Simone Molinaro
Encyclopedia
Simone Molinaro was a composer of the late Renaissance
in Italy
. He was especially renowned for his lute
music.
. He studied music with his uncle, Giovanni Battista dalla Gostena, who was maestro di capella at Genoa Cathedral. In 1593, Gostena was murdered
, and Molinaro succeeded him in his post at the Cathedral in 1599. The same year he published Intavolatura di liuto, containing lute works both by himself and by Gostena. In addition to his lute works, Molinaro composed a large amount of sacred choral music, most of which does not survive completely because of missing partbook
s. However, some five-voice motets have been preserved in the collections of Hasler and Schadaeus.
Molinaro also served as editor of the works of Carlo Gesualdo
, publishing editions of that composer's madrigals in 1585 and 1613.
The 1613 publication of the Gesualdo madrigals was ground-breaking because it presented Gesualdo's music in full score as opposed to partbook
format.
Molinaro's music was used as the basis for "Balletto detto il Conte Orlando" of the Ancient Airs and Dances
Suite No. 1 by Ottorino Respighi
.
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. He was especially renowned for his lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
music.
Life and career
Molinaro was born in GenoaGenoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
. He studied music with his uncle, Giovanni Battista dalla Gostena, who was maestro di capella at Genoa Cathedral. In 1593, Gostena was murdered
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
, and Molinaro succeeded him in his post at the Cathedral in 1599. The same year he published Intavolatura di liuto, containing lute works both by himself and by Gostena. In addition to his lute works, Molinaro composed a large amount of sacred choral music, most of which does not survive completely because of missing partbook
Partbook
A partbook is a format for printing or copying sheet music in which each book contains the part for a single voice or instrument, especially popular during the renaissance and baroque. This is in contrast to the large choirbook which could be shared by an entire choir, and appears to have been a...
s. However, some five-voice motets have been preserved in the collections of Hasler and Schadaeus.
Molinaro also served as editor of the works of Carlo Gesualdo
Carlo Gesualdo
Carlo Gesualdo, known as Gesualdo di Venosa or Gesualdo da Venosa , Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza, was an Italian nobleman, lutenist, composer, and murderer....
, publishing editions of that composer's madrigals in 1585 and 1613.
Assessment
In his published lute pieces, according to Eitner, Molinaro "despises all counterpoint, and shows himself аs a pure melodist and harmonist, but both in so simple and pretty a way, that they all have something uncommonly attractive". Molinaro wrote at the time when, according to Paul Henry Lang, lute music was reaching its apogee. Along with Giovanni Terzi, Molinaro's lute music introduces "a finished, graceful, and sovereign instrumental style, capable of all shades of expression and of a technique which we usually associate only with the vocal music of the period".The 1613 publication of the Gesualdo madrigals was ground-breaking because it presented Gesualdo's music in full score as opposed to partbook
Partbook
A partbook is a format for printing or copying sheet music in which each book contains the part for a single voice or instrument, especially popular during the renaissance and baroque. This is in contrast to the large choirbook which could be shared by an entire choir, and appears to have been a...
format.
Molinaro's music was used as the basis for "Balletto detto il Conte Orlando" of the Ancient Airs and Dances
Ancient Airs and Dances
Ancient Airs and Dances is a set of three suites composed by Italian composer Ottorino Respighi.- Suite No. 1 :Suite No. 1 was composed in 1917...
Suite No. 1 by Ottorino Respighi
Ottorino Respighi
Ottorino Respighi was an Italian composer, musicologist and conductor. He is best known for his orchestral "Roman trilogy": Fountains of Rome ; Pines of Rome ; and Roman Festivals...
.
Secular Vocal music
- Il 1 libro di canzonette a 3 e 4 voci, Venice, 1595
- Il 1 libro de Madrigali a 5 voci, Venice, 1599
- Il 2 libro delle Canzonette a 3 voci, Venice, 1600
- Madrigali a 5 voci, LoanoLoanoLoano is a comune in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about 60 km southwest of Genoa and about 30 km southwest of Savona...
1615
Sacred Vocal music
- Motectorum quinis et Missae denis vocibus liber I, Venice, 1597
- Il 2 libro de Mottetti a 8 voci, MilanMilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, 1601 - Il 1 libro de mottetti a 5 voci, con la partitura per sonar l'organo, Milan, 1604
- Il 1 libro de Magnificat a 4 voci, con basso continuato, Milan, 1605
- Concerti ecclesiastisi a 2 e a 4 voci...con la sua part. per l'organo, Venice, 1605
- Il 3 libro de Mottetti a 5 voci con il basso continuato, Venice, 1609
- Fatiche spirituali...libro 1 a 6 voci, Venice, 1610
- Fatiche spirituali....libro 2 a 6 voci, Venice, 1610
- Concerti a 1 e 2 voci con la part. per l'organo, Milan, 1612
- Passio Domini Iesu Christi secundum Matthaeum, Marcum, Lucam, et Ioannem, Loano, 1616