Bassani, Giovanni Battista (EN)

Bassani Giovanni Battista, *ca. 1647 Padua (?), † l October 1716 Bergamo, Italian composer. He studied in Venice under D. Castrovillari and G. Legrenzi, and probably also violin under G.B. Vitali. Around 1667–75, he was organist at the Accademia della Morte in Ferrara. In 1677, he became a member of the Accademia Filarmonica in Bologna, and in 1682 its president; in 1680, he was a maestro di cappella in Mirandola. In 1683 or early 1684, he returned to Ferrara as maestro di cappella of the Accademia della Morte, and from 1688 to 1712 he was also maestro di cappella at the local cathedral. Due to his long career in Ferrara, he was known as Bassani di Ferrara. In 1712, he moved to Bergamo, where he served as maestro di cappella at the church of S. Maria Maggiore and taught at the music school of the Congregazione di Carità

Bassani’s work is characterised by great diversity. He composed sacred and secular music, vocal and instrumental works. Today, he is famous primarily for his instrumental compositions, even though they constituted only a marginal part of his oeuvre. He composed 24 sonatas, including 12 sonatas da camera (Balletti, correnti…, Op. 1) and 12 sonatas da chiesa (Sinfonie a due e tre instromenti con il basso continuo…, Op. 5). A characteristic feature of these works is the strict demarcation of technical and formal means in both types of sonatas. The sonatas in Op. 1 are in four movements (balletto, corrente, giga, sarabanda), small in size, in even metre and homophonic texture, while the sonatas in Op. 5 are in four to seven movements, with a very free structure of the cycle and individual movements, and have a polyphonic texture. Bassani was primarily a composer of vocal music and practised almost all of its genres. We have documented information about his nine operas, which premiered between 1683 and 1693 in Bologna, Venice, Ferrara and Verona; none of the scores have survived. We also know of 14 oratorios, performed between 1678 and 1707, of which only three remain. The role of the orchestra is distinctive in these oratorios: expressive and even programmatic, especially in symphonies and other purely instrumental passages. In the dispute over the role of the testo, Bassani opposed the views of A. Spagni and even entrusted arias to the testo. In the field of sacred music, Bassani wrote exclusively in the stile moderno. Most numerous in his oeuvre are solo cantatas, both sacred and secular. Bassani – alongside A. Stradella, G. Legrenzi and G. Bononcini – brought this form to its peak and perfection. He wrote secular cantatas mainly with basso continuo accompaniment, and sacred cantatas with instrumental and basso continuo accompaniment; in the latter, he used a rich concertante technique. He introduced various forms of arias, most often with a da capo and AAB structure. Nearly every aria is preceded by a clear recitative, so the cantata form in Bassani’s works is already crystallised. His works are dominated by major-minor tonality.

Literature: R. Haselbach G.B. Bassani, Kassel 1955 (with a list of compositions); F. Pasini Notes sur la vie de G.B. Bassani, “Sammelbände der Internationalen Musikgesellschaft” VII, 1905/6; U. Rolandi Opere e oratori di G.B. Bassani. La scuola veneziana (secoli XVI–XVIII. Noti e documenti), “Chigiana” III, 1941; A. Cavicchi L’attività ferrarese di G.B. Bassani, “Chigiana” XXIII, 1966; W. Apel Studien über die frühe Violinmusik, “Archiv für Musikwissenschaft” XXXVII, 1980; C. Vitali Lavoro precario e concorrenza nella musica sacra fra Sei e Settecento. Un documento inedito di provenienza ferrarese, in: Studi sulla civiltà del secolo XVIII a Ferrara, ed. A. Antonioni, Ferrara 1981 and “Nuova Rivista Musicale Italiana” XVII, 1983.