Giovanni Animuccia

Giovanni Animuccia (c. lk=no – c. lk=no March 1571) was an Italian composer of the Renaissance who was involved in the heart of Rome’s liturgical musical life. He was one of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina’s most important predecessors and possibly his mentor. As of St Philip Neri’s Oratory and the Capella Giulia at St Peter’s, he was composing music at the very center of the Roman Catholic Church, during the turbulent reforms of the Counter-Reformation and as part of the new movements that began to flourish around the middle of the century. His music reflects these changes. Early life: Florence Animuccia was born in Florence around the beginning of the 16th century. The exact date is variously given as the end of the 15th century, c. lk=no, c. lk=no, and c. lk=no. Animuccia’s second book of madrigals was published in 1551 after his arrival in Rome. Rome After his arrival in Rome in 1550, Animuccia was employed by Cardinal Guido Ascanio Sforza. Early on, through his association with Florentine circles (in particular the exiled Altoviti family), Animuccia met his fellow Florentine St Phillip Neri. In 1558, when Phillip obtained a larger room to hold the meetings in, the practice of