Antegnati

ANTEGNATI. - A Brescian family of organ builders who, from the 15th to the 16th century, enriched Italy with numerous instruments, true masterpieces of organ-building technique. The glorious workshop begins with BARTOLOMEO, son of a Giovanni "iurisperitus" (a Brescian citizen but of Cremonese origin) and, after Bartolomeo, who was also organist in the cathedral of Brescia, it continues with his sons GIOVAN FRANCESCO, GIAN GIACOMO, and GIOVAN BATTISTA, from whose son Gazzidio descends COSTANZO (1549-1624), a pupil of the composer Girolamo Cavazzoni. As a builder he introduces for the first time (in the organ of S. Marco in Milan) the split registers "to make dialogues, because these registers are divided at the middle of the keyboard"; as a performer he holds (from about 1584 to 1619) the post of organist in the cathedral of Brescia; as a composer he leaves 2 books of masses for 6-8 voices (Venice 1578 and 1589),

1 book of psalms for 8 voices (Venice 1592), Sacrae cantiones for 4-5 voices (Venice 1575 and 1581) and, his principal work, L'Antegnata in Intavolatura de ricercari d'organo..., op. 16 (Brescia 1608); finally, as a theorist, he is the author of the dialogue L'Arte organica (introduction to L'Antegnata, Brescia 1608), important for the technical, expressive and aesthetic advice that he gives to the organist (and which constitute one of the fundamental texts for the history of registration) and for a list, which he includes in it, of organs built by his family.