Bernabei, Ercole (EN)

Bernabei Ercole, *circa 1622 Caprarola (Viterbo), †4 or 5 December 1687 Munich, Italian composer and organist. He was a student of O. Benevoli. In 1653–65, he worked as an organist in the church of S. Luigi dei Francesi in Rome. In 1665–67, he served as maestra di cappella at the Basilica of S. Giovanni in Laterano, and then (until 1672) he held the same position at the church of S. Luigi dei Francesi. At the same time, Bernabei developed his activities in other Roman churches, e.g. in the Oratorio del SS. Crocifisso at the church of S. Marcello, where he was the organist from 1665. In 1672, after Benevoli’s death, he became bandmaster at Cappella Giulia at the Vatican and remained there until June 1674; then, at the call of the Bavarian elector Ferdinand Maria, he moved to Munich as court bandmaster (as the successor of J.K. Kerll); he held this position until his death. Of the five operas written by Bernabei, only the librettos for the last two have survived, staged in Munich: Il litigio del cielo e della terra (1680) and Erote ed Anterote (1686). The only ones published in print were: Concerto madrigalesco… for 3 voices and basso continuo (Rome 1669) and, published posthumously by his son Giuseppe Antoni, Sacrae modulationes… for 5 voices, 2 violins and basso continuo Op. 2 (Munich 1691). What remains in the manuscripts are Bernabei’s church compositions for 2–8 voices with basso continuo and instruments, purely vocal pieces and a few cantatas.