Felice Anerio

Biography

Felice Anerio (c. 1560 – 26 or 27 September 1614) was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras, and a member of the Roman School of composers. He was the older brother of another important, and somewhat more progressive composer of the same period, Giovanni Francesco Anerio.

Life

Anerio was born in Rome and lived his entire life there. He sang as a boy soprano at the Julian Chapel (the Cappella Giulia) from 1568 until 1577 (by which time he was an alto) and then he sang at another church until 1580. Around this time, he began to compose, especially madrigals; this was one of the few periods in his life during which he wrote secular music. He was likely influenced by Luca Marenzio, who was hugely popular at the time and who was in Rome at the same time Anerio began composing. By 1584, Anerio had been appointed maestro di cappella at the Collegio degli Inglesi; he also seems to have been the choirmaster at another society of Rome's leading musicians called the vertuosa Compagnia de i Musici di Roma. These positions must have given him considerable opportunity to exercise his compositional talents, for he had already written the music, songs, madrigals, and choruses for an Italian Passion Play by this time. In 1594, he replaced Palestrina as the official composer to the papal choir, which was the most prominent position in Rome for a composer.
In 1607 or shortly afterwards, he became a priest (a common career path for a composer in the Roman School). In conjunction with Francesco Soriano, another composer of the Roman School, he helped to reform the responsories of the Roman Gradual, another of the late activities of the Counter-Reformation in Italy.

Sacred vocal

Two books of Madrigali Spirituali (both Rome, 1585)
Two books of sacred hymns (Venice, 1596 and Rome, 1596)
Holy Week Responsories (for four voices, Rome, 1606)
13 Spiritual canzonettas; 12 motets, including many for 8 voices; psalms, litany, other works, many including a basso continuo
Madrigals, choruses, solo songs for Passio de Nostro Signore in verso heroico (Viterbo, 1604)

Secular vocal

One book of canzonettas (1586)
Five books of madrigals (one of which is lost) (1587, 1590, 1598, 1602, unknown)
Miscellaneous other madrigals not included in the main publications
Many magnificats, hymns, motets, and other works were printed by Karl Proske in his Musica Divina (1854).