FIU professor discovers and records historic baroque music

The 15 never-before-heard songs by classical composer Bellerofonte Castaldi were recorded by FIU Musicologist David Dolata and his group for their upcoming CD, “Battaglia d’amore.”

While conducting dissertation research on the composer Bellerofonte Castaldi in Italy, David Dolata, director and associate professor of musicology at FIU School of Music, unexpectedly stumbled across several previously unknown manuscripts by the composer.

The manuscripts, which contain songs about the trials and tribulations of love, were compiled in the 1600s by an individual who was collecting popular music of the day. Castaldi wrote the original words and music, which was very rare at the time.

“In those days, individuals wrote poems that became very well known, and composers set them to music,” Dolata explained. “It wasn’t unusual for several composers to each create different musical settings for a popular poem.”

Dolata and his classical group, Il Furioso, have recorded for the first time 13 of the 15 newly discovered songs on the CD, “Battaglia d’amore,” on the Toccata Classics label. The CD was released in Europe on May 2 and is slated for release in the United States on September 9.

Dolata, who is a lutenist and theorbist as well as an internationally renowned Castaldi scholar, was deeply moved the first time he heard his group’s recording of the composer’s songs. “When I heard the playback of the song ‘O Clorida’ in the medieval Italian church where we recorded it, I knew I’d been to heaven and back,” he recalled.

He recently returned from a national tour with Il Furioso, performing Castaldi’s works at FIU and other venues including the Boston Baroque Society, Dickinson College, the University of Calgary and the Vizcaya Museum in Miami.

Dolata’s discovery of the manuscripts has significantly impacted the world of contemporary music. A number of the Castaldi songs have been performed throughout the United States. Dolata also expanded his previous article on Castaldi for the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.

This experience of unearthing and performing the historic Baroque music shows that musicological research is not just a theoretical, “ivory tower” exercise, but has practical, real-life benefits, Dolata said.

“It’s become my mission to bring Castaldi to the world,” he added. “This has been a wonderful adventure. I’ll never get tired of writing about Castaldi and his art.”