Giovanni Artusi

Giovanni Artusi

Giovanni Maria Artusi (* around 1540 in Bologna ; † August 18, 1613 ) was an Italian music theorist , composer and writer .

Artusi was one of the most famous reactionaries in music history, who severely condemned the new style developed around 1600 that was to usher in the Baroque era. He was both a student and a clergyman of the San Salvatore religious community in Bologna, where he spent his whole life, which he dedicated to his teacher Gioseffo Zarlino (the leading music theorist of the late 16th century). When Vincenzo Galilei attacked Zarlino in the Dialogo of 1581, Artusi defended his teacher and his style.

The most famous episode in Artusi's life and in the history of music criticism occurred between 1600 and 1603 when he attacked the music of a composer whose name he refused to give (it was Claudio Monteverdi ). Monteverdi responded to Artusi's accusations in the foreword to his 5th book of madrigals (1605) by depicting two styles of musical practice, which he called prima pratica and seconda pratica : The prima pratica is the previous polyphonic ideal of the 16th century with its flowing counterpoint , prepared dissonances and the equivalence of the votes. The seconda pratica is the new monodic style that emphasizes the soprano and bass parts ( figured bass ) and also represents the beginning of the conscious functional tonality.

Artusi left only a few compositions in a very conservative style: a book with canzonets for four voices (published in Venice in 1598) and a cantate domino for eight voices (1599).

Fonts (selection)

• L'arte del contraponto . Venice 1598 ( online ).
• L'Artusi, ovvero delle Imperfettioni della moderna Musica . Venice 1600–1603. Engl. Trans. By Oliver Strunk, in: Source Readings in Music History . New York, WW Norton & Co., 1950.

Literature (selection)

• Claude Palisca: Giovanni Artusi. In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. ISBN 1561591742
• Gustave Reese: Music in the Renaissance . New York, WW Norton & Co., 1954. ISBN 0393095304
• Manfred Bukofzer: Music in the Baroque Era . New York, WW Norton & Co., 1947. ISBN 0393097455