Piccinini, Alessandro (EN)

Piccinini, Piccinino, Alessandro, *30 December 1566 Bologna, †ca. 1638 (?), Italian lutenist and composer, the most prominent representative of the Piccinini family of lutenists, son of Leonardo Maria, brother of Girolamo and Filippo Piccinini. Between 1582 and 1597 (together with his father and brothers) he served at the court of Duke Alfonso II d’Este in Ferrara, where he worked with L. Luzzaschi, C. Gesualdo da Venosa, and G. Frescobaldi. Between 1600 and 1611, he stayed in Rome, first with the retinue of Cardinal P. Aldobrandini and, after 1607, he also entered the service of Archbishop Guido Bentivoglio. After 1611, he moved to Bologna, where he was a member of the Accademia dei Filomusi and worked for the papal legate Maffeo Barberini and Count Filippo Pepoli. He went down in music history as an unrivalled lutenist, as well as a builder and modifier of lute instruments: the pandora, the archlute, and the chitarrone.

Both of Piccinini’s collections occupy an important place in the history of lute music. Alongside the works of G.G. Kapsperger, they are among the most outstanding examples of the adaptation of stile moderno to the lute repertoire and the independence of lute texture from the influence of vocal music. They include toccatas, canzonas, ricercars, capriccios, battaglie, dances, and partita variations (based on ciaccona, passacaglia, and bergamasque). The toccatas and capriccios are very diverse in form, style, and technique, and it is in them that new trends most clearly clash with the Renaissance tradition. Some of the pieces are dominated by imitative technique, but for contrast, the composer introduces chordal passages in triple meter; the rest are improvisational fantasies, in which bold treatment of dissonances, chromaticism, rich harmony, and fully independent instrumental texture are evident. In the toccata for two lutes and the canzone for three lutes, Piccinini used the concertante technique. Some of the dances are based on folk melodies, sometimes in the form of suites; the partitas showcase virtuosity.

The preface to Book I contains comments that are particularly valuable for understanding the performance practice of the time. Piccinini recommends that the lutenist play the theme in imitative constructions louder than the counterpointing voices, emphasize the dissonances introduced on the strong parts of the bar, shade the dynamics appropriately, vary the tempo, and add embellishments at his own discretion. Thanks to the invention of the pandora and the technical improvements to the archlute and chitarrone made by Piccinini at the end of the 16th century, bass lutes could still be used until the end of the 18th century, both as accompanying and solo instruments.

Literature: G. Kinsky Alessandro Piccinini. Und sein Arciliuto, “Acta Musicologica” X, 1938; S. Buetens The Instructions of Alessandro Piccinini, “Journal of the Lute Society of America” II, 1969; L. de Grandis Famiglie di musicisti del ’500. I Piccinini. Vita col liuto, “Nuova Rivista di Musicología Italiana” XVI, 1982; O. Cristoforetti Les Piccinini et lévolution organologique du luth a la fin du XVIe siècle, “Musique ancienne: Revue trimestrielle” XIX, 1985; D. Fabris Mecenati e musici. Documenti sul patronato artistico dei Bentivoglio di Ferrara nell’età di Monteverdi (1585–1645), Lucca 1999; R. Meucci Alessandro Piccinini e il suo arciliuto, “Recercare” XXI, 2009; G. Kubik Alessandro Piccinini’s “Ciaconna in partite variate,” 1623 – eineafrikanische Inspiration? in: Kunstmusik–Kolonialismus–Lateinamerika, ed. B. Alge, Essen 2017.