Gastoldi, Giovanni Giacomo (EN)

Gastoldi Giovanni Giacomo, *ca. 1555 Caravaggio, †1622, Italian composer and clergyman. Gastoldi’s life and work were primarily associated with the Church of Santa Barbara in Mantua, which was under the special patronage of the Gonzaga family. In December 1572 he was a subdeacon there, and from January 1573 until at least November 1574 he served as a deacon. In 1581 he was listed among the singers of that church. He probably studied music under the guidance of Giaches de Wert, who at that time was the maestro di cappella at the Church of Santa Barbara and at the court of Duke Guglielmo Gonzaga. Between 1579 and 1587, Gastoldi taught as a maestro di contrapunto at Santa Barbara. In 1592, he succeeded Wert as maestro di cappella at the same church, a post he likely held until 1608. Around 1609, Gastoldi was in Milan. There is no information about the later years of his life.

Gastoldi’s oeuvre is rich and varied; it comprises, on the one hand, numerous cycles of sacred compositions, and on the other, balletti, madrigals and canzonettas. The sacred works, preserved mainly in the manuscript collection of the Church of Santa Barbara in Mantua (now in the Biblioteca del Conservatorio di Musica Giuseppe Verdi in Milan) and in contemporary prints, include masses and psalms performed during Vespers. The psalms are notable for their frequent use of the falsobordone technique. One cycle of psalms, intended for only two voices, is didactic in nature. In his sacred music, Gastoldi displayed a particular fondness for the antiphonal and polychoral treatment of choral ensembles. 

Of all Gastoldi’s works, his balletti (especially those for 5 voices ones) gained the greatest popularity; they were reprinted many times during the composer’s lifetime, including outside Italy, and even with sacred and biblical paraphrases of the text, as in the Dutch editions. The melodiousness, clarity, and lively rhythm of these balletti attracted the attention of English and German composers, such as Morley, Tomkins, and Hassler, who imitated their style.

The collection of five-voice balletti from 1591 forms a complete work; it consists of the Introduttione, 15 Balletti and the Mascherata. The collection is accompanied by a six-voice Canzonetta and an eight-voice Concerto de Pastori (for two four-voice choruses). The text of the Introduttione serves as an invitation to the balletti. The subsequent 15 pieces bear distinctive titles: L’innamorato, Il bell’humore, Il contento, Speme Amorosa, Lo Schernito, Gloria d’Amore, Il piacere, L’Ardito, Amor vittorioso, Il Premiato, La Sirena, La bellezza, Caccia d’Amore, Il Martellato, L’acceso. These varied titles may have corresponded to characters of dancers in disguise, yet the theme of love in its various shades runs consistently through the texts. An interesting conclusion is provided by Mascherata de Cacciatori (in three parts), in which an additional sixth voice constantly repeats the same phrase and the same text “a la caccia…”. This arrangement of the pieces means that the collection can be regarded as an early form of the madrigal comedy. The three-voice Balletti (16 pieces) also have distinctive titles: Il Ballerino, La Cortigiana, Lo Spensierato, Lo Sdegnato, Il Tedesco, Il Prigioniero, Il Lucchesino, L’Umorista, Il Felice, Il Curioso, Il Risentito, Il Tormentato, Il Costante, Il Fortunato, L’Invaghito, Il Passionao. 

Both the three-voice and five-voice pieces have a strophic structure and consist of 2 to 4 stanzas. Musically, each stanza is divided into two parts, each of which is repeated. In balletti for five voices, occur passages consisting solely of the syllables fa–la–la, which the composer usually introduces at the end of individual sections. The fact that the balletti are intended for dancing accounts for their very expressive rhythm and simple, predominantly chordal texture; occasionally, however, short imitations, sometimes in a concertante style, appear. Furthermore, the dance-like character influences the highly symmetrical phrasing. Occasionally, Gastoldi divides the ensemble into groups of higher and lower parts in his five-voice balletti. The introduction of a trio formation in the 1594 collection is also of historical significance – all the works are intended for two canti and bass, a feature already outlined in the 1591 collection of balletti for five voices, where the two highest parts and the bass formed the basis of the composition. As the title suggests (per cantare, sonare…) and in accordance with the practice of the time, the five-voice balletti are vocal-instrumental works in which the individual vocal parts are doubled by instruments. The canto volume containing the ballads for three voices includes lute intavolatura alongside each composition, suggesting that, in addition to the typical performance with instrumental doubling of individual parts and lute accompaniment, a performance for one part (canto) may also have taken place, with the lute playing all three parts (doubling the canto). Many of Gastoldi’s madrigals are in the style of L. Marenzio. His sole collection of instrumental works (Libro della musica) was likely intended for teaching purposes. The interludes, together with the comedy Idropica, were performed during the wedding of Francesco Gonzaga to Margherita di Savoia.

Literature: B. Naudin Ballet Italien de J.J. Gastoldi di Caravaggio (1592), Extrait d’un cahier de musique du XVIe siecle, Paris 1935; E. Kiwi Studien zur Geschichte des italienischen Liedmadrigals im 16. Jahrhundert, Würzburg 1937; A. Einstein The Italian Madrigal, Princeton 1949, reprint 1971 (includes 2 compositions by Gastoldi); A. Obertello Madrigali italiani in Inghilterra, Mediolan 1949; D. Arnold Gastoldi and the English Ballet, “The Monthly Musical Record” LXXXVI, 1956; A. Geddo Bergamo e la musica, Bergamo 1958.