Filisteo Scaramuccia

Filisteo Scaramuccia was an Italian composer born in Capua, of whom very little is known. His period of activity is placed around 1580, although no further biographical detail is known with certainty.

His only known work is a book of madrigals for four, five and six voices, published in Venice in 1580. The title page presents him as a member of the Order of the Knights of St John of Malta, and the volume is dedicated to Jean l'Evêque de la Cassière, Grand Master of the order between 1572 and 1581.

The collection reflects the strong influence of the canzonetta: the writing is largely homophonic, with vigorous rhythms and contrasting sections in triple time. A typical example cited is the setting of Ariosto's Non rumor di tamburi. The collection opens with a complete version of Petrarch's sestina A la dolce ombra, a text that had already attracted Animuccia, Berchem and Rore.