Rossi, Salomone de’ (EN)

Rossi Salomone, Salamone, Salomon, Szlomoh Me-ha-Adumim, de’, known as Ebreo, *19 (?) August 1570 Mantua (?), †ca. 1630 Mantua (?), Italian composer and instrumentalist of Jewish origin, brother of the famous soprano Madama Europa. He was not the son of the philosopher Asaria de’ Rossi though, nor was he related to the famous musicians of the same name in Mantua. He probably studied music in his hometown, where he served at the Gonzaga court throughout his life as a member of a Jewish theater troupe, and in the years 1587–1600 and 1622 as an occasionally employed violinist, violist, and leader of the court ensemble. In 1612, he stayed with a group of Jewish musicians at the court of Prince of Mirandola. He probably died in the ghetto in Mantua as a result of an epidemic caused by the invasion of the armies of Emperor Ferdinand II.

Rossi was one of the most outstanding musicians at the court of Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga, alongside C. Monteverdi, A. Striggio (II), C. Farina, and G.B. Buonamante. However, his role in music history has often been overestimated, with him being considered the first composer to write madrigals with basso continuo, the creator of the trio sonata, and the only representative of synagogal polyphony before the 19th century. Rossi’s music still belongs stylistically to the late Renaissance tradition, with seconda pratica rarely appearing in it.

Despite the 22 years that passed between the publication of the first and last books of madrigals, Rossi cultivated the outdated type of 5-voice polyphonic madrigal a cappella, without undergoing any stylistic evolution. The tablature part for chittarrone included in book 1 does not represent a basso continuo part; rather, it is an instrumental realization of the fifth voice of the vocal composition, intended to accompany the soprano in a pseudo-monodic rendering. Similarly, the part labeled as basso continuo in the later books (and in four-voice madrigals), though sparsely figured, exhibits all the characteristics of a basso seguente and rather suggests a polyphonic realization. Rossi made the most innovations in the field of synagogue music. Haszirim aszer lisz’lomo was the first musical publication with Hebrew text. It contains 33 arrangements of psalms, hymns, and synagogue songs for an a cappella ensemble, sometimes divided into two choirs. Here, Rossi attempted to transplant the motet style in the form recommended by the Council of Trent into synagogue music. The influence of G.G. Gastoldi, C. Monteverdi, and G. Gabrieli is evident in these works. Despite the controversy surrounding the idea of merging Catholic and synagogue music, Rossi’s experiments were continued by his student and publisher Leo da Modena.

Contrary to opinions that Rossi was the inventor of the trio sonata, both his sonatas and the vast majority of his instrumental works are duets for two violas da braccio or two violins or two cornetts with chittarrone accompaniment. Only in the fourth book of sonatas is the chittarrone part figured and sometimes melodically active, imitating the other voices, sometimes fundamental. The duo instrumentation preferred by Rossi became standard in 17th century secular and dance instrumental music. The vast majority of Rossi’s instrumental works, gathered in four books, are short, several-bar sinfonias (55) in the style of canzonettas, and dances (34) in a two-part repetitive form. The sinfonias were probably used as ritornellos for vocal works or introductions to dance suites. Six pairs of galliard-corrente from book 4 represent one of the earliest embryonic forms of the Baroque suite cycle. The three canzonas à 4 from book 2 and the sonata La Casalasca à 3 from book 3 are based on dactylic motifs and imitative techniques typical of the canzona. Among the works called sonatas, only seven constitute a genuine sonata, while the others are variations built on familiar bass schemes. The sonatas most often take a two-part form, similar to sinfonias, but are larger in size (up to 50 bars). Among Rossi’s most notable works are the sonatas La Moderna and La Viena in dialogo, along with Sinfonia No. 8 from book 3. The phrasing, frequent suspensions, rhapsodic structure, dynamic contrasts, and the use of solo parts over a realized basso continuo all reflect the influence of the stile moderno.

Literature: E. Birnbaum Jüdische Musiker am Hofe zu Mantua von 1542–1628, Vienna 1893, Eng. trans. expanded 1978; A. Einstein Salomone Rossi as Composer of Madrigals, “Hebrew Union College Annual” XXIII, 1950/51; J. Newman, F. Rikko A Thematic Index to the Works of Salomone Rossi, Hackensack (New York) 1972; F. Piperno I quattro libri di musica strumentale di Salomone Rossi, “Nuova Rivista Musicale Italiana” XIII, 1979; G. Ghirardini, Salomone Rossi, musico alla corte dei Gonzaga: studio biografico, “La Rassegna mensile di Israel”, LI (1985); J.R. Cohen Salomone Rossi’s Madrigal Style. Observations and Conjectures, “Orbis musicae” IX, 1986/87; D. Harrán Salomone Rossi, Jewish Musician in Renaissance Italy, “Acta Musicologica” LIX, 1987; D. Harrán Salomone Rossi as a Composer of Theatre Music, “Studi musicali” XVI, 1987; J. Jacobson A Possible Influence of Traditional Chant on a Synagogue Motet of Salomone Rossi, “Musica Judaica” X, 1987/88; J.R. Jacobson, The choral music of Salomone Rossi, “American Choral Review”, XXX (1988); D. Nutter, Salamone Rossi’s Chitarrone Madrigals, in: Claudio Monteverdi: Studi e prospettive, eds. T. M. Gialdroni, R. Baroncini, P. Besutti, Florence 1998; D. Harrán, Salamone Rossi. Jewish Musician in Late Renaissance Mantua, Oxford 1999; P. Mancuso, I canti di Salomone. La scienza musicale nel mondo ebraico: dal XV secolo all’opera di Salomone Rossi, Milan 2001; D. Harrán, Salomone Rossi as a composer of ‘Hebrew’ music, in: Studies in honour of Israel Adler, eds. E. Schleifer, E. Seroussi, Jerusalem 2002; D. Harrán, Marriage and Music as Metaphor: the Wedding Odes of Leon Modena and Salamone Rossi, “Musica Judaica” 17 (2003-04); E.L. Altschuler, W. Jansen, Thomas Weelkes and Salomone Rossi: some interconnections, “Musical Times”, 145 (2004); M.B. Beckerman, The songs of Solomon (Rossi) as the search for history, in:  The world of Baroque music: new perspectives, ed. G.B. Stauffer, Bloomington 2006; J.I. Haug, Hebräischer Text – Italienische Musik. Sprachbehandlung in Salomone Rossis Psalmvertonungen (1622/23), “Archiv für Musikwissenschaft”, LXIV (2007); D. Harrán, A tale as yet untold: Salomone Rossi in Venice, 1622, “Sixteenth-century Journal”, XL (2009); A. Ruffatti, A. Tacaille, Les Cantiques de Salomon de Salamone Rossi: Enjeux historiques et stylistiques, «Le jardin de musique», 6 (2009); R. Arnold, Leon Modena und Salamone Rossi Hebreo als Akteure kultureller Transformationen, “PaRDeS: Zeitschrift der Vereinigung für Jüdische Studien” 18 (2012); D. Harrán, J. Levine, S. Patuzzi, Music from a confined space: Salomone Rossi’s Ha-shirim asher lishlomoh (1622/23) and the Mantuan ghetto, “Journal of synagogue music,” 37 (2012); B. Sparti, Irregular and asymmetric galliards: The case of Salamone Rossi in: Dance, dancers and dance-masters in Renaissance and Baroque Italy, eds. B. Sparti, G. Giordano, A. Pontremoli, Bologna 2015; J. Jacobson, Salamone Rossi: Renaissance man of Jewish music, Teetz 2016; E.L. Altschuler, E. Latham, Weelkes and Rossi: A concert 420 years in the making, “Musical Times,” 160 (2019); P. Castro, Entre le visuel et le sonore: Les tablatures de Salomone Rossi et le mirage de leur transcription, “Musurgia: Analyse et pratique musicales,” 27 (2020); R. Cypess, L Bowring, Orality and literacy in the worlds of Salamone Rossi and S. Patuzzi, Salamone Rossi’s Songs of Solomon: The pleasures and pains of marginality in: Music and Jewish culture in early modern Italy: New perspectives, eds. R. Cypess, L Bowring, L. Malamut, Bloomington 2022.