Alessandro Grandi seems to have been largely responsible for establishing the new style at St Mark’s. It is likely that he was born in Ferrara, and he joined the St Mark’s choir in 1617; he worked there for a decade before leaving for Bergamo. Grandi seems to have invented the motet for solo voice with violins, drawing on secular idioms. For instance,
Amo Christum uses the walking bass associated at the time with the canzonetta and sets a text that is a barely concealed secular love lyric.
from notes by Peter Holman © 2001
