Gagliano, Marco da
Gagliano, Marco da
Gagliano, Marco da, significant Italian composer, brother of Giovanni Battista da Gagliano; b. Florence, May 1, 1582; d. there, Feb. 25, 1643. He studied with Luca Bati, and became his assistant at S. Lorenzo in 1602; concurrently studied with the Compagnia dell’ Arcangelo Raffaello, serving as maestro di cappella in 1607 and 1609. He also took Holy Orders. In 1607 he went to Mantua, where his opera La Dafne was given with great success in 1608. After returning to Florence, he succeeded Bati as maestro di cappella at the Cathedral in 1608; was later in the service of the Medici court. He was made canon in 1610 and Apostolic Protonotary in 1615, and founded the Accademia degli Elevati in 1607. With Jacopo Peri, he wrote the opera Lo sposalizio di Medoro e Angelica, which was performed in honor of the election of Emperor Ferdinand III at the Palazzo Pitti on Sept. 25, 1619. He also composed the opera La Flora, for which Peri wrote the role of Clori; it was performed in honor of the wedding of Margherita de’ Medici and Duke Odoardo Farnese of Parma at the Palazzo Pitti on Oct. 14, 1628. Gagliano was one of the earliest composers to write in the stile rappresentativo, which he developed further by ornamentation.
Works
DRAMATIC Opera : La Dafne (Mantua, 1608); Lo sposalizio di Medoro e Angelica (Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Sept. 25, 1619; in collaboration with J. Peri); La Flora, overo IInatal di Fiori (Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Oct. 14, 1628; major portion by Gagliano, with the role of Clori by Peri). Another dramatic work, La liberazione di Tirreno e d’Arnea (Florence, Feb. 6, 1617), may be by Gagliano; he may have collaborated with Peri on the score, or it may be entirely the work of Peri. VOCAL: S e c u l a r : Books of madrigals for 5, 6, 7, and 8 Voices (1602–17); Musiche for 1 to 3 and 5 Voices (1615). S a c r e d : Officium defunctorum for 4 to 8 Voices (Venice, 1607–08); Missae et sacrarum cantionum for 6 Voices (Florence, 1614); Sacrarum cantionum…liber secundus for 1 to 4 and 6 Voices (1622); Responsoria maioris hebdomadae for 4 Voices (1630–31).
Bibliography
D. Butchart, I Madrigali di M. d.G. (Florence, 1982).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire