Lodovico Viadana

It is possible that Viadana was a student of Porta in Parma but the evidence is slight. He did serve as the master of the chapel choir at Mantua Cathedral from 1594 until 1597, though the exact dates of his service are uncertain. By the end of the century, Viadana may have been at Padua. He did become the master of the choir at the convent of St. Luca in Cremona in 1602, served at the cathedral at Concordia from 1608 to 1609, and at Fano Cathedral from 1610 until 1612. His later positions were held in Bologna, 1614 and finally, in 1623, he found his way to Buseto, only later serving at St. Andrea in Gualtieri. For the period in which Viadana composed, his music was considered new and inventive with a flowing and moving character. Sacred vocal music dominated his works, and though he began with a cappella stylings, Viadana later added "basso per l'organo" as a basso seguente. The bass part would not be completely independent of the larger work but would be the lowest portion of the musical score and would be composed, often, in an imitative fashion. The part was composed for the organ. Viadana's "Concerti ecclesiastici" is considered the first publication with basso continuo written with vocal music. The pieces were arranged for one to four singers. The three-voiced compositions required the basso continuo, accordingly, these were not seguente. When Viadana composed monodies, they were set in typical a cappella form. Also contained in his "Concerti" was a work entitled "Missa dominicalis." This unique piece, for one voice and continuo, eventually became part of the Catholic worship service. Viadana also employed the use of the concertante style, which appears in "Salmi a 4 cori." This he arranged for five voices, two or three choirs of four voices, three organs and chittarone, and strings, cornetts, bassoons, and trombones. The organ and chittarone provided additional harmonies while the other instruments were used for doubling the voices. In his "Ventiquattro Credo" of 1619, Viadana employed the use of simple rhythms and borrowed melodies from hymns. The only extant secular works by Viadana are canzonettas which were scored for two instrumental choirs and a basso continuo. Those written in triple meters were homophonic and those scored in duple meters were monophonic. ~ Keith Johnson