Biography
Felice Antonio Arconati (Saronno , around 1610 - after 1679 probably in Mariano Comense) was an Italian Franciscan and composer.
Friar minor conventual , he was choirmaster in the basilica of the Santi XII Apostoli in Rome in the year 1593 as can be seen in the Regesta Ordinis and also in the panel of the brother Vannarelli. So with the same assignment we find him in the church of San Francesco d'Assisi in Turin , in the church of San Francesco in Bologna , in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo and then again in the basilica of San Francesco in Assisi .
In 1669 a confess from the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano claims to be a musician who has held the position of choirmaster in the basilicas of Rome, Turin, Assisi, Bergamo and Bologna. This document is also important for other information: Arconati's acquaintance with Cossoni and Cazzati and their appreciation for him. But again for his participation in the organist competition at the Milan Cathedral, following the death of Michelangelo Grancini. Although this document mentions his invitation to the jury for the competition and another correspondence mentions him as a candidate for the competition, he is deleted from the list before the call. Even today the motivation is not known (perhaps for another assignment), however shortly thereafter we find him in Assisi and from 1679 to 1689 he was choirmaster in the basilica of Sant'Antonio di Padova , while the organist was the nephew of Vannarelli, Vittorio.
Worthy of note is the autograph manuscript of the Ark of Padua in which Arconati himself indicates the cities in which he was choirmaster, confirming what is already present in that of the venerable factory of the Duomo, providing however a precious indication of the period in which he lent service, over 25 years
There are many compositions, but only eight have been found plus the Missa Minima for 8 voices. The pieces are Lauda Ierusalem , in the anthology of his brother Vannarelli, Alleluia victoria , Silentium tenebant omnia , Dulcis Iesu , Resonate, Gens Christiana , Ave Regina coelorum , Salve Regina .
There is an extraordinary novelty in Arconati's compositions which are very broad, between fugues and imitative styles, with evident references to the theory of affects, whose motifs can evoke Georg Friedrich Händel and Johann Pachelbel as is the case of Alleluia victoria or recall Giacomo Carissimi and Sisto Reina for the text of the piece Silentium tenebant omnia .
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