Grove Music Online Cesare, Giovanni Martino

(b Udine, ?c1590; d Munich, 6 Feb 1667). Italian composer and cornettist. He and his
brother, Giovanni Francesco, were employed in Austria around 1600. On returning to
Udine in 1603, they were engaged as trombonists at the cathedral; however, in 1605
Giovanni Martino left the post to return abroad. At the time of his first publication, in
1611, he was a cornettist and a member of the household of the Margrave of Burgau at
Günzburg, near Augsburg. In 1610 he was paid by Duke Maximilian of Bavaria for
teaching the cornett, and in 1612 he played in the duke's chapel in Munich (it was not
uncommon for Augsburg instrumentalists to be called into service there from time to
time). In 1615 he entered Maximilian's service in Munich as a cornettist and in 1622
became a member of his household. That he dedicated his last publication (1621) to
various members of the Fugger family suggests that he still maintained his
connections with Augsburg.

Cesare composed both sacred works and instrumental canzonas. His large-scale
Magnificat settings and Marian antiphons follow the style of Hans Leo Hassler in the
antiphonal treatment of vocal groups and the combination of contrapuntal and
homophonic passages. The few-voice motets, which enjoyed considerable popularity
and were included in several of the most important anthologies of the time, were more
forward-looking: they alternate between duple- and dance-like triple-time sections,
make frequent use of melismas to underscore important parts of the text, and several
contain parts for obbligato instruments. The Musicali melodie, Cesare's last published
collection, contains 14 instrumental canzonas in one to six parts with continuo
alongside 14 motets. The canzonas have colourful programmatic titles, many of them
honouring patrons, including the Fugger family and members of the Bavarian court.
While the cornetto is usually given a leading role, Cesare also includes parts for
trombone, violin and viola. His instrumental canzonas present an interesting mix of
old and new: nearly all begin with an imitative section based on the canzona rhythm,
yet there are a number of newer effects, including symmetrical triple-time sections,
concertato interplay, echo effects and idiomatically conceived virtuoso writing. ‘La
Hieronyma’ for solo trombone and continuo is an example of the canzona all bastarda, a
piece in which a basic melodic line is richly ornamented in the style associated with
the viola bastarda.

Bibliography
G. Vale: ‘La cappella musicale del duomo di Udine’, NA, vii (1930), 87–201, esp. 129–
30

W. Senn: Musik und Theater am Hof zu Innsbruck (Innsbruck, 1954), 195, 200, 203

A. Kellner: Musikgeschichte des Stiftes Kremsmünster, nach den Quellen dargestellt (Kassel,
1956), 158

B. Smith: Trombone Technique in the Early Seventeenth Century (diss., Stanford U., 1981)

A. Scharnagl: ‘Musik um Kurfürst Maximilian I: Ein Beitrag zur Musikgeschichte

Bayerns in der ersten Hälfte des 17. Jahrhunderts’, Capella Antiqua München Festschrift,
ed. T. Drescher (Tutzing, 1988), 237–89, esp. 243–4

A. Beer: Die Annahme des ‘stile nuovo’ in der katholischen Kirchenmusik Süddeutschlands
(Tutzing, 1989), 155, 236, 290

H. Weiner: ‘Giovanni Martino Cesare and his Editions’, Historical Brass Society Journal,
iii (1991), 56–64

A. Lindsey Kirwan/Steven Saunders