Ludovico Balbi (c. 1545 – 1604) was a Venetian singer and composer, and conductor. He was a pupil of

Costanzo Porta Costanzo Porta (1528 or 1529 – 19 May 1601) was an Italian composer of the Renaissance, and a representative of what is known today as the Venetian School. He was highly praised throughout his life both as a composer and a teacher, and had ...

and a choirmaster at Padua. Among his compositions are masses,

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, canzoni,

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, and others. Surviving compositions date as early as 1570.Pratt, Waldo Selden. ''The History of Music''. New York: G. Schirmer, Inc., 1907. p. 120.

Biography

Balbi was born in Venice around 1545. In 1565, he became a student of the great Italian composer Costanzo Porta. From 1570 to 1578, Balbi sang at St. Mark's Cathedral and was appointed ''maestro di cappella'' at the monastery S. Maria Glorioso del Frari. In 1582, Balbi declined an offer to be maestro at Milan Cathedral and instead referred one of his underlings, offending some high-ranking officials of the Roman Church. In 1585, Balbi accepted an offer to be maestro of the Cappella Anotoniana in

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

, although he wished to be maestro of Padua Cathedral. After moving to Feltre Cathedral in 1593 and later

Treviso Cathedral Treviso Cathedral () is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Treviso, Veneto, northern Italy, dedicated to Saint Peter. It is the seat of the bishop of Treviso. History The church originates from the 6th century and stands in an area where during the An ...

, he returned to S. Maria Glorioso del Frari until his death in 1604.

References

1540s births 1604 deaths Italian Renaissance composers Italian male classical composers Musicians from the Republic of Venice {{Italy-composer-stub