(b Parma, 22 Feb 1542; d Parma, ?17 Jan 1604). Italian lutenist and composer. He studied in Rome and quickly gained renown as a lutenist. He was summoned back to Parma by the music-loving Duke Ranuccio I Farnese, who appointed him as lutenist and teacher of the pages from 1 October 1594; he held these positions until his death. Some 50 compositions by him survive, mostly in manuscripts of north Italian provenance (one manuscript of Neapolitan origin, PL-Kj, has links with Fabrice Dentice and Lorenzini, both of whom were connected with the Farnese family). Apart from the payments registered at the Parma court, the only biographical information is given by Pico, who described him as a man with a cheerful disposition but a bad reputation at the end of his life. One source calls him Santino detto Valdès, a name that could connect him with the heretical sect the Waldensians. He was buried in an unmarked grave. Two epitaph poems on his death were published by Tommaso Stigliani in 1605.
His compositions consist mainly of conservative, idealized, Renaissance-orientated court dances for lute, many bearing emblematic titles (La Mutia, La Balduvina, La Giulianina, La Cesarina and so on) referring to prominent persons at the Parma court. Over 30 of the pieces are galliards, some with doubles; among the others are a capriccio (D-DO, also attrib. ‘Lavrencini’), Ruggieri ‘per cantare’, Aria del gran duca (aria di Fiorenza) and favourite dances of the period such as the ballo, balletto, corrente and moresca. Some dances acquired a wide reputation, being copied in several sources, including printed anthologies for guitar (L. Monte, 162512) and violin (Zanetti’s Scolaro, Milan, 1645/R).
After Santino’s death, his salary continued to be paid to his widow, Ottavia, to help her support his sons and grandsons, who were lutenists too. Among them were his son Ascanio Garsi, who is known only by a corrente dated February 1621, and his son or grandson Donino Garsi (d Parma, 30 March 1630). The latter obtained a position at the Farnese court on 1 August 1619 with a monthly salary of 8 ducats. His extant works and that of Ascanio are all contained in the lutebook that he prepared at Padua (in 1620–21) for one of his pupils, the Polish or White Russian nobleman K.S.R. Dusiacki (PL-Kj Mus MS 40153, D-Bsb; ed. in Osthoff, 1926/R). The manuscript contains some 78 pieces in French tablature with attributions to Santino, Ascanio and Donino Garsi (Dusiacki himself later added ten Polish dances anonymously): arie alla napolitana, ballettos dedicated to the dukes of Mantua and Parma, correntes, pavans, toccatas, preludes, many galliards, a folia and a longwinded battaglia, which ends with a section titled ‘sonata con il tamburo per la vitoria’ and has imitations of fifes, trumpets and drums. The pieces require a liuto attiorbato with seven diapasons and have careful indications (marked ‘T’) for vibrato in the manner of Piccinini and P.P. Melli.
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c40 lute pieces: galliards, Aria di Fiorenza, 2 ballettos, ballo, capriccio, corrente, moresca, Ruggiero ‘per cantare’, saltarello: B-Br II, 275 (facs. and ed. Kirsch, 1989); Br 16.663; CZ-Pnm IV.G.18; D-DO G.1.I–III; W Guelf 18.7/8 Aug. 2; F-Pn Vmd MS 31; I-COc 1.1.20; Fn anteriori di Galilei 6; Fn Magl. XIX.30 (facs. and ed. Kirsch, 1989); Nc 7664; PESo Pc.40a; SG Fondo Martino MS 31; PL-Kj Mus MS 40032, Mus MS 40153; 4 arr. gui, 16252; 3 arr. vn (Zanetti: Il Scolaro, Milan, 1645); gagliarda and aria, kbd, I-fn Magl. XIX.115: most ed. in Osthoff, 1926/R; facs. and introduction D. Kirsch: Santino Garsi da Parma: Werke für Laute (Cologne, 1989) |
R. Pico: Appendice di varii soggetti parmigiani: Aggiunte II all’Appendice (Parma, 1642)
H. Osthoff: Der Lautenist Santino Garsi da Parma (Leipzig, 1926/R)
N. Pelicelli: ‘Musicisti in Parma nei secoli XV–XVI’, NA, ix (1932), 41–52, 112–29, esp. 125–6; x (1933), 233–48, esp. 235, 314–25, esp. 320
H. Osthoff: ‘Gedichte von Tomaso Stigliani auf Giulio Caccini, Claudio Monteverdi, Santino Garsi da Parma und Claudio Merulo’, Miscelánea en homenaje a Monseñor Higinio Anglés (Barcelona, 1958–61), 615–21
B. Richardson: ‘New Light on Dowland's Continental Movements’, Monthly Musical Record, xc (1960), 3–9
W. Kirkendale: L’Aria di Fiorenza, id est Il ballo del Gran Duca (Florence, 1972), 16–17, 29–30, 53, 66, 70
D. Fabris: ‘Composizioni per “cetra” in uno sconosciuto manoscritto per liuto del primo Seicento’, RIM, xvi (1981), 185–206
D. Fabris: Andrea Falconieri Napoletano: un liutista-compositore del Seicento (Rome, 1987)
ARTHUR J. NESS, HENRY SYBRANDY/DINKO FABRIS