Vincenzo Bonizzi

Little is known about the early Baroque Italian composer Vinzenzo Bonizzi. His date of birth, for example, can only be roughly placed in the second half of the 16th century. It is clear, however, that Bonizzi was a pupil of Claudio Merulo and Orazio Bassani and spent most of his life in Parma, where he died in 1630. In 1595, Bonizzi’s stay at the court of the Duchess of Urbino is attested. From 1599 onwards, he held various posts in Parma, as organist and bandmaster in the service of the Duke of the Farnese family and at the church of Santa Maria della Steccata. Bonizzi went down in music history as the author of the last work for the viola bastarda, a special form of the viola da gamba, published in 1626, in whose preface he refers extensively to the example of his teacher Bassani.