INGEGNERI, MARC'ANTONIO. - Musician, b. in Verona, probably around 1545-47, d. in Cremona on July 1, 1592. Biographical information is quite scarce. He completed his first musical studies at the school of the Verona cathedral under the guidance of Vincenzo Ruffo, at that time maestro di cappella; he almost certainly took part in the musical activity carried out by the Accademia filarmonica. In 1572 he held the post of prefect of music at the cathedral of Cremona, where it is likely he had moved as early as 1568; in Dec. 1581 he was appointed maestro di cappella and remained in that office until his death. He was renowned also as a violinist and, besides his activity as a composer, is remembered as the teacher of the great Monteverdi. His musical output is quite remarkable: in the religious genre, a book of masses for 5-8 voices and another for 5 voices, four books of Sacrae cantiones for 4, 5, 6 and 7-16 voices, two books of hymns for 4 voices, the Responsoria Hebdomadae Sanctae; in the secular genre, 8 books of madrigals for 4, 5 and 6 voices.

I. is stylistically akin to the group of polyphonists of northern Italy (Ruffo, Asola, etc.) who are distinguished by a greater concision in the elaboration of the text of the Mass, in comparison with the masters of the Roman school, who were closer to the complex Flemish conception. The most celebrated and artistically remarkable religious work is perhaps the aforementioned book of responsories for Holy Week, which for a long time was attributed to Palestrina, but which stylistic examination carried out by modern criticism has restored to its true author. Also very remarkable are the secular madrigals in which, through a particular clarity of structure, the expressive relationship between word and sound is most carefully attended to.

Bibliography6 works

BIBL.: G. S. Sommij Picenardi, M. A. I., in Gazzetta musicale di Milano, 1896, p. 490 ff.; F. X. Haberl, Studien über M. I., in Kirchmusikalisches Jahrbuch, 13 (1898), p. 87 ff.; J. Tierson, Pour le centenaire de Palestrina. Les Repons de la Semaine Sainte, in Rivista musicale italiana, 32 (1925), p. 381 ff.; R. Casimiri, I XXVII Responsoria di M. A. I. attribuiti a Giov. Pierluigi da Palestrina, in Note d'archivio, 3 (1926), p. 17-40; G. Cesari, La musica a Cremona, in Istituzioni e monumenti dell'arte musicale italiana, VI, Milano 1934, pp. 30-34; E. Dobin, M. A. I. als Madrigal-Komponist, Hannover 1936.

Luigi Ronga

@incollection{ec6_ingegneri_marc_antonio, author = {Ronga, Luigi}, title = {Ingegneri, marc'antonio}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VI}, pages = {1958}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1951}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/ingegneri-marc-antonio} }

One of some 20,000 entries brought back from the twelve printed volumes (1948–54). Spotted something? Help us improve it.

Ingegneri, Marc'Antonio

About this entry