Edition Zefiro

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Ascanio Trombetti

Ascanio Trombetti was a cornetto player in the Concerto Palatino of Bologna.
His book of motets of 1585 contains pieces that work beautifully on wind instruments.

He was born in Bologna in 1544, and died there rather suddenly in 1590 when he was murdered by the wife of a bookseller who objected to being cuckolded.

His family name was Cavallari, but he presumably acquired the name Trombetti because of his prowess on wind instruments: at the age of nineteen he was already playing in the concerto palatino (the official town wind band in Bologna).  He also worked in the capella at the church of St. Giovanni in Monte.

His Il Primo Libro de Motetti accomodati per cantare e far concerti a 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 & 12 was published in Venice in 1589.  Several of the larger pieces are headed “da concert” presumably indicating a mixture of solo voices and instruments; the fact that some pieces include parts that are too low to sing (e.g. his 10-part Jubilate Deo ↣  and his 8-part Jubilate Deo ↣  ) would tend to support this interpretation.  Although there is nothing particularly revolutionary about these pieces, the scoring of the parts, and economy of style makes them very suitable for wind instruments.  Trombetti’s word-setting tends to be impeccable; it provides us with a great deal of information on how to phrase his music.

(Bernard Thomas)