Guami, Gioseffo (EN)

Guami Gioseffo, *ca. 1540 Lucca, †1611 Lucca, Italian organist, composer, and singer, who also played string instruments. From 1561 to 1568 he stayed in Venice as a student of A. Willaert and A. Padovano and as a singer of the cappella grande in the St. Mark’s Basilica. From 1568 to 1579 he worked with his brother Francesco at the court of Duke Albrecht V of Munich, where he served as first organist and capo delli concerti. Between 1570 and 1574 he also spent time in Italy, maintaining contact with Orlando di Lasso. In 1574 he was appointed organist of the church of San Michele in Lucca, though he only assumed the post in 1579; in 1582 he worked at the cathedral of San Martino Cathedral. In 1585 he became maestro di cappella to Prince Gian Andrea Doria in Genoa. Around 1587 he returned to Lucca. In 1588 he became organist at St Mark’s Basilica, a position he held alongside Giovanni Gabrieli. Although this position brought him great fame, he left it after three years and returned to Lucca. From 5 April 1591, until his death, he served as organist of San Martino Cathedral in Lucca. Gioseffo Guami was succeeded in this position on 20 January 1612 by his son Vincenzo (†1615 Lucca), the composer of a motet with basso continuo preserved in a publication by Gioseffo Guami (Vincenzo’s son, Giuseppe Guami, was also an organist in Lucca). The elder of Gioseffo Guami’s sons, Domenico (*ca. 1560 Lucca, †2 June 1631 Lucca), a clergyman, was active as a composer and singer; two of his motets have survived in collective prints from 1608 and 1612 (including in a publication by Gioseffo Guami).

Gioseffo Guami enjoyed great fame among his contemporaries, primarily as an organist and composer; he was praised, among others, by A. Banchieri (his pupil), G. Zarlino, and V. Galilei. In his sacred works, especially the earlier ones, a clear connection with the style of O. di Lasso is evident. These compositions are characterized by careful voice leading. The motet In die tribulationis and the canzona La cromatica, with their chromatic themes, belong to the current initiated by the experiments of N. Vicentino. The second book of Sacrarum cantionum is intended for performance by vocal and instrumental forces and also includes a basso seguente part. Some motets in this collection, such as the 16-voice Misericordias Domini, are composed in a polychoral technique. The vocal duet with basso continuo refers to compositions by L. Grossi da Viadana. The instrumental canzonettas, many of which are written antiphonally for eight parts, are characterized by sequential repetitions and richly ornamented passages. The organ score of the canzonettas, one of the earliest of its kind, includes the outer voices of all the pieces. The first canzonetta from this print appears under the title La Guamina in various collections for keyboard instruments, while the only surviving original organ work by Gioseffo Guami is a toccata published in G. Diruta’s treatise Il transilvano… (Venice 1593).

Literature: S. Kunze Die Instrumentalmusik G. Gabrielis, 2 vols., «Münchner Veröffentlichungen zur Musik-geschichte» VIII, Tutzing 1963 (includes 1 canzona by Gioseffo Guami).