Giammateo Asola

Giammateo Asola (also cited as Giovanni Matteo Asola or Asula) was an Italian composer born in Verona around 1532, or possibly earlier, although his exact date of birth is not known for certain, and he died in Venice on 1 October 1609. He is chiefly of interest for his extensive output of sacred music, written in a style that, in his later works, connects with the polyphony of Palestrina.

He entered the congregation of secular canons of San Giorgio in Alga in 1546 and probably afterwards received training from Vincenzo Ruffo in Verona. Around 1569 he left the congregation, being unwilling to take monastic vows, and was ordained as a secular priest. From 1571 he worked at the Veronese parish of Santa Maria in Organo and, in 1577, he was appointed maestro di cappella of Treviso Cathedral, though after a year he accepted a more advantageous post at Vicenza Cathedral. Around 1582 he probably moved to Venice and, in 1588, he was appointed one of the four chaplains of San Severo, a church under the jurisdiction of the monks of San Lorenzo. He briefly returned to Verona in 1590-1591, but according to some accounts he remained at San Severo until his death. Among his most distinguished pupils were Leone Leoni and Amadio Freddi.

His sacred output is substantial, and his writing, fluent and balanced, rests on the polyphonic combination of well-proportioned melodic lines, without chromaticism, leaping dissonances or extreme contrasts. Passages of free imitation predominate, with brief homophonic or canonic sections. In his works for eight voices, some of the less spectacular innovations of the Venetian school can be perceived, especially in the treatment of cori spezzati. His music is known for masses, vesper psalmodies, compline settings, lamentations and officia of the dead, many of them published in Venice.

Asola's legacy is valued above all for his liturgical music, which reflects the directives of the Council of Trent in its pursuit of simplicity and clarity. The doubtful claim that he was one of the first to write an independent basso continuo part has been exaggerated.