Whether you're looking for composer biographies, historical music articles or public domain sheet music, Music of Yesterday has what you are looking for. We update content daily and link the best articles on this page weekly to keep you up to date on what's new.
Our content consists of article extracts from newspapers, magazines and books written and published prior to 1923 bringing to you the flavor of early music history as it was presented by prominent people in the music industry at that time including articles written by famous composers about other famous composers as well as articles written by opera stars and the top music educators of the time.
Also included in our archive are articles concerning the teaching of various musical instruments as well as music theory and what the best methods were for teaching students of all ages.
Most of our biographies include not only birth dates and places but more personal information on the lives and times of the person being studied and in some cases the interaction between composers of their time. Learn about their struggles, successes and more.
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| Paolo Agostini |
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Paolo was an Italian composer who stands out in relief from too many of his contemporary countrymen. He was born at Valerano in 1593, and was a pupil, at Rome, of Bernardino Nanini, whose daughter he married. After being organist of S. Trinita de' Pellegrini, S. Maria in Trasteverre, and S. Lorenzo in Damaso, he succeeded Ugolini as Maestro at the Vatican Chapel, in 1627. He died in Sept 1629. The extant published works of Agostini consist of two volumes of Psalms for four and eight voices (printed by Soldi, Rome, 1619); two volumes of Magnificats for one, two and three voices (ib. 1620); and five volumes of Masses for four, five, eight, and twelve voices, published (Robletti, Rome) in,1624, 1625, 1626, 1627 and 1628 respectively. He was one of the first to employ large numbers of voices in several choirs. Ingenuity and elegance are his prevailing characteristics; but that he could and did rise beyond these, is proved by an 'Agnus Dei' for eight voices in canon, which was published by P. Martini in his 'Saggio di Contrappunto Fugato,' and which is allowed to be a masterpiece. He contributed a dialogue to G. Giamberti's 'Poesie diverse' (1623). The fame, however, of Agostini rests upon his unpublished pieces, which form the great bulk of his productions. They are preserved partly in the Corsini Library, and partly in the Coolection of the Vatican. A motet by Agostini is given in Proske's 'Musica Divina'. |