Buonamente, Giovanni Battista (EN)

Buonamente Giovanni Battista, *late 16th century, Mantua, †29 August 1642 Assisi, Italian composer and violinist, OFM monk. He stayed at the Gonzaga court in Mantua. He then left for Vienna, probably as a member of the court of Eleonora Gonzaga, when she married Emperor Ferdinand II in 1622; between 1626 and 1629, he definitely stayed in Vienna and Prague. In 1627, he took part in organizing events in Prague to celebrate the coronation of the emperor’s son, Ferdinand, as King of Bohemia. From July 1631, he was active again in Italy, first as a violinist and singer at the Basilica of S. Maria Maggiore in Bergamo, from July 1632 as a violinist at the Church of Madonna della Steccata in Parma, and from February 1633 as a violinist and bandmaster at the monastery of S. Francesco in Assisi; he remained in this position until his death.

Buonamante’s instrumental compositions are of the greatest historical significance. He wrote sonatas, canzonas, and dance cycles. He was a direct follower of S. Rossini in terms of style and form. His sonatas and canzonas are predominantly multi-movement, often with a rondo structure and contrasting sections. There are also single-theme imitative-variation or variation pieces related to the ricercar, e.g. Sonata III (2-voice) or Canzona IV (4-voice) from the collection published in 1636. In dance cycles, Buonamente initiated the beginning of the cycle with a non-dance passage. In Sonata I (6 voices: violin, cornetto, 3 trombones, liuto tiorbato) from the collection published in 1636, he contrasted the violin with the entire ensemble, thus creating a precursor to the later solo concerto. He composed primarily for the then still new trio ensemble, and less frequently for larger ensembles. He very often drew melodic themes from popular music, which is why his works are a rich source for the study of 17th-century Italian folklore. Buonamante’s work is also significant for the development of violin technique: he introduced playing in high positions, decima and double octave leaps, broken passages, tremolo, and more. Of the seven books of Buonamante’s works published, only four have survived. Of his 160 vocal-instrumental works mentioned in the 1647 inventory of manuscripts of the monastery of S. Francesco in Assisi, only those from the Liturgy of the Hours have survived.

Literature: P. Nettl Giovanni Battista Buonamente, “Zeitschrift für Musikwissenschaft” IX, 1926/27; J.J. Dunicz A. Jarzębski i jego „Canzoni e concerti”, Lviv 1938; W.S. Newmann The Sonata in the Baroque Era, Chappell Hill 1959, 21966; J. Solie Aspects of Harmony and Form in the Music of Giovanni Battista Buonamente, thesis, university in Chicago 1967; S.E. Romanstein Giovanni Battista Buonamente and Instrumental Music of the Early Baroque, thesis, university in Cincinnati 1990; W. Apel Italian Violin Music of the Seventeenth Century, Bloomington 1990; P. Allsop The Italian „Trio” Sonata from its Origins until Corelli, Oxford 1992; R. Bartolo, Le sonate libere del Settimo libro di Buonamente nell’ambito della sua produzione strumentale in: Barocco padano I, eds. A. Colzani, A. Lupi, M. Padoan, Como 2002; D. Harrán, From Mantua to Vienna: A new look at the early seventeenth-century dance suite, “Journal of the Royal Musical Association”, CXXIX (2004); P. Allsop Cavalier Giovanni Battista Buonamente: Franciscan violinist, Aldershot 2005.