Anerio, Giovanni Francesco

Anerio, Giovanni Francesco, important Italian composer and organist, brother of Felice Anerio; b. Rome, c. 1567; d. Graz (buried), June 12, 1630. He was associated with the Oratory of Filippo Neri in Rome from about 1583, the year he received the tonsure. In 1584 he became ostiary and in 1586 he was made lector. From about 1605 he was maestro di cappella at S. Spirito in Sassia, and then at Verona Cathedral in 1609. Upon his return to Rome, he was music prefect at the Collegio Romano in 1611–12 and maestro di cappella at S. Maria dei Monti from 1613 to 1620. In 1616 he became a deacon and a priest. From 1624 to 1628 he was choirmaster at the Polish court of King Sigismund III in Warsaw. He died on his way home to Rome. Anerio was a composer of progressive tendencies. He was especially significant for introducing the vernacular oratorio in his Teatro armonico spirituale di madrigali (Rome, 1619).

Works

SACRED: Motets for 1 to 3 Voices and Basso Continuo (organ; Rome, 1609) and for 1 to 6 Voices and Basso Continuo (organ; 2 vols., Rome, 1611, 1613); Sacri concentus for 4 to 6 Voices and Basso Continuo (organ; Rome, 1613) and for 1 to 6 Voices and Basso Continuo (organ; Rome, 1617); Masses for 4 to 6 Voices and Basso Continuo (organ; Rome, 1614); Selva armonica, dove si contengono motetti...arie for I to 4 Voices and Basso Continuo (organ; Rome, 1617); Teatro armonico spirituale di madrigali for 5 to 8 Voices and Basso Contsinuo (organ; Rome, 1619). secular : Madrigals for 5 Voices (Venice, 1599), for 5, 6, and 8 Voices (Venice, 1608), for 1 to 2 Voices (Venice, 1611), and for 1 to 4 Voices (Venice, 1617); canzonettas, villanellas, etc.

Bibliography

W. Hobbs, G.F. A.’s “Teatro armonico spirituale di madrigali”: A Contribution to the Early History of the Oratorio (diss., Tulane Univ., 1971); N. Williams, The Masses of G.F. A.: A Historical and Analytical Study with a Supplementary Critical Edition (diss., Univ. of N.C, 1971).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire