Giovanni Battista Granata (1620/16211687) was an Italian

Baroque guitar The Baroque guitar (c. 1600–1750) is a string instrument with five courses of gut strings and moveable gut frets. The first (highest pitched) course sometimes used only a single string. History The Baroque guitar replaced the Renaissance lut ...

player and

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 ...

. He is generally known as the most prolific guitarist of the 17th century, publishing seven books during his lifetime. Along with many pieces in the standard dance genre of that time, Granata also composed many instrumental toccatas, preludes, and chaconnes. Granata was a

barber-surgeon The barber surgeon, one of the most common European medical practitioners of the Middle Ages, was generally charged with caring for soldiers during and after battle. In this era, surgery was seldom conducted by physicians, but instead by barber ...

by profession.Tyler, James and Paul Sparks, ''The Guitar and its Music from the Renaissance to the Classical Era'' (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

: 2002), 74.

Biography

Granata was born in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, but moved to Bologna sometime around 1646 where remained for the majority of his life. From 1651 to 1653, he was employed as ''liutista sopranumerario'' in the

Concerto Palatino The Concerto Palatino was a wind ensemble and important civic institution in Bologna associated with San Petronio. The band performed morning and evening concerts in the city. The Concerto Palatino began in the 13th century as a group of eight tru ...

. Although he maintained his teaching and composing career throughout his life, his main employment was as a barber-surgeon for which he became licensed in 1659.

Music/Style

The early baroque guitar works of Granata are characterized by their French organization of dance suites (allemande, courante, and sarabande). His style in the period around 1646 is very similar to that of his contemporary,

Giovanni Paolo Foscarini Giovanni Paolo Foscarini ( fl. 1600 – 1647) was an Italian guitarist, lutenist, theorist and composer. A note at the end of the list of contents in his earliest surviving guitar book ''Intavolatura di chitarra spagnola. Libro secondo'' (1629) r ...

. The works from Granata's middle period demonstrate his musical evolution and change in style. Many of the pieces are complex and regarded as some of the most virtuosic guitar music of that time. Granata's later period pushes the instrument even further with extensive use of , notes in the upper register, and complex rhythms. Granata's fourth book - Soavi concenti (1659) - is one of the few sources to include pieces for the chitarra atiorbata, a five course instrument with seven open basses. Three of Granata's books also have works for ensemble. The pieces contained in Book IV call for a chamber ensemble of violin, guitar, and basso continuo, Book V for violin, viola, and guitar, and Book VII for guitar and basso continuo.

Works

Granata's seven books, all published in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

, Italy: * I- ''Capricci armonici sopra la chitarriglia spagnuola'' (1646) * II- ''Nuove suonate di chitarriglia spagnuola piccicate, e battute'' (ca. 1650) * III- ''Nuova scelta di caprici armonici, Op. 3'' (1651) * IV- ''Soavi concenti di sonate musicali per la chitarra spagnuola, Op. 4'' (1659) * V- ''Novi capricci armonici musicali in vari toni per la chitarra spagnola, violino, e viola concertati, et altre sonate per la chitarra sola, Op. 5'' (1674) * VI- ''Nuovi sovavi concenti di sonate musicali in varii toni per la chitarra spagnola, et altre sonate concertate a due violini, e basso, Op. 6'' (1680) * VII- ''Armonici toni di vari suonate musicali concertante, a due violini, e basso, con la chitarra spagnola, Op. 7'' (1684)

Similarity with 20th century work "Stairway to Heaven"

Granata's ''Sonata di Chitarra, e Violino, con il suo Basso Continuo'' appeared in a surprising connection with a 1970 rock music work, ''

Stairway to Heaven "Stairway to Heaven" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in late 1971. It was composed by the band's guitarist Jimmy Page and lead singer Robert Plant for their untitled fourth studio album (often titled ''Led Zeppelin IV'') ...

'', by

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...

and

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following the ...

of the rock group

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

. After ''Stairway to Heaven'' achieved tremendous success, a dispute arose about whether part of the work was plagiarised. Commentators cited numerous earlier works with some degree of similarity, including Granata's ''Sonata''. However, the similarity was not evidence that Page and Plant plagiarised Granata.

References

6. Hall, Monica The chitarra atiorbata and the guittare theorbee: a reappraisal. In Early Music Vol. XXXIX no. 1 p. 25-34.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Granata, Giovanni Battista Italian Baroque composers Italian Baroque Italian classical guitarists Italian male guitarists Italian male classical composers Composers for the classical guitar 1620s births 1687 deaths 17th-century Italian composers 17th-century male musicians