Nicolao Dorati
Encyclopedia
Nicolao Dorati was an Italian composer and trombone
player of the Renaissance
, active in Lucca
. Although he was primarily an instrumentalist, all of his published music is vocal, and consists mainly of madrigals
.
A few details are known of his life. He was part of a family of musicians, many of whom were trombonists in Lucca, and he was born in that town. A younger brother, Bartolomeo, also played the trombone. Nicolao was hired as a trombonist by the city when it created the Cappella di Palazzo in 1543, and in 1557 he became director of that ensemble, a position he kept for the rest of his life.
Most of Dorati's surviving music was published in Venice
. He produced three collections of madrigals for five voices (1549, 1561, 1567); a book of madrigals for from five to eight voices (1551); a collection of madrigals for four voices entitled Le stanze della signora Vittoria Colonna (1570); and a book of madrigals for six voices (1579). In addition to this considerable output of secular music, he wrote at least three motets, two of which were for six voices and published in 1585, and one of which survives incomplete. Additionally, a few works appear in publications primarily devoted to the music of others. As is usual with composers of the time, much of his music may not have been published and could be lost. Even though he was a professional trombonist, he is not known to have written any instrumental music.
His madrigals often use the new time signature (C – the misura cromatica) rather than the increasingly archaic
, the misura comune. Some of them use a declamatory and chordal style related to that concurrently being developed in Florence
by Francesco Corteccia
and others. Other innovative features include the use of five or more voices, including division of the ensemble into two groups for the madrigals for six to eight voices (polychoral music was in its infancy in the mid-16th century, and even then was a relative rarity outside of Venice
).
One of his madrigals, a setting of the several stanzas of Ariosto's romantic epic Orlando Furioso
describing the charms of the sorceress Alcina
, appears in a collection by Cipriano de Rore
, indicating the esteem in which the composer was held, either by Rore or his Venetian publisher. These same stanzas were set by numerous other composers of the same era, including a young Orlande de Lassus
.
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
player of the Renaissance
Renaissance music
Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given that its defining characteristics were adopted only gradually; musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.Literally meaning...
, active in Lucca
Lucca
Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...
. Although he was primarily an instrumentalist, all of his published music is vocal, and consists mainly of madrigals
Madrigal (music)
A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, usually a partsong, of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Traditionally, polyphonic madrigals are unaccompanied; the number of voices varies from two to eight, and most frequently from three to six....
.
A few details are known of his life. He was part of a family of musicians, many of whom were trombonists in Lucca, and he was born in that town. A younger brother, Bartolomeo, also played the trombone. Nicolao was hired as a trombonist by the city when it created the Cappella di Palazzo in 1543, and in 1557 he became director of that ensemble, a position he kept for the rest of his life.
Most of Dorati's surviving music was published in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
. He produced three collections of madrigals for five voices (1549, 1561, 1567); a book of madrigals for from five to eight voices (1551); a collection of madrigals for four voices entitled Le stanze della signora Vittoria Colonna (1570); and a book of madrigals for six voices (1579). In addition to this considerable output of secular music, he wrote at least three motets, two of which were for six voices and published in 1585, and one of which survives incomplete. Additionally, a few works appear in publications primarily devoted to the music of others. As is usual with composers of the time, much of his music may not have been published and could be lost. Even though he was a professional trombonist, he is not known to have written any instrumental music.
His madrigals often use the new time signature (C – the misura cromatica) rather than the increasingly archaic
, the misura comune. Some of them use a declamatory and chordal style related to that concurrently being developed in FlorenceFlorence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
by Francesco Corteccia
Francesco Corteccia
Francesco Corteccia was an Italian composer, organist, and teacher of the Renaissance. Not only was he one of the best known of the early composers of madrigals, and an important native Italian composer during a period of domination by composers from the Low Countries, but he was the most...
and others. Other innovative features include the use of five or more voices, including division of the ensemble into two groups for the madrigals for six to eight voices (polychoral music was in its infancy in the mid-16th century, and even then was a relative rarity outside of Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
).
One of his madrigals, a setting of the several stanzas of Ariosto's romantic epic Orlando Furioso
Orlando Furioso
Orlando Furioso is an Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto which has exerted a wide influence on later culture. The earliest version appeared in 1516, although the poem was not published in its complete form until 1532...
describing the charms of the sorceress Alcina
Alcina
Alcina is an opera seria by George Frideric Handel. Handel used the libretto of L'isola di Alcina, an opera that was set in 1728 in Rome by Riccardo Broschi, which he acquired the year after, during his travels in Italy...
, appears in a collection by Cipriano de Rore
Cipriano de Rore
Cipriano de Rore was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active in Italy...
, indicating the esteem in which the composer was held, either by Rore or his Venetian publisher. These same stanzas were set by numerous other composers of the same era, including a young Orlande de Lassus
Orlande de Lassus
Orlande de Lassus was a Franco-Flemish composer of the late Renaissance...
.
Further reading
- Gabriela Biagi Ravenni: "I Dorati, musicisti lucchesi, alla luce di nuovi documenti d'archivio". Rivista italiana di musicologia, vii (1972), 39–81.
- Gustave ReeseGustave ReeseGustave Reese was an American musicologist and teacher. Reese is known mainly for his work on medieval and Renaissance music, particularly with his two publications Music in the Middle Ages and Music in the Renaissance ; these two books remain the standard reference works for these two eras,...
, Music in the Renaissance. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. ISBN 0-393-09530-4