Carissimi, Gian Giacomo 1604 - 01/12/1674

Giacomo Carissimi (1605-1674) was an Italian composer.

Carissimi became the choirmaster in Assisi in 1624 and in 1628 moved on to the Basilica minor Sant'Apollinare des Collegium Germanicum in Rome. In this rather modest position, Carissimi undertook a reform of nearly all aspects of contemporary music.

Thanks to Carissimi, the reform movement in Italian music, active since the start of the 17th century, finally met with success. He formed the secular cantata, the aria and the duet in such a way that the future development of those forms was based on his own ideas. This is especially true in the case of the recitativo. Carissimi also increased the expressive range of choirs.

Through it all, the composer attempted to extend this new style to church music as well. He composed a series of histories in the form of cantatas. The accompanied solo voice was joined by a strong chorus. He invented what would later be called the biblical oratorio. His students included Alessandro Scarlatti, Philipp Jakob Baudrexel, Antonio Cesti and Marc-Antoine Charpentier.

Carissimi was buried in Sant'Apollinare.

His successor as maestro di cappella at the Collegio Germanicum in 1686 described him as full of inner contemplation, with noble manners towards his friends and acquaintances, tall, thin, and subject to melancholy.