Concerto Palatino Explained

The Concerto Palatino was a wind ensemble and important civic institution in Bologna associated with San Petronio. The band performed morning and evening concerts in the city.

The Concerto Palatino began in the 13th century as a group of eight trumpeters. In the late 15th century trombones were added to the band. The form of the Concerto Palatino was then fixed from 1537 to 1779 as eight trumpets, four pifari or shawms or later cornets, four trombones, two viols, and drums.^{[1] [2] [3]} The members also served as teachers at the Liceo.^[4]

Early music group

The name Concerto Palatino was resurrected in 1986 by cornettist Bruce Dickey and trombonist Charles Toet,^[5] as one of the first historically informed performance ensembles performing the repertoire of the original alta capella ensembles.^[6]

Notes and References

1. Musical heritage review - Volume 16,Numéros 12 à 17 Musical Heritage Society - 1992 "Founded in the 13th century, the Concerto Palatino began as a group of eight trumpeters. Trombones joined the band in the late 15th century. From 1537 to 1779 the Concerto Palatino consisted of eight trumpets, four pifari or shawms (later replaced by cornettists), four trombones, two stringed instruments, and drums. The band had two responsibilities: to perform morning and ."
2. A Performer's Guide to Seventeenth-Century Music - Page 105 Stewart Carter, Jeffery Kite-Powell - 2012 "They are described by no other theorist, but contralto di cornetto is found as one of the regular positions in Bologna's Concerto Palatino alongside the soprano di cornetto."
3. The trombone - Page 97 Trevor Herbert - 2006 "By the 1530s, concerti di cornetti e tromboni could be found in Bologna, Genoa, Brescia, Perugia, Lucca, Udine, Florence, Rome and Naples. In Bologna, where Concerto Palatino, one of the most important of all civic groups, was already ..."
4. The Birth of the Orchestra: History of an Institution, 1650-1815 - Page 420 John Spitzer, Neal Zaslaw - 2005 "The only music school in the region was the Liceo di Bologna, founded in 1804, where members of the San Petronio orchestra and the Concerto Palatino served as teachers."
5. Web site: Concerto Palatino - biography Charles Toet . 2012-11-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120731003803/http://www.concertopalatino.com/Charles_Toet.html . 2012-07-31 . dead .
6. American record guide - Page 124 Peter Hugh Reed, Information Access Company - 2000 "Concerto Palatino, founded in 1986 by cornettists Bruce Dickey and Charles Toet, has made a number of outstanding recordings and was one of the first cornetto-sackbut ensembles to sound truly first-rate."