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He was probably born in Ferrara and spent the first part of his life there, likely studying with Giovanni Gabrieli at Venice, which was nearby. He held several posts in Ferrara as maestro di cappella at different cathedrals and academies. In 1617 he won a post at St. Mark's in Venice, during the time Monteverdi was choirmaster there. Eventually he became Monteverdi's assistant, and during this time seems to have chosen to write works in some of the smaller forms which Monteverdi was neglecting. In 1627 he went to Bergamo, probably because he had an opportunity to be maestro di cappella at a place where he could build up the music program from scratch. Most likely he met Heinrich Schütz on that composer's second visit to Italy. Unfortunately, after only three years at Bergamo, Grandi died in 1630 during an outbreak of the plague.
Most of his music is vocal with instrumental accompaniment. Stylistically, his early music is similar to that of Giovanni Gabrieli, with alternating short passages of greatly contrasting rhythmRhythm is the variation of the duration of sounds over time. When governed by rule, it is called meter. It is inherent in any time-dependent medium, but it is most associated with music, dance, and most poetry. The study of rhythm, stress, and pitch in sps and textureIn music, the word texture is often used in a rather vague way in reference to the overall sound of a piece of music. A piece may be described as having a "thick" texture, or a "light" texture, or other terms taken from outside of music ( Aaron Copland's; however he usually wrote for smaller forces. Most of his early compositions are motetsIn Western music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions. The name comes either from the Latin movere ("to move") or a Latinized version of Old French mot "word" or "verbal utterance. If from the Latin, th in the concertato style: some are duets and trios, an innovation in motet writing, which usually involved larger groups. Grandi was one of the only composers who continued to write involved vocal polyphonyPolyphony is a musical texture consisting of several independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice ( monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ( homophony). The term is usually used in reference to mus over the basso continuo right after its introduction--most composers using the continuo in the first decades of the 17th century16th century 17th century 18th century more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601- 1700. During this period, the power of England and the United Provinces increased; while that of wrote monodiesMonody is a kind of music distinguished by having a single melodic line and accompaniment. Although such music is found in various cultures throughout history, the term is generally applied to Italian song of the early 17th century. It is contrasted with, or preferred more homophonic textures.
Grandi experimented with extreme emotionalism with some of his music, with chromaticism, ornament and affectation; while harmonically he was not as adventurous as Gesualdo, he was connected to the larger tradition, and thus his works were almost as influential as Monteverdi's. He ceaselessly innovated, writing monodies with instruments such as violins, and in a sectional form with repeating parts for instruments only--an idea which would develop into the ritornello. The music of Grandi shows a link between the concertato style which began the Baroque era, and the form of the cantata which culminated in the work of J.S. Bach.
Grandi was one of the most popular composers of his day; his works were published throughout Italy, Germany and the Low Countries, and continued to be reprinted long after his death. He wrote motets, psalm settings, madrigals, as well as some of the earliest compositions to be called " cantata."