Ludovico Balbi (c. 1545 – 1604) was a Venetian singer and composer, and conductor. He was a pupil of

Costanzo Porta Costanzo Porta (1528 or 1529 – 19 May 1601) was an Italian composer of the Renaissance, and a representative of what is known today as the Venetian School. He was highly praised throughout his life both as a composer and a teacher, and had ...

and a choirmaster at Padua. Among his compositions are masses,

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margar ...

s, canzoni,

madrigal A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th c.) and early Baroque (1600–1750) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the number o ...

s, and others. Surviving compositions date as early as 1570.Pratt, Waldo Selden. ''The History of Music''. New York: G. Schirmer, Inc., 1907. p. 120.

Biography

Balbi was born in Venice around 1545. In 1565, he became a student of the great Italian composer Costanzo Porta. From 1570 to 1578, Balbi sang at St. Mark's Cathedral and was appointed ''maestro di cappella'' at the monastery S. Maria Glorioso del Frari. In 1582, Balbi declined an offer to be maestro at Milan Cathedral and instead referred one of his underlings, offending some high-ranking officials of the Roman Church. In 1585, Balbi accepted an offer to be maestro of the Cappella Anotoniana in

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

, although he wished to be maestro of Padua Cathedral. After moving to Feltre Cathedral in 1593 and later

Treviso Cathedral Treviso Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Treviso, Cattedrale di San Pietro Apostolo) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Treviso, Veneto, northern Italy, dedicated to Saint Peter. It is the seat of the bishop of Treviso. History The church originates from t ...

, he returned to S. Maria Glorioso del Frari until his death in 1604.

References

1540s births 1604 deaths Renaissance composers Italian classical composers Italian male classical composers {{Italy-composer-stub