Liberati, Antimo
Liberati, Antimo
Liberati, Antimo, Italian music theorist and composer; b. Foligno, April 3, 1617; d. Rome, Feb. 24, 1692. He received training in the fine arts and law in Foligno, where he became a notary. After service with the Viennese court (1637–43), he took minor orders in Foligno (1644). About 1650 he went to Rome and studied music with Allegri and Benevoli. From 1661 to 1692 he was an alto in the papal choir, serving as its maestro di cappella in 1674–75. He also was organist and maestro di cappella at S. Maria dell’Anima, Ss. Trinità del Pellegrini, and Ss. Stimate di S. Francesco. Liberati was an influential music theorist. As a staunch defender of the Roman liturgical tradition, he opposed all liberal trends at the Sistine Chapel. He also opposed the stile nuovo and the secondo prattica. His major treatises comprise Epitome della musica (1666?) and Lettera...in risposta ad huna del Signor Ovidio Persapegi, 15 Ottobre 1684 (Rome, 1685). His extant compositions consist mainly of arias found in MSS of his era.
—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire