Florentio Maschera

Florentio Maschera , also: Mascara Fiorenzo (* around 1540 in Brescia , † around 1584 ibid) was an Italian composer and organist of the late Renaissance .

Live and act

Florentio Maschera probably learned from his father Bartolomeo Maschera, who was employed as a Latin teacher and caretaker of music at the Cathedral of Brescia. The lessons he is said to have received from Claudio Merulo according to the testimony of Costanzo Antegnati is doubtful, since Merula worked in Brescia when Maschera was in Venice. Rather, they were competitors for the office of organist at St. Mark's Basilica in Venice . Maschera got his first job as an organist in the monastery "Santo Spirito in Isola" near Venice. On August 22nd, 1557, he became organist at the Cathedral of Brescia with a starting salary of 180  lire , which was replaced by a new baroque building in the early 17th century. On April 6, 1573, Maschera received a minor ecclesiastical ordination from the Bishop of Cremona, which should probably help him to receive income from clerical benefices . As his successor, Costanzo Antegnati (1549-1624) was installed in July 1584. Maschera is often mentioned in connection with the violin maker Gasparo da Salò, who worked in Brescia, as an excellent gambist . Ottavio Rossi (1570–1630) wrote in his Elogi historici di Bresciani illustri (1620), p. 497, about Maschera Nel tasteggiar le viole fù giudicato inimmitabile .

plant

Maschera was best known for his 21 four-part instrumental canzons , which appeared in 1582 under the title Libro primo de canzoni: da sonare a quattro voci . They are among the oldest surviving Italian works that were published specifically for an instrumental ensemble and that do not come from vocal canons, as is usually the case. Reprints of the book appeared in 1584 and 1588. However, two of the canzons were already found in the “Tabolatura citthara” by Paolo Virchi (1551-1610) published in 1574 . Maschera's other works were printed in various anthologies in Italy and Germany between 1574 and 1617. The four-part nature of the works allows them to be performed on a keyboard instrument, but it stands to reason that the works were intended for an instrumental ensemble, especially given Maschera's reputation as a gambist and violinist.

literature

• Rodobaldo Tibaldi:  MASCHERA (mascara), Fiorenzo (Florenzio, Florentio). In: Mario Caravale (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 71:  Marsilli – Massimino da Salerno. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2008.

Web links

• Sheet music and audio files by Florentio Maschera in the International Music Score Library Project

Individual evidence

1. ↑ MGG , 2nd edition, Vol. 11, columns 1254-1255; Elogi online at Google books
2. ↑ Entry in the Dizionario biografico degli Italiani on treccani.it , accessed on June 29, 2017.