Costanzo Antegnati

Costanzo Antegnati (9 December 1549 - 14 November 1624) was an organist, organ builder and composer. Biography He was born in Brescia, to a family of prolific organ builders, a profession which also included his father Graziadio. His was musically educated by Giovanni Contino and Girolamo Cavazzoni. Organ builder At age 21, he was sent by his father, who reassured the Duke Guglielmo Gonzaga of his son’s abilities, to fix the organ of the basilica of Santa Barbara in Mantua. Additionally, Costanzo worked with his father in the construction of the Antegnati organ, at one time the largest and most famous in the world, which was built in 1581 for the friars of St. Joseph’s Church in Brescia. In 1595 he was commissioned by Catherine Gonzaga, daughter of the Marquis Alfonso Gonzaga, for the construction of the organ at the Church of St. Erasmus Prepositurale in Castel Goffredo. Although few of his instruments survive, the remarkable Organ Antegnati of the church of St. Nicholas (1588) in Bergamo was restored in 1996. He is most famous for the work L’arte organica (1608) which provides technical details of 144 organs built by his family, rules about the tuning of organs and harpsichords,