MAZZOCCHI, DOMENICO and VIRGILIO. - DOMENICO. - Priest and musician, b. at Civita Castellana on 8 Nov. 1592, d. at Rome on 20 Jan. 1665. A graduate in philosophy and in utroque iure, he became a retainer of the princes Aldobrandini, Pamphili, and Cardinal Mancini.
He was an outstanding contrapuntist and gave vigorous impetus to the madrigal genre, transforming it through new ideas and new harmonies: he invented various musical signs that passed into common use.
His works are: Musiche morali (Rome, 1625); Mottetti (ibid., 1628); Madrigali (ibid., 1638); Tutti i versi latini del papa Urbano VIII posti in musica (ibid., 1638); Lettera ed apologia del difensore di Veio (ibid., 1654); Veio difeso (ibid., 1663).
VIRGILIO. - Musician, brother of Domenico, b. at Civita Castellana on 22 July 1597, d. at Rome on 8 Oct. 1646. He took minor orders and studied music under his brother’s guidance.
He was maestro of the church of the Gesù in Rome, then of the Lateran Chapel, the Roman Seminary, and finally, for 17 years, of the Cappella Giulia in St. Peter’s Basilica; he became celebrated for a new type of school that he created and for the grandeur of his choirs. In 1636 he wrote the comic opera
Chi soffre, speri, to words by Cardinal Rospigliosi; he also composed much sacred music, psalms, motets, masses, etc.