Tommaso Bai, or Tommaso Baj, was born in Crevalcore around 1650 and died in Rome on 22 December 1714.[1] He was an Italian conductor, composer, and tenor at the Vatican. He is most well known for his Miserere,[2][3] which is associated with Gregorio Allegri's Miserere.[4] During the last years of his life he had been the Kapellmeister of the Cappella Giulia in Rome.[5]
In the year of 1670 he joined the Choir of the Cappella Giulia and stayed there until his dying day. He also advanced to become a personal singer of the pope. He served the following superiors, who had been his predecessors as the Kapellmeister of the Cappella Giulia:[6]
In 1713 he got to be the Kapellmeister. He kept this function until his dying day.[6] There are different opinions about this date; for example in a music sheet of his Virgo gloriosa - owned by a person called Haberl - his date of death is claimed to be 1717.[7] According to Baini he died on the 22nd December 1714.[6][7]
Bai was acclaimed for his intricate attention to prosody, accentuation of words, and notation.[6] His well known Miserere, which he composed in 1713,[2][6] is claimed by some opinions to be an imitation Gregorio Allegri's Miserere.[4] According to Eitner this Miserere, that is performed during the Easter day, consists of two parts; the first part is written for 5 voices and it had been composed by Allegri and the second part written for four voices origininates of Baj [originally by Eitner 1905: Der 1. Chor zu 5 Stim., ist von Allegri und der 2. Chor zu 4 Stim. von Bai. (Capella sistina Kat. p. 50. B, B., L 24. B. Joach. Bei'lin Singak. Lübeck. Schwerin F. inkompl. Hofb. Wien 15926, 2. Musikfr. Wien. Bologna.— printed in Choron, Burney and Lugano 1840.)].[7]
Furthermore, there exist the following compositions (quotation after Eitner):[7]