Showing posts with label Religious music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Religious music. Show all posts

12 August 2024

Giovanni Legrenzi – composer

Maestro’s Baroque music is still played today by enthusiasts

Giovanni Legrenzi came from a musical family in Clusone, near Bergamo
Giovanni Legrenzi came from a musical
family in Clusone, near Bergamo
Organist and composer Giovanni Legrenzi, who was influential in the development of late Baroque music in Italy, was baptised on this day in 1626 at Clusone, near Bergamo, which was at the time part of the Republic of Venice.

Legrenzi was to become one of the most prominent composers of opera, vocal, and instrumental music working in Venice in the late 17th century.

His father, Giovanni Maria Legrenzi, had been a professional violinist and composer. One of his brothers, Marco, was also a talented musician. The brothers are believed to have been taught music at home and they became used to performing in their local church.

Giovanni Legrenzi became organist at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo and was ordained as a priest in 1651. He became resident chaplain at the church, but continued to be involved in music and was given the title of first organist in 1653. The music he composed for Mass and Vespers was published in 1654.

Legrenzi is believed to have been involved in a gambling scandal and his appointment as organist was not reconfirmed the following year, but the offence was not considered to be serious and he had been reinstated by February 1655.

However, towards the end of that year, Legrenzi had resigned from his position in Bergamo and in 1656 he became maestro di cappella at the Academy of the Holy Spirit in Ferrara.

The Ospedaletto, where Legrenzi worked during his time in Venice
The Ospedaletto, where Legrenzi
worked during his time in Venice
The Academy was founded by a fraternity of laymen who presented services with music for members of aristocratic circles in Ferrara.

Legrenzi’s position at the Academy gave him time to compose his own music and by the early 1660s he had published eight volumes of his work and had broken into the world of opera.

He ended his association with the Academy and supported himself with the proceeds of his published music and with his income from the land he owned in his native Clusone.

By 1670, he had settled in Venice, where he took up a position as a music teacher at Santa Maria dei Derelitti, more commonly known as the Ospedaletto, where he received commissions to compose oratorios.

He was a finalist for the appointment of maestro di cappella the Basilica of San Marco in 1676, losing by one vote, but later in the year he became maestro di coro at the Ospedale dei Mendicanti.

He became vice maestro at San Marco in 1682 and, by this time, he was one of the leading opera composers of his day. Among his students were Francesco Gasparini and Tomaso Albinoni.

Legrenzi finally became maestro di cappella at San Marco in 1685 but by this time his health was beginning to fail. He died in 1690, probably due to kidney stones, which caused him a lot of pain in his last few months.

His great nephew inherited his music and his books and produced four publications of Legrenzi’s work posthumously. Some of the composer’s unpublished work still survives in manuscript form.

Legrenzi composed 19 operas between 1662 and 1685, which were very popular in their day, but only a few have survived. Early music groups still perform his instrumental music and some of his surviving operas are performed at festivals.

The frescoed exterior of the Torre dell'orologio is one of the attractions of Clusone
The frescoed exterior of the Torre dell'orologio
is one of the attractions of Clusone
Travel tip:

Clusone, a town in Val Seriana, just outside Bergamo, where Legrenzi was born, has been chosen as one of I borghi piu belli d’Italia - the most beautiful villages in Italy. It was founded around 1300 BC.  Situated about 35km (22 miles) northeast of Bergamo, it nestles on a plain against the backdrop of the Alpi Orobie - the Orobic Alps - which is an area that attracts visitors all year round. Apart from its proximity to ski resorts, Clusone is famous for the frescoes that decorate some of its most significant buildings, such as the Municipio (Town Hall), the Torre dell'orologio (Clock Tower) and the Oratorio dei Disciplini (Oratory of the Disciplines), which has a macabre offering entitled The Triumph of Death. Clusone also hosts a prestigious annual jazz festival.


The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo
The Basilica of Santa Maria
Maggiore in Bergamo
Travel tip:

The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Piazza Duomo in Bergamo, where Legrenzi served as organist, dates back to the 12th century. It is one of the most prestigious buildings in Lombardy and has a richly decorated cupola from the 16th century and some fine Flemish and Florentine tapestries and works of art. At the back of the church is an elaborate white marble monument designed by Vincenzo Vela, marking the tomb of opera composer Gaetano Donizetti, who was born in Bergamo and returned to die in his native city. Nearby there is a monument to his teacher Simon Mayr, who was once maestro di cappella in the basilica. There is also an elaborately carved wooden confessional designed by Andrea Fantoni in 1704 and an altar rail with wood carvings following designs by the Renaissance artist Lorenzo Lotto.

Also on this day:

1612: The death of composer Giovanni Gabrieli

1861: The death of anarchist Luigi Galleani

1901: The death of politician Francesco Crispi

1943: The death of mountain photographer Vittorio Sella

1990: The birth of footballer Mario Balotelli


31 March 2024

Francesco Durante – composer and teacher

Musician devoted his life to passing on his composing skills to others

Francesco Durante numbered many famous pupils when he taught in Naples
Francesco Durante numbered many famous
pupils when he taught in Naples
An esteemed composer of religious and instrumental music, Francesco Durante was born on this day in 1684 at Frattamaggiore near Naples.

Durante was a highly regarded teacher at the Sant'Onofrio Conservatorio and the Santa Maria di Loreto Conservatorio and was also Chapelmaster at the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesú Cristo in Naples.

He had some famous pupils, among whom were Niccoló Jommelli, Niccoló Piccinni and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, who became leading composers of the Neapolitan School of 18th century opera.

Durante studied music in Rome and at Naples, where he was a pupil at San Onofrio and is believed to have studied under Alessandro Scarlatti. He began his own teaching career at the Sant'Onofrio Conservatorio in 1710.

Between 1728 and 1742 he also taught at Santa Maria Loreto and the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesú Cristo.  He succeeded Leonardo Leo as principal teacher at Sant'Onofrio Conservatorio in 1745.

There was always rivalry between Leo’s students and his own pupils, who at various times included the composers Giovanni Paisiello, Tommaso Traetta and Leonardo Vinci.

Durante’s own compositions included motets, masses, requiems and oratorios. A pastoral mass for four voices and a setting of the Lamentations of Jeremiah are considered among his best works. He also composed for the harpsichord and for stringed instruments.

A collection of his works was presented to the Bibliothèque National in Paris by a Neapolitan collector of art and music and the Imperial library in Vienna also houses a collection of his manuscripts. He seems to have composed mainly sacred works and is considered by experts to have been one of the best composers of church music of his period.

Durante, who was married three times, died in Naples in 1755, aged 71.

The Piazza Umberto I in Frattamaggiore, with the campanile of the Basilica of San Sossio
The Piazza Umberto I in Frattamaggiore, with the
campanile of the Basilica of San Sossio 
Travel tip:

Frattamaggiore, where Durante was born, is a comune of Naples, about 15km (9 miles) north of the city, and 15 km southwest of Caserta. Known as Fratta to the locals, Frattamaggiore was named a Benedictine city in 1997 and was awarded the title of City of Art in 2008. It is thought to date back to before Roman times, but the first recorded mention of Frattamaggiore was in 921 AD. The patron saint of Frattamaggiore is Saint Sossius, or Sosius. His remains were first preserved at Miseno, but after the town was destroyed by the Saracens his followers moved to live in Frattamaggiore. The saint’s relics were recovered by Benedictines and preserved in a convent in Naples, but after the convent was suppressed during Napoleonic times, his relics were transferred to Frattamaggiore where they are preserved in a basilica dedicated to him.

The entrance to the Sant'Onofrio Conservatory at Porta Capuana
The entrance to the Sant'Onofrio
Conservatory at Porta Capuana
Travel tip:

The Conservatorio di Sant'Onofrio at Porta Capuana, where Durante taught at the beginning and end of his career, was one of the four original Naples music conservatories. Founded in 1588, it was developed first as an orphanage. Almost one fifth of the students at the Conservatorio di Sant'onofrio were castrati. Its popularity declined during the Napoleonic period, and only 30 students remained when the conservatory merged with that of Santa Maria di Loreto in 1797. Porta Capuana is now a free-standing gateway that was once part of the Aragonese walls of the city and is situated between the city’s main railway station and the Duomo. The Conservatorio di Sant'onofrio, which was in time absorbed into the Naples Conservatory, used to be close to the Castel Capuano, which was originally a 12th century fortress but has been modified several times. Until recently, the castle was home to the city’s Hall of Justice, also known as the Vicaria, which housed legal offices and a prison.



More reading:

The opera buffa genius of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

Why Domenico Cimarosa's Il Matrimonio Segreto is seen as one of the greatest comic operas

First night at Teatro di San Carlo

Also on this day: 

1425: The birth of Bianca Maria Visconti, Duchess of Milan

1675: The birth of Pope Benedict XIV

1941: The birth of cartoonist Franco Bonvicini

1958: The birth of crime writer Maurizio De Giovanni

1996: The death of car designer Dante Giacosa

(Picture credits: conservatory gate by Baku; via Wikimedia Commons)


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2 February 2019

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina - composer

Prolific writer had huge influence on the development of religious music


Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was once sacked by St Peter's for being married
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was once
sacked by St Peter's for being married
The composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, who was the most famous representative of the 16th century Roman school of musical composition and whose work is often described as the culmination of Renaissance polyphony, died on this day in 1594 in Rome.

Probably in his 70th year when he died, he had composed hundreds of pieces, including 104 masses, more than 300 motets, at least 72 hymns and some 140 or more madrigals.

He served twice as maestro di cappella - musical director - of the Cappella Giulia (Julian Chapel), the choir at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, a highly prestigious if not well paid position.

Appointed for the first time in 1551, he might have stayed there for the rest of his working life had a new pope, Paul IV, not introduced much stricter discipline compared with his predecessor, Julius III. A decree set down by Paul IV in 1555 forbade married men to serve in the papal choir, as a result of which Palestrina and two colleagues were dismissed.

Palestrina subsequently directed the choir at the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano for five years before quitting abruptly in frustration at the limited ability of his singers, compared with St Peter’s.

An engraving from 1544 shows Palestrina presenting Pope Julius III with a mass dedicated to him
An engraving from 1544 shows Palestrina presenting
Pope Julius III with a mass dedicated to him
After a period of unemployment, when he and his family had to live in modest circumstances, he took a position at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, where he stayed for seven years before, at the invitation of Cardinal Ippolito d’Este, he took charge of the music at the Villa d’Este in Tivoli, a popular summer resort near Rome. He also worked as music master for a newly-formed Seminarium Romanum (Roman Seminary), where his sons Rodolfo and Angelo became students.

By this time, his fame was spreading, but he turned down offers to go to Vienna to become musical director at the court of the emperor Maximilian II, and from the Duke of Mantua, Guglielmo Gonzaga, on the grounds that he preferred not to leave Rome, although his financial demands were considered too high also.

With the death in 1571 of Giovanni Animuccia, who had been musical director at the Vatican since Palestrina left, there was a chance for him to to return to his old post as musical director of the Julian Choir. Offered a much bigger salary, he accepted the opportunity to return and, when Santa Maria Maggiore attempted to rehire him, St. Peter’s again raised his salary.

Palestrina had been born in a house in Via Cecconi in the town of Palestrina, about 35km (22 miles) east of Rome. Commonly known as Gianetto, he became an altar boy and sang in the choir of his local church. By 1537, at around the age of 12, records suggest the was a chorister at Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, where he was taught elementary composition.

The first page of Palestrina's Pope Marcellus Mass, published in 1565
The first page of Palestrina's Pope Marcellus
Mass, published in 1565
It is thought his music was influenced by the northern European style of polyphony, dominant in Italy at the time thanks to two composers from the Netherlands, Guillaume Dufay and Josquin des Prez. Until Palestrina, Italy had not produced anyone of comparable skill in polyphony, a style of composition which consists of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony.

At about 20 years old, Palestrina took his first job an organist of the Cathedral of St. Agapito, the principal church in his home town. In 1547, he married Lucrezia Gori, whose father had just died and left her some money as well as a house and a vineyard.

They had three sons, Rodolfo, Angelo and Iginio, and lived a relatively contented life until the series of epidemics that swept through central Italy in the late 1570s sadly took the lives of his wife and their two elder sons. Pelestrina himself became seriously ill and when he recovered, still grieving, he announced his intention to become a priest.

This all changed, however, when he met Virginia Dormoli, the widow of a wealthy merchant, whom he married in 1581. He took over the running of her late husband’s fur and leather business, which had a monopoly to supply ermine trim to the papal court. This gave him financial security for the first time in his life and he invested in property, drawing a further income from the rent on four houses.

A statue erected to commemorate the life of Palestrina in his home town
A statue erected to commemorate the life
of Palestrina in his home town
Despite the now considerable demands on his time, Palestrina continued to compose prolifically, perhaps more so, and maintained a remarkably high standard in both his sacred and secular works.

The Palestrina Style - the smooth style of 16th century polyphony - is usually taught as ‘Renaissance polyphony’ in college counterpoint classes of today.  It is characterised by the strict guidelines that Palestrina followed, namely that the flow of music should be ‘dynamic, not rigid or static’; that the melody should contain few leaps between notes and any leaps be immediately countered by opposite stepwise motion; and that dissonances (lack of harmony) are either passing note or off the beat and, if on the beat, immediately resolved.

His 105 masses embrace many different styles, and the number of voices used ranges from four to eight. Among his most important were his Pope Marcellus Mass, Accepit Jesus calicem, “L’Homme armé, Tu es Petrus and his Ave Maria. 

Palestina died in Rome on February 2, 1594 after suffering with pleurisy. His funeral was held at St. Peter's, and he was buried beneath the floor of the basilica, although his tomb was later covered by new construction and attempts to locate the site have so far been unsuccessful.

Detail from the Nile Mosaic in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Palestrina, near Rome
Detail from the Nile Mosaic in the Museo Archeologico
Nazionale di Palestrina, near Rome
Travel tip:

Palestrina is a pretty town of narrow, flower-bedecked streets and is full of history. In Etruscan times, then known as Praeneste, it was home to a spectacular terraced temple, the Santuario della Fortuna Primigenia, which covered much of what is now the centre of the town. It has long since been built over but there is a model in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Palestrina, the town’s hilltop museum, which also contains many exhibits of Etruscan remains, among them the Nile Mosaic, which once decorated the heart of the temple, depicting the course of the Nile through the Egyptian landscape, complete with attendant lions and crocodiles, until it reaches the sea. Outside the museum, within its grounds, there are some exposed sections of the original temple.

The Fontana dell'Ovato is one of the profusion of fountains in the gardens of the Villa d'Este at Tivoli
The Fontana dell'Ovato is one of the profusion of fountains
in the gardens of the Villa d'Este at Tivoli
Travel tip:

The Villa d'Este is a 16th-century villa in Tivoli, about 32km (19 miles) east of Rome, famous for its terraced hillside Italian Renaissance gardens, often referred to simply as the Tivoli Gardens, and for its profusion of fountains, more than 50 in total. A former Benedictine convent, the villa and gardens were designed by the Mannerist architect Pirro Ligorio for Cardinal Ippolito II d’Este, who had confiscated it as his residence. It is now an Italian state museum, and is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site.

More reading:

Ruggiero Giovannelli, a composer of religious music thought to have been Palestrina's pupil

How Cardinal Domenico Bartolucci became an authority on Palestrina's work

Carlo Maderno, designer of the great facade of St Peter's in Rome

Also on this day:

1723: The death of anatomist Antonio Maria Valsalva

1891: The birth of former prime minister and president Antonio Segni

1925: The birth of Olympic showjumper Raimondo D’Inzeo

(Picture credits: Statue by Sergio d'Afflitto; Mosaic by Camilia.boban; Fountain by Dnalor.01)


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7 January 2019

Ruggiero Giovannelli – composer

Church musician wrote popular madrigals and songs


Ruggiero Giovannelli was maestro di capella at St Peter's for five years
Ruggiero Giovannelli was maestro di
cappella
at St Peter's for five years
Ruggiero Giovannelli, a religious composer who also wrote a surprising number of light-hearted madrigals, died on this day in 1625 in Rome.

He may have been a pupil of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, the most famous of the Roman School composers of the 16th century. Even though there is no documentary evidence to support this, there are stylistic similarities in their music.

On Palestrina’s death in 1594, Giovannelli was chosen to replace him as maestro di cappella at the Julian Chapel in St Peter’s Basilica.

Giovannelli was born in Velletri near Rome and not much is known about his life until 1583 when he became maestro di cappella at the church of San Luigi dei Francesi near the Piazza Navona in Rome. He moved on to become maestro di cappella at the Collegio Germanico, a pontifical college in Rome, in 1591.

His most important appointment was when he was chosen to replace Palestrina at St Peter’s in 1594, a position he held until 1599 when he became a singer at the Sistine Chapel, a position he held until he became maestro di cappella there in 1614.

Giovannelli was influenced by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (above), whom he succeeded at St Peter's
Giovannelli was influenced by Giovanni Pierluigi da
Palestrina (above), whom he succeeded at St Peter's 
Giovannelli composed church music in the style of Palestrina, although after 1600 he experimented with innovations that reflected the beginning of the Baroque era. Manuscripts of his masses, motets and psalms are kept in the Vatican Library.

Giovannelli wrote a surprising amount of secular music, mostly madrigals and canzonettas. He wrote three books of madrigals for five voices and two books for four voices, as well as a large quantity of other secular songs. His music was reprinted in Italy and abroad, which indicates its popularity at the time.

After retiring in 1624, he died the following year. He is buried in the church of Santa Marta in Rome.

The Cathedral of San Clemente in Velletri, which dates back to the fourth century
The Cathedral of San Clemente in Velletri, which dates
back to the fourth century
Travel tip:

Velletri, where Ruggiero Giovannelli was born, is a municipality outside Rome in the Alban Hills. It has a fourth century cathedral, the Cathedral of San Clemente, which was originally built over the ruins of a pagan temple, but was rebuilt in the 17th century and given a Renaissance-style portal. The town suffered extensive damage during bombing raids in the Second World War, although the cathedral survived.  In the 15th century, Velletri had the dubious claim to fame of being the host to what is believed to have been the world's first pawnshop.



Michelangelo's incredible work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
Michelangelo's incredible work
on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
Travel tip:

The Sistine Chapel, where Ruggiero Giovannelli was both a singer and maestro di cappella, is in the Apostolic Palace, where the Pope lives, in Vatican City. The chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, the uncle of Pope Julius II, who had it restored during his papacy. Between 1508 and 1512, Michelangelo painted the ceiling at the request of Pope Julius II.  His amazing masterpiece is in bright colours, easily visible from the floor, and covers more than 400 square metres.



More reading:

Domenico Bartolucci - a musician who directed the Sistine Chapel choir under six 20th century popes

The tale of Carlo Gesualdo, the 16th century composer of madrigals who brutally killed his wife and her lover

Andrea Gabrieli, the father of Venetian music

Also on this day:

1655: The death of the controversial Pope Innocent X

1797: Italy's tricolore flag is hoisted for the first time

1920: The birth of actor Vincent Gardenia


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