Italian composer. Borni into a noble Roman family. Gaffi spent his whole life in the city. He was trained by Barnardo Pasquini, the leading keyboard virtuoso in Rome in the second half of the 17th century, succeeding him as organist of S. Maria Maggiore (1691/2). Around 1700 he became organist at the prestigious Chiesa del Gesù succeeding Pasquini again on his death in 1710 at S. Maria dell'Aracoeli in Campidoglio, always in Rome. Performances of vocal music were an important feature of musical life at the courts in Rome, and Gaffi took part in a number of them as a harpsichordist, including those organised by Cardinal Pamphili and Cardinal Ottoboni. He also became connected to Prince Francesco Maria Ruspoli, who commissioned three mass settings, and to whom Gaffi dedicated his only opus which was published during his life: a set of chamber cantatas, which was another genre which was in huge demand in those days. In these cantatas he showed himself an original composer by giving the harpsichord a concertante role. Gaffi composed eight oratorios - most of them in the last decade of the 17th century - which were not only performed in Rome, but also in Florence, Venice and Vienna: Abigaille (Modena 1689); La forza del divino amore (Rome 1691); Adam (Rome 1692) parts lost; Sant'Eugenia (Firenze 1693) parts lost; L'Innocenza gloriosa (Firenze 1693); Il sacrificio del Verbo umano (Rome 1700). He published Cantata da camera a voce sola as his Op. 1 in Rome in 1700, and left two volumes of Motest in manuscript.