Baroque musician and cleric who features in modern literature
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| Agostino Steffani, depcited in a 1714 portrait by Gerhard Kappers |
Details of his life and works have recently been brought to
the attention of readers of contemporary crime novels because they were used by
the American novelist, Donna Leon, as background for her 2012 mystery The
Jewels of Paradise.
Steffani was admitted as a chorister at St Mark’s Basilica
in Venice while he was still young and in 1667 the beauty of his voice
attracted the attention of Count Georg Ignaz von Tattenbach, who took him to
Munich.
Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria, paid for Steffani’s
education and granted him a salary, in return for his singing.
In 1673 Steffani was sent to study in Rome, where he
composed six motets. The original manuscripts for these are now in a museum in
Cambridge.
On his return to Munich Steffani was appointed court organist.
He was also ordained a priest and given the title of Abbate of Lepsing. His
first opera, Marco Aurelia, was written for the carnival and produced at Munich
in 1681.
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| Part of the score of Duetto da Camera Pria ch'io faccia by Agostino Steffani, which is in the British Library in London |
Steffani then accepted the post of Kapellmeister at the
court of Hanover where he showed great kindness to the young Handel, who was
just beginning his career.
He composed an opera called Henrico Leone for the opening of
the new opera house, which enhanced his reputation. He composed several more
operas for the same theatre and the scores were brought to London by the
Elector of Hanover, George Louis, when he became King George I. They are now preserved
in Buckingham Palace.
Steffani went on diplomatic missions on behalf of George
Louis’s father, Ernest Augustus, when he became Elector of Hanover and this
work was recognised by Pope Innocent XI who granted him high honours.
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| George Louis, later King George I of England |
In 1724 the Academy of Ancient Music in London elected him
as honorary president for life and in return he sent them a Stabat Mater and
three madrigals, which have been considered to be in advance of the age in
which they were written. Steffani also wrote many beautiful cantatas for two
voices, the scores for which are now in the British Museum.
The composer visited Italy for the last time in 1727, where
he met up with Handel again. Steffani died in 1728 while on diplomatic business
in Frankfurt.
In Donna Leon’s novel The Jewels of Paradise, a young
musicologist is hired in Venice to find the rightful heirs to fictional
treasure that Steffani left in trunks that had not been opened for centuries.
Donna Leon’s interest in Baroque opera inspired her to write this story,
weaving fact with fiction as she takes details from Steffani’s past and creates
a present-day mystery involving two avaricious Venetians who think they are
heirs to Steffani’s fortune.
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| The Cathedral at Castelfranco Veneto |
Castelfranco Veneto, where Steffani was born, is an ancient
walled town in the Veneto region of Italy. It is also famous for being the
birthplace of Renaissance artist, Giorgione. The Cathedral inside the walls
contains one of his finest works, Madonna with St Francis and Liberalis, which
was painted in 1504.
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| The Biblioteca Marciana in Venice |
In Donna Leon’s novel The Jewels of Paradise, the main
character, the musicologist Caterina Pellegrini, carries out a lot of her
research into the life of Agostino Steffani at the Biblioteca Marciana, which
is an elegant building opposite the Doge’s Palace in the Piazzetta, off St
Mark’s Square in Venice.