- Giuseppe Baini
Giuseppe Baini (
October 21 ,1775 –May 21 ,1844 ) was an Italian priest, music critic, and composer of church music.He was born at
Rome . He was instructed in composition by his uncle,Lorenzo Baini , and afterwards byG. Jannaconi . In 1814, he was appointed musical director to the choir of the pontifical chapel, to which he had as early as 1802 gained admission in virtue of his fine bass voice. His compositions, of which very few have been published, were very favourable specimens of the severe ecclesiastical style; one in particular, a ten-partMiserere , composed for Holy Week in 1821 by order ofPope Pius VII , has taken a permanent place in the services of theSistine chapel duringPassion Week . Baini held a higher place, however, as a musical critic and historian than as a composer, and his "Life of Palestrina" ("Memorie storico-critiche della vita e delle opere di Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina", 1828) was described by the "1911 Encyclopedia Britannica " as being "one of the best works of its class". The phrase "Il Principe della Musica", which has become firmly associated with the name of Palestrina, originates with this biography.Baini's book on Palestrina established the 19th century attitude of hero worship towards the Renaissance master of
counterpoint , and also named him as the "savior of church music" versus the alleged "ban on counterpoint" by theCouncil of Trent . Contemporary scholarship, while not claiming that this view was entirely false, tends to hold that it was highly exaggerated; Palestrina was one of many skilled composers working at the time, and the influence of the Council of Trent on musical composition was more limited than at first presumed (the composers of theVenetian School , for example, ignored it almost entirely, and Palestrina-style composers such as Lassus, working inMunich , were also quite free to write as they pleased). Regardless of its failings, however, Baini's book was influential and did much to bringRenaissance music back into the attention of 19th century musicians as well as the general public.Giuseppe Baini died in May 1844 at
Rome .External links
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02209a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia article]
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