These pieces are written using the voicing typical of the canzonetta, (two equal parts plus a third part about an octave lower).
Little is known of the life of Valerio Buona. He was born in Brescia, and at some stage became a Franciscan.
Around 1590 he was maestro di cappella at the cathedral at Vercelli; in 1596 he was working in Milan. In 1611 he returned to Brescia, only to move on to Verona three years later. He had at least eight volumes of church music published, in Milan from 1590 to 1594, and in Venice between 1600 and 1619.
It is likely that at least six collections of his secular pieces were published.
(Bernard Thomas 1977)
