Giacomo Filippo Biumi

Giacomo Filippo Biumi (also cited as Bimio) was a composer and organist active in Milan during the first third of the seventeenth century. His year of birth is not known with certainty; it is placed around 1580, and he died in the same city in November 1653. His name is linked to the musical life of Milan in his time, in which the organ played a central role in churches.

His career began as organist of at least two Milanese churches: first at Santa Maria della Passione and later at Sant'Ambrogio, where his presence is recorded in 1612. On 30 March 1623 he was appointed organist of the second organ of Milan Cathedral, replacing Cesare Borgo, a post he held until his death. In January 1651, the cathedral chapter, considering that he was already too old to carry out the post alone, assigned him an assistant, Francesco Fumasio.

In his sacred music he remained faithful to the polyphonic tradition, while in his instrumental canzoni alla francese he showed a freer inventiveness. His contemporaries praised him as an excellent organist. The canzonas for four voices and the correntes in his collection of 1627 incorporate modern stylistic features, and the canzonas for eight voices reflect the influence of Giovanni Gabrieli and the Venetian polychoral style.