Tommaso Bai

Tommaso Bai, or Tommaso Baj, was born in Crevalcore around 1650 and died in Rome on 22 December 1714.[1] He was an Italian conductor, composer, and tenor at the Vatican. He is most well known for his Miserere,[2][3] which is associated with Gregorio Allegri's Miserere.[4] During the last years of his life he had been the Kapellmeister of the Cappella Giulia in Rome.[5]

Biography

In the year of 1670 he joined the Choir of the Cappella Giulia and stayed there until his dying day. He also advanced to become a personal singer of the pope. He served the following superiors, who had been his predecessors as the Kapellmeister of the Cappella Giulia:[6]

In 1713 he got to be the Kapellmeister. He kept this function until his dying day.[6] There are different opinions about this date; for example in a music sheet of his Virgo gloriosa - owned by a person called Haberl - his date of death is claimed to be 1717.[7] According to Baini he died on the 22nd December 1714.[6][7]

Works

Bai was acclaimed for his intricate attention to prosody, accentuation of words, and notation.[6] His well known Miserere, which he composed in 1713,[2][6] is claimed by some opinions to be an imitation Gregorio Allegri's Miserere.[4] According to Eitner this Miserere, that is performed during the Easter day, consists of two parts; the first part is written for 5 voices and it had been composed by Allegri and the second part written for four voices origininates of Baj [originally by Eitner 1905: Der 1. Chor zu 5 Stim., ist von Allegri und der 2. Chor zu 4 Stim. von Bai. (Capella sistina Kat. p. 50. B, B., L 24. B. Joach. Bei'lin Singak. Lübeck. Schwerin F. inkompl. Hofb. Wien 15926, 2. Musikfr. Wien. Bologna.— printed in Choron, Burney and Lugano 1840.)].[7]

Furthermore, there exist the following compositions (quotation after Eitner):[7]

  • Miserere 4voices, performed as described above in sequence with the Miserere by Allegri (s. u.)
  • Virgo gloriosa, (Haberl, privately, see above)[7])
  • Miserere 8 voc. fecit 1700. Ms. 16690
  • Missa super Ut re mi fa, 5 voc. in P. — T 39 allerlei Gesge. in P. — "W. 17 Nr. 81 obige Messe in P".
  • Mss. in B. M.
  • 2 Messen zu 5 Stkn., 1 Miserere zu 5 Stim, and 13 Motetten zu 4 u. 5 Stim, in P.
  • Missa 5 voc., Ms. 16698 Nr. 13 in Hofb. Wien
  • 2 Motetten zu 4 Stim, in P: Serve bone and Dne. quando veneris, Ms. Bd. 158 in Breslau Kircheninstit.
  • 1 Gesg. in alter Hds., P. in Brüssel 1854
  • further pieces of mucic, printed later on.

Further reading
  • Robert Eitner: Biographisch-bibliographisches Quellen-Lexikon der Musiker und Musikgelehrten der christlichen Zeitrechnung bis zur Mitte des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts
  • Giancarlo Rostirolla: La Cappella Giulia 1513–2013: Cinque secoli di musica sacra in San Pietro.
  • G. Gaspari, Catal. d. Bibl. del Liceo Musicale di Bologna, II, Bologna 1892, S. 174; III, ibid. 1893, S. 6
  • F. J. Fétis, Biogr. univ. des musiciens, I, Paris 1860, S. 225 ff.
  • Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, I, col. 1092
  • Dizionario Ricordi della musica e dei musicisti, Milano 1959, S. 92.

References
  1. Hughes, Rupert (1939). Music Lovers' Encyclopedia. New York: Doubleday, Doran and Company, Inc.
  2. Baggs, Charles Michael (1839). The Ceremonies of Holy-Week at the Vatican and S. John Lateran's Described and Illustrated from History and Antiquities; with an Account of the Armenian Mass at Rome on Holy-Saturday, Etc. Rome.
  3. Proceedings of the Musical Association. Whitehead & Miller, Limited for the Musical Association. 1875.
  4. Schülter, Joseph (1865). A General History of Music. London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street.
  5. Eitner, Robert (1832–1905), Biographisch-bibliographisches Quellen-Lexikon der Musiker und Musikgelehrten der christlichen Zeitrechnung bis zur Mitte des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts, Leipzig : Breitkopf & Haèrtel, 1900, S. 303 und 309, über: https://archive.org/details/biographischbibl01eitn/page/251/mode/1up
  6. Liliana Pannella - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 5 (1963), BAJ, Tommaso, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana fondata da Giovanni Treccani, über: https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/tommaso-baj_%28Dizionario-Biografico%29/
  7. Eitner, Robert; Biographisch-bibliographisches Quellen-Lexikon der Musiker und Musikgelehrten der christlichen Zeitrechnung bis zur Mitte des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts; Leipzig : Breitkopf & Haèrtel, 1900, S. 309; über: https://archive.org/details/biographischbibl01eitn/page/251/mode/1up
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