Giovanni Legrenzi
Giovanni Legrenzi (baptized
August 12,
1626 –
May 27,
1690) was an
Italian composer and
organist of the
Baroque era. He was one of the most prominent composers in
Venice in the late
17th century, and extremely influential on the development of late Baroque idioms across northern Italy.
He was born in
Clusone, near
Bergamo, and probably received his early training in Clusone. He served as organist to
Santa Maria Maggiore there from
1645 to
1656. In 1656 he took a position at
Ferrara as the
maestro di cappella at the
Accademia dello Spirito Santo, where he remained until
1665. Between 1665 and
1681 his activities are poorly documented, but he may have taught at the Venetian
Ospedale dei Mendicanti sometime during these years. He was rejected for positions in many cities, including
Vienna,
Milan,
Parma,
Bologna, and Venice; and he declined positions in
Modena and Bergamo.
In
1681 he was hired at
St. Mark's in Venice as assistant
maestro di cappella, and became full
maestro di cappella in
1685. Among his students there were
Francesco Gasparini and
Giovanni Varischino.
Legrenzi was active in most of the genres current in northern Italy in the late 17th century, including opera, sacred vocal music and several varieties of instrumental music.
*
Eleanor Selfridge-Field,
Venetian Instrumental Music, from Gabrieli to Vivaldi. New York, Dover Publications, 1994. ISBN 0486281515
* Stephen Bonta: "Giovanni Legrenzi", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed June 27, 2005),
(subscription access)
