Guami, Francesco
Guami, Francesco
Guami, Francesco, distinguished Italian trombonist and composer, brother of Gioseffo Guami; b. Lucca, c. 1544; d. there, Jan. 30, 1602. He went to Munich about 1568 as a musician at the court chapel of Duke Albert V. About 1580 he is believed to have become Kapellmeister to Margrave Philipp II in Baden-Baden, although his name is not given in court records until 1587-88. He then returned to Italy, where he became maestro di cappella at San Marciliano in Venice about 1593. In 1596 he was made maestro di cappella at Udine Cathedral, but he seems not to have assumed his duties there. In 1598 he was appointed capo della musica of the Cappella Palatina in Lucca, and later was the first to serve there as maestro di cappella. He was highly esteemed as both an instrumentalist and as a composer of madrigals.
Works
VOCAL Secular : II primo libro de’ madrigali for 4 and 5 Voices (Venice, 1588); II secondo libro de’ madrigali for 4, 5, and 6 Voices (Venice, 1593); II terzo libro de’ madrigali for 4 and 5 Voices (Venice, 1598). S a c r e d : Laudate Dominum, motet for 10 Voices (1585); Masses, all of which are lost. OTHER: Ricercari a 2 (Venice, 1598).
Bibliography
P. Crabtree, The Vocal Works of Gioseffo and F. G. (diss., Univ. of Cincinnati, 1971).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire