'Lucino è un lampo, e la sua voce è un tuono': Francesco Lucino cantore a Milano nel primo Seicento

Abstract

Francesco Lucino was a singer, composer, and editor of vocal music collections. Information available until recently suggested that he were a major figure in the early 17th-century Milan scene. We can now fill gaps in his biography, identify a few towns where he lived, point to istitutions he worked for—either regularly or on occasion—and better understand his correspondence with cardinal Federico Borromeo. Lucino was born in Caravaggio ca. 1545. He had been a Humiliated friar since perhaps the 1560's until 1571, when the male section of the order was abolished. By 1579, he entered the chapel of the Milan Duomo. Here he worked till his death (1617), although offers came from other first-rank institutions. One of these was the Santa Maria chapel by San Celso. Lucino collaborated with it on a regular basis between July, 1604 and September, 1617. He was ordained a priest probably after 1589. On January, 1592 he got the caplainship at San Sebastiano, a parish church the Milanese founded in 1577 as a vow during a plague. Lucino won exceptional fame as a singer. This is proven by several accounts from printed sources—Borsieri, Picinelli, and Magistri, besides many dedications. We learn from such authors that musicians of fame traveled to Milan from afar to hear him sing. Lucino's fame is also suggested by his being the dedicatee of compositions (by Borgo, Andrea and Giovan Paolo Cima), collections (by Scarabelli and Scaletta, plus the compilation Lucino himself edited, which publisher Lomazzo dedicated to him in a reprint), and poems (by Ferrari and Guarini in Magistri's revision). Besides his popularity as a performer, Lucino's most significant contribution seems to be his influence on Milan musical taste, as his sacred music compilations clearly show.