to dance, but it seems true that Gastoldi was the first scholarly author, presumably since the thirteenth century, to compose songs for dancing which were modeled on instrumental patterns, and were perfectly apt for instrumental performance alone. The title page of the balletti bestows the title "Maestro di Cappella del Serenissimo Signor Duca di Mantova" to Gastoldi. However, this has no slightest intention of masking sophistication behind the spontaneous naivete of Gastoldi's works, because the entire content is a collection of simplicity, healthy playfulness, communicative carefreeness, and gaiety. The common trait is, of course, the Fa-la refrain, (which incidentally became "lirum-lirum "in Gloria d’amore) with skipping rhythms, clear lines, and frank tonality. Gastoldi sought to vary his compositions from ballet to ballet by sometimes writing in triple time, in double or by the alternate use of major and minor. Otherwise, it cannot be said that he at all attempted a psychological differentiation between the several "characters" depicted. Works in translation Gastoldi's Italian works were enormously popular in the Netherlands in Dutch contrafacta. References External links The Italian Madrigal Resource Center Master List of Composers, "Gastoldi, Giovanni Giacomo" "Here of a Sunday Morning" short biography Didactic two-part compositions of the Renaissance and the Baroque About the duo anthology published in Milan, 1598, which contains several duos by Gastoldi 1550s births 1609 deaths People from Caravaggio, Lombardy Italian Baroque composers Italian male classical composers 17th-century Italian composers 17th-century male musicians