Simone Molinaro facts for kids

Simone Molinaro (born around 1570 – died May 1636) was a talented music composer from Italy. He lived during the late Renaissance period. He was especially famous for his beautiful music played on the lute, which is a string instrument like a guitar.

Life and Music Career

Simone Molinaro was born in a city called Genoa in Italy. He learned music from his uncle, Giovanni Battista Dalla Gostena. His uncle was the main music director, or maestro di cappella, at the big Genoa Cathedral.

In 1593, his uncle Gostena passed away. Molinaro took over his uncle's important job at the Cathedral in 1599. In the same year, he released a book of lute music called Intavolatura di liuto. This book included music written by both him and his uncle.

Besides his lute music, Molinaro also wrote a lot of sacred choral music. This is music for choirs, often for church services. Many of these pieces are not complete today because some of the partbooks are missing. Partbooks were like individual music sheets for each singer. However, some of his five-voice motets, which are short choral pieces, have been saved in other music collections. Molinaro died in Genoa in May 1636.

Molinaro also helped publish the works of another composer named Carlo Gesualdo. He edited and released Gesualdo's madrigals, which are vocal songs, in 1585 and 1613.

What Made His Music Special

When Molinaro wrote dances for the lute, he focused on clear melodies and harmonies. Music experts say his pieces were simple and pretty. They had a special charm that made them very appealing.

Molinaro wrote his lute music when this type of music was at its very best. Along with another composer named Giovanni Terzi, Molinaro helped create a graceful and skillful style of instrumental music. This style could show many different feelings and used techniques usually found in vocal music.

The 1613 edition of Gesualdo's madrigals that Molinaro published was very important. It showed Gesualdo's music in a full score format. This meant all the parts were written together on one page. Before this, music was often published in separate partbooks for each singer or instrument.

Molinaro's music was even used by a later composer, Ottorino Respighi. Respighi used Molinaro's "Balletto detto il Conte Orlando" as a basis for a piece in his Ancient Airs and Dances Suite No. 1.

His Musical Works

Lute Music

• Intavolatura di liuto libro 1, published in Venice, 1599

Secular Vocal Music

• Il 1 libro di canzonette a 3 e 4 voci, Venice, 1595
• Il 1 libro de Madrigali a 5 voci, Venice, 1599
• Il 2 libro delle Canzonette a 3 voci, Venice, 1600
• Madrigali a 5 voci, Loano 1615

Sacred Vocal Music

• Motectorum quinis et Missae denis vocibus liber I, Venice, 1597
• Il 2 libro de Mottetti a 8 voci, Milan, 1601
• Il 1 libro de mottetti a 5 voci, con la partitura per sonar l'organo, Milan, 1604
• Il 1 libro de Magnificat a 4 voci, con basso continuato, Milan, 1605
• Concerti ecclesiastisi a 2 e a 4 voci...con la sua part. per l'organo, Venice, 1605
• Il 3 libro de Mottetti a 5 voci con il basso continuato, Venice, 1609
• Fatiche spirituali...libro 1 a 6 voci, Venice, 1610
• Fatiche spirituali....libro 2 a 6 voci, Venice, 1610
• Concerti a 1 e 2 voci con la part. per l'organo, Milan, 1612
• Passio Domini Iesu Christi secundum Matthaeum, Marcum, Lucam, et Ioannem, Loano, 1616

See also

In Spanish: Simone Molinaro para niños