| Giovanni Bassano |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT GIOVANNI BASSANO | |
| 1558 births | |
| bassano, giovanni | |
| 1617 deaths | |
| italian composers | |
| renaissance composers | |
| venetian school composers | |
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LIFE Nothing is known of Bassano's life before his arrival as a young instrumental player at St. Mark's, probably in 1576 at the age of 18. He quickly acquired a reputation as one of the finest instrumentalists in Venice , and by 1585 had published his first book, ''Ricercate, passagi et cadentie'', which details exactly how best to ornament passages when transcribing vocal music for instruments. In that same year he became a music teacher at the seminary associated with St. Mark's. In 1601 he took over the job as head of the instrumental ensemble from Girolamo Dalla Casa , and he remained at this post until his death in the summer of 1617. The exact date of his death is not known, but the approximate date is inferred from both of his posts becoming vacant simultaneously. MUSIC AND INFLUENCE Bassano was the person most responsible for the performance of the music of the Gabrielis, both as a performer and a director. Most likely Giovanni Gabrieli had Bassano in mind for his elaborate cornett parts. In addition to directing the music at St. Mark's, Bassano was busy elsewhere in Venice; he directed several groups of '' Piffari '', bands of wind players including Bagpipe s, Recorder s, Shawm s, Flageolet s, Bassoon s, and conceivably other instruments, which were used in other churches (such as San Rocco) or even street festivals. Bassano was also a composer, though his accomplishment in this regard has been overshadowed by his renown as a performer and his associated performance treatise. He wrote in 1597 in English translation. Some of Bassano's instrumental music is ingeniously Contrapuntal , as though he were indulging a side of his personality he was unable to display in his more ceremonial, Homophonic compositions. His Fantasia s and Ricercar s are densely imitative and contain Retrograde and Retrograde Inversion s of motivic ideas, a rarity in counterpoint before the 20th century. The similarity of Bassano's motets to the early work of Heinrich Schütz , who studied in Venice with Gabrieli, suggests that the two may have known each other; certainly Schütz knew Bassano's music. At any rate Schütz carried the Venetian style back with him to Germany where it continued to develop into the Baroque era. REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING
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