Giacomo Gorzanis

Gorzanis was a lute virtuoso extrordinaire who was blind and possibly a member of the nobility. He was even received into citizenship by Austria. The Italian variation dance suite did not exist before Gorzanis' compositions and it is thought that he may have contributed to their development. The lute works were at least important foreshadowings of the suite. Many of Gorzanis' compositions were dances written polyphonically while others employed the use of refrains. Settings were quite demanding often using six-note chords; the performer was often required to use the highest possible position on the instrument. Gorzanis' "Libro de intabluatura di liuto. . ." contained 24 dance pairs, early suites, composed in each of the major and minor keys. ~ Keith Johnson