Ratti, Lorenzo (EN)

Ratti Lorenzo, Rattus Laurentius, *ca. 1590 Perugia, †10 August 1630 Loreto, Italian composer and organist. He studied music under his uncle V. Ugolini; from 1599 to 1601 he sang in the Cappella Giulia choir in Rome; from May 1614 to June 1616 he served as organist at the cathedral in Perugia; he then settled in Rome, where he served as maestro di capella: from 1616 to 1617 at the Seminario Romano, from June 1619 to July 1620 and from March 1623 to December 1629 at the Collegio Germanico, and also from August 1620 to February 1623 at the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi. During Lent 1629, he conducted a series of concerts at the Oratorio del SS. Crocifisso. On December 15, 1629, he became maestro di cappella of the Church of S Casa in Loreto, but on July 30, 1630, he resigned from this position due to poor health.

Ratti was highly regarded by his contemporaries for his compositional skill and colourful style. The most significant work in his oeuvre is the three-part collection Sacrae modulationes, comprising polyphonic settings of the Mass proper and motets. Among these works, particular attention should be paid to the six offertories, in which Ratti ingeniously and freely employs a dialogue between solo voices and two choirs accompanied by organ basso continuo, as well as motets featuring a rich harmonic texture and ornate melodic lines.

Literature: R.F. Chauvin Six Gospel Dialogues for the Offertory by Lorenzo Ratti, “Analecta musicologica” IX, 1970; T.D. Culley Jesuits and Music, vol. 1: A Study of the Musicians Connected with the German College in Rome during the 17th Century and of Their Activities in Northern Europe, Rome 1970; G. Dixon Lorenzo Ratti (1589/90–1630) “Exemplum Virtutum”, “Note d’archivio per la storia musicale”, new series, II, 1984.