Giacomo Carissimi

(1605 - 1674)

Italian composer, one of early masters of oratorio form. Choirmaster Assisi 1628-1629, Collegio Germanico, Rome, 1629-1674. Oratorios include Lucifer, Job, Baltazar, Jephte (1650), Judicium Salomonis; motets, and recitatives (e.g. Abraham and Isaac). Adapted Monteverdi's operatic innovations to sacred drama. His Missa 'L 'Homme arme' was last of its kind. In 1656 was appointed choirmaster to Queen Christina of Sweden when she established her court in Rome after her abdication. Read more on Wikipedia.