Angelo Michele Bartolotti (died before 1682) was an Italian guitarist,

theorbo The theorbo is a plucked string instrument of the lute family, with an extended neck and a second pegbox. Like a lute, a theorbo has a curved-back sound box (a hollow box) with a wooden top, typically with a sound hole, and a neck extending ...

player and composer. Bartolotti was probably born in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, as he describes himself as "Bolognese" on the title page of his first guitar book and "di Bologna" on the title page of his second.

Career

Bartolotti's early career was probably spent in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

, possibly in the service of Jacopo Salviati, Duke of Giuliano. He was amongst a group of Italian musicians invited to the Court of Queen

Christina of Sweden Christina ( sv, Kristina, 18 December ( New Style) 1626 – 19 April 1689), a member of the House of Vasa, was Queen of Sweden in her own right from 1632 until her abdication in 1654. She succeeded her father Gustavus Adolphus upon his death ...

in the early 1650s. There are records of his employment there in 1652 and 1654. On her abdication in 1655, Christina lived in Rome and Bartolotti was probably employed in her service there. In 1658, she travelled to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, and it is possible that Bartolotti accompanied her. He seems to have settled there and lived there until his death sometime before 1682.

Works

During his years in Italy, Bartolotti published at least two collections of guitar music: ''Libro primo di chitarra spagnola'' (Florence, 1640) and ''Secondo libro di chitarra'' (Rome, ca. 1655). The first book contains a cycle of

passacaglia The passacaglia (; ) is a musical form that originated in early seventeenth-century Spain and is still used today by composers. It is usually of a serious character and is often based on a bass- ostinato and written in triple metre. Origin The t ...

s in all major and minor keys, employing a combination of battute and

pizzicato Pizzicato (, ; translated as "pinched", and sometimes roughly as "plucked") is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of instrument : * On bowe ...

styles, influenced by earlier Italian guitarists such as Giovanni Paolo Foscarini; the book also includes a ''ciaccona,'' a ''follia'' and six suites each comprising an ''Allemanda,'' ''Corente'' and ''Sarabanda.'' The second book is French-influenced, with more emphasis on pizzicato writing. Three more pieces are attributed to him in manuscripts. Bartolotti's oeuvre comprises some of the most carefully notated (with precise indications for various playing styles, ornaments, etc.) and advanced guitar music of the period. In France, however, he was best known as a theorbo player, praised by

Constantijn Huygens Sir Constantijn Huygens, Lord of Zuilichem ( , , ; 4 September 159628 March 1687), was a Dutch Golden Age poet and composer. He was also secretary to two Princes of Orange: Frederick Henry and William II, and the father of the scientist Ch ...

and René Ouvrard. His treatise on theorbo accompaniment (''Table pour apprendre facilement à toucher le théorbe sur la basse-continuë'' (Paris, 1669) is among the best 17th-century sources on the subject.

References

* *Hall, Monica - Angiol Bartolotti's Lettere tagliate - in Lute : the Journal of the Lute Society, Vol. XLVII, 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bartolotti, Angelo Michele Composers for the classical guitar Italian classical guitarists Italian male guitarists 17th-century Italian composers 17th-century deaths Italian Baroque composers Italian male classical composers Year of birth unknown 17th-century male musicians