Rota, Andrea 1553 - m/d/1597

Andrea Rota (born c. 1553 in Bologna, died June 1597 ebenda) was an Italian composer. Nothing is known about his early life but he may have worked in Rome. His first publication, the "Primo libro de madrigali a cinque voci," was printed in Venice in 1579. In May 1583, he was appointed "maestro di cappella" at S. Petronio in Bologna by Cardinal Giacomo Boncompagni. He took charge in June of the (then) exceptionally large choir, which included 34 cantori (singers), 12 chierici (clerics), and three instrumentalists. Rota seems to have been held in high esteem there, as evidenced by documented donations and salary grants from the church. From 1594, a 'maestro di canto' was appointed to relieve him of heavy teaching duties.

In addition to the "Motectorum liber primus" (1584) and the "Missarum liber primus" (1595), Rota created in his second book of motets mainly works for 'Chori spezzati' (multi-choir works), as well as several masses. One of his unpublished masses, the Missa "En voz à Dieux," and the two printed masses "Qual è più grand'amore" and "Non mi tolga il ben mio" are parodies of secular works by Cipriano de Rore (1515/16-1565).

As a madrigalist, Rota seems to have had close ties to the court of Ferrara. His second book of five part madrigals and the madrigals written for the Ferrarese anthologies show some influence of the lush Ferrarese style and more often use expressive dissonances. The important Bolognese poet Cesare Rinaldi (1559-1636; his verses were set as madrigals by Salamone Rossi [1570-1630] and the circle of the Gonzaga court in Mantua) dedicated a sonnet to Andrea Rota who set some of his verses to music.