Giovanni Battista Riccio (''Giambattista Riccio'') (late 16th centuryafter 1621) was a musician 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 ...

of the early

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

era, resident 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 ...

, most notable for his development of instrumental forms, particularly utilizing the

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

Life and music

No details are available regarding the early part of his life, but he must have been born in the late sixteenth century. Records show that he was appointed as

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

at the Scuola di

San Giovanni Evangelista, Venice The church of ''San Giovanni Evangelista'' is a 15th-century religious building in the San Polo ''sestiere'' of the Italian city of Venice. It stands across a courtyard from the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista. History Construction on ...

, in 1609, when he was the preferred choice over Gabriel Sponga (a nephew of Francesco Usper). He was probably also a violinist.Dickey, p 3 Riccio is known to have published three books of vocal and instrumental music in Venice. These books include his instrumental works for recorderunusual for Venetian music at the time, although

Giovanni Picchi Giovanni Picchi (1571 or 1572 – 17 May 1643) was an Italian composer, organist, lutenist, and harpsichordist of the early Baroque era. He was a late follower of the Venetian School, and was influential in the development and differentiation ...

also wrote for the instrument. The initial publication date of Riccio's ''Primo Libro'' is unknown, but the reprint dating from 1612 survives. The majority of the first book is allotted to vocal works, but in the revised edition two new instrumental

canzona The canzona is an Italian musical form derived from the Franco-Flemish and Parisian chansons, and during Giovanni Gabrieli's lifetime was frequently spelled canzona, though both earlier and later the singular was spelled either canzon or canzone ...

s are appended. One is his first known piece for recordera ''canzone'' for two ''flautini''. His ''Secondo Libro'', also published in Venice, appeared in 1614. His ''Terzo libro delle Divine Lodi'' published in 1620 and 1621 is the most widely known today. It comprises thirty-six vocal works and a further twelve instrumental pieces mostly described as canzonas. Most feature two main instruments (such as

cornett The cornett, cornetto, or zink is an early wind instrument that dates from the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods, popular from 1500 to 1650. It was used in what are now called alta capellas or wind ensembles. It is not to be confused wi ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

or sometimes contemporary

bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...

dulcian The dulcian is a Renaissance woodwind instrument, with a double reed and a folded conical bore. Equivalent terms include en, curtal, german: Dulzian, french: douçaine, nl, dulciaan, it, dulciana, es, bajón, and pt, baixão. The predeces ...

). One canzona entitled ''La Grimantea con il tremolo'' is one of the first pieces to make use of the

tremolo In music, ''tremolo'' (), or ''tremolando'' (), is a trembling effect. There are two types of tremolo. The first is a rapid reiteration: * Of a single Musical note, note, particularly used on String instrument#Bowing, bowed string instrument ...

technique for the 'Flautin e Fagoto' (recorder and bassoon). Dedications in his works suggest Riccio knew other composers such as Giovanni Picchi,

Alessandro Grandi Alessandro Grandi (1590 – after June 1630, but in that year) was a northern Italy, Italian composer of the early Baroque music, Baroque era, writing in the new concertato style. He was one of the most inventive, influential, and popular compose ...

, Giovanni Battista Grillo and Giacomo Finetti.Selfridge-Field, p 111 Some of his canzonas quote from larger-scale works by

Giovanni Gabrieli Giovanni Gabrieli (c. 1554/1557 – 12 August 1612) was an Italian composer and organist. He was one of the most influential musicians of his time, and represents the culmination of the style of the Venetian School, at the time of the shift f ...

Works

*''Primo libro delle Divine Lodi'' (Venice, Revised edition 1612) *''Il secondo libro delle Divine Lodi'' (Venice, 1614) *''Il terzo libro delle Divine Lodi'' (Venice, 1620; 1621) *He may also be the composer of one canzona in Valerio Bona's ''Otto ordini di litanie'' (Venice, 1619)

Notes

References

*Eleanor Selfridge-Field, ''Venetian instrumental music from Gabrieli to Vivaldi'', Third Revised Edition,

Dover Publications Dover Publications, also known as Dover Books, is an American book publisher founded in 1941 by Hayward and Blanche Cirker. It primarily reissues books that are out of print from their original publishers. These are often, but not always, books ...

, New York, 1994. . *Bruce Dickey, liner notes in ''Effetti e Stravaganze – Affect and Effect in 17th Century Instrumental Music'', Concerto Palatino. Audio CD (recorded 1994),

Accent Records {{Short description, Belgian record label Accent Records is a Belgian record label started in 1978 by Adelheid and Andreas Glatt, releasing classical music from between 1500 AD and the 20th century, but primarily from the 17th and 18th centuries. ...

, Belgium, 1998. ACC 94102 D.

External links

* * * http://www.gardane.info/gardane_compositori.php?autore_id=28 {{DEFAULTSORT:Riccio, Giovanni Battista 16th-century births 17th-century deaths Italian Baroque composers Renaissance composers Italian male classical composers Italian organists Male organists Musicians from Venice 17th-century Italian composers 17th-century male musicians