Baini, Giuseppe (also known as Abbate Baini)

Baini, Giuseppe (also known as Abbate Baini), Italian writer on music and composer; b. Rome, Oct. 21, 1775; d. there, May 21, 1844. He received rudimentary training from his uncle, Lorenzo Baini, then entered the Seminario Romano, where his instructor, Stefano Silveyra, indoctrinated him with the spirit of Palestrina’s music. In 1795 he became a member of the papal choir at St. Peter’s. He continued his studies there with Bianchini, and in 1802 took courses with Jannaconi, whom he succeeded as maestro di cappella at St. Peter’s (1818). In 1821 he wrote his masterpiece, a ten-part Miserere, which was accepted for singing at the Sistine Chapel during Holy Week, in alternation with the Misereres of Allegri and Bai. He also wrote many Psalms, hymns, masses, and motets. His great ambition was to publ. a complete ed. of Palestrina’s works, but he was able to prepare only two vols, for publication. The monument of his devotion to Palestrina was his exhaustive biography, Memorie storico-critiche della vita e delle opere di Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (Rome, 1828; Ger. tr. by Kandler, with notes by Kiesewetter, 1834), which remains extremely valuable despite its occasional inaccuracies. He also wrote a Saggio sopra l’identità de’ ritmi musicali e poetici (1820). Haberl publ. an essay on Baini in the Kirchenmusikalisches Jahrbuch (1894).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire