Biography

Ercole Pasquini was born at Ferrara

Ferrara

Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...

, and studied with Alessandro Milleville (1521?-1589). He was described by Agostino Superbi (1620) as a most clever and excellent musician and organist. "He had a very nimble hand; and sometimes played so splendidly that he enraptured the people and truly amazed them." In the 1580s, Pasquini took over the musical instruction of the daughters of Giovan Battista Aleotti

Giovan Battista Aleotti

Giovan Battista Aleotti was an Italian architect.Aleotti was born in Argenta. He completed, with the assistance of his pupil Giovanni Battista Magnani, the plan of the Bolognese church of Santa Maria del Quartiere...

, court architect of Ferrara, from Milleville.

On 1 May 1592, Pasquini became the organist of the ridotti of Mario Bevilacqua and of the Olivetian church, Santa Maria in Organo, in Verona. While he held these positions, he wrote and published a favola boscareccia entitled I fidi amanti (Verona, 1593) in anticipation of the wedding of Don Carlo Gesualdo and Eleonora d'Este which took place in Ferrara the following year (1594). Upon the death of Bevilacqua, Pasquini apparently returned Ferrara, where he succeeded Luzzasco Luzzachi as organist of the Accademia della Morte. He was succeeded in this position by Girolamo Frescobaldi

Girolamo Frescobaldi

Girolamo Frescobaldi was a musician from Ferrara, one of the most important composers of keyboard music in the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. A child prodigy, Frescobaldi studied under Luzzasco Luzzaschi in Ferrara, but was influenced by a large number of composers, including Ascanio...

.

On 6 October 1597, Pasquini was elected organist to the Capella Giulia at St. Peter's Basilica

St. Peter's Basilica

The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian as ' and commonly known as Saint Peter's Basilica, is a Late Renaissance church located within the Vatican City. Saint Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world...

 in Rome. During the summer and fall of 1604, he assumed the same position at the Santo Spirito in Sassia

Santo Spirito in Sassia

Santo Spirito in Sassia is a 12th century basilica church in Rome.It has been erected in Borgo Santo Spirito, a street which got its name from the church, placed in the southern part of Rione Borgo....

, continuing his duties at St. Peter's. Beginning in 1603, there appears some irregularity in his signing for his payment, from the Capella Giulia. Nicolo Pasquini, possibly a son, signed from time to time from September 1603 over the next two years. During the summer of 1605, his payments were signed by the maestro di capella, Francesco Soriano, and in November and December, the attendant of the hospital, where Pasquini was being treated, signed. On 19 May 1608, Pasquini was dismissed for his post for "just causes." In an account by Agostino Faustini in 1646, Pasquini died insane in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

.

Published works

About thirty pieces for the keyboard of Ercole Pasguini have been preserved in mauscript copies. No autographs have survived and none were published during his lifetime. Among the items which has come to us are 6 Toccatas, 2 Durezze, 9 or 10 Canzonas, 5 sets of variations, 3 dances, and an intabulation of Cipriano de Rore's madrigal Ancor che co'l partire. These works show Pasquini to be a highly original composer, in many respects foreshadowing the keyboard works of his younger co-patriot, Girolamo Frescobaldi. His Durezze are the earliest known of their type.

Of his vocal works, only five were published during his lifetime or shortly afterward. The madrigal "Mentre che la bell'Isse" of 1591, appears as a contrafact motet "Sanctus Sebastianus" in a Passau collection. Two motets, including the impressive ten-voice "Quem viditis pastores?", were included in a publication by his student, Raphaela Aleotti in 1593. A spiritual madrigal "M'empio gli occhi di pianto", text by Angelo Grillo, appeared in 1604, and the final work, published after his death, is "Jesu decus angelicum" for four voices and organ.

External links

• Free scores by Pasquini Ercole on loumy.org