Orfeo Vecchi (ca. 15511603) was an Italian composer and

choirmaster A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

. His most important appointment as choirmaster was at

Santa Maria alla Scala, Milan Santa Maria alla Scala was a church built in the gothic style in Milan in 1381 and named in honour of Beatrice Regina della Scala, the wife of Bernabò Visconti who commissioned the building. The church was demolished in 1776 to make way for a n ...

. His earliest extant compositions date from 1588.

Biography

Vecchi was born sometime around the year 1551 and educated in the

Vercelli Cathedral Vercelli Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Vercelli, ''Cattedrale di Sant'Eusebio'') is the principal church of the city of Vercelli in Piedmont, Italy, and the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Vercelli. It is dedicated to Saint Eusebius of Vercelli, the fir ...

. In 1580 Vecchi was nominated by

Charles Borromeo Charles Borromeo ( it, Carlo Borromeo; la, Carolus Borromeus; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was the Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584 and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation combat a ...

for the post of the newly created position of "maestro di cappella" at Santa Maria alla Scala, in good part because of the combination of his youth and training. Borromeo vested him with

minor orders Minor orders are ranks of church ministry. In the Catholic Church, the predominating Latin Church formerly distinguished between the major orders —priest (including bishop), deacon and subdeacon—and four minor orders—acolyte, exorcist, lecto ...

in 1581, in order to meet the requirements of a 1565 cathedral rule which stated that musicians were to be chosen from clergy. Nonetheless, Vecchi's appointment to the position remained controversial, and he vacated two years later in favor of the same position at the Vercelli Cathedral. He returned to Santa Maria alla Scala after another four years. There he was unsuccessfully nominated for a position of chaplain at the altar of San Giovanni. In 1591 he applied for the position of mansionarius at Santa Maria alla Scala, in which he sang Ambrosian plainchant. This effort was successful. He died in 1603.

Impact

He was prolific as a church composer in the post-Tridentine style, and became the foremost sacred music composer in Milan in his time. His tenure at Santa Maria alla Scala returned the institution to its leading place among musical establishments in Milan. His influence on English composer

Peter Philips Peter Philips (also ''Phillipps'', ''Phillips'', ''Pierre Philippe'', ''Pietro Philippi'', ''Petrus Philippus''; ''c.''1560–1628) was an eminent English composer, organist, and Catholic priest exiled to Flanders. He was one of the greatest ke ...

was significant. His reputation was such that a collection of his work was published (though at no benefit to himself) in its entirety outside Milan.

Compositions

He is best known for his two collections of "sacred

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", ''La Donna vestita di sole'' (1590) and ''Scielta de Mardrigali'' (1604). The second of these, published by his brother a year after his death, contains works borrowed from the secular madrigals of other composers, and modified into

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 with Latin sacred texts substituting for the original lyrics. Vecchi has been noted for arranging his works in such a manner as to render the words in an appreciable manner to the listener. It has also been noted that he was able to write music for large ensembles at remarkable speed. His output of motets, psalms, masses, and other musical works was unmatched in his time.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vecchi, Orfeo Renaissance composers Italian classical composers Italian male classical composers 1551 births 1603 deaths Place of birth unknown People from Vercelli