Composer. An important figure of the late Renaissance period. He was a distinguished Catholic cleric whose compositions were entirely secular and progressive in style and form. His "Third Book of Madrigals" (1582) is the earliest known collection of music written for female voices. The illegitimate son of a priest, he was born in Ferrara, Italy, and spent most of his life there. He enjoyed equally successful careers as a court musician under Duke Alfonso II d'Este and in the Ferrarese church, becoming a Canon of Ferrara Cathedral in 1563 and later a Monsignore. Pope Gregory XIII named him an honorary Apostolic Notary in 1578. In 1580 he began writing for Ferrara's "Concerto della donne", the first professional female vocal ensemble, and all his subsequent music was intended for them. Publication of these pieces helped spread the group's fame throughout Italy, though decades would pass before it became socially acceptable for European women to participate in public music-making. Apart from a few songs printed in anthologies, all of Agostini's works appeared in six books between 1567 and 1586. After his death the "Concerto della donne" continued to perform his madrigals until 1598, when the dissolution (by Papal edict) of the Ferrara court brought about the group's demise.
Composer. An important figure of the late Renaissance period. He was a distinguished Catholic cleric whose compositions were entirely secular and progressive in style and form. His "Third Book of Madrigals" (1582) is the earliest known collection of music written for female voices. The illegitimate son of a priest, he was born in Ferrara, Italy, and spent most of his life there. He enjoyed equally successful careers as a court musician under Duke Alfonso II d'Este and in the Ferrarese church, becoming a Canon of Ferrara Cathedral in 1563 and later a Monsignore. Pope Gregory XIII named him an honorary Apostolic Notary in 1578. In 1580 he began writing for Ferrara's "Concerto della donne", the first professional female vocal ensemble, and all his subsequent music was intended for them. Publication of these pieces helped spread the group's fame throughout Italy, though decades would pass before it became socially acceptable for European women to participate in public music-making. Apart from a few songs printed in anthologies, all of Agostini's works appeared in six books between 1567 and 1586. After his death the "Concerto della donne" continued to perform his madrigals until 1598, when the dissolution (by Papal edict) of the Ferrara court brought about the group's demise.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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