Antonio Brunelli

Antonio Brunelli (20 December 1577 in Pisa – 19 November 1630 in Pisa) was an Italian composer and theorist of the early Baroque period. He was a student of Giovanni Maria Nanino and served as the organist at San Miniato in Tuscany from 1604 to 1607, then moved to Prato where he served as maestro di capella at the Cathedral there. On 12 April 1612 he was appointed as maestro di capella to the Order of Saint Stephen at the Santo Stefano dei Cavalieri Church in Pisa in the service of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. His pupil, composer Giovanni Bettini, followed him to Pisa and was later appointed organist at the Santo Stefano dei Cavalieri in 1618, most likely by Brunelli. Between 1605 and 1621 he published works including motets, canzonette, Psalms, madrigals, Requiems, and other sacred works, some of which were included in Donfried's Promptuarium musicum (1623). Brunelli wrote and published several theoretical treatises, most notably the Regole utilissime per i scolari che desiderano imperare a cantare (Florence, 1606), one of the first published methods for voice. His other writings include Esercizi ad 1 e 2 voci (Florence, 1607) and Regole et dichiarazione de alcuni contrappunti doppii (Florence, 1610).