Ratti, Bartolomeo (EN)

Ratti Bartolomeo, also known as Il Moro lub Mauro nuncupato, *1565 Padua, †21 April 1634 Padua, Italian composer and organist, OFM. He studied under C. Porta at the school attached to the Basilica of St Anthony of Padua. He worked mainly in his home town, apart from periods spent in Gemona del Friuli from 1594 to 1600 and in Piacenza from 1606 to 1608, where he served as maestro di cappella. From 1591 to 1594 he was a chorister (tenor), and from the second half of 1594 also organist at the Basilica of St Anthony of Padua. From December 1600, as C. Porta’s assistant, he helped him conduct the chapel choir at the basilica; from 1601 to 1606 he was the maestro di cappella. From November 1608, he once again led the ensemble at St Anthony’s in Padua; dismissed in December 1613 due to poor performance of his duties, he remained at the basilica for the rest of his life as a monk.

Ratti’s works reflect the shift away from polyphonic structure towards chordal and concertante textures that was typical of the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. The basso continuo part in the collection of psalms still follows the basso seguente style. The madrigals are written in the canzonetta style.

Literature: A. Albanese Alcuni contributi alla biografia di Bartolomeo Ratti, “Rivista Italiana di Musicologia” XIX, 1984.