Grantley McDonald has written the most brilliant programme note / commentary on this work, available by clicking here.
Annibale Padovano (1527–1575) was a renowned Italian Renaissance composer and organist of the Venetian School, celebrated for his pioneering role in developing the keyboard toccata and ricercar. He served as the first organist at St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice (1552–1565) before becoming a director of music for the Habsburg court in Graz, Austria.
Key details about Annibale Padovano:
- Venetian School Influence: Working during a, time when Adrian Willaert was master of music, Padovano contributed significantly to the Venetian style, which often featured polychoral, antiphonal techniques.
- Instrumental Pioneer: He is best remembered for his toccatas—early examples of the genre with an improvisatory, highly ornamented style—and ricercars, which were forerunners to the fugue.
- Vocal Works: Though famous for instrumental music, he wrote sacred works, including a 24-part mass for a wedding in Bavaria.
- Career: He worked as an organist at St. Mark’s in Venice alongside Claudio Merulo before moving to Graz in 1566 to serve Archduke Karl II, eventually becoming the director of music there.
- Legacy: His work was highly regarded by contemporaries, including theorist Vincenzo Galilei, who praised him as a master of both performance and composition (‘really knew how to play well and compose well’ (‘hanno veramente saputo & ben sonare, & bene scrivere’).
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