Life
A hinge figure between two eras, his training was completed at the height of late-sixteenth-century Mannerism, while his artistic maturity expressed itself fully in the first phase of the Baroque.
Born in Milan around 1570, Giovanni Paolo Cima established himself as a prominent figure in the transition from the Renaissance language to the new forms of the seventeenth century. In 1606 he published the collection Concerti ecclesiastici, which combined voices and instruments in an innovative way. He was chapel master at Santa Maria presso San Celso and later organist at the Milan Cathedral.
His sacred and instrumental music contributed to the birth of the sonata for two and three parts, among the first examples of the genre. After 1622 there is no further news of his activity, but his work remains fundamental to the history of Italian instrumental music.
Aneddoto
An Innovator in Milan
His sonatas were among the first ever to have precise instrumental indications, paving the way for Italian chamber music.Works
He composed masses, motets, and instrumental sonatas. The Concerti ecclesiastici (1606) and the Concerti a due e a tre voci (1610) include some of the first sonatas with obligato instruments, testifying to his modernity.
Briciole di storia
The Pope of two months
When Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti was elected Pope in October 1591 taking the name Innocent IX, everyone in Rome knew he was elderly and gravely ill, and no one expected a long pontificate, let alone his frenetic activity. Instead of limiting himself to ordinary administration, in just two months of reign, Innocent IX began a true race against time, cutting superfluous expenses of the papal court, banning the sale of Church assets, and planning new congregations to combat famine and banditry. However, his energy could do nothing against disease. During a pilgrimage to the seven basilicas of Rome, the Pope caught a cold and died shortly after, on December 30. His pontificate, lasting just 62 days, went down in history as that of a Pope who, knowing his days were numbered, tried to reform the Church with the haste of one who knows he has no tomorrow.
Pubblico dominio (CC0 1.0 Universal)
