Alessandro Piccinini

Piccinini was a lutenist and composer in the court of Ferrara from 1582 until 1597. After that he was in service to the Cardinal Aldobrandini in Bologna until 1621. Piccinini developed a bass lute during his lifetime and made improvements to the chittarone. His books on the lute and methodologies include instructions on playing these instruments. Most of his compositions were in the structure of toccatas and dances, some in suite form. The toccatas were written in a number of forms and Piccinini's dance melodies were sonorous with rhythms that were quite striking. ~ Keith Johnson