Giovanni Battista Fasolo

Who is Giovanni Battista Fasolo?

Giovanni Battista Fasolo, O.F.M., was a Franciscan friar, organist and composer.

In his middle years Fasolo was primarily known for his 1645 organ annual, which, like L'organo suonarino of Adriano Banchieri, from the generation before him, was intended for use in small parish churches, and are much simpler than those used in Venice. In 1659 Fasolo became maestro di cappella to the Archbishop of Monreale.

Until recently many of G.B. Fasolo's secular works were attributed to other composers, particularly the Venetian Francesco Manelli, the composer of the first commercial operas in music history, or to a third unknown composer known as "Il Fasolo?".

However following the work of Francesco Luisi, Mariangela Donà, and Claudio Bacciagaluppi the attribution of the major works under the heading "Il Fasolo?" to G.B. Fasolo is now reasonably secure, and listed under his own entry, by Eleanor Selfridge-Field, in the current New Grove.