CAVAZZONI, GIROLAMO

Renaissance organist and polyphonist; b. Urbino, Italy, c. 1520; d. Venice, 1560. He was a son of Marco Antonio Cavazzoni, godson of Cardinal Bembo, and pupil of Willaert. His fame rests today on his extensive volume of keyboard music, Intavolatura cioè Ricercari, Canzoni, Hinni, Magnificati (Venice 1542), comprising four ricercari, two canzone, twelve hymns, and settings of the odd-numbered verses of the Magnificat in tones I, IV, VI, and VIII. This was followed in 1543 by a similar work containing three organ Masses: Missa Apostolorum, Missa Dominicalis, and Missa de Beata Virgine. His collections contain many marks of originality. The ricercari received the Þrst polyphonic treatment of this form, and his two canzoni initiated a new distinct canzona literature for keyboard. In the Gloria and Credo settings of his Masses, the alternation plan is clearly regular; e.g., "Gloria" (celebrant), "Et in terra" (organ), "Laudamus Te" (choir), "Benedicimus Te" (organ), "Adoramus Te" (choir).

See Also: LITURGICAL MUSIC, HISTORY OF.

Bibliography: Modern eds. of selections from the Intavolatura in l. torchi, ed., L'arte musicale in Italia, 7 v. (Milan 1897–1908) v.2–3. g. benvenuti, ed., I classici della musica Italiana, v.6 (Milan 1919). g. tagliapietra, ed., Antologia di musica antica e moderna per pianoforte, 14 v. (Milan 1931–32) v.1. i. fuser, ed., Classici italiana dell'organo (Padua 1955). a. schering, ed., Geschichte der Musik in Beispielen (Leipzig 1931) 103. a. t. davidson and w. apel, Historical Anthology of Music, rev. ed. 2 v., (Cambridge, Mass. 1975) 1:121–127, general. h. klotz, Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, ed. f. blume 10 v. (Kassel-Basel, 1949–) 2:934–937. j. a. fuller-maitland, Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. e. blom 9 v. (London 1954) 2:132. d. m. randel, ed., The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music (Cambridge, Mass. 1996) 147. c. h. slim, "Girolamo Cavazzoni" in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 4, ed. s. sadie (New York 1980) 35–36. n. slonimsky, ed. Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Eighth Edition (New York 1992) 310.

[m. t. hytrek]