Bernardo Storace

[1] Almost nothing is known about his life;[2] his only surviving collection of music contains numerous variation sets and represents a transitory stage between the time of Girolamo Frescobaldi and that of Bernardo Pasquini.

[1] This fact is mentioned on the title page of Selva di varie compositioni d'intavolatura per cimbalo ed organo, the single surviving collection of Storace's music, which is also the only source of information on the composer.

Given that Selva di varie compositioni was published in Venice and the music is stylistically somewhat more related to that of northern Italian composers, it is possible that Storace was originally from the north of Italy.

The rest of the variation sets tend to feature longer patterns, up to 24 bars in Aria sopra la Spagnoletta.

The last piece of Selva di varie compositioni is also its most intriguing: Storace's Pastorale is a very long work consisting of numerous repeated figures, variations, etc., all over an incessant pedal note.

Title page and table of contents from Selva di varie compositioni
One of the tonal transitions from Passagagli sopra Fe fa ut per b . The composer's note reads: "Passing to another tone."
A sample of figurations from Pastorale
Facsimile of a page from Selva di varie compositioni , showing the end of Passagagli sopra A la mi re and the beginning of Passagagli sopra C sol fa ut