Giovanni Giorgi (late 17th or early 18th century – June 1762) (Latin: ''Joannis de Georgiis'') was a priest and an Italian composer. His style of polychoral church compositions are influenced by earlier

Roman School In music history, the Roman School was a group of composers of predominantly church music, in Rome, during the 16th and 17th centuries, therefore spanning the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. The term also refers to the music they prod ...

composers such as

Orazio Benevoli Orazio Benevoli or Benevolo (19 April 1605 – 17 June 1672) was a Franco-Italian composer of large scaled polychoral sacred choral works (e.g., one work featured forty-eight vocal and instrumental lines) of the middle Baroque era. He was born ...

, but also incorporate later Roman

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

features and (after about 1758) some elements of early Classical style.S. Gmeinwieser, ''New Grove''F. Filiatrault, ''Roma Triumphans''

Life

Giorgi is reputed to have originated from Venice, but few details of his life are known. In 1719 he was appointed ''maestro di cappella'' at the papal

Basilica of St. John Lateran The Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran (officially the ''Major Papal, Patriarchal and Roman Archbasilica, Metropolitan and Primatial Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in Lateran, Mother and Head of A ...

, Rome, in succession to

Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni (Rieti, 18 March 1657 – Rome, 1 February 1743) was an Italian organist and composer. He became one of the leading musicians in Rome during the late Baroque era, the first half of the 18th century. Life Taken to Rome as ...

. Many of Giorgi's early compositions were written during his time in Rome. By January 1725 he was in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

where he took up the post of court ''mestre de capela''. He died in Lisbon in 1762.

Works

Many Portuguese records were lost in the

1755 Lisbon earthquake The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, impacted Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula, and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, All Saints' Day, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In ...

, but in Giorgi's case around 600 compositions have been preserved both in the Lateran archives in Rome and at

Lisbon Cathedral The Cathedral of Saint Mary Major ( or ''Sé-Catedral Metropolitana Patriarcal de Santa Maria Maior de Lisboa''), often called Lisbon Cathedral or simply the Sé ('), is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in Lisbon, Portugal. It is the oldest ch ...

. Most are vocal works and many are for liturgical use. Someparticularly the later worksincorporate concerted instrumental parts. His extant works include:Catalogued works according to L. Feininger ''Catalogus thematicus et bibliographicus Joannis de Georgiis operum sacrarum omnium'', Volumes 1 to 3, Trento, 1962-1971. Cited in ''New Grove'' * 162

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...

s, some for 2 to 4 voices; also some for 8 or 16 voices * 33 mass settings for 2, 4, 8 and 16 voices; some with instrumental parts * 145

gradual The gradual ( or ) is a certain chant or hymn in liturgical Christian worship. It is practiced in the Catholic Mass, Lutheran Divine Service, Anglican service and other traditions. It gets its name from the Latin (meaning "step") because i ...

settings for 2, 4 and 8 voices; some with instruments * 137

antiphon An antiphon ( Greek ἀντίφωνον, ἀντί "opposite" and φωνή "voice") is a short chant in Christian ritual, sung as a refrain. The texts of antiphons are usually taken from the Psalms or Scripture, but may also be freely compo ...

s for 2 to 4 voices; some with instrumental parts * 162 psalms for 4, 5 and 8 voices; some with organ parts * 152

offertory The offertory (from Medieval Latin ''offertorium'' and Late Latin ''offerre'') is the part of a Eucharistic service when the bread and wine for use in the service are ceremonially placed on the altar. A collection of alms (offerings) from the c ...

settings for 8 voices; one with instruments * 49 hymns for 4 voices * 20 responsories for 4 or 8 voices * Lamentations for 8 voices * 5 cantatas for solo soprano and organ *

Madrigal A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th centuries) and early Baroque (1580–1650) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the ...

s for 5 voices

Recordings

* ''Giovanni Giorgi: Motetos de Natal e Páscoa,'' Coro de Câmara da Universidade de Aveiro directed by Cristiana Spadaro. Published 2015 a
MPMP / UA 1

Includes Motets n.º 24-27 and 48-52

* ''Giovanni Giorgi: Ave Maria'', Choeur de Chambre de Namur, and Cappella Mediterranea directed by Leonardo García-Alarcón. Published June 2011 a
Ricercar RIC 313
::The CD features eight works by Giorgi: ''Ave Maria'' (a 4); a mass setting, ''Messa a due Cori tutti piena'', for the Capella Reale in Lisbon; and the offertory settings ''Angelus Domini descendit de cælo'' (a 8); ''Improperium expectavit cor meum'' (a 4); ''Dextera Domini'' (a 4); ''Tui sunt caeli'' (a 8); ''Ascendit Deus in jubilatione'' (a 8); and ''In omnem terram'' (a 8; in five sections). * ''Roma Triumphans'',

Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal The Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal is a professional early music vocal music, vocal ensemble based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. History The group was co-founded in 1974 by the Organ (music), organ and harpsichord players Christopher Jack ...

directed by Christopher Jackson. Published 2008 as Atma SACD 22507. ::Includes three settings by Giorgi: Offertory ''Terra Tremuit'' and motets ''Haec Dies'' and ''Veni Sancte Spiritus''. (Other pieces on this CD are by much earlier composers Marenzio,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Palestrina Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; , ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Prenestina. It is built upon ...

, Orazio Benevoli and

Ugolini Ugolini may refer to: Places * Ugolini Peak People * Agostino Ugolini (1755–1824) * Giovanni Francesco Ugolini (born 1953) * Loredano Ugolini (born 1927) * Luigi Ugolini (1891–1980) * Luigi Maria Ugolini (1895–1936) * Massimo Andre ...

Notes

References

* Siegfried Gmeinwieser, "Giorgi, Giovanni" ''New Grove Music Dictionary of Music and Musicians''. * Francois Filiatrault
CD booklet notes for ''Roma Triumphans''
2007. Translated by Sean McCutcheon. * Jolando Scarpa
Giovanni Giorgi
biography and critical notes (in Italian) at Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA).

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Giorgi, Giovanni Italian Baroque composers Year of birth unknown 1762 deaths Italian male classical composers Portuguese classical composers 18th-century Italian composers 18th-century Italian male musicians