Claudio Merulo
1533 — 1604
Claudio Merulo was an Italian composer, publisher and organist of the late Renaissance period, most famous for his innovative keyboard music and his ensemble music composed in the Venetian polychoral style. He was born in Correggio and died in Parma. Born Claudio Merlotti, he Latinised his surname when he became famous in Venetian cultural clubs.
Adapted from the Wikipedia article on Claudio Merulo.
From the period sources
Claudio Merulo, born in Correggio in 1533, was a distinguished organist and teacher whose career began with notable success. At the age of twenty-four, he secured the position of second organist at St. Mark’s, Venice, after a competition involving nine other candidates, having previously been appointed organist at Brescia in 1556, according to Grove’s Dictionary (1904). His time in Venice placed him in daily contact with leading musicians such as Willaert, Ciprian de Rore, Zarlino, and Andrea Gabrieli. Zarlino’s Dimostrationi Harmonicke (1571) even features Merulo as an interlocutor in dialogues, where he is presented to Francesco Viola as “M. Claudio Merulo soavissimo organista del detto tempio” (Grove’s Dictionary, 1904).
Merulo’s employers at St. Mark’s frequently increased his salary and expressed their desire to retain his services, a testament to his skill and the value placed upon him (Grove’s Dictionary, 1904). He ascended to first organist in 1566, a position later held by his pupil Giovanni Gabrieli, who succeeded him in 1585 (Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians, Vol. 2, 1889). Despite his eminence, Merulo’s income was “never a large one,” which likely prompted his ventures into publishing in 1566 and composing motets and madrigals in 1578, though these efforts were short-lived (Grove’s Dictionary, 1904). After twenty-seven years in Venice, Merulo moved to Parma in 1584 as organist of the Steccata, or ducal chapel, where he was knighted by the Duke and remained until his death in 1604. His organ works, alongside those of Frescobaldi, were foundational to the great German organ school, influencing figures like Froberger (Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians, Vol. 2, 1889).