Domenico Zipoli

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Domenico Zipoli (October 17, 1688 – January 2, 1726) was an Italian Baroque composer. He was the most famous European composer to travel to the Americas during the Colonial era, and the most accomplished musician to contribute to the missionary work of the Society of Jesus in the continent as well.

Zipoli was born in Prato, Italy. From 1707 he studied in Florence probably under Giovan Maria Casini, with the patronage of Cosimo III, Grand Duke of Tuscany. For a very brief time, he studied with Alessandro Scarlatti in Naples, after which he traveled to Bologna to study with a local monk. In 1709, he supposedly studied with Bernardo Pasquini in Rome for a short period before the latter's death. He then stayed in the city, where he occupied several positions, the most important of which was that of organist of the main Jesuit church (chiesa del Gesù)

On July 1, 1716 Zipoli moved to Seville to join the Jesuits, directly into the order's Province of Paraguay. He traveled to South America during the following year, settling in Cordoba (Argentina). There he completed his studies in theology and philosophy, in preparation to be ordained a priest. By the time a bishop got there to for the ordaining ceremony, Zipoli had died of an unknown infectious disease.

Today Zipoli continues to be well known for his keyboard music. His principal collection, written during the Italy years, is titled "Sonate d'Intavolatura per organo e cimbalo" (Rome, 1716; modern edition by L. F. Tagliavini, Heildelberg, 1959). More recently, some of his South American church music was discovered in Chiquitos, Bolivia: two Masses, two psalm settings, three Office hymns, a Te Deum laudamus and other pieces. A Mass copied in Potosí, Bolivia in 1784, and preserved in Sucre, Bolivia, seems a local compilation based on the other two Masses. His dramatic music, including two complete oratorios and portions of a third one, is mostly gone. Three sections of the "mission opera" San Ignacio de Loyola - compiled by Martin Schmid in Chiquitos many years after Zipoli's death, and preserved almost complete in local sources - have been attributed to Zipoli.

Zipoli died in Córdoba, Argentina. A previous theory locating his death in the nearby rural estate of Santa Catalina has proven to be unfounded. For decades, his music continued to be highly regarded by his Jesuit colleagues, decisively influencing later composers.