Gaspero Pratoneri

Gaspero Pratoneri, also known as Spirito da Reggio, was an Italian composer active in Reggio nell'Emilia between 1566 and around 1595, according to the available sources. His figure is of interest chiefly for the confusion it has generated: many sources have conflated him with the earlier Hoste da Reggio, and the nickname «Spirito l'Hoste» lacks any support, as it seems to be an invention of Fétis.

The documentation describes him as a canon of Reggio, and around 1569 he was serving as maestro di cappella at the church of San Prospero in that same city. The title pages of three of his publications identify him as «Spirito» or «Spirito da Reggio», a designation that also appears in anthologies of madrigals and in his first book in this form. His printed output, published in Venice, includes the Harmonia super aliquos Davidis psalmos (1569), the Panegirica (1584) and the Madrigali ariosi (1587), as well as several books of madrigals.

His madrigals abound in occasional pieces celebrating weddings and the doings of the local nobility. Critics regard them as unremarkable, perhaps a reflection of an amateur or provincial taste. His present interest therefore lies more in the evidence he offers of Reggio's musical life than in his contribution to the Italian sixteenth-century repertoire.