Missa pro defunctis – Giammateo Asola

Missa pro defunctis by Giammateo Asola

It is difficult to confirm exactly when the Italian composer Giammateo Asola completed this Requiem Mass, however based on the earliest printings of the Mass it is likely Asola completed this work in 1576.

Asola was born in Verona in approximately 1532. By 1546 he began study with the Canons Regular of San Giorgio in Alga, a reformist monastic group originally located on a separate island in the Venetian lagoon. By 1569 Asola had become a parish priest, and would eventually be awarded the position of maestro di cappella at the Treviso Cathedral in 1577. A year later Asola would accept the same role at the Vicenza Cathedral, for a higher salary.

There are no confirmed paintings or sketches of Asola from the period. The cover image for this video is ‘Madonna del Popolo’ by the Italian painter Federico Barocci, painted in 1579. The image you see during the video is ‘The Assembly of the Gods’ by the Florentine painter Jacopo Zucchi painted in 1575.