Giovanni Battista Abbatessa

Giovanni Battista Abbatessa (? – after 1651), also spelled Abbatesa, was an Italian composer and guitarist of the baroque period. He was likely born in Batonto (near Bari) in the Kingdom of Naples. [Tyler, James and Paul Sparks. "The Guitar and its Music: From the Renaissance to the Classical Era. (Oxford University Press: 2002), p. 59] He wrote four books for the five-coursed baroque guitar, which mainly comprised simple "battute" solos. His works included instructions for fingering and tuning of the guitar, as well as how to play various ornaments.

Works

*"Corona di vaghi fiori" (Florence, 1627) - contains battute solos in "alfabeto" notation.
*"Cespuglio di varii fiori" (Orvieto, 1635) - contains "alfabeto" solos, as well as songs in staff notation with "alfabeto"
*"Intessatura di varii fiori" (Naples, 1645) - contains "alfabeto" solos. Known from a later edition, (Rome and Lucca, 1652).
*"Ghirlanda di varii fiori" (Milan, "c".1650) - contains "alfabeto" solos.

References