Giovanni Picchi

Giovanni Picchi

Giovanni Picchi (1571 or 1572 – May 17, 1643) was an Italian composer, organist, lutenist, and harpsichordist of the early Baroque era. He was a late follower of the Venetian School, and was influential in the development and differentiation of instrumental forms which were just beginning to appear, such as the sonata and the ensemble canzona; in addition he was the only Venetian of his time to write dance music for harpsichord.

Life

Little is known about Picchi's early life, but his birthdate (1571 or 1572) can be inferred from his death record which states that he was 71 when he died on May 17, 1643. The earliest documentary evidence pertaining to him, unusually enough, is a picture: he appears as a lutenist on the title page of a 1600 dance manual by Fabritio Caroso ("Nobilità di dame"). Sometime before February 1607 he was hired as organist at the Venetian church of the Frari, and from 1623 to his death he was also organist at the confraternity Scuola di San Rocco, the most prestigious and wealthy of all the Venetian confraternities. In 1624 he applied for the position of second organist at St. Mark's, but Giovanni Pietro Berti was chosen instead.

He was a close contemporary of Monteverdi, being born four years later and dying six months earlier than the more renowned composer.

Music and influence

Of Picchi's music, mostly instrumental music survives. One harpsichord toccata is included in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book (how it got there is not known – very little Italian music is included in that English collection); three passamezzos survive in a manuscript from Turin; and in 1619 he published a collection of harpsichord dances, "Intavolatura di balli d'arpicordo". In addition, he published a collection of 19 ensemble canzonas in 1625, "Canzoni da sonar".

His harpsichord dances are of three types: dances in triple meter, dances in triple meter paired with saltarellos, and pieces which use a ground bass. Most of the works with ground bass use some type of romanesca pattern, consisting of a line descending by fourth, rising by step, then descending again by fourth or fifth, rising by step, and so forth (the Pachelbel Canon, probably written several decades after Picchi's death, is probably the most famous example of variations over a romanesca bass).

Within his ensemble canzonas, Picchi worked to differentiate several types of instrumental writing which were critically important to later forms such as the concerto. In particular, he used well-defined concertino, ritornello, and cadenzas in his ensemble music, following and further developing a practice initiated in the music of Giovanni Gabrieli and the other composers of his generation. His writing for concertino groups was probably the most innovative aspect of his style, and foreshadowed the work of composers in the middle Baroque such as Corelli. Picchi used both sequential variation and echo effects, and scored for a variety of instruments including violins, bassoons, recorders and trombones, often in the same piece.

Picchi seems to have used the terms "canzona" and "sonata" interchangeably, sometimes calling a piece "canzona" in the score and "sonata" in the part book; the differentiation of these forms was only just beginning in the early 17th century.

Media

References

* Eleanor Selfridge-Field, "Venetian Instrumental Music, from Gabrieli to Vivaldi." New York, Dover Publications, 1994. ISBN 0-486-28151-5
* Howard Ferguson: "Giovanni Picchi", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed July 9, 2005), [http://www.grovemusic.com (subscription access)]

External links

*


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Giovanni Picchi — Picchi maître de danse et luthiste en 1600. Giovanni Picchi né à Venise, fin XVIe siècle (1575 ?) mort à Venise le 17 mai 1643, est un organiste, un luthiste et un compositeur italien de la période baroque …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Giovanni Picchi — (1600) Giovanni Picchi (* um 1571 in Venedig(?); † 17. Mai 1643 ebenda) war ein italienischer Lautenist, Organist und Komponist. 1616 Picchi war Organist an der Scuola Grande in Venedig und auch an der Basilika Santa Maria. 1624 bewarb er sich… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Giovanni Picchi — Datos generales Nacimiento Italia, 1571 o 1572 …   Wikipedia Español

  • Picchi — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Armando Picchi (1935–1971), italienischer Fußballspieler und trainer Giovanni Picchi ( 1571–1643), italienischer Lautenist und Komponist Diese Seite ist eine Begriffsklärung zur Unters …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Giovanni Battista Riccio — (auch: Rizzo, * um 1570; † 1621) war ein italienischer Komponist, Organist und Violinist des Frühbarock. Giovanni Battista Riccio war als Musiker in Venedig tätig. An der Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista erhielt er 1609 die Stelle des… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Giovanni Battista Riccio (compositeur) — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Giovanni Battista Riccio. Giovanni Battista Riccio (Giambattista Riccio) (fin du XVIe siècle après 1621) était un musicien et un compositeur des débuts de l ère baroque. Il résidait à Venise et a marqué le… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Armando Picchi — Pas d image ? Cliquez ici. Biographie Nationalité …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Liste der Biografien/Pi — Biografien: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Musique De Clavecin — Le clavecin a été un instrument très important en Europe occidentale pendant près de trois siècles, du XVIe siècle au XVIIIe siècle. Collegium musicum …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Musique de clavecin — Le clavecin a été un instrument très important en Europe occidentale pendant près de trois siècles, du XVIe siècle au XVIIIe siècle. Collegium musicum Il était utilisé couramment, en concurrence avec d autres instruments (luth, viole de …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”