Giovanni Dragoni

Giovanni Andrea Dragoni (or Draconi, c. 1540 – December 1598) was an Italian composer of the Roman School of the late Renaissance, a student of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, and a prominent composer and maestro di cappella in Rome in the late 16th century.

He left numerous sacred and secular works, almost all vocal, and was especially noted for his often-reprinted books of madrigals.

In 1594, towards the end of his life, Cardinal del Monte appointed Dragoni to assess the progress on the revisions to liturgical chant, part of the extensive reforms following from the Council of Trent.

Influences on Dragoni included his teacher Palestrina, especially early in his career, and later the renowned madrigalist Luca Marenzio.

In addition he experimented with polychoral textures in some of his later works, a feature more prominent in Venetian than Roman music.