Publisher's Synopsis
Guglielmo Gonzaga (1538-87) dedicated his life to transforming the duchy of Mantua into a model Catholic state. A munificent and dedicated patron of composers and performers, author and champion of the grandiose artistic-architectonic and liturgical-musical project of the ducal church of Santa Barbara, he was also a composer of sacred and secular polyphony and a theoretician of compositional methods. Among the surviving records are liturgical books that contain the plainchants for the liturgy of the basilica, chants that were presumably arranged to his specifications. These chants formed the basis of polyphonic compositions for Santa Barbara. For more information, see http://www.corpusmusicae.com/cmm/cmm_cc108.htm
