Giovanni Battista Buonamente

Giovanni Battista Buonamente (* 1595, † 1642 in Assisi ) was an Italian composer and violinist.

Buonamente, a Catholic priest and a member of the Franciscan Order, was in the service of Prince Gonzaga family in Mantua to about 1622. In the early years of this employment he was probably under the influence of Salamone Rossi and Claudio Monteverdi. Between 1626 and 1630 he was an imperial chamber musician and composer in the Vienna Court Orchestra. 1627 he took part in the coronation festivities Ferdinand III. in Prague. At the Church of the Madonna della Steccata in Parma in 1632 he was working for a year as a violinist. In 1633 he became Kapellmeister in Assisi, where he worked until his death.

Its around 160 sacred works have been lost, several of his sonatas for one and several string instruments, have been preserved. His early works are still in the tradition of Giovanni Gabrieli, later he used a borrowed from Austria violin style.

Works

• Il quarto libro de varie de sonata, symphony, Galliard, corrente, e brandi per sonar con due violini & un basso di viola " (Venice, 1626 )
• Il sesto libro di sonate et canzoni ... (Venice 1636)
• Il libro di settimo sonata, symphony ... (Venice, 1637 )