Filippo Nicoletti
Filippo Nicoletti
Genres: 16th century, italian
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About Filippo Nicoletti
Filippo Nicoletti (ca.1555–1634) was a composer from Ferrara. He proclaims himself Ferraranese in the title pages of some of his works. As for the year of his birth, in a letter written in 1623 to Cardinal Alessandro d'Este, he claimed to be 69 years old (Andreotti, 1991-92, p. 94). According to Schmidl (1929, p. 173), he studied with the Franciscan Giuliano Cartari, whose presence is documented since 1567 as cantor to the Saint of Padua and from 1573 as chapel master in S. Francesco in Bologna; the information, while not unlikely, is not supported by documents. The first traces of Nicoletti's musical activity show the close contacts he maintained with members of the nobility of Rovigo, where he probably resided and worked: "from Rovigo, November 15, 1577" he signed the dedication to the noble from Lendinarese Petrobello Petrobelli of the first book of 'madrigals for five voices (Venice, A. Gardano, 1578). Also the second printed work, Li fake amori. Five-part music(Venice, G. Vincenzi - R. Amadino, 1585), although dated "di Venetia, li primo di luio [sic] 1585", refers to the environment of Rovigo, since it is dedicated to "Catarin Zeno, most dignified mayor and captain of Rovigo and proveditor of all the Polesine "and includes two madrigals on texts by" sig. Mazzarello da Rovigo "and" Signor Dr. Avanzi da Rovigo ", alongside those of more famous poets (from Ludovico Ariosto, Luigi Cassola, Girolamo Parabosco and Luigi Groto, to the more recent Torquato Tasso and Battista Guarini). If the first of the two collections shows a conventional and not too refined madrigal style, decidedly more refined, starting from the poetic choices, the second appears, in which Nicoletti shows a solid contrapuntal technique characterized by rhythmic variety and a lively conduct of the voices , which show off agile passages and sudden jumps of octave, tenth and even twelfth. In those years he tried to move to the court of Mantua, since in October 1579 he was recommended, as chaplain, to Duke Guglielmo Gonzaga by Alessandro Nodari, who highlighted his beautiful voice and composer's skills: the attempt was unsuccessful. . However, he had maintained good contacts with the Ferrara environment, as can be deduced from the fact that one of his madrigals was included in the collection Il lauro verde (Ferrara, V. Baldini, 1583), published in honor of Laura Peverara on the initiative of a group of music lovers Ferrara who signed themselves "Renewed Academics". In 1588 he published the first book of two-part madrigals, dedicating it to the prelate from Rovigo Girolamo Bonifacio, vicar of the bishop of Adria: it is a didactic work, in a flowery style; as for the poetic choices - Luigi Tansillo, Ariosto and Pietro Bembo - they are almost entirely based on Andrea Gabrieli's First book of three-part madrigals (Venice, A. Gardano, 1575). In February 1588 he entered the service of Alfonso II d'Este, as chaplain and musician of the Ferrara court, remaining there until the death of the duke in 1597; in a petition to Cesare d'Este in 1608 he declared in fact that "he had served his house for nine years" (Andreotti, 1991-92, p. 90). In Ferrara he also took part in the activity of some clubs, such as the "reduced" of the counts Bonifacio and Luigi Bevilacqua, to whom he dedicated the collective madrigal edition edited by himself, La gloria musica (Venice, R. Amadino, 1592), containing two of his madrigals, and that of Antonio Goretti, to whom he dedicated a piece in the re-edition of the first book of two-part madrigals (Venice, Giacomo Vincenzi, 1605). After the devolution of the Este duchy to the Papal State (1598), he left Ferrara to move to Rome, probably in 1602, when his name disappeared from the list of the cathedral's resident clergy, while continuing to enjoy the benefit of the chaplaincy of St. James of Galicia. The first contact with the Roman environment can be seen in the two passages included among the Motets of the various authors in praise of Santa Cecilia with 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 voices (Rome, Heirs of Nicolò Muzi, 1602). The intermediary between Nicoletti and the curator, Ludovico Torti from Pavia, at the time choirmaster in the cathedral of Rieti, may have been another composer included in the collection, Bernardino Bertolotti, then "musician of Castel Sant'Angelo" in Rome, who "For twenty years" he had been in the service of Duke Alfonso II and therefore a colleague of Nicoletti at the Este court (Pitoni , 1988, p. 160). In 1604 Nicoletti was certainly in Rome, from where, on 25 November, he signed the dedication of his Villanelle in three voices to Guglielmo Bevilacqua, "referendary of both Signatura and most dignified governor of Jesi", to whom he was evidently linked by the previous relations with the noble Bevilacqua family from Ferrara. The Villanelle , stylistically similar to the Roman-style songs for the use of a rigorous yet simplified counterpoint, use anonymous texts with a strophic structure and a popular, pastoral, parody or amorous character. As we learn from the re-edition of the first book of two-part madrigals, as early as 1605 he had obtained his first assignment as choirmaster in San Lorenzo in Damaso. From November 1607 he went to direct the chapel of S. Maria della Consolazione, church of the homonymous hospital, remaining in office until August 1612. From July 1613 he was chapel master at S. Maria di Loreto, church of the brotherhood of the Fornai, remaining in office until death. Almost certainly he joined the Company of Musicians of Rome: in 1626 it was he who signed, on behalf of the association, the denunciation that led to the seizure of the musical works printed by the pontifical cantor Francesco Severi, and to the consequent conflict between the papal chapel and the Company of the musicians, arose because of the exclusive privilege granted to the latter of being able to print music. He enjoyed a good reputation in the Roman environment: the praise addressed to him by Giovanni Briccio for some of his enigmatic canons that have not come down to us would prove it. He also carried out an intense didactic activity, which is mentioned in the aforementioned letter to Cardinal Alessandro d'Este of 3 June 1623, complaining of the "efforts that [...] I have done in teaching or courting my masters" (Andreotti, 1991-92 , p. 94). Among his pupils were Giovan Battista Massari and Francesco Sammaruco (see preface to the collection of motets, edited by the two, Corona di ligli et sacre rose [Venice, 1619]), Pietro Paolo Sammaruco and the well-known violinist Giovanni Antonio Leoni, as well as to a Livia, «little daughter who sang», daughter of her nephew Giovanni Ricci (Morelli, 1996, p. 149). He also cultivated poetry and published the Spiritual Rhymes on the Solemnity of the Birth of Our Lord (Ferrara, V. Baldini, 1593), dedicated to Duke Alfonso II d'Este, and the De divini verbi nativitate, passion et resurrectione carmina , dedicated to Cardinal Lelio Biscia (Rome, GB Robletti, 1634), as well as a sonnet and a song in the Rhymes by various authors in the wedding of the illustrious and etc. Carlo Gesualdi with the illustrious and etc. lady Leonora d'Este (Ferrara, V. Baldini, 1594). He died in Rome on September 27, 1634.
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