Pietro Vinci

(c.1540 - 1584)



Italian composer. Maestro di cappellaat S. Maria Maggiore, Bergamo, 1568-80, and from 1581 held various similar posts in Nicosia and other Sicilian cities. His many volumes of madrigals received frequent reprintings, and he also published church music; his style is simple and restrained for its period, yet effective. His six-part hexachord MassLa sol fa mi re utcontains a fine Kyrie. His moving motet, O Crux benedicta, makes sparing but eloquent use of degree-inflection. As the teacher of Antonio il Verso and others he may be seen as the founder of a school of Sicilian composers.



IVO: Sacred Music in the Italian Cinquecentooutside Venice and Rome