Of the four canzoni La pastorella mia is the most unusual: with its varied rhythm and contrasting triple-time section, it has something of the madrigal in character.
More Canzoni (selection 1) in TM9 ↣
Ludovico Agostini’s pieces are more suitable for a balanced ensemble of voices or of matching instruments, than for a mixed consort. No one part has a particularly memorable or dominating melody, but if only one part is to be sung, it should be the top one. The canzoni sound well on consorts of recorders (AATTB), viols (TrTTBB), 2 cornetts and 3 sackbuts, or on other wind instruments. If voices and / or viols are used, parts for one or more lutes can be added.
Agostini was born in Ferrara in 1534 of a musical family. He followed the tradition of his family and served at the Duomo in Ferrara as chaplain and musician, eventually dying in his native city in 1590. In spite of his active life as a church musician, no liturgical music by him has survived, though he did publish a book of spiritual madrigals in 1586. Rather, he seems to have specialised in secular music in which he displayed a taste for the bizarre: in 1567 he produced his Musica… sopra le rime bizarre di M. Andrea Calmo… à4 voci, and a few years later he published his two books of Enigmi musicali.
