Padovano, Annibale (EN)

Padovano, Padoano, Annibale, Patavinus Hannibal, *1527 Padua, †15 March 1575 Graz, Italian composer and organist. From November 1552 to August 1565, he was an organist of the St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice. In 1564, he dedicated a collection of madrigals to the Austrian Archduke Charles II, at whose court in Graz he subsequently worked – from August 1565 as organist, and from 1570 until the end of his life as first Kapellmeister. In 1568, his compositions, together with works by Orlando di Lasso, graced the wedding of Duke William V of Bavaria to Renata of Lorraine, and in 1571 he wrote music (including the lost Dialogo a 7) for the wedding of Archduke Charles and Maria of Bavaria in Vienna, who later valued Padovan as her teacher.

Padovano’s chamber ricercars, together with works by composers gathered around A. Willaert (who could have also been his master in Venice), belong to the early corpus of music for instrumental ensembles. They are elaborate multi-section structures close to imitations, often based (especially the initial entries) on chorale melodies (in the 1^st ricercar – Pange lingua, in the 4^th – Kyrie Cunctipotens, in the 9^th – psalm tone, in the 10^th – antiphon Qui pacem ponit), and sometimes on melodies drawn from secular works (5^th ricercar). Within the performance, a phrase is usually imitated about 10 times, but in extreme cases the number of occurrences exceeds 30; such procedures as augmentation, stretto, and inversion are used. Phrases in subsequent performances are sometimes related to each other in some ricercars. Chorale melodies are also introduced as a long-note cantus firmus, sometimes migrans. Padovano was particularly praised by his contemporaries as a virtuoso organist. His two preserved organ ricercaras are similar to chamber ones, except that ornamentation plays a greater role in the melodic lines. In toccatas, on the other hand, imitative performances (their number is limited to two or one) are preceded or framed by long sections of a virtuoso nature. Padovano’s vocal output has not aroused much interest among researchers so far; madrigals were written mainly to texts by F. Petrarch.

Literature: A. Einstein Annibale Padoanos Madrigalbuch, in: Studien zur Musikgeschichte, in: Studien zur Musikgeschichte. Festschrift für Guido Adler, Vienna 1930, reprint 1971; G. del Valle de Paz Annibale Padovano nella storia della musica, Turin 1933 (includes 4 madrigarls); S. dalla Libera Cronologia musicale della basilica di San Marco in Venezia, “Musica sacra” VI, 1961; H. Federhofer Musikpflege und Musiker am Grazer Habsburgerhof der Erzherzöge Karl und Ferdinand von Innerösterreich (1564–1619), Mainz 1967; D. Kämper Studien zur instrumentalen Ensemblemusik des 16. Jahrhunderts in Italien, “Analecta Musicologica” X, 1970; M.C. Bradshaw Tonal Design in the Venetian Intonation and Toccata, “The Music Review” XXXV, 1974; E. Selfridge-Field Venetian Instrumental Music from Gabrieli to Vivaldi, New York 1975, 2^nd ed. 1994; M.C. Bradshaw The Influence of Vocal Music on the Venetian Toccata, “Musica Disciplina” XLII, 1988; G.M. Ongaro Sixteenth-Century Patronage at St Mark’s, Venice, “Early Music History” VIII, 1988; A. Newcomb When the Stile Antico Was Young, in: Trasmissione e recezione delle forme di cultura musicale, ed. A. Pompilio, Turin 1990; R. Lindell The Wedding of Archduke Charles and Maria of Bavaria in 1571, “Early Music” XVIII, 1990; R. Charteris Music by Giovanni Gabrieli and his Contemporaries. Rediscovered Sources in the Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Hamburg, “Musica Disciplina” LII, 1998– 2002; L. Collarile Un gran valent’huomo, & famoso sonatore di Organo. Annibale Padovano tra Venezia e Graz, “L’Organo” LI, 2019.