Roque Ceruti Explained

Roque Ceruti (Milan c. 1683 or 1686 – Lima 1760) was an Italian composer in Peru. He was recruited as conductor of the Viceroy of Peru's private orchestra,^{[1] [2]} and was a dominant italianizing influence during the period,^[3] though this was resented by some of the more traditional Spanish musicians.^[4]

He served as maestro de capilla (chapel or choir master) of Trujillo Cathedral from 1721 to 1728, and then maestro at Lima Cathedral until his death.^[5] A fair amount of his works survives at the Archivo Arzobispal (Episcopal Archive) of Lima, at the collection that once belonged to the Cathedral of La Plata (i.e. modern Sucre, Bolivia) which is now housed at the Archivo y Biblioteca Nacionales de Bolivia, and at the Seminary of San Antonio Abad in Cusco and at La Paz.^[6]

Recordings

• 1998 Roque Ceruti: Vêpres solennelles de Saint Jean Baptiste Ensemble Elyma K617 089
• 2011 Roque Ceruti: "En la rama frondosa", transcripción Susana Sarfson, dirección Rodrigo Madrid Gómez, Capella Saetabis CD "Barroco boliviano", PSCU 540, Valencia (España).

Notes and References

1. [Willi Apel]
2. Malcolm Boyd, Juan José Carreras Music in Spain During the Eighteenth Century – Page 247 – 2006 "Roque Ceruti, who was born in Milan about 1683 and died in Lima in 1760, provides an example of how composers were recruited by the viceroys, in this case ..."
3. Peter Bakewell A History of Latin America to 1825 2011 Page 393 "Local composers, both American- and Spanish-born, tended to follow Italian forms and styles. In Peru, the Milanese Roque Ceruti was a dominant force in music from his arrival in Lima in 1708 until his death in 1760."
4. Julie Anne Sadie Companion to Baroque Music 1998 Page 346 "Spanish-born priest and prolific composer of villancicos working in South America. ... However, his career there was marred by resentment: he believed that the emphasis Roque Ceruti placed on Italian music in the cathedral repertory limited ..."
5. Bertil Van Boer Historical Dictionary of Music of the Classical Period 2012 – Page 124 "By 1717 he was maestro di capilla at the Trujillo cathedral, and a decade later he obtained the same post at the Lima cathedral. He held this until his retirement in 1758 due to ill health. Much of his music conforms to the Italian Baroque style..."
6. Leslie Bethell The Cambridge History of Latin America 1984 Page 791 "From about 1721 to 1728 Ceruti directed music at Trujillo cathedral – returning to take the post of maestro de capilla at Lima on 1 August 1728. Ceruti's large extant repertory at the Archivo Arzobispal in Lima, La Plata cathedral, the Seminario de San Antonio Abad in Cuzco... reveals him to have been the first Lima maestro who made a habit of ..."