Artusi Giovanni Maria, *ca. 1540 Bolonia, †18 August 1613 Bologna, Italian theorist and composer. From February 14, 1562, he was a canon regular of the Congregation of the Santissimo Salvatore in Bologna. He was a student of Gioseffo Zarlino, whose views on music had a clear influence on Artusi throughout his life. He published a theoretical work, L’arte del contraponto ridotta in tavole (Venice, 1586), which was largely a commentary of Zarlino’s Le institutioni harmoniche (Venice, 1588), followed by Seconda parte dell’arte del contraponto (Venice, 1589), devoted, among other things, to the use of dissonance in counterpoint. Both of these books, additionally supplemented, were published as L’arte del contraponto (Venice 1598, facsimile edition Hildesheim 1969). These works were highly regarded by his contemporaries, including M. Praetorius. Artusi was a staunch opponent of reforms aimed at establishing a new musical style. He expressed this view in numerous polemical writings. The most important of these are L’Artusi, ovvero delle imperfettioni della moderna musica (2 parts, Venice 1600–03) and Discorso secondo musicale di Antonio Braccino da Todi…, published under a pseudonym (Venice 1608, facsimile edition Milan 1932).
In the first of these, directed against Monteverdi (though not named explicitly) who was not mentioned by name, Artusi subjected the harmonics and rhythm of his madrigals to detailed criticism, accusing the composer of, among other things, the incorrect use of dissonances and alterations of notes, incorrect melodic lines leading, mixing of modi, and metrical errors. Artusi’s views, however, were to a limited extent consistent with Monteverdi’s own postulates. This applied in particular to the broader use of dissonance as a means of emphasizing words with negative connotations, which issue had already been discussed by the theorist in L’arte del contraponto. In defending on Zarlino, he also entered into a dispute with V. Galilei, reflected in Lettera apologetica… (1588) and Trattato apologetico… (1590), now known only through fragments quoted by E. Bottrigari. Artusi was likewise involved in a conflict with Bottrigari himself, which intensified following accusations of plagiarism allegedly committed by Artusi through his use, in L’Artusi, ovvero delle imperfettioni della moderna musica, of passages from Bottrigari’s unfinished dialogue Il Trimerone. These allegations were not confirmed. In other writings, he also spoke out against composers and theorists such as Gesualdo da Venosa and Nicola Vicentino, and to some extent also Cipriano de Rore, Andrea Gabrieli, and even Zarlino (on issues related to the tuning of instruments). In addition to theoretical and polemical writings, Artusi’s oeuvre also includes a few compositions: a collection of 21 canzonettas (1598) and Cantate Domino (1599) – a motet for 8 voices.
Literature: L. Schrade Monteverdi, New York 1950; C.V. Palisca The Artusi-Monteverdi Controversy, in: The Monteverdi Companion, eds. D. Arnold and N. Fortune, Londyn 1968, 2nd edition 1985; A. Damerini Giovanni Maria Artusi e alcune sue opere teoriche, in: Le celebrazioni del 1963 e alcune nuove indagini sulla musica italiana del XIII e XIX secolo, ed. M. Fabbri, Florence 1963; M. Litchfield Giovanni Maria Artusi’s “L’Artusi overo Delle imperfettioni della moderna musica” (1600). A Translation and Commentary, dissertation, Brigham Young University, 1987; C.V. Palisca Die Jahrzehnte um 1600 in Italien, in: Italienische Musiktheorie im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert. Antikenrezeption und Satzlehre, Darmstadt 1989; H. Federhofer Christoph Bernhards Figurenlehre und die Dissonanz, “Die Musikforschung” XLII, 1989; T. Carter Artusi, Monteverdi, and the Poetics of Modern Music and C.S. Brauner The Seconda Pratica, or the Imperfections of the Composer’s Voice, in: Musical Humanism and its Legacy. Essays in Honor of Claude V. Palisca, ed. N. Kovaleff Baker and B. Russano Hanning, Stuyvesant 1992; M.R. Maniates The Cavalier Ercole Bottrigari and His Brickbats. Prolegomena to the Defense of Don Nicola Vicentino against Messer Gandolfo Sigonio, in: Music Theory and the Exploration of the Past, ed. C. Hatch and D.W. Bernstein, Chicago 1993; S.G. Cusick Gendering Modern Music. Thoughts on the Monteverdi-Artusi Controversy, “Journal of the American Musicological Society” XLVI, 1993; C. Jenkins Ridotta alla perfettione: Metaphysics and history in the music-theoretical writings of Giovanni Maria Artusi, dissertation, Columbia University, 2007; A. Patalas Music theory of Giovanni Maria Artusi in the polemical writings and in the music of Marco Scacchi, “Musica Iagellonica” IV, 2007; C. Jenkins Giovanni Maria Artusi and the Ethics of Musical Science, “Acta Musicologica” LXXXI, 2009; T. Carter Cerberus Barks in Vain. Poetic Asides in the Artusi-Monteverdi Controversy, “Journal of Musicology” XXIX, 2012; T. Carter “E in rileggendo poi le proprie note”: Monteverdi responds to Artusi?, “Renaissance Studies” XXVI, 2012; S.J. Coluzzi “Se vedesti qui dentro”: Monteverdi’s “O Mirtillo, Mirtillo anima mia” and Artusi’s Offence, “Music & Letters” XCIV, 2013; J. Levenberg Seconda pratica temperaments, prima pratica tempers: The Artusi-Monteverdi controversy and the retuning of musica moderna, “Acta Musicologica” XCII, 2020.
