La Guitare Baroque Part III
Angelo Michele Bartolotti, sa vie, ses oeuvres et l'adaptation de ses oeuvres choisies en ré majeur pour la guitare moderne
Université de Montréal
Par Amir Houshangi
Présenté à l'examen général de doctorat
Novembre 2021
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PART II: Angelo Michele Bartolotti
Portrait of Bartolotti from his Secondo libro (Rome, 1655).
3. His life and works
3.1 Biography
3.1.1 Introduction and his early years
Angelo Michele Bartolotti (1615-1682) was a guitarist, composer, lute and theorbo player who was one of the pioneers in the development of baroque guitar music, as James Tyler in his book "A Guide to Playing the Baroque guitar states: "Bartolotti is arguably one of the foremost guitar composers of the Baroque period and, from its very first publication (Florence, 1640), it was clear that Bartolotti was ahead of his contemporaries, including Corbetta, whose modest first collection had appeared a year earlier."62
Little is known about Bartolotti's birthplace, but since he describes himself as "Bolognese" on the title page of his first book and "di Bologna" on the title page of his second, it must be assumed that Bologna was his birthplace.
62 . Tyler.James. “ A GUIDE TO PLAYING THE BAROQUE GUITAR”, Indiana University Press,2011(p-70)
He has written and published three books during his career, two of which were written for the baroque guitar, and the other is a treatise on theorbo as an accompaniment instrument.
His works are as follow:
1- ," Libro primo di Chitarra Spagnola" (Florence,1640) – First book of Spanish Guitar
2-"Secondo Libro di Chitarra Spagnola " (Rome,1655). – Second book of Spanish Guitar
3-"Table pour apprendre facilement à toucher le théorbe sur la basse-continuë " (Paris, 1669)
The name we are acquainted with today, "Angelo Michele Bartolotti," is taken from his second book. In contrast, his first name in his first book appeared as Angiol, and his last name in his theorbo book was written as Bartrolomi. (Fig.28)
Fig.28. Top: Angiol in the 1st book, Middle: Angelo in the 2nd book Below: Bartolomi in the 3rd book
Although he is thought to have been born in Bologna, since his first book was signed in Florence and dedicated to a member of the Florence aristocracy, he probably spent the early years of his career in that city Bartolotti dedicated his first book," Libro primo di Chitarra Spagnola”, to the Florentine nobleman Duca (Jacopo) Salviati, Duke of Giuliano (1607-1672), a member of the legendary Medici family.
in a letter (preface), Bartolotti describes his joy and devotion to the duke's support as: "I venture to present to Your Excellency the fruits of my genius although they are imperfect, to draw your attention to my burning desire to acquire your patronage and to show the world how much I value your virtue and generosity. Your Excellency will find in this document various pieces for the Spanish guitar. These are dedicated to you with good reason because it [the guitar] is a thing held dear by the Muses, and even though it is not one of the most sublime instruments, I have tried hard to render it harmonious. I trust, therefore, that in the same way that, as is well known, the Prince of the Muses did not think it inappropriate to woo the Forests with the sound of a humble bagpipe, your kindness will not disdain this product of my diligent study. May you receive my homage with pleasure while I pray the Heavens to bestow on you endless happiness."63
63 . Hall. Monica,” Angelo Michele Bartolotti: Prince of Muses”, 2013, (p-2)
64 . Webber, Geoffrey, “Italian music at the court of Queen Christina”, Tidskrift für Musikforskning, 75/2 (1993), p.47-53.
According to the Grove Dictionary article:". After the alliance with France in 1635, French culture began to assert itself at the Swedish court, and in 1637 Queen brought the dancing-master Antoine de Beaulieu and many other musicians from France. In 1646, to provide authentic music for the French ballets that quickly became the rage in Stockholm, Queen imported six French violinists, such as Pierre Verdier65
From the above quote, it can be imagined that the ambience in the Swedish court was strongly influenced by French music.
Interestingly, the reason why the Queen hired Italian musicians was her similar interest to the Italian opera as well as French ballet, as the same article adds: "In November 1652, an Italian group of musicians engaged for her by Alessandro Cecconi was attached to the court. Cecconi, himself a musician who became the Queen's trusted personal servant and continued in her service in Rome, had discharged his commission well; the troupe included several excellent musicians such as Domenico Albrici and his sons Vincenzo and Bartolomeo,
Domenico and Nicola Melani, Pietro Reggio and (Angelo Bartolotti).66
Putting together the pieces of information above and considering that both Italian and French music styles were still prevalent in the Queen's court, one can imagine how much the musicians serving at that court could have been a source of inspiration to each other.
Possibly the reason for Bartolotti's deep understanding of French music, which we will discuss later, is due to his association with French musicians during his career in the Swedish court.
After the Queen's abdication in 1654, she travelled to Rome via Brussels and Innsbruck.
During Queen's stay in Innsbruck, Bartolotti appears to have obtained a temporary job through the governor of Tyrol, Archduke Ferdinand Karl.67
65 . Bergsagel, John. "Christina [Christina Alexandra], Queen of Sweden." Grove Music Online. . Oxford University Press. Date of access 30 Oct. 2021,
66 . Bergsagel, John. "Christina [Christina Alexandra], Queen of Sweden." Grove Music Online. . Oxford University Press. Date of access 30 Oct. 2021,
67 . Chauvel, Claude,” facsimile edition of Bartolotti’s books” Minkoff,1984 .( Introduction)
Bartolotti published his second book, "Secondo Libro di Chitarra Spagnola "in 1655 during the Queen's temporary stay in Rome. This book is dedicated to Queen Christina and is utterly different in style from his first book.
Queen Christina left Rome for Paris in 1656 and stayed there from September 8 of that year until May 1658. Bartolotti, who accompanied her on this journey, decided to continue living in Paris instead of returning to Rome.
Fig.29. Queen Christina, engraving by C.Visscher, 1650.
3.1.3.Years of residence in France
From the late 1650s until the end of his life, Bartolotti lived mainly in the French capital. As he was a prominent theorbo player and had a history of playing in Italian operas such as works by Francesco Cavalli (1602-1676), he preferred to play and teach theorbo instead of the guitar during his stay in Paris.68
He was likely to serve in an Italian opera troupe recruited by Cardinal Mazarin and was also intermittently affiliated with the royal court.69
Before the Italian troupe was dismissed in 1666, Bartolotii probably performed as a theorbist in the opening performance of Cavalli's opera "Ercole Amante" on February 7, 1662. In 1664 Bartolotti's 68 . Eisenhardt, Lex, “Italian Guitar Music of the Seventeenth Century: Battuto and Pizzicato, University of Rochester Press, 2015, (p-34)
69 . Melvin, Michael John, “TONAL HARMONIC SYNTAX AND GUITAR PERFORMANCE IDIOM IN TWO MID-SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ITALIAN GUITAR BOOKS BY ANGELO MICHELE BARTOLOTTI, MMus Thesis, University of Arizona, 2003 (p-13)
name was listed in the royal accounts and the other Italian musicians of the "Cabinet de Sa Majesté" with wages of "450 Livres."
In the same year, he took part in the fifth Entrée to Molière's "Le Mariage forcé," accompanying Bergerotti and other singers in a "Concert Espagnol."
Evidence suggests that after his career in the Italian troupe Bartolotti entered the service of French general Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Conde (1621-1686).70
Two manuscripts of his theorbo works are left, one from c.1660, which contains ten pieces, and the other from 1665, which includes six pieces. However, during his stay in Paris, his most valuable work is a treatise on the playing of basso continuo on theorbo titled "Table pour apprendre facilement à toucher le théorbe sur la basse-continuë, " This book was published by Robert Ballard in Paris and has been dedicated to King Louis XIV. (Fig,30)