Marco Scacchi ( – 7 September 1662) was an Italian

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 ...

and writer on music. Born in Gallese, Lazio, Scacchi studied under Giovanni Francesco Anerio in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. He was associated with the court at Warsaw from 1626, and was ''

kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...

'' there from 1628 to 1649. His 1643 treatise ''Cribrum musicum'' accused Paul Siefert of having poor technique, leading to a war of words which lasted years. He then returned to Italy after falling ill, where he concentrated on writing about

music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...

. Scacchi believed that each genre of music should have its own unique style, and he devised his own system of classifying works which proved influential on later generations; Angelo Berardi quoted him at length in his 1687 treatise ''Documenti armonici''. Scacchi was a prolific composer, who wrote masses, madrigals, and sacred

concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The ...

s. Nearly all of his stage works have been lost. He died in Gallese.

Theoretical works

*''Cribrum musicum ad triticum Siferticum, seu Examinatio succinta psalmorum ...'' Venetiis: Alessandro Vincenti, 1643 *''Lettera per maggiore informatione a chi leggerà il mio 'Cribrum Venice, 1644; lost, survives in two manuscript transcriptions *''Judicium cribri musici'' Warsaw c1649; lost, manuscript transcription in the Civico Museo Bibliografico Musicale Giovanni Battista Martini, Bologna *''Breve discorso sopra la musica moderna, di Marco Scacchi romano, maestro di cappella del serenissimo & potentissimo Giovanni Casimiro rè di Polonia & Svetia, ... '' Warszawa: Peter Elert 1649

References

External links

* Italian Baroque composers 1600s births 1662 deaths Italian male classical composers Italian music critics Italian music theorists 17th-century Italian composers 17th-century Italian writers 17th-century Italian male writers Italian writers about music 17th-century Italian male musicians Expatriates in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Musicians from the Papal States Scholars from the Papal States People from the Province of Viterbo {{music-theory-stub