Baldassare Donato (also Donati) (1525-1530 – June 1603) was an Italian composer and singer of the Venetian school of the late Renaissance. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest In music history the Venetian School is a term used to describe the Composers working in Venice from about 1550 to around 1610; it also describes Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance, approximately 1400 - 1600 He was maestro di cappella of the prestigious St. Mark's Basilica at the end of the 16th century, and was an important figure in the development of Italian light secular music, especially the villanella. Saint Mark's Basilica ( Italian: Basilica di San Marco a Venezia) the Cathedral of Venice, is the most famous of In music a villanella (plural villanelle &mdash not to be confused with the French poetic form Villanelle) is a form of light Italian secular
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Life
Details of his early life are unavailable; it is not even known where he was born. The first record of Donato is as a singer at St. Mark's in Venice in 1550, and he was given charge of the musical training of the boys there in 1562. When Gioseffo Zarlino took over the post of maestro di cappella from Cipriano de Rore in 1565, Donato was demoted back to being a singer; conflict between the two men seems to have been a feature of life at St. Cypriano de Rore or Cipriano de Rore (1515 or 1516 – between September 11 and September 20 1565 was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active Mark's, culminating in a climactic fight in 1569, publicly and scandalously, during the Feast of St. Mark. In 1577 Donato took a position at the Scuola Grande di S Rocco, another Venetian church with an impressive musical tradition and substantial performing ensemble; however he failed to get along with his employers there as well, resigning by 1580. In 1588 he became assistant maestro di cappella at St. Mark's, while Zarlino was still alive (whether because of reconcilement or politics is not clear), and in 1590 he took over the post of his former antagonist, holding it until his death in 1603.
Music and influence
Donato represented a progressive trend in the Venetian school, which was already a progressive tradition compared to the other major contemporary Italian musical styles (especially as compared to the Roman School). The Roman school is the education system of the Ancient Rome. The progressive trend in the Venetian school was represented by composers such as Donato, Giovanni Croce, and Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli; the conservative trend involved composers and theorists such as Zarlino, Cipriano de Rore, and Claudio Merulo, who tended to follow the Franco-Flemish style which was predominant almost everywhere else in Europe until after mid-century. Giovanni Croce (also Ioanne a Cruce Clodiensis, Zuanne Chiozotto) (1557 – May 15, 1609) was an Italian composer of the late Andrea Gabrieli (1532/1533? – August 30, 1585) was an Italian Composer and Organist of the late Renaissance. Giovanni Gabrieli (c 1554/1557 &ndash August 12 1612 was an Italian Composer and organist. Cypriano de Rore or Cipriano de Rore (1515 or 1516 – between September 11 and September 20 1565 was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active Claudio Merulo (also spelled Merlotti Merulus also Claudio da Correggio 8 April 1533 – 4 May 1604) was an Italian Composer In Music, the Franco-Flemish School refers somewhat imprecisely to the style of polyphonic Vocal music composition in Europe in the 15th
Donato's sacred music is the most conservative portion of his output, usually using polyphony in the Palestrina style, but also using some of the grand polychoral effects of the Gabrielis. In Music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent Melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice ( Monophony Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (between 3 February 1525 and 2 February 1526 - 2 February 1594 was an Italian Composer of the Renaissance. In spite of his evident disdain for Zarlino's conservatism, he clearly absorbed some of his style and teaching, as can be seen in his smooth mastery of counterpoint and Zarlinoesque use of dissonance, at least when he was deliberately composing in the Franco-Flemish style.
Probably his greatest significance to music history is in the development of a light secular form known as the villanella, a lighter form of madrigal, of Neapolitan origin. In music a villanella (plural villanelle &mdash not to be confused with the French poetic form Villanelle) is a form of light Italian secular A madrigal is a type of Secular vocal music composition written during the Renaissance and early Baroque eras Naples ( Napoli, Neapolitan: Nàpule) is a historic City in southern Italy, the Capital of the Some of these pieces may have been intended for dancing, and they were evidently popular. They are similar to the French chanson, often have a memorable melody in the topmost part, contain vigorous cross-rhythms, and avoid the polyphonic and chromatic complexity of the mid-century madrigal. A chanson ( French for " Song " from Latin cantio) is in general any lyric -driven French songs usually Polyphonic In Music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent Melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice ( Monophony In Music, chromaticism is a Compositional technique interspersing the primary Diatonic pitches and chords with other pitches of the Chromatic
Donato also wrote madrigals in a more serious style, as well as psalm settings, motets, and ceremonial music. Psalms ( Hebrew: Tehilim, תהילים, or "praises" is a book of the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament) included In Western music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions
References and further reading
- Article "Baldassare Donato", in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd. , 1980. ISBN 1-56159-174-2
- Gustave Reese, Music in the Renaissance. Gustave Reese ( November 29 1899, New York City – – September 7 1977, Berkeley California) was an American New York, W. W. Norton & Co. , 1954. ISBN 0-393-09530-4
- Eleanor Selfridge-Field, Venetian Instrumental Music, from Gabrieli to Vivaldi. New York, Dover Publications, 1994. ISBN 0-486-28151-5 (Note: while this book contains nothing on Donato, it has detailed and readable background on the Venetian school and associated activity at St. Mark's. )
External links
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