Giovanni Paolo Cima (c. 1570 – 1630) was an Italian composer and organist in the early Baroque era. He was a contemporary of Claudio Monteverdi and Girolamo Frescobaldi, though not as well known (then or now) as either of those men.
Cima came from a family of musicians and was a leading musical figure in Milan. From 1595 he served as director of music and organist at the chapel of Santa Maria presso San Celso in Milan. His Concerti ecclesiastici, a collection which also includes a mass, two Magnificat settings, and six sonatas for 2, 3, and 4 instruments, were published in 1610.[1]
Cima's church music was generally conservative, but his instrumental works were more innovative. His importance lies primarily in being the first composer to publish a trio sonata (for violin, cornett, and basso continuo), in his 1610 collection. It is a single-movement, through-composed work displaying thematic integration and virtuosic display.[2]
Cima died in Milan during the plague of 1630, at about the age of 60.[3] His son Giovanni Battista Cima is not to be confused with the painter Giovanni Battista Cima, called Cima da Conegliano, who was no relation.