Gioseffo Guami

Gioseffo Guami (27 January 1542 – 1611) (Gioseffo Giuseppe Guami or Gioseffo da Lucca) was an Italian composer, organist, violinist and singer of the late Renaissance Venetian School. He was a prolific composer of madrigals and instrumental music, and was renowned as one of the finest organists in Italy in the late 16th century; he was also the principal teacher of Adriano Banchieri. Life He was born in Lucca, and was the brother of Francesco Guami (born 1543). Little is known about his early life, but he must have received some early training for he came to St. Mark’s in Venice, one of the most prestigious musical institutions in Italy, in 1561; there he studied with Adrian Willaert and Annibale Padovano, and served as a singer. In 1568 he left Venice and went to Bavaria, serving as first organist at the court of Albrecht of Bavaria, the location of the famous Franco-Flemish composer Orlande de Lassus. In the early 1570s he returned to Italy, at least temporarily, and accompanied by Lassus at least once; and he was hired as organist in Lucca in 1579, where he stayed until 1582 or later. In 1585 he was working as maestro di cappella in Genoa. Precise details of his movements are un