Leoni, Leone
Leoni, Leone
Leoni, Leone, distinguished Italian composer; b. Verona, c. 1560; d. Vicenza, June 24, 1627. He studied at the “academy” maintained by Count Mario Bevilacqua in Verona, then was maestro di cappella in Vicenza from Oct. 4, 1588, until his death. He was a disciple of the Venetian school, and his works are characteristic for their application of chromatic devices in harmony and antiphonal choral usages. He wrote about 130 madrigals (41 not extant) and around 185 motets (about 40 not extant). He was an important composer of motets.
Works
(all publ. in Venice): vocal: sacred:Penitenza: Primo libro de [21] madrigali spirituali for 5 Voices (1596); Sacri fiori: [20] motetti [and 1 Magnificat] for 2 to 4 Voices and organ,libro primo (1606); [20] Sacrarum cantionum liber primus for 8 Voices and 2 Organs (1608); Sacri fiori: Secondo libro de [31] motetti for I to 3 Voices and Organ… con una messa for 4 Voices (1612); Omnium solemnitatum psalmodia for 8 Voices (1613); Aurea corona ingemmata d’armonici, concerto a 10 for 4 Voices and 6 Instruments (1615); Sacri fiori: quarto libro de [25] motetti for 1 to 4 Voices and Organ (1622). secular: II primo libro de [21] madrigali for 5 Voices (1588); Bella Clori: Secondo libro de [22] madrigali for 5 Voices (1591); II terzo libro de [21] madrigali for 5 Voices (1595); II quarto libro de [20] madrigali ( 1598; not extant); Bell’Alba: Quinto libro de [21] madrigali for 5 Voices (1602).
Bibliography
H. Wing, The Polychoral Motets of L L. (diss., Boston Univ., 1966).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire