Alessandro Grandi (1590 – c.1630) was a northern
Italian composer of the early Baroque era, writing in
the new concertato style. He was one of the most
inventive, influential, and popular composers of the
time, probably second only to Monteverdi in northern
Italy. He was born in Venice and spent the first part
of his life there, likely studying with Giovanni
Gabrieli. He held several posts in Ferrara as maestro
di cappella at different cathedrals and academies. In
1617 he won a post at St. Mar...(+)
Alessandro Grandi (1590 – c.1630) was a northern
Italian composer of the early Baroque era, writing in
the new concertato style. He was one of the most
inventive, influential, and popular composers of the
time, probably second only to Monteverdi in northern
Italy. He was born in Venice and spent the first part
of his life there, likely studying with Giovanni
Gabrieli. He held several posts in Ferrara as maestro
di cappella at different cathedrals and academies. In
1617 he won a post at St. Mark's in Venice, during the
time Monteverdi was choirmaster there. Eventually he
became Monteverdi's assistant, and during this time
seems to have chosen to write works in some of the
smaller forms which Monteverdi was neglecting. In 1627
he went to Bergamo, probably because he had an
opportunity to be maestro di cappella at a place where
he could build up the music program from scratch. Most
likely he met Heinrich Schütz on that composer's
second visit to Italy. Unfortunately, after only three
years at Bergamo, Grandi died in 1630 during an
outbreak of the plague.
Most of Grandi's music is vocal with instrumental
accompaniment. Stylistically, his early music is
similar to that of Giovanni Gabrieli, with alternating
short passages of greatly contrasting rhythms and
texture; however he usually wrote for smaller forces.
Most of Grandi's early compositions are motets in the
concertato style: some are duets and trios, an
innovation in motet writing, which usually involved
larger groups. Grandi was one of the few composers who
continued to write involved vocal polyphony over the
basso continuo right after its introduction—most
composers using the continuo in the first decades of
the 17th century wrote monodies, or preferred more
homophonic textures.
Grandi experimented with extreme emotionalism in some
of his music, with chromaticism, ornament, and
affectation. While harmonically he was not as
adventurous as Gesualdo, he was connected to the larger
tradition, and thus his works were almost as
influential as Monteverdi's. He ceaselessly innovated,
writing monodies with instruments such as violins, and
in a sectional form with repeating parts for
instruments only—an idea which would develop into the
ritornello. The music of Grandi shows a link between
the concertato style which began the Baroque era, and
the form of the cantata which culminated in the work of
J.S. Bach.
Grandi was one of the most popular composers of his
day; his works were published throughout Italy,
Germany, and the Low Countries, and continued to be
reprinted long after his death. He wrote motets, psalm
settings, madrigals, as well as some of the earliest
compositions to be called "cantata."
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandro_Grandi).
Although originally composed for Chorus (SATB), I
created this interpretation of "Dixit Dominus" for
String Quartet (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).
