Carlo Milanuzzi

Full biography Carlo Milanuzzi

Carlo Milanuzzi (c. 1590 – c. 1647) was an Italian composer of the early Baroque era. He was born in Venice and was primarily known for his collections of Ariose vaghezze, which were published throughout the 1610s and 1620s. These collections were made up of solo strophic canzonettas, which were popular songs at the time that were characterized by their lively rhythms and simple harmonies.

Milanuzzi's music was influenced by the works of other prominent Venetian composers of his time, such as Claudio Monteverdi and Giovanni Gabrieli. In fact, Monteverdi's setting of Milanuzzi's text in the solo madrigal Si dolce e'l tormento appeared in the composer's Scherzi musicali of 1632 , and Milanuzzi's music was often featured alongside that of Gabrieli in various music collections.

One of the interesting things about Milanuzzi's music is that he often made use of the alfabeto system, which was a type of musical notation that used letters of the alphabet to represent different chords. This notation was particularly useful for guitarists, as it allowed them to accompany singers in a flexible and improvisational way. Milanuzzi is one of the few alfabeto song composers to make an explicit statement confirming his agency in assigning alfabeto to his compositions , according to some sources.

Milanuzzi's music was relatively popular during his lifetime, but like many composers of his time, he fell into obscurity after his death. However, in recent years, there has been renewed interest in Milanuzzi's music, and his works have been performed and recorded by various early music ensembles.