Giulio Cesare Brancaccio
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Giulio Cesare Brancaccio (born ca. 1515-1520) was a courtier, cavalier, actor, writer, and singer in a number of northern Italian courts throughout the sixteenth century, most notably the court at Ferrara.
He was born in Naples to a noble but poor family. He first appears in the historical record at a number of courts in the 1540s as a singer and amateur actor, including for Don Francesco d'Este in Naples, Alfonso II d'Este's uncle[1]. The first record of Brancaccio being at the court at Ferrara is in 1577, singing with the ladies of the first period of the Concerto delle donne, the amateurs Lucrezia Bendidio, Leonora Sanvitale, and Vittoria Bentivoglio. In 1580 he published a translation and commentary on Julius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico in Venice, which survives in printings from 1585 and 1595.
Bentivoglio was brought to the court at Ferrara by Duke Alfonso II d'Este specifically in order to sing for his musica secreta, where he was highly prized as a skilled bass. According to one contemporary commentator, part of the agreement when Bentivoglio was brought in was that he was "not to talk of his miracles of war." [2] Alfonso and Brancaccio did not get along very well, due in part to Brancaccio's resistance to being seen as a professional musician, a position he viewed as lower-status, more akin to that of a servant than a full member of the court,[3] and in part because of Alfonso's impatience with Brancaccio's tendency to brag. While Brancaccio was in the duke's employ he received around 400 scudi per year (in 1582 this was 130 lire per month) as well as a house and horses whenever he wanted or had use for them. During this period Torquato Tasso wrote poems in Brancaccio's honor.
In 1580 he was out of favor with the court, or more specifically the Duke, whose favor he tried to win back by dedicating his book on the Gallic Wars to him. He returned to the court by October 1580, but it was not to be for very long.[4] In 1583 Brancaccio was fired for insubordination; he refused to sing on the spot for Anne, Duke de Joyeuse.[5] In 1585 he tried to get back in the duke's good graces through a series of letters and with the help of Giovanni Battista Guarini; however, he was unsuccessful. Newcomb describes the personality which comes through in these letters as "blustering, proud, preposterous, and rather touching."[6]
[edit] References
- Newcomb, Anthony. The Madrigal at Ferrara, 1579-1597. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J. 1980.
- J. Bowers and J. Tick Women making music: the Western Art tradition, 1150-1950. "Courtesans, Muses, or musicians?" Anthony Newcomb. Urbana, Il. 1986.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Newcomb 1980, pg 13
- ^ Newcomb 1986 pg. 95
- ^ Newcomb 1986 pg 94
- ^ Newcomb 1980, 14
- ^ Newcomb 1986 pg. 94
- ^ Newcomb 1980, pg 185
| Concerto delle donne | |
|---|---|
| Singers in preliminary group | Lucrezia Bendidio; Isabella Bendidio; Leonora Sanvitale; Vittoria Bentivoglio; Giulio Cesare Brancaccio |
| Singers in concerto delle donne proper | Laura Peverara; Anna Guarini; Livia d'Arco; Tarquinia Molza; Giulio Cesare Brancaccio |
| Patrons | Alfonso II d'Este; Margherita Gonzaga d'Este |
| Composers and assisting musicians | Luzzasco Luzzaschi; Ippolito Fiorini; Giaches de Wert; Claudio Monteverdi; |
| Printer | Vittorio Baldini |
