Giovanni Paolo Cima | en

Giovanni Paolo Cima (c. 1570 – 1622) was an Italian composer and organist in the early Baroque era. He was a contemporary of Claudio Monteverdi and Girolamo Frescobaldi.

Cima came from a family of musicians and was a leading musical figure in Milan. He was director of music and organist at tha Saint Marie chapel of Saint Celso in Milan in 1610.

Cima's church music was generally conservative, but his instrumental works were more innovative. He was the first composer to publish trio sonatas and made use in them of the combination of two treble instruments and the basso continuo.

Cima died in Milan at about the age of 52.

In the early 17th century, Cima was nearly as respected as Monteverdi. But, owing largely to his legendary reluctance to publish his music, Cima is nearly forgotten today - his only remotely familiar works are two sonatas (one for violin and bass, the other for cornet, violin, and violone) that keep finding their way onto recordings of Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610.

Giovanni Paolo Cima is not to be confused with the artist Giovanni Battista Cima, called Cima da Conegliano. .