Puliti, Gabriello (EN)

Puliti Gabriello, *baptised 26 March 1583 Montepulciano, †19 June 1644 Trieste, Italian composer, organist, lutenist, OFM. He received his musical education at the S. Croce school in Florence. In 1600, he directed the choir at the church of S. Francesco in Pontremoli, and in 1602, he was the organist at the Franciscan monastery in Piacenza. In 1604, he held similar positions at the monastery in Pola (now Pula), and in 1605 he became maestro di cappella at the church of S. Francesco in Muggia near Trieste. In the years 1606–09, 1614, 1618–20, 1622–24, he served as organist at the cathedral in Capodistria (now Koper); in 1616, 1621–22 and 1624–30, he was organist and held various monastic positions in Pirano (now Piran), Albona (now Labin), where he belonged to the Accademia Palladia, and on the island of Pago (now Pag); in 1609–12 and 1630–38, he was organist and, from 1633, magister musices at the church of S. Giusto in Trieste. Alongside T. Cecchino, he was one of the most outstanding early Baroque Italian composers working in what is today Croatia.

Of Puliti’s at least 36 works, only 16 have survived, many of them incomplete. Most of the surviving works are sacred ones, documenting Puliti’s activity in various Franciscan monasteries on the outskirts of Veneto. The most numerous group consists of a cappella works (masses, motets, psalms, litanies and madrigals) and accompanied monodies (church concertos, solo madrigals and instrumental canzonas). It was not until the second decade of the 17th century that the composer began to use basso continuo, concertante technique and accompanied monody. The monodies are among Puliti’s most outstanding works, achieving a balance between syllabic and coloratura passages. The small number of concertante works and the predominance of monodic and a cappella compositions were probably due to the modest casting possibilities available to Puliti, who was active in the Venetian province. He was one of the last composers to write missae parodiae and mascherate.

Literature: G. Radole Musicisti a Trieste sul finire del Cinquecento e nei primi del Seicento, “Archeografo triestino” XXII, 1959; E. Stipčević Maskeratte Gabriello Puliti, “Sveta Cecilija” LIII, 1983; I. Cavallini Musica, cultura e spettacolo in Istria tra ’500 e ’600, Florence 1990; E. Stipčević Gabriello Puliti. Armonici accenti, biser istarske ranobarokne glazbe in: Glazba iz arhiva. Studije i zapisi o staroj hrvatskoj glazbi, ed. E. Stipčević, Zagreb 1997; E. Stipčević Gabriello Puliti. Ranobarokni skladatelj u Istri, in: Musica incognita. I. Lukačić i njegovo doba, ed. E. Stipčević, Šibenik 1998; I. Cavallini La diffusione del madrigale in Istria. I: Silao Casentini e Gabriello Puliti, “Muzikološki zbornik” XXIII, 1987; G. Merizzi Le fonti poetiche delle mascherate di Gabriello Puliti, “Muzikološki zbornik” XXXVI, 2000; M. Kokole Servitore affetionatissimo fra Gabriello Puliti and the dedicatees of this music works (1600–1635): from institutional commission via a search protection to an expression of affection, “De musica disserenda” III, 2007; E. Stipčević Il compositore e le sue scelte poetiche: Il caso di Fra Gabriello Puliti e i suoi poeti Istriani, “Atti. Centro di Ricerche Storiche – Rovigno” XLIII, 2013; E. Stipčević Gabriello Puliti i njegovi istarski pjesnici in: Od Venecije do Dubrovnika: Glazbeni putopisi, ed. E. Stipčević, Zadar 2020; L.A. Maračić, E. Stipčević Gabriello Puliti (ca. 1580–1642/3): Francescano, compositore, „Accademico armonico detto l’Allegro”, Trieste 2021; N. Lovrinić Gabriello Puliti i njegove zbirke svjetovne glazbe/Gabriello Puliti e le sue raccolte di musica profana in: Glazbena povijest Istre: Ostavština poveznica sa Serenissimom/La storia musicale istriana: Retaggio dei legami con la Serenissima, ed. A. Golojka, F. Rota, D. Svetličić, Rovinj 2023.