Giovanni Battista Bassani (1650-1716)
- Messa per li defonti concertata (1698)
Performers: Capella Musicale della Basіlіca di Santa Maria Mаggіore in Bеrgamo;
Crіstіan Gеntіlіnі (conductor)
Painting: Anoniem - Angels playing music
Further info: Giovanni Battista Bassani (1650-1716) - Missa a la Fuga
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Italian composer, violinist and organist. He is traditionally said to
have studied in Venice with Daniele Castrovillari and in Ferrara with
Giovanni Legrenzi, maestro di cappella of the Accademia dello Spirito
Santo there from 1657 to 1670. The suggestion made by Hawkins, Burney
and others that Bassani was Corelli's violin teacher is without
foundation although he is likely to have been in touch with Bolognese
musicians between early 1675 and 1677. From 1667 he was associated with
the Accademia della Morte, Ferrara, where he acted as organist and
composed his first oratorios. The libretto of L'Esaltazione di S Croce,
performed at the accademy on 7 April 1675, refers to him as ‘già
organista della medesima Chiesa’, suggesting that he had already left
the position of organist by then. On 3 June 1677 he became a member of
the Accademia Filarmonica at Bologna and in the same year he published
his op.1, in which he is called ‘maestro di musica e organista’ of the
Confraternità della Morte in Finale Emilia, near Modena. In 1680 he was
maestro di cappella at the court of Duke Alessandro II della Mirandola, a
position he probably accepted shortly after the performance of his
oratorio L'Amore ingeniero in S Maria Maddalena there in 1678. On 9
April 1682 he was elected principe of the Accademia Filarmonica,
Bologna. Also in 1682 he started participating in the annual celebration
of the Accademia Filarmonica in S Giovanni in Monte, contributing
several compositions up to 1694. At the end of 1683, probably his most
productive year as a composer, he was elected maestro di cappella of the
Accademia della Morte, Ferrara, succeeding G.F. Tosi. In 1686 he was
appointed maestro di cappella of Ferrara Cathedral; because of his
contribution to the musical life of that city he became known as
‘Bassani of Ferrara’.
Between 1710 and 1712 he composed 76 services in several cycles for use
at Ferrara Cathedral. On 9 May 1712 he was called to Bergamo to direct
the music at S Maria Maggiore. He also taught at the music school of the
Congregazione di Carità, Bergamo, and continued in both posts until his
death. Bassani's music was prominent in the middle Baroque period in
Italy, when the concertato style predominated. His sacred works in this
style are typical of those of the Bolognese school of composers in the
last quarter of the 17th century, such as G.P. Colonna, G.B. Vitali and
G.A. Perti. Perhaps above all he should be recognized for his solo
cantatas, both sacred and secular. Yet although he was a prolific
composer of other types of vocal music too, his fame has rested chiefly
on his trio sonatas for strings. During his lifetime he was celebrated
as a violinist. Some even considered his playing superior to Corelli's, a
reputation probably enhanced by Burney, who also claimed that no one
before him had written quite so idiomatically for the violin. A sharp
contrast between chamber and church sonatas, previously made by
Legrenzi, is maintained by Bassani in his two known sets of trio
sonatas. His op.1 contains 12 chamber sonatas, in each of which the four
dance movements announced on the title-page follow the order given
there. However, the number and character of the movements in the 12
church sonatas of op.5 are variable, and they often have polyphonic
textures. According to Newman, Bassani's sonatas differ somewhat from
Corelli's in that he preferred long unfolding lines to short balanced
phrases, and the overall form, especially of the church sonatas, is less
well integrated.
