Documents from the Gonzaga Archives in Mantua demonstrate that Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, was a composer of some repute who produced madrigals, motets, and magnificats. Letters reveal the publication and reception history of these works, including instances of musical borrowing. Gonzaga’s madrigals and motets have been identified with two anonymous collections that were published in 1583 by Gardane of Venice. The madrigals were utilized by Ludovico Agostini and Girolamo Belli d’Argenta in their own collections, Lagrime del peccatore (1586) and Furti amorisi (1587), respectively. Because Agostini and Belli attributed these borrowings to Gonzaga, their compositions further strengthen assertions by Einstein and Gallico, among other scholars, that the anonymous works published by Gardane are indeed by Gonzaga.

Works: Ludovico Agostini: Lagrime del peccatore (121-22); Girolamo Belli d’Argenta: Furti amorisi (122).

Sources: Guglielmo Gonzaga: Padre che’l ciel (120-22), Madrigals (122).

Index Classifications: 1500s

Contributed by: Jaime Carini