Alessandro Grandi

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Alessandro Grandi (* around 1586, place of birth uncertain † June 1630 in Bergamo ) was an Italian singer, conductor and composer .

Life

Nothing is known about Grandi's family, youth and education. Assumptions that he was a student of Giovanni Gabrieli cannot be substantiated. Even before 1604, i.e. at a very young age, he is said to have been the head of the Accademia della morte in Ferrara, a non-profit brotherhood of lay people who could afford music to a limited extent. After a few other positions, he worked in Venice from 1617 as a band singer at San Marco and from 1620 also as vice band master. In 1627 he was finally appointed to the position of Kapellmeister at Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo . Only a few years later he and his wife and 10 children fell victim to a plague epidemic .

Grandi was one of the most important Italian composers of the early 17th century. His numerous sacred and profane compositions exerted a great influence on his successors. Through him, the term cantata (or "cantade") can be identified for the first time in 1620. These are secular, almost dramatic works that represent a connection between the concertante madrigal and the aria. In addition to other instrumental secular works, he created significant sacred compositions, including several books with motets, as well as psalms and masses .

Against the assumption that he was a pupil of Gabrieli, there is also no evidence of this composer's influence in his works. In Grandi's early works, on the other hand, a reference to Giovanni Croce (around 1557–1609) can be heard, while his later work is also under the influence of Monteverdi .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jerome Roche, revised by Roark Miller:  Grandi, Allesandro. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
personal data
SURNAME Grandi, Alessandro
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian singer, conductor and composer
DATE OF BIRTH around 1586
DATE OF DEATH June 1630
Place of death Bergamo