OF RUTA, Girolamo. — Musician, born in Perugia ca. 1560. The date of his death is unknown. A pupil of Zarlino, A. Gabrieli, Costanzo Porta and C. Merulo, in 1574 he became a Conventual Franciscan friar, then organist in Venice (1582–93), in Chioggia (1597) and in Gubbio (from 1609); he was a highly esteemed composer and distinguished theorist.
He wrote *Il Transilvano*, a valuable treatise on the manner of playing the organ: the first book of its kind in the history of music to treat organ technique independently of that of the harpsichord. It is divided into two parts: 1) *Dialogo sopra il vero modo di sonar organi e istrumenti da penna* (Venice 1597; 2nd ed. 1612, followed by others); 2) *Dialogo, diviso in quattro libri, sopra il vero modo e la vera regola d’intavolare canto* (ibid. 1609, 2nd ed. 1612).