Italian composer, teacher, and theorist. Maestro di cappellaat St. John Lateran in Rome, 1626-28; at the cathedral in Orvieto in 1633; and at various churches in Rome thereafter, including S. Maria Maggiore (1640-46, 1649-57, 1672-77). Cesti was among his pupils. His Dal male il bene(Rome, 1653; libretto by Giulio Rospigliosi; act 2 by Marco Marazzoli) is an important early example of comic opera, employing simple recitative and ensemble finales. Other works include the operas Ione(Vienna, 1664) and La comica del cielo, overo La Baltasara(Rome, 1668); Latin church music (six books or more) in both polychoral and few-voiced concertato style; a few secular pieces for solo voice and continuo. He contributed to an edition of Gregorian hymns (1644) and wrote fourteen lectures on music.