BANCHIERI (ADRIANO)

Adriano BANCHIERI (1567 - 1634), initially named Tomaso before entering orders, is an Olivet monk from Bologna. • This Italian composer and organist rubbed shoulders with many great composers of the time such as Claudio Monteverdi, Girolamo Frescobaldi and even Orazio Vecchi. He quickly became noticed by his aptitudes as a musician but also as a theoretician and his numerous works (Cartella musicale, Conclusioni del suono dell'organo) made him largely posterity.

Banchieri is also one of the first composers to explain the figured bass notation, to use nuances in his scores or even to use barlines as we know them today.

His musical compositions cover many genres: masses, motets, dramatic compositions, madrigals, canzone ... As a poet (under the name of Camillo Scaglieri), he is the author of several madrigalesque comedies on comic themes based on life of yesteryear. Adriano Banchieri died in his hometown in the year 1634.