La raccolta di mottetti di Federico Malgarini (1618): uno spaccato di vita musicale mantovana tra routine e vivacità culturale

The paper analyzes the collection Mottetti a una, due, tre e quattro voci col basso continuo per l’organo (Venezia, Giacomo Vincenti, 1618), edited by Federico Malgarini (himself a musician and a cantor for the basilica of S. Barbara). In the dedication of this collection, Malgarini declares of having gathered «with care and dedication» compositions by other musicians employed by the Duke of Mantua. Thus, the analysis of these motets offers us some valuable insights not only on textual and compositional choices, but on the Mantuan cultural and music scene as well. Indeed, Malgarini gathered pieces from several artists. Some of them were singers, like Francesco Rasi, who, in 1607, played the role of Orpheus in the eponymous opera by Claudio Monteverdi. In the collection we can find also the maestri di cappella Amante Franzoni and Francesco Dognazzi, Ottavio Bargnani, organist, and the brothers Orazio and Giovan Battista Rubini, violinists