano's motets to the early work of Heinrich Schütz
Heinrich Schütz
Heinrich Schütz was a German composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and often considered to be one of the most important composers of the 17th century along with Claudio Monteverdi...
, who studied in Venice with Gabrieli, suggests that the two may have known each other; certainly Schütz knew Bassano's music. At any rate Schütz carried the Venetian style back with him to Germany where it continued to develop into the Baroque era.
Media
Selected publications
- Ricercate, passaggi et cadentie..., Originally published Venice 1585, Modern edition by Richard Erig, Zürich, Musikverlag zum Pelikan, 1976
- Concerti ecclesiastici : a cinque, sei, sette, otto, & dodeci voci, Originally published Venice 1599. Modern facsimile edition by Richard Charteris CMM 101-2 American Institute of Musicology 2003