Giovanni Battista Agneletti (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1656–1673) 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 Defi ...

Biography

Sacri canti et hinni a voce sola Giovanni Battista Agneletti

Little is known about the life of Giovanni Battista Agneletti, though it is certain that he was born before 1656. Based on baptismal records and other documents, he was born in Spilimbergo. Few of this composer's works have come down to us. Among these are two songs included in ''Arie a voce sola the diversi auttori'', published in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

in 1656, which may be regarded as ''Sacra Colonna'' "secular counterpart", in which his songs had not been not included, and a Gloria, published in 1673 in the collection of motets ''Sacri Canti et Hinni'' (also published in Venice). The collection was dedicated to the Roveri brothers, two aristocrats from

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...

. The letter of dedication, in which Agneletti praises one of the Roveri's talent with the

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...

, is signed from Spilimbergo, and in the area there was a family with a surname spelled in this and other similar ways. It is possible to assume that Agneletti was somehow connected to Treviso, and that he settled in Venice. Other documents connect him to a family of musicians from Bassano, as well as to the noble families of

Ottoboni The Ottoboni were an aristocratic Venetian family, who gained prominence in Rome after the 17th century, mainly due to the papacy of Alexander VIII and his cardinal nephew, Pietro Ottoboni, known for his patronage of musicians and painters. Cardin ...

and

Contarini The House of Contarini is one of the founding families of Venicehttps://archive.org/details/teatroaraldicose02tett, Leone Tettoni. ''Teatro araldico ovvero raccolta generale delle armi ed insegne gentilizie delle piu illustri e nobili casate ...

. Based on

Venetian Venetian often means from or related to: * Venice, a city in Italy * Veneto, a region of Italy * Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area Venetian and the like may also refer to: * Venetian language, a Romance language s ...

documents, he had three brothers residing in Venice: Giovanni Maria, Nicolò, parish priest in Prata,

Pordenone Pordenone (; Venetian and fur, Pordenon) is the main ''comune'' of Pordenone province of northeast Italy in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region. The name comes from Latin ''Portus Naonis'', meaning 'port on the Noncello (Latin ''Naon'') River'. ...

, and Giovanni Paolo, a shoemaker.

Works

Beside the collection ''Sacri Canti et Hinni'', published in 1673, there are also 2 arias published two decades earlier in the anthology ''Arie a voce sola the diversi auttori''. Agneletti also wrote a Chaconne in D minor. Both the Chaconne and Gloria was rearranged for trumpet (or flute) and organ by Michel Rondeau, both having been performed on 27 April 2021. ;Recordings In May 1999, Agneletti's ''Gloria patri et filio et spiritui sancto'' (Gloria) was recorded as a part of ''Canta La Maddalena'', sung by

Maria Cristina Kiehr Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

and played by the Concerto Soave ensemble. The recording was released in 2000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agneletti, Giovanni-Battista 17th-century Italian composers Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Musicians from Venice People from the Province of Pordenone