Biography
Born circa 1585 in Naples, Andrea Falconieri emerged as a Renaissance-era Italian lutenist and composer whose secular songs and instrumental compositions displayed lyrical melodies together with distinctive structural designs. Documentation of his formative years remains sparse, although the Duke of Parma provided his upbringing and he trained under court lutenist Santino Garsi. Professional activity began in Parma during 1604, followed by his 1610 succession to Garsi’s post as official court lutenist, the same interval in which he produced his earliest lute compositions. After leaving Parma in 1614, he moved to Florence and occupied a temporary post at the royal court, an experience that led him to issue Primo Libro di Villanellas in 1616, a collection inscribed to Cardinal Carlo de Medici. For several subsequent years he sustained contact with aristocratic patrons in both Rome and Florence, most probably dividing his time and employment between the two cities, and by 1619 he had released seven further volumes containing songs and motets. The year after his marriage he resided with his wife in Modena until summer 1622, when he traveled alone to Spain. During the next seven years he journeyed through Spain and France, apparently developing his command of the chitarrone, which thereafter became his principal instrument. Following his performance at the 1628 wedding of the Duke of Parma and Princess Margherita de Medici, he returned to Parma and earned his living through teaching and chitarrone performance. Four years later he accepted a teaching post at the Santa Brigida convent in Genoa, yet resigned in 1637 when the head nun censured him for imparting and performing music deemed excessively distracting to the sisters. He then settled in Naples, serving as lutenist at the royal chapel from 1639 onward. A visit to his wife in Modena occurred three years later, and in 1647 he advanced to the post of maestro di cappella, which he retained until the plague epidemic of Naples claimed his life in 1656.