Riccardo Rognoni
Encyclopedia
Riccardo Rognoni or Richardo Rogniono (c. 1550 – before 20 April 1620) is the earliest known member of the Rognoni family which started one of the earliest of all violin schools, based in Milan
. His treatise Passaggi per potersi esercitare nel diminuire ("passages for practice in diminution"), Venice
1592, is the first to mention the violino da brazzo, or violin. He was directly involved in taking the violin from a street instrument to court instrument in the Lombard area. Some of his excellent violin pupils include his sons Francesco and Giovanni Domenico.
The noble title Taegio or Taeggio was conferred on the Rognoni family by king Sigismund III
of Poland, and appears on the title-pages of works of Rognoni's sons from 1605.
Riccardo writes in the title of the Passaggi that he was expelled from the "Val Tavegia", or Val Taleggio
. The records of bloody conflicts between Milan and Venice in the area explain why he arrived in Milan as a Ghibelline fugitive. Paolo Morigia reported that he was "much praised for his playing of the viol and judged among the finest of the City", while Picinelli in 1670 described him as an "excellent player of the violin and other string and wind instruments, who became the Orpheus of his day."
His Passaggi and only one instrumental work survived: a piece in an anthology printed by Gastoldi: Il primo libro della musica a due voci, Milan, 1598.
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 ,...
. His treatise Passaggi per potersi esercitare nel diminuire ("passages for practice in diminution"), Venice
Venice
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...
1592, is the first to mention the violino da brazzo, or violin. He was directly involved in taking the violin from a street instrument to court instrument in the Lombard area. Some of his excellent violin pupils include his sons Francesco and Giovanni Domenico.
The noble title Taegio or Taeggio was conferred on the Rognoni family by king Sigismund III
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
of Poland, and appears on the title-pages of works of Rognoni's sons from 1605.
Riccardo writes in the title of the Passaggi that he was expelled from the "Val Tavegia", or Val Taleggio
Val Taleggio
The Val Taleggio is an Alpine valley in the Italian region of Lombardy split between the provinces of Bergamo and Lecco. It is a western fork of the Val Brembana which begins in the commune of San Giovanni Bianco, in the Province of Bergamo...
. The records of bloody conflicts between Milan and Venice in the area explain why he arrived in Milan as a Ghibelline fugitive. Paolo Morigia reported that he was "much praised for his playing of the viol and judged among the finest of the City", while Picinelli in 1670 described him as an "excellent player of the violin and other string and wind instruments, who became the Orpheus of his day."
His Passaggi and only one instrumental work survived: a piece in an anthology printed by Gastoldi: Il primo libro della musica a due voci, Milan, 1598.