Paolo Virchi
Encyclopedia
Paolo Virchi was an Italian composer and instrumentalist. He was born in Brescia
, and his father was Girolamo Virchi, an instrument maker. He joined the court of Alfonso II d'Este between 1579 and 1580. On the court rolls he is referred to as a singer, but in his publications he refers to himself as an organist and instrumentalist. He taught
members of the court to sing and play the viol
, and was one of few musicians at the court to receive a raise in salary during his tenure there. At the dissolution of the court in 1597, he immediately joined the Gonzaga
court in Mantua
.
Virchi had several publications, all in Venice
, including a book of cittern
tablature
, and many madrigal
s, which Anthony Newcomb
praises as being of equal skill as those of Luca Marenzio
.
Brescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
, and his father was Girolamo Virchi, an instrument maker. He joined the court of Alfonso II d'Este between 1579 and 1580. On the court rolls he is referred to as a singer, but in his publications he refers to himself as an organist and instrumentalist. He taught
members of the court to sing and play the viol
Viol
The viol is any one of a family of bowed, fretted and stringed musical instruments developed in the mid-late 15th century and used primarily in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The family is related to and descends primarily from the Renaissance vihuela, a plucked instrument that preceded the...
, and was one of few musicians at the court to receive a raise in salary during his tenure there. At the dissolution of the court in 1597, he immediately joined the Gonzaga
House of Gonzaga
The Gonzaga family ruled Mantua in Northern Italy from 1328 to 1708.-History:In 1433, Gianfrancesco I assumed the title of Marquis of Mantua, and in 1530 Federico II received the title of Duke of Mantua. In 1531, the family acquired the Duchy of Monferrato through marriage...
court in Mantua
Mantua
Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...
.
Virchi had several publications, all 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...
, including a book of cittern
Cittern
The cittern or cither is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is descended from the Medieval Citole, or Cytole. It looks much like the modern-day flat-back mandolin and the modern Irish bouzouki and cittern...
tablature
Tablature
Tablature is a form of musical notation indicating instrument fingering rather than musical pitches....
, and many madrigal
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....
s, which Anthony Newcomb
Anthony Newcomb
Anthony Newcomb is an American musicologist. He was born in New York and studied at the University of California, Berkeley where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1962. He then studied with Gustav Leonhardt in Holland while on a Fulbright Scholarship...
praises as being of equal skill as those of Luca Marenzio
Luca Marenzio
Luca Marenzio was an Italian composer and singer of the late Renaissance. He was one of the most renowned composers of madrigals, and wrote some of the most famous examples of the form in its late stage of development, prior to its early Baroque transformation by Monteverdi...
.