Nothing is known about his family. But it comes from Sicily, probably from Palermo , d'India is a family name that is often encountered there. At a young age he will have gone to Naples , where he called himself “Noble from Palermo”. From Naples there are also records of a Don Carlo d'India, probably his father or a close relative. He enjoyed there with other students such as Gesualdo , Ascanio Mayone (approx. 1570-1627) and Trabaci a musical education with Giovanni de Macque , who should have come to there around 1585.
In the first decade of the 17th century, d'India traveled to northern and central Italy to seek out some of the main dishes of the cities of Mantua , Florence and Rome . Why can no longer be understood today; possibly he was on a political or diplomatic mission. In 1611 he moved to Turin in order to go into the service of Charles Emanuel I as head of chamber music at the court of the Duke of Savoy . He devoted himself entirely to composing music for the splendid festivities at court, a testimony that was preserved for posterity, for example, through his Musiche e Balli a quattro voci (Venice, 1621). In the spring of 1623, however, he hurriedly left the city to avoid the emergence of malicious gossip in court and to avoid a scandal. He found refuge at the court of Alfonso II d'Este , Prince of Modena, who was the son-in-law of the Duke of Savoy, and was then called to Rome. There he accepted service for two years with Cardinal Moritz von Savoyen , son of Carlo Emanuele I. In the winter of 1626/27 he was summoned back to Modena, but soon after the death of Isabella, Alfonso's wife, he returned to Rome. But afterwards he quit the cardinal's service for good and returned to Modena, where he spent his final years. Immediately before he was able to take up the position of Maximilian I , Elector of Bavaria, he died in 1629.
Works
Between 1606 and 1627 d'India wrote a total of 18 books of polyphonic a cappella vocal music: three volumes of motets, eight madrigal volumes, two Villanelle alla Napolitana and five books for one or two voices and basso continuo . The eight books of the Musiche da canta solo were not published during his lifetime, although from today's perspective they represent what is new in d'India's work. Radical attempts at chromatics and dissonance are epochal achievements in this. Some works and parts of works are so dramatic that they appear to have been composed for opera , although d'India never wrote a work of this genre . He was in contact with Monteverdi, who also lived in Naples, and was encouraged and inspired by him; this certified him "radical inventiveness". Giulio Caccini advised him to keep going.
Setting dramas to music
La Zalizura dramma in musica testo di Filippo San Martino di Agliè ( Turin 1611-1612, 1618 or 1623)
Secondo libro de 'madrigali a 5 voci ( Venice 1611)
Terzo libro de 'madrigali a 5 voci con il suo basso continuato (Venice 1615)
Quarto libro de 'madrigali a 5 voci (Venice 1616)
Quinto libro de 'madrigali a 5 voci (Venice 1616)
Sesto libro de 'madrigali a 5 voci (lost)
Settimo libro de 'madrigali a 5 voci (Rome 1624)
Ottavo libro de 'madrigali a 5 voci con basso contuinuo (Rome 1624)
Vocal compositions
Villanelle alla napoletana a 3 voci libro I (Naples 1608)
Le musiche da cantar solo nel clavicordo, chitarrone, arpa doppia (Milan 1609)
Secondo libro delle villanelle alla napolitana a 3-4 voci (Naples 1612)
Le musiche a 2 voci (Milan 1615)
Le musiche ... Libro III a 1 e 2 voci (Milan 1618)
Le musiche e balli a 4 voci con basso continuo (Venice 1621)
Le musiche a 1 et 2 voci libro IV (Venice 1621)
Le musiche a 1 voce Libro V (Venice 1623)
Spiritual compositions
S. Eustachio dramma sacro (Rome 1625)
Liber secundus sacrorum concentuum 3-4 voci (Venice 1610)
Liber primus motectorum a 4 voci col basso seguente (Venice 1627)
La Missa Dominae clamavi ad Te 1626 (as a manuscript)
There are also 66 motets in compilations.
reception
No portraits of Sigismondo d'India have survived. A Roman correspondent for Alfonso d'Estes describes him as “dressed ugly and shabbily” while the Duke himself noted that he was full of “good qualities and good manners”.
The lack of original prints can be seen as the reason why Sigismondo d'India does not enjoy the same fame as Gesualdo or Claudio Monteverdi . Nevertheless, there are numerous transcriptions and there are a number of recordings on sound carriers today.
Discography
Secular Vocal Music by Sigismondo d'India , Ensemble Elyma , Gino Nappo and Paola Ronchetti; Brilliant Classics 2008
Sigismondo d'India: Voi Ch'Ascoltane - songs & chants ; on texts by Petrarca, Ferranti, Trabaci, Marino, Tasso and others; Ensemble Poiesis, Marion Fourquier (harp & direction), Label ZigZag 2003, 5821911
First Book of Madrigals by Sigismondo d'India 1606 , Edition Glossa La Venexiana 2001, 1740302
