Girolamo (''Hieronimo'') Cavazzoni (c. 1525 – after 1577) was an Italian

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational h ...

and composer, son of Marco Antonio Cavazzoni. Little is known about his life except that he worked at

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

and

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...

, and published two collections of organ music. These collections only contain music written before about 1549, but are of high quality, and established the traditional form of imitative

ricercar A ricercar ( , ) or ricercare ( , ) is a type of late Renaissance and mostly early Baroque instrumental composition. The term ''ricercar'' derives from the Italian verb which means 'to search out; to seek'; many ricercars serve a preludial funct ...

s and

canzona The canzona is an Italian musical form derived from the Franco-Flemish and Parisian chansons, and during Giovanni Gabrieli's lifetime was frequently spelled canzona, though both earlier and later the singular was spelled either canzon or canzone ...

Life

Practically nothing is known about Cavazzoni's life. The approximate year of his birth can be surmised from his remarks in the preface to ''Intavolatura libro primo'', the first collection of his music to be published. The volume was printed in

in 1543, and Cavazzoni informs the reader in the preface that he is "not much more than a boy" (''anchor quasi fanciullo''), which indicates Cavazzoni was around 17 at the time. Cavazzoni's reputation must have been considerably high already at that time, since he was able to secure a privilege from the Venetian council to publish this collection. The second collection of Cavazzoni's music, ''Intabulatura d'organo'', carries no publication date (it appeared somewhere between 1543 and 1549) and contains no biographical details. By 1552 Cavazzoni may have been working in

Urbino Urbino ( ; ; Romagnol: ''Urbìn'') is a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of F ...

, and from 1565 to 1566 he supervised the building of the organ in the court church of S Barbara in

. The composer was apparently on good terms with

Guglielmo X Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua Guglielmo Gonzaga (24 April 1538 – 14 August 1587) was Duke of Mantua from 1550 to 1587, and of Montferrat from 1574 to 1587. He was the second son of Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Margaret Palaeologina of Montferrat. In 1574, Montfer ...

, and worked as organist at S Barbara. The last known mention of Cavazzoni is from 1577, naming him as organist of that church.

Works

Cavazzoni's surviving oeuvre comprises two collections published during his lifetime, and two ensemble

es. All of this music dates from before 1552, thus Cavazzoni's late work is completely unknown. Cavazzoni's published collections mostly contain

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

music:

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hy ...

alternatim Alternatim refers to a technique of liturgical musical performance, especially in relationship to the Organ Mass, but also to the Hymns, Magnificat and ''Salve regina'' traditionally incorporated into the Vespers and other liturgies of the Catholic ...

masses, and alternatim

Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for " y soulmagnifies he Lord) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary, the Canticle of Mary and, in the Byzantine tradition, the Ode of the Theotokos (). It is traditionally incorporated into the liturgical servic ...

settings. Cavazzoni's writing in these works is distinguished by the freedom with which he treats chant melodies: unlike most of his predecessors and contemporaries, who sought to present the chant clearly and without serious changes, Cavazzoni derives multiple themes from a single chant by stretching or omitting notes, changing the rhythmic design, etc. Cavazzoni would also employ innovative structures in his works. For example, in Magnificat settings he treats portions of the chant imitatively, and since each verse is different and presenting a decorated form of the melody, Cavazzoni's settings are effectively miniature variation sets. In hymn settings, Cavazzoni sometimes employs fore-imitation: anticipatory imitative sections before the actual chant is set, and/or between verses. The most historically important works by Cavazzoni are his ricercars and canzonas, from which the history of imitative ricercars and canzonas starts, as far as is known. The four ricercares of ''Intavolatura libro primo'' are multi-sectional works consisting essentially of series of imitative expositions of different subjects. The two surviving ensemble ricercares by Cavazzoni do not share these characteristics: there are no sections, no clearly defined cadential points, and the works are quite short compared to their keyboard counterparts. Cavazzoni's two canzonas, also contained in ''Intavolatura libro primo'', are similar in design. They employ short, lively subjects derived from those in works by other composers.

List of works

*''Intavolatura cioe recercari, canzoni, himni, magnificat ..libro primo'' (Venice, 1543) **''Ricercar I'' **''Ricercar II'' **''Ricercar III'' **''Ricercar IV'' **''Canzon sopra Il est bel et bon'' **''Canzon sopra Faultre d'argent'' **''Christe redemptor omnium'' **''Ad coenam agni providi'' **''Lucis creator optime'' **''Ave maris stella'' **''Magnificat primi toni'' **''Magnificat octavi toni'' *''Intabulatura d'organo, cioe misse, himni, magnificat ..libro secondo'' (Venice c.1543–1549) **''Missa Apostolorum'' **''Missa Dominicalis'' **''Missa de Beata Virgine'' **''Veni creator Spiritus'' **''Pange lingua gloriosi'' **''Exsultet coelum laudibus'' **''Iste confessor'' **''Jesu nostra redemptio'' **''Jesu corona virginum'' **''Deus tuorum militum'' **''Hostis Herodis impie'' **''Magnificat quarti toni'' **''Magnificat sexti toni'' *2 ensemble ricercares ''à 4'' (1540) and ''à 3'' (1551)

Editions

*''Girolamo Cavazzoni: Orgelwerke'', Oscar Mischiati (Mainz: Schott, 1959–1961)

References

* Apel, Willi. 1972. ''The History of Keyboard Music to 1700''. Translated by Hans Tischler. Indiana University Press. . Originally published as ''Geschichte der Orgel- und Klaviermusik bis 1700'' by Bärenreiter-Verlag, Kassel. *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cavazzoni, Girolamo Italian classical composers Italian classical organists Male classical organists 1520s births 16th-century deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death unknown 16th-century Italian composers Italian male composers 16th-century classical composers