Alfonso Della Viola

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Alfonso della Viola or dalla Viola (Ferrara, about 1508 - about 1573) was an Italian composer. Alfonso was born into a family of musicians, of which, however, it is not yet able to clarify the kinship relations. Probably, he was the illegitimate son of Agostino della Viola (or Agostino di Ferrara), a well-known singer and instrumentalist at the court of Ferrara from 1497 to 1522. From 1528 in the service of Alfonso I d'Este , Duke of Ferrara, as his chamber musician, Alfonso della Viola was in the pay of the Estensi as a bow viola instrumentalist and composer for 40 years. Between 1563 and 1572 he held the post of choirmaster at the Cathedral of Ferrara . His ability both as a composer and as an instrumentalist is celebrated by various writers of the time, including Cristoforo di Messisbugo and Luigi Dentice, who wrote "Misser Alfonso della Viola, who is no less miraculous in counterpoint and composing than in playing the Viola d'arco in conserto (...)". He is said to have composed the music for Ercole II d'Este 's wedding with Renata di Francia . He also wrote music for various tragedies and pastoral dramas performed in Ferrara, including Giambattista Giraldi Cinzio 's Orbecche (1541), Alberto Lollio 's Aretusa (1563) and Agostino Argenti's Lo Sfucky (1567). All these works have been lost, except for some fragments of the music for Il Sacrificio by Agostino Beccari (1564). The musical style recalls the pieces of Francesco Corteccia for the Florentine intermediates . In

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