Trabaci, Giovanni Maria (EN)

Trabaci Giovanni Maria, *ca. 1580 Montepeloso (now Irsina), †10 January 1648 Naples, an Italian composer and organist. He worked in Naples; from 1596 he was organist at the Oratorio dei Filippini, from 1601 organist, and from 1614 until his death maestro di cappella at the court of the viceroy of Spain; furthermore, between 1603 and 1611 he worked for the Neapolitan aristocrat Ottavio di Capua del Balzo, and between 1625 and 1630 he was once again organist at the Oratorio dei Filippini. 

Trabaci was one of the most outstanding figures in early Baroque Neapolitan instrumental music. His works, published in 1603 and 1615, reveal the influence of Spanish organ music, Franco-Flemish counterpoint and local composers (R. Rodio, A. Mayonne). Trabaci’s ricercares, arranged according to the 12 modes, served as organ intonations; these are strict polyphonic forms with three or four themes, in which the themes and their variations are developed simultaneously across four voices. Canti fermi and diminished madrigals (e.g. Io mi son giovinetto) are also written in strict Renaissance counterpoint. The Baroque style is most clearly evident in the harpsichord toccatas. Due to frequent and sudden changes in figurative patterns, unprepared dissonances, the contrast between rhythmic and agogic elements, and a developed, typically instrumental texture, these works resemble the toccatas of G. Frescobaldi. The harpsichord capriccios, canzonas, galliards and variations based on bass patterns (e.g. Partita prima su Ruggiero) and the melodies of popular songs are written in a similar Baroque style; some of them may have been played on the harp, which was very popular at the Spanish court in Naples.

The fairly extensive surviving collection of Trabaci’s vocal works still requires thorough study of the sources. It comprises sacred pieces in the stile antico (masses and motets) and moderno (passions “da cantare in moto recitativo et senza battuta”), polychoral works and concertos for small ensemble with basso continuo, as well as secular works in which references to L. Luzzaschi, such as emphasis on virtuosic elements, are evident. The emergence of chromaticism and bold dissonances (mainly in the motets of 1602) can be interpreted as the influence of Gesualdo da Venosa.

Literature: D. Celada L’opera organistica di Giovanni Maria Trabaci w: La Nuova musicologia italiana, eed. G.M. Gatti, Turin 1965; R. Jackson The Inganni and the keyboard music of Trabaci, “Journal of the American Musicological Society” XXI, 1968; W. Witzenmann Rapporti fia la musica strumentale di Trabaci e quella di Frescobaldi and K. Fischer La posizione di A. Mayone e G.M. Trabaci nello sviluppo del ricercare, in: La musica a Napoli durante il Seicento, proceedings from the international conference, Naples 1985, eds. D.A. D’Alessandro and A. Ziino, Rome 1987; F. Wiering The Ricercars of Macque and Trabaci. A Case of Musical Competition?, “Muziek & wetenschap” II, 1992; N. Rieben Les limites techniques de la typographie musicale: Quelques exemples tirés du premier volume de musique instrumentale de Giovanni Maria Trabaci, “Schweizer Jahrbuch für Musikwissenschaft” XXIII, 2003; M. Guido Giovanni Maria Trabaci and the new manner of Inganni: A musical mockery in the early seicento ricercare w: Interpreting historical keyboard music, eds. A. Woolley, J. Kitchen, Burlington 2013; D.A. D’Alessandro Mecenati e mecenatismo nella vita musicale napoletana del Seicento e condizione sociale del musicista: I casi di Giovanni Maria Trabaci e Francesco Provenzale in: Storia della musica e dello spettacolo a Napoli: Il Seicento, eds. F. Cotticelli, P. Maione, Naples 2019.