Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi

In 1592 he succeeded Giaches de Wert as choirmaster at Santa Barbara's, Mantua, and served until 1605 under the Dukes Guglielmo and Vincenzo Gonzaga.

According to Gastoldi himself, at least one of the pieces from this collection was included in a Mantuan court performance of the play in November 1598, which was staged as part of the festivities accompanying a visit of the queen of Spain.

As a whole, Gastoldi's balletti were a musical commedia dell'arte, and included the following compositions: Contento (The Lucky One), Premiato (The Winner), L'Inamorato (The Suitor), Piacere (Pleasure), La Bellezza (Beauty), Gloria d'Amore (Praise of Love), L'Acceso (The Ardent), Caccia d'Amore (Love-Chase), Il Martellato (The Disdained), Il Bell’humore (The Good Fellow), Amor Vittorioso (Love Victorious), and Speme Amorosa (Amorous Hope).

However, this has no slightest intention of masking sophistication behind the spontaneous naivete of Gastoldi's works, because the entire content is a collection of simplicity, healthy playfulness, communicative carefreeness, and gaiety.

The common trait is, of course, the Fa-la refrain, (which incidentally became "lirum-lirum "in Gloria d’amore) with skipping rhythms, clear lines, and frank tonality.