Rovetta, Giovanni

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Rovetta, Giovanni

Rovetta, Giovanni , Italian composer; b. Venice, c. 1595; d. there, Oct. 23, 1668. He pursued his career in Venice, where his life was centered on San Marco. After serving as a boy treble there, he was an instrumentalist (1615–17). In 1623 he became a bass singer there, and soon entered the priesthood. After serving as an asst. maestro di cappella (1627–44), he succeeded Monteverdi as maestro di cappella in 1644, a position he retained until his death. Rovetta distinguished himself as a composer of both sacred and secular music, and was one of the principal composers in the concertato style. He pubi. 8 vols, of sacred music (Venice, 1626–62) and 4 vols, of madrigals (Venice, 1629–45). He also composed the operas Ercole in Lidia (1645) and Argiope (1649), but they are not extant.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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