Pietro Paolo Melli was an Italian lutenist and composer who lived from 1579 to 1623. Nothing is known about his training or early years. In 1612, he was employed as a lutenist in the court chapel of Emperor Matthias II, and after the emperor’s death in 1618, he was one of the few musicians confirmed as a member of the court chapel by his successor, Emperor Ferdinand II. In 1623, Melli returned to his birthplace, Reggio Emilia, to assume a high-ranking administrative position.
Melli’s four surviving lute books shed light on the highly developed art of lute playing at the Viennese imperial court. Besides traditional social dances like the Gagliarde or Volta, there are also compositions in free forms such as the Capriccio and in special moods, as well as numerous compositions with programmatic titles, including the “Rotta di Mansfelt,” which musically depicts the victory of the Christian army under the leadership of Karl von Mansfelt over the Turks at Esztergom in 1595 in the form of a Battaglia. Works from the fourth lute book, with their opulent continuo ensemble of harpsichord, violone, harp, and four different lute-like instruments accompanying a violin and a flute, point to the common, richly textured continuo practice of the time.