Antonio Valente (c. 1520 – 1601) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. He was blind from childhood and served as organist of

Sant'Angelo a Nilo Sant'Angelo a Nilo is a Roman Catholic church located on the Decumano Inferiore (Spaccanapoli street) in Naples, Italy. It stands diagonally across from San Domenico Maggiore in Naples. It is known for containing the monumental Renaissance-st ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

in 1565–80. During that time he published two collections of keyboard instruments music: ''Intavolatura de cimbalo'' (1 fantasia, 6 ricercares, Salve regina, 3 intabulations, 6 sets of variations, and 3 dances; 1575) and ''Versi spirituali'' (43 versets; 1580). Valente's second collection is historically important as one of the earliest instances of liturgical music free from any ties with the chant. ''Versi spirituali'' provides a wealth of diverse, freely composed pieces that cover the entire liturgy—the

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

and the

Daily Office In the practice of Christianity, canonical hours mark the divisions of the day in terms of fixed times of prayer at regular intervals. A book of hours, chiefly a breviary, normally contains a version of, or selection from, such prayers. In t ...

s. Valente's first collection of 1575 is also a major landmark in the history of Italian keyboard music, as together with

Rocco Rodio Rocco Rodio (c. 1535 – 1607) was an Italian Renaissance composer and theorist, best known for his sacred works and keyboard ricercares. Biography He was born in Bari and apparently led a cosmopolitan life, at some point working at the Poli ...

's ''Libro di ricercate'' (1575) it constitutes the earliest work of the so-called Neapolitan school, which later produced composers such as

Ascanio Mayone Ascanio Mayone (ca. 1565 – 1627) was a Neapolitan composer and harpist. He trained as a pupil of Giovanni de Macque in Naples, and worked at Santissima Annunziata Maggiore there as organist from 1593 and ''maestro di cappella'' from 1621; ...

and

Giovanni Maria Trabaci Giovanni Maria Trabaci (ca. 1575 – 31 December 1647) was an Italian composer and organist. He was a prolific composer, with some 300 surviving works preserved in more than 10 publications; he was especially important for his keyboard music. B ...

Works

* ''Intavolatura de cimbalo'', for harpsichord * ''Versi spirituali sopra tutti le note'', for organ

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

*
Versi spirituali
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valente, Antonio Blind classical musicians Italian blind organists Composers for pipe organ Italian male classical composers Italian Renaissance composers Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown