Giovanni Maria Nanino

Nanino was probably a student of Palestrina when Palestrina was at St. Maria Maggiore in the 1560s. He served as choirmaster at St. Luigi dei Francesi from the late 1560s and also was a member of the papal choir. Nanino was a gifted teacher who taught the boy sopranos of the choir; this may be due to the fact that he had been a boy soprano in his youth. Among his pupils were the Allegris, Anerio, Ugolino, and Massenzio. During his life time Nanino was considered equal to if not above Palestrina. Among other accolades given Nanino were considered opinions that he was the most important composition teacher in Rome. Even before his death, compositions which he had just scored were printed in anthologies and other collections. In some cases his scores were placed first among a series of compositions by select composers. Nanino was so well thought of that his students proclaimed him as their teacher on title pages of their works. Retrospectively Nanino can be considered a unique musical individual who could elicit light textures, polyphonic harmonies, serious phrasings as well as flowing pastorales. Some of these versatile madrigals included "Morir non puo," "Le strani voci," and "Lasso, ch'il caldo estivo." ~ Keith Johnson