Giovanni Pierluigi daPalestrina
Palestrina was born in the town of Palestrina, near Rome, then part of the Papal States.
Documents suggest that he first visited Rome in 1537, when he is listed as a chorister at the
Santa Maria Maggiore basilica. He studied with Robin Mallapert and Firmin Lebel. He spent
most of his career in the city. Palestrina came of age as a musician under the influence of the
northern European style of polyphony, which owed its dominance in Italy primarily to two
influential Netherlandish composers, Guillaume Dufay and Josquin des Prez, who had spent
significant portions of their careers there. Italy itself had yet to produce anyone of comparable
fame or skill in polyphony.[2]From 1544 to 1551, Palestrina was organist of the principal church
(St. Agapito) of his native city. His first published compositions, a book of Masses, had made so
favorable an impression with Pope Julius III (previously the Bishop of Palestrina) that in 1551 he
appointed Palestrina maestro di cappella or musical director of the Cappella Giulia, (Julian
Chapel, in the sense of choir), the choir of the chapter of canons at St Peter's. This book of
Masses was the first by a native composer, since in the Italian states of Palestrina's day, most
composers of sacred music were from the Low Countries, France, Portugal,[3] or Spain. In fact
the book was modeled on one by Cristóbal de Morales: the woodcut in the front is almost an
exact copy of the one from the book by the Spanish composer.During the next decade, Palestrina
held positions similar to his Julian Chapel appointment at other chapels and churches in Rome,
notably St John Lateran, (1555–1560 – a post previously held by Lassus) and St Mary Major
(1561–1566). In 1571 he returned to the Julian Chapel and remained at St Peter's for the rest of
his life. The decade of the 1570s was difficult for him personally: he lost his brother, two of his
sons, and his wife in three separate outbreaks of the plague (1572, 1575, and 1580, respectively).
He seems to have considered becoming a priest at this time, but instead he remarried, this time to
a wealthy widow. This finally gave him financial independence (he was not well paid as
choirmaster) and he was able to compose prolifically until his death.
He died in Rome of pleurisy in 1594. As was usual, Palestrina was buried on the same day he
died, in a plain coffin with a lead plate on which was inscribed Libera me Domine. A five-part
psalm for three choirs was sung at the funeral.[4]
Palestrina left hundreds of compositions, including 105 masses, 68 offertories, at least 140
madrigals and more than 300 motets. In addition, there are at least 72 hymns, 35 magnificats, 11
litanies, and four or five sets of lamentations.[2] His attitude toward madrigals was somewhat
enigmatic: whereas in the preface to his collection of Canticum canticorum (Song of Songs)
motets (1584) he renounced the setting of profane texts, only two years later he was back in print
with Book II of his secular madrigals (some of these being among the finest compositions in the
medium).[2] He published just two collections of madrigals with profane texts, one in 1555 and
another in 1586.[2] The other two collections were spiritual madrigals, a genre beloved by the
proponents of the Counter-Reformation.[2]
Palestrina's masses show how his compositional style developed over time.[2] His Missa sine
nomine seems to have been particularly attractive to Johann Sebastian Bach, who studied and
performed it while writing the Mass in B minor.[5] Most of Palestrina's masses appeared in
thirteen volumes printed between 1554 and 1601, the last seven published after his death.[2][6]
One of his most important works, the Missa Papae Marcelli (Pope Marcellus Mass), has been
historically associated with erroneous information involving the Council of Trent. According to
this tale, it was composed in order to persuade the Council of Trent that a draconian ban on the
polyphonic treatment of text in sacred music (as opposed, that is, to a more directly intelligible
homophonic treatment) was unnecessary.[7] However, more recent scholarship shows that this
mass was in fact composed before the cardinals convened to discuss the ban (possibly as much as
ten years before).[7] Historical data indicates that the Council of Trent, as an official body,
actually never banned any church music and failed to make any ruling or official statement on
the subject. These stories originated from the unofficial points-of-view of some Council
attendees who discussed their ideas with those not privy to the Council's deliberations. Those
opinions and rumors have, over centuries, been transmuted into fictional accounts, put into print,
and often incorrectly taught as historical fact. While Palestrina's compositional motivations are
not known, he may have been quite conscious of the need for intelligible text; however, this was
not to conform with any doctrine of the Counter-Reformation,[7] because no such doctrine exists.
His characteristic style remained consistent from the 1560s until the end of his life. Roche's
hypothesis that Palestrina's seemingly dispassionate approach to expressive or emotive texts
could have resulted from his having to produce many to order, or from a deliberate decision that
any intensity of expression was unbecoming in church music, has not been confirmed by
historians.[2]
One of the hallmarks of Palestrina's music is that dissonances are typically relegated to the
"weak" beats in a measure.[8] This produced a smoother and more consonant type of polyphony
which are now consider to be definitive of late Renaissance music, given Palestrina's position as
Europe's leading composer (along with Lassus) in the wake of Josquin (d. 1521). The "Palestrina
style" now serves as a basis for college Renaissance counterpoint classes, thanks in large part to
the efforts of the 18th-century composer and theorist Johann Joseph Fux, who, in a book called
Gradus ad Parnassum (Steps to Parnassus, 1725), set about codifying Palestrina's techniques as
a pedagogical tool for students of composition. Fux applied the term "species counterpoint",
which entails a series of steps whereby students work out progressively more elaborate
combinations of voices while adhering to certain strict rules. Fux did make a number of stylistic
errors, however, which have been corrected by later authors (notably Knud Jeppesen and
Morris). Palestrina's own music contains ample instances in which his rules they have been
followed to the letter, as well as many where they are freely broken.
According to Fux, Palestrina had established and followed these basic guidelines:




The flow of music is dynamic, not rigid or static.
Melody should contain few leaps between notes. (Jeppesen: "The line is the starting point
of Palestrina's style.")[8]
If a leap occurs, it must be small and immediately countered by stepwise motion in the
opposite direction.
Dissonances are to be confined to passing notes and weak beats. If one falls on a strong
beat, it is to be immediately resolved.
Much of the research on Palestrina was done in the 19th century by Giuseppe Baini, who
published a monograph in 1828 which made Palestrina famous again and reinforced the already
existing legend that he was the "Saviour of Church Music" during the reforms of the Council of
Trent.[6] The 19th century proclivity for hero-worship is predominant in this monograph,
however, and this has remained with the composer to some degree to the present day. Hans
Pfitzner's opera Palestrina shows this attitude at its peak.[6][7]
It is only recently, with the discovery and publication of a great deal of hitherto unknown or
forgotten music by various Renaissance composers, that it has been possible to properly assess
Palestrina in a historical context.[2] Though Palestrina represents late Renaissance music well,
others such as Orlande de Lassus (a Franco-Flemish composer who also spent some of his early
career in Italy) and William Byrd were arguably more versatile.[2] 20th and 21st century
scholarship by and large retains the view that Palestrina was a strong and refined composer
whose music represents a summit of technical perfection, while emphasizing that some of his
contemporaries possessed equally individual voices even within the confines of "smooth
polyphony." As a result, composers like Lassus and Byrd as well as Tomas Luis de Victoria have
increasingly come to enjoy comparable reputations.
Palestrina was famous in his day, and if anything his reputation increased after his death.
Conservative music of the Roman school continued to be written in his style (which in the 17th
century came to be known as the prima pratica) by such students of his as Giovanni Maria
Nanino, Ruggiero Giovanelli, Arcangelo Crivelli, Teofilo Gargari, Francesco Soriano and
Gregorio Allegri. It is also thought that Salvatore Sacco may have been a student of Palestrina, as
well as Giovanni Dragoni, who later went on to become choirmaster in the church of S. Giovanni
in Laterano.[4]
Palestrina's music continues to be regularly performed and recorded, and to provide models for
the study of counterpoint. There are two comprehensive editions of Palestrina's works: a 33volume edition published by Breitkopf and Härtel, in Leipzig Germany between 1862 and 1894
edited by Franz Xaver Haberl, and a 34-volume edition published in the mid twentieth century,
by Fratelli Scalera, in Rome, Italy edited by R. Casimiri and others.
Thomas Luis da Victoria
Victoria was born in Sanchidrián in the province of Ávila, Castile around 1548 and died in
1611.[3] Victoria’s family can be traced back for generations. Not only are the names of the
members in his immediate family known, but even the occupation of his grandfather.[4] Victoria
was the seventh of nine children born to Francisco Luis de Victoria and Francisca Suárez de la
Concha. After his father’s death in 1557, his uncle, Juan Luis, became his guardian. He was a
choirboy in Ávila Cathedral. Cathedral records state that his uncle, Juan Luis, presented
Victoria’s Liber Primus to the Church while reminding them that Victoria had been brought up
in the Ávila Cathedral.[5] Because he was such an accomplished organist, many believe that he
began studying the keyboard at an early age from a teacher in Ávila.[6] Victoria most likely
began studying "the classics" at St. Giles’s, a boys' school in Ávila. This school was praised by
St.Teresa of Avila and other highly regarded people of music.[7]
After receiving a grant from Philip II in 1565, Victoria went to Rome and became cantor at the
German College founded by St. Ignatius Loyola.[8] He may have studied with Palestrina around
this time, though the evidence is circumstantial; certainly he was influenced by the Italian's style.
For some time, beginning in 1573, Victoria held two positions, one being at the German College
and the other being at the Pontifical Roman Seminary. He held the positions of chapelmaster and
instructor of plainsong. In 1571, he was hired at the German College as a teacher and began
earning his first steady income.[9] After Palestrina left the Seminary, Victoria took over the
position of maestro.[10] Victoria was ordained a priest in 1574. Before this he was made a deacon,
but did not serve long in that capacity as typically deacons became priests soon after.[11] In 1575,
Victoria was appointed Maestro di Capella at S. Apollinare.[12] Church officials would often ask
Victoria for his opinion on appointments to cathedral positions because of his fame and
knowledge.[13] He was faithful to his position as convent organist even after his professional
debut as an organist.[14] He did not stay in Italy, however.
In 1587 Philip II honoured his desire to return to his native Spain, naming him chaplain to his
sister, the Dowager Empress María, daughter of Charles V, who had been living in retirement
with her daughter Princess Margarita at the Monasterio de las Descalzas de S Clara at Madrid
from 1581. In 1591, Victoria became a godfather to his brother Juan Luis’s daughter, Isabel de
Victoria.[15] Victoria worked for 24 years at Descalzas Reales, serving for 17 years as chaplain to
the Empress until her death, and then as convent organist. Victoria was also being paid much
more at the Descalzas Reales than he would have earned as a cathedral chapelmaster, receiving
an annual income from absentee benefices from 1587–1611. When the Empress Maria died in
1603, she willed three chaplaincies in the convent, with one going to Victoria. According to
Victoria, he never accepted any extra pay for being a chapelmaster, and became the organist
rather than the chapelmaster.[16] Such was the esteem in which he was held that his contract
allowed him frequent travel away from the convent. He was able to visit Rome in 1593 for two
years, attending Palestrina's funeral in 1594. He died in 1611 in the chaplain's residence and was
buried at the convent, although his tomb has yet to be identified.
Even though Victoria is typically viewed as being the leading composer of the Roman School,
the school was also heavily marked by other Spanish composers such as Morales, Guerrero, and
Escobedo.[17]
Victoria is the most significant composer of the Counter-Reformation in Spain, and one of the
best-regarded composers of sacred music in the late Renaissance, a genre to which he devoted
himself exclusively. Victoria’s music reflected his intricate personality.[18] In his music, the
passion of Spanish mysticism and religion is expressed.[10] Victoria was praised by Padre Martini
for his melodic phrases and his joyful inventions.[19] His works have undergone a revival in the
20th century, with numerous recent recordings. Many commentators hear in his music a mystical
intensity and direct emotional appeal, qualities considered by some to be lacking in the arguably
more rhythmically and harmonically placid music of Palestrina. There are quite a few differences
in their compositional styles, such as treatment of melody and quarter-note dissonances.[20]
Victoria was a master at overlapping and dividing choirs with multiple parts with a gradual
decreasing of rhythmic distance throughout. Not only does Victoria incorporate intricate parts for
the voices, but the organ is treated almost like a soloist in many of his choral pieces.[21] Victoria
did not begin the development of psalm settings or antiphons for two choirs, but he continued
and increased the popularity of such repertoire.[22] Victoria would reissue works that had been
published previously, and would include new revisions in each new issue.[3]
Victoria published his first book of motets in 1572.[23] In 1585 Victoria wrote his Officium
Hebdomadae Sanctae, a collection which included 37 pieces that are part of the Holy Week
celebrations in the Catholic liturgy.[24]
Two influences in Victoria’s life were Giovanni Maria Nanino and Luca Marenzio, whom
Victoria admired for their work in madrigals rather than church music.[25] It has been speculated
that Victoria took lessons from Escobedo at an early age before moving to Rome.[12]
Victoria claimed that he composed his most creative works under his patron Otto, Cardinal von
Truchsess. However, Stevenson does not believe that he learned everything about music under
Cardinal Truchsess’s patronage; Victoria would like people to believe such a fact[clarification
needed] [23]
. During the years that Victoria was devoted to Philip II, he expressed exhaustion from
his compositional work. Most of the compositions that Victoria wrote that were dedicated to
Cardinal Michele Bonelli, Philip II, or Pope Gregory XIII were not compensated
properly[clarification needed].[24]
Stylistically, his music shuns the elaborate counterpoint of many of his contemporaries,
preferring simple line and homophonic textures, yet seeking rhythmic variety and sometimes
including intense and surprising contrasts. His melodic writing and use of dissonance is more
free than that of Palestrina; occasionally he uses intervals which are prohibited in the strict
application of 16th century counterpoint, such as ascending major sixths, or even occasional
diminished fourths (for example, a melodic diminished fourth occurs in a passage representing
grief in his motet Sancta Maria, succurre). Victoria sometimes uses dramatic word-painting, of a
kind usually found only in madrigals. Some of his sacred music uses instruments (a practice
which is not uncommon in Spanish sacred music of the 16th century), and he also wrote
polychoral works for more than one spatially separated group of singers, in the style of the
composers of the Venetian school who were working at St. Mark's in Venice.
His most famous work, and his masterpiece, was a Requiem Mass for the Empress Maria.[10]
Also notable is the serene emotion of each of the 37 pieces that form his Officium Hebdomadae
Sanctae of 1585, a collection of motets and lamentations linked to the Holy Week Catholic
celebrations[attribution needed
William Byrd
Thanks largely to the research of John Harley, knowledge of Byrd's biography has
expanded in recent years. According to Harley, Thomas Byrd, the grandson of Richard Byrd of
Ingatestone, Essex, probably moved to London in the 15th century. Thereafter succeeding
generations of the family are described as gentlemen. William Byrd was born in London, the son
of another Thomas Byrd about whom nothing further is known, and his wife, Margery. The
specific year of Byrd's birth is uncertain. In his will, dated 15 November 1622, he describes
himself as 'in the 80th year of my age', suggesting a birthdate of 1542 or 1543. However a
document dated 2 October 1598 written in his own hand states that he is '58 yeares or ther
abouts,' indicating an earlier birthdate of 1539 or 1540. Byrd had two brothers, Symond and
John, who became London merchants, and four sisters, Alice, Barbara, Mary and Martha.[1]
There is no documentary evidence concerning Byrd's early musical training. His two brothers
were choristers at St. Paul's Cathedral, and Byrd may have been a chorister there as well under
Simon Westcote, although it is possible that he was a chorister with the Chapel Royal.[2]
According to Anthony a Wood, Byrd was 'bred up to musick under Tho. Tallis', and a reference
in the prefatory material to the Cantiones sacrae published by Tallis and Byrd in 1575 tends to
confirm that Byrd was a pupil of Thomas Tallis of the Chapel Royal.[3] Moreover one of Byrd's
earliest compositions was a collaboration with two Chapel Royal singing-men, John Sheppard
and William Mundy, on a setting for four male voices of the psalm In exitu Israel for the
procession to the font in Easter week. It was probably composed near the end of the reign of
Queen Mary Tudor (1553–1558),[4] who revived Sarum liturgical practices.
A few other compositions by Byrd should probably be assigned to his teenage years. These
include his setting of the Easter responsory Christus resurgens (a4) which was not published
until 1605, but which as part of the Sarum liturgy could also have been composed during Mary's
reign. Some of the hymns and antiphons for keyboard and for consort may also date from this
period, though it is also possible that the consort pieces may have been composed in Lincoln for
the musical training of choirboys.
Byrd's first known professional employment was his appointment in 1563 as organist and master
of the choristers at Lincoln Cathedral.[5] Residing at 6 Minster Yard Lincoln, he remained in post
until 1572. His period at Lincoln was not entirely trouble-free, for on 19 November 1569 the
Dean and Chapter cited him for 'certain matters alleged against him' as the result of which his
salary was suspended. Since Puritanism was influential at Lincoln, it is possible that the
allegations were connected with over-elaborate choral polyphony or organ playing. A second
directive, dated 29 November, issued detailed instructions regarding Byrd's use of the organ in
the liturgy. On 14 September 1568, Byrd married Julian Birley; it was a long-lasting and fruitful
union which produced at least seven children.
The 1560s were also important formative years for Byrd the composer. The Short Service, an
unpretentious setting of items for the Anglican Matins, Communion and Evensong services,
which seems to have been designed to comply with the Protestant reformers’ demand for clear
words and simple musical textures, may well have been composed during the Lincoln years. It is
at any rate clear that Byrd was composing Anglican church music, for when he left Lincoln the
Dean and Chapter continued to pay him at a reduced rate on condition that he would send the
cathedral his compositions. Byrd had also taken serious strides with instrumental music. The
seven 'In Nomine' settings for consort (two a4 and five a5), at least one of the consort fantasias
(Neighbour F1 a6) and a number of important keyboard works have been assigned to the Lincoln
years. The latter include the Ground in Gamut (described as 'Mr Byrd's old ground') by his future
pupil Thomas Tomkins, the A minor fantasia and probably the first of Byrd's great series of
keyboard pavans and galliards, a composition which was transcribed by Byrd from an original
for five-part consort. All these show Byrd gradually emerging as a major figure on the
Elizabethan musical landscape.
Some sets of keyboard variations, such as The Hunt's Up and the imperfectly preserved set on
Gypsies’ Round also seem to be early works. As we have seen, Byrd had begun setting Latin
liturgical texts as a teenager, and he seems to have continued to do so at Lincoln. Two
exceptional large-scale psalm motets, Ad Dominum cum tribularer (a8) and Domine quis
habitabit (a9), are Byrd's contribution to a genre cultivated by Robert White and Robert Parsons.
De lamentatione, another early work, is a contribution to the Elizabethan practice of setting
groups of verses from the Lamentations of Jeremiah following the format of the Tenebrae
lessons sung in the Catholic rite during the last three days of Holy Week, other contributors
including Tallis, White, Parsley and the elder Ferrabosco. It is likely that this practice was an
expression of Elizabethan Catholic nostalgia, as a number of the texts suggest.
Byrd obtained the prestigious post of Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1572 following the
death of Robert Parsons, a gifted composer who drowned in the Trent near Newark on 25
January of that year. Almost from the outset Byrd is named as 'organist', which however was not
a designated post but an occupation for any Chapel Royal member capable of filling it. This
career move vastly increased Byrd's opportunities to widen his scope as a composer and also to
make contacts at Court. Queen Elizabeth (1558–1603) was a moderate Protestant who eschewed
the more extreme forms of Puritanism and retained a fondness for elaborate ritual, besides being
a music lover and keyboard player herself. Byrd's output of Anglican church music (defined in
the strictest sense as sacred music designed for performance in church) is surprisingly small, but
it stretches the limits of elaboration then regarded as acceptable by some reforming Protestants
who regarded highly wrought music as a distraction from the Word of God.
Cantiones quae ab argumento sacrae vocantur (1575)
In 1575 Byrd and Tallis were jointly granted a patent for the printing of music and ruled music
paper for 21 years, one of a number of patents issued by the Crown for the printing of books on
various subjects. The two musicians used the services of the French Huguenot printer Thomas
Vautrollier, who had settled in England and previously produced an edition of a collection of
Lassus chansons in London (Receuil du mellange, 1570). The two monopolists took advantage of
the patent to produce a grandiose joint publication under the title Cantiones que ab argumento
sacrae vocantur consisting of 34 Latin motets dedicated to the Queen herself and accompanied
by elaborate prefatory matter including poems in Latin elegiacs by the schoolmaster Richard
Mulcaster and the young courtier Ferdinand Heybourne (aka Richardson). There are 17 motets
each by Tallis and Byrd, one for each year of the Queen's reign.
Byrd's contribution to the Cantiones is highly variegated in character. The inclusion of Laudate
pueri (a6) which proves to be an instrumental fantasia with words added after composition, is
one sign that Byrd had some difficulty in assembling enough material for the collection. Diliges
Dominum (a8), which may also originally have been untexted, is an eight-in-four retrograde
canon of little musical interest. Also belonging to the more archaic stratum of motets is Libera
me Domine (a5), a cantus firmus setting of the ninth responsory at Matins for the Office for the
Dead, which takes its point of departure from the setting by Robert Parsons, while Miserere mihi
(a6), a setting of a Compline antiphon often used by Tudor composers for didactic cantus firmus
exercises, incorporates a four-in-two canon. Tribue Domine (a6) is a large-scale sectional
composition setting from a medieval collection of Meditationes which was commonly attributed
to St Augustine,[6] composed in a style which owes much to earlier Tudor settings of votive
antiphons as a mosaic of full and semichoir passages. Byrd sets it in three sections, each
beginning with a semichoir passage in archaic style.
Byrd's contribution to the Cantiones also includes compositions in a more forward-looking
manner which point the way forwards to his motets of the 1580s. Some of them show the
influence of the motets of Alfonso Ferrabosco I (1543–1588), a Bolognese musician who worked
in the Tudor court at intervals between 1562 and 1578. Ferrabosco's motets provided direct
models for Byrd's Emendemus in melius (a5), O lux beata Trinitas (a6), Domine secundum
actum meum (a6) and Siderum rector (a5) as well as a more generalised paradigm for what
Joseph Kerman has called Byrd's 'affective-imitative' style, a method of setting pathetic texts in
extended paragraphs based on subjects employing curving lines in fluid rhythm and contrapuntal
techniques which Byrd learnt from his study of Ferrabosco.
The Cantiones were a financial failure. In 1577 Byrd and Tallis were forced to petition Queen
Elizabeth for financial help pleading that the publication had 'fallen oute to oure greate losse' and
that Tallis was now 'verie aged'. They were subsequently granted the leasehold on various lands
in East Anglia and the West Country for a period of 21 years
Hans Leo Hassler
Born in Nuremberg and baptized 26 October 1564, he was the son of an organist, and received
his first instruction in music from his father, Issak Hassler.[1] In 1584, Hassler became the first of
many German composers of the time who went to Italy to continue their studies; he arrived in
Venice during the peak of activity of the Venetian school, the composers who wrote in the
resplendent polychoral style, which was soon to become popular outside of its native city.
Hassler was already familiar with some of this music, as numerous prints had circulated in
Germany due to the interest of Leonhard Lechner, who was associated with Orlandus Lassus in
Munich.
While in Venice, Hassler became friends with Giovanni Gabrieli, with whom he composed a
wedding motet for Georg Gruber, a Nuremberg merchant living in Venice, in 1600. Together
they studied with Andrea Gabrieli, Giovanni's uncle. Under Andrea, Hassler received instruction
in composition and organ playing.[2]
Following Andrea Gabrieli's death, Hassler returned to Germany in the latter part of 1585,
moving to Augsburg where he served as an organist to Octavian II Fugger, a nobleman there.
The Augsburg years were extremely creative for him; in addition he became well known as a
composer and organist at this time, though his influence was limited because he was a Protestant
in an area which was still heavily Catholic.
Hassler was not only a composer, but also an active organist and a consultant to organ builders.
In 1596, Hassler, along with 53 other organists, was given the opportunity to examine a new
instrument with 59 stops at the Schlosskirche, Groningen. Hassler was continually recognized for
his expertise in organ design, and was often called upon as the examiner of new instruments.
Using his extensive organ background, Hassler stepped into the world of mechanical instrument
construction and developed a clockwork organ that was later sold to Emperor Rudolf II.[2]
In 1602, Hassler returned to Nuremberg where he became the Kapellmeister, or director of town
music. While there, he was appointed Kaiserlichen Hofdiener in the court of Rudolf II. In 1604,
he took a leave of absence and traveled to Ulm, where he was wed to Cordula Claus.[2] Four
years later, Hassler moved to Dresden where he served as the electoral chamber organist to the
Elector Christian II of Saxony, and eventually as Kapellmeister. By this time, Hassler had
already developed the tuberculosis that would claim his life in June 1612. After he died, Michael
Praetorius and Heinrich Schütz were appointed in his place.
Hassler was one of the first to bring the innovations of the Venetian style across the Alps.
Through his songs, “in the manner of foreign madrigal and canzonets,” and the Lustgarten,
Hassler brought to Germany the villanelle, canzonette, and dance songs of Gastoldi and Orazio
Vecchi. As the first great German composer to undertake an “Italian Journey,” Hassler’s
influence was one of the reasons for the Italian domination over German music and for the
common trend of German musicians finishing their education in Italy.[3] While musicians of the
stature of Lassus had been working in Germany for years, they represented the older school, the
prima pratica, the fully developed and refined Renaissance style of polyphony; in Italy new
trends were emerging which were to define what was later called the Baroque era. Musicians
such as Hassler, and later Schütz, carried the concertato style, the polychoral idea, and the freely
emotional expression of the Venetians into the German culture, creating the first and most
important Baroque development outside of Italy.
Though Hassler was Protestant, he wrote many masses and directed the music for Catholic
services in Augsburg.[4] While in the service of Octavian Fugger, Hassler dedicated both his
Cantiones sacrae and a book of masses for four to eight voices to him. Due to the demands of
the Catholic patrons, and his own Protestant beliefs, Hassler’s compositions represented a skillful
blend of both religions’ music styles that allowed his compositions to function in both
contexts.[5] Thus, many of Hassler's works could be used both in the Roman Catholic Church and
the Lutheran. During his time in Augsburg, Hassler only produced two works that were
specifically meant for the Lutheran church. Under the commission of the free city of Nuremberg,
the Psalmen simpliciter was composed in 1608, and was dedicated to the city. Hassler also
produced the Psalmen und christliche Gesange, mit vier Stimmen auf die Melodeien fugweis
komponiert in 1607 and dedicated it to Elector Christian II of Saxony.[6] Stylistically, Hassler’s
early works exhibit reflections of the influence of Lassus, while his later works are marked by
the impressions left on him by his studies in Italy. After returning from Italy, Hassler
incorporated polychoral techniques, textural contrasts and occasional chromaticism in his
compositions. His later masses were characterized by light melodies juxtaposed with the grace
and fluidity of the madrigalian dance songs; thus creating a charming sacred style that was more
sonorous than it was profound.[7] His secular music—madrigals, canzonette, and songs among
the vocal, and ricercars, canzonas, introits and toccatas among the instrumental—show many of
the advanced techniques of the Gabrielis in Italy, but with a somewhat more restrained character,
and always attentive to craftsmanship and beauty of sound. However, Hassler's greatest success
in combining the German and Italian compositional styles existed in his lieder.[8] In 1590,
Hassler released his first publication, a set of twenty-four, four-part canzonette. The Lustgarten
neuer teutscher Gesang, Balletti, Galliarden und Intraden, which contains thirty-nine vocal and
eleven instrumental pieces, is Hassler’s most renowned collection of lieder. Within this work,
Hassler published dance collections for four, five, or six string or wind instruments with voice
and without continuo.[9] He also composed Mein G'müt ist mir verwirret, a five-part piece. Its
melody was later combined with the text O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden of Paul Gerhardt and
used by Bach in his St Matthew Passion.[8]
Along with many of his contemporaries, Hassler sought to blend the Italian virtuoso style with
the traditional style prevalent in Germany. This was accomplished in the chorale motet by
employing the thorough bass continuo and including instrumental and solo ornamentation.[10]
Hassler’s motets exhibit this blend of the old and the new in the way they reflect both the
influence of Lassus and the two four-part chorus style of the Gabrielis.[11]
Hassler is considered to be one of the most important German composers of all time.[4] His use of
the innovative Italian techniques, coupled with traditional, conservative German techniques
allowed his compositions to be fresh without the modern affective tone.[12] His songs presented a
combined vocal and instrumental literature that did not make use of the continuo, or only
provided it as an option,[12] and his sacred music introduced the Italian polychoral structures that
would later influence many composers leading into the Baroque era.
Josquin des Prez
Josquin des Prez (or Josquin Lebloitte dit Desprez; French: [ʒɔskɛ̃ depʁe]; c. 1450/1455 – 27
August 1521), often referred to simply as Josquin, was a Netherlandish composer of the
Renaissance. He is also known as Josquin Desprez and Latinized as Josquinus Pratensis,
alternatively Jodocus Pratensis. He himself spelled his name "Josquin des Prez" in an acrostic
in his motet Illibata Dei virgo nutrix.[2][3] He was the most famous European composer between
Guillaume Dufay and Palestrina, and is usually considered to be the central figure of the FrancoFlemish School. Josquin is widely considered by music scholars to be the first master of the high
Renaissance style of polyphonic vocal music that was emerging during his lifetime.
During the 16th century, Josquin gradually acquired the reputation as the greatest composer of
the age, his mastery of technique and expression universally imitated and admired. Writers as
diverse as Baldassare Castiglione and Martin Luther wrote about his reputation and fame;
theorists such as Heinrich Glarean and Gioseffo Zarlino held his style as that best representing
perfection.[4] He was so admired that many anonymous compositions were attributed to him by
copyists, probably to increase their sales.[5] More than 370 works are attributed to him;[6] it was
only after the advent of modern analytical scholarship that some of these mistaken attributions
have been challenged, on the basis of stylistic features and manuscript evidence. Yet in spite of
Josquin's colossal reputation, which endured until the beginning of the Baroque era and was
revived in the 20th century, his biography is shadowy, and next to nothing is known about his
personality. The only surviving work which may be in his own hand is a graffito on the wall of
the Sistine Chapel, and only one contemporary mention of his character is known, in a letter to
Duke Ercole I of Ferrara. The lives of dozens of minor composers of the Renaissance are better
documented than the life of Josquin.[7]
Josquin wrote both sacred and secular music, and in all of the significant vocal forms of the age,
including masses, motets, chansons and frottole. During the 16th century, he was praised for both
his supreme melodic gift and his use of ingenious technical devices. In modern times, scholars
have attempted to ascertain the basic details of his biography, and have tried to define the key
characteristics of his style to correct misattributions, a task that has proved difficult, as Josquin
liked to solve compositional problems in different ways in successive compositions—sometimes
he wrote in an austere style devoid of ornamentation, and at other times he wrote music requiring
considerable virtuosity.[8] Heinrich Glarean wrote in 1547 that Josquin was not only a
"magnificent virtuoso" (the Latin can be translated also as "show-off") but capable of being a
"mocker", using satire effectively.[9] While the focus of scholarship in recent years has been to
remove music from the "Josquin canon" (including some of his most famous pieces) and to
reattribute it to his contemporaries, the remaining music represents some of the most famous and
enduring of the Renaissance.[10]
Johann Sebastian Bach[1]
Johann Sebastian Bach[1] (31 March [O.S. 21 March] 1685 – 28 July 1750) was a German
composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist of the Baroque period. He enriched
many established German styles through his skill in counterpoint, harmonic and motivic
organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from
Italy and France. Bach's compositions include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Mass in B minor,
the The Well-Tempered Clavier, his cantatas, chorales, partitas, Passions, and organ works. His
music is revered for its intellectual depth, technical command, and artistic beauty.
Bach was born in Eisenach, Saxe-Eisenach, into a very musical family; his father, Johann
Ambrosius Bach, was the director of the town musicians, and all of his uncles were professional
musicians. His father taught him to play violin and harpsichord, and his brother, Johann
Christoph Bach, taught him the clavichord and exposed him to much contemporary music.[2][3]
Bach also went to St Michael's School in Lüneburg because of his singing skills. After
graduating, he held several musical posts across Germany: he served as Kapellmeister (director
of music) to Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, Cantor of Thomasschule in Leipzig, and Royal
Court Composer to August III.[4][5] Bach's health and vision declined in 1749, and he died on 28
July 1750. Modern historians believe that his death was caused by a combination of stroke and
pneumonia.[6][7][8]
Bach's abilities as an organist were highly respected throughout Europe during his lifetime,
although he was not widely recognised as a great composer until a revival of interest and
performances of his music in the first half of the 19th century. He is now generally regarded as
one of the main composers of the Baroque period, and as one of the greatest composers of all
time.[9]
Bach's mother died in 1694, and his father died eight months later.[5] Bach, 10, moved in with his
oldest brother, Johann Christoph Bach (1671–1721), the organist at the Michaeliskirche in
Ohrdruf, Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.[14] There he studied, performed, and copied music, including his
own brother's, despite being forbidden to do so because scores were so valuable and private and
blank ledger paper of that type was costly.[15][16] He received valuable teaching from his brother,
who instructed him on the clavichord. J.C. Bach exposed him to the works of great composers of
the day, including South German composers such as Johann Pachelbel (under whom Johann
Christoph had studied)[2] and Johann Jakob Froberger; North German composers;[3] Frenchmen,
such as Jean-Baptiste Lully, Louis Marchand, Marin Marais; and the Italian clavierist Girolamo
Frescobaldi. Also during this time, he was taught theology, Latin, Greek, French, and Italian at
the local gymnasium.[17]
At the age of 14, Bach, along with his older school friend George Erdmann, was awarded a
choral scholarship to study at the prestigious St. Michael's School in Lüneburg in the Principality
of Lüneburg.[18] Although it is not known for certain, the trip was likely taken mostly on foot.[17]
His two years there were critical in exposing him to a wider facet of European culture. In
addition to singing in the choir he played the School's three-manual organ and harpsichords.[17]
He came into contact with sons of noblemen from northern Germany sent to the highly selective
school to prepare for careers in other disciplines.
Although little supporting historical evidence exists at this time, it is almost certain that while in
Lüneburg, Bach visited the Johanniskirche (Church of St. John) and heard (and possibly played)
the church's famous organ (built in 1549 by Jasper Johannsen, and played by Georg Böhm).
Given his musical talent, Bach had significant contact with prominent organists of the day in
Lüneburg, most notably Böhm, but also including organists in nearby Hamburg, such as Johann
Adam Reincken.[19]
Weimar, Arnstadt, and Mühlhausen (1703–08)
St. Boniface's Church in Arnstadt
In January 1703, shortly after graduating from St. Michael's and being turned down for the post
of organist at Sangerhausen,[20][21] Bach was appointed court musician in the chapel of Duke
Johann Ernst in Weimar. His role there is unclear, but likely included menial, non-musical
duties. During his seven-month tenure at Weimar, his reputation as a keyboardist spread so much
that he was invited to inspect the new organ, and give the inaugural recital, at St. Boniface's
Church in Arnstadt, located about 40 km southwest of Weimar.[22] In August 1703, he became
the organist at St Boniface's, with light duties, a relatively generous salary, and a fine new organ
tuned in the modern tempered system that allowed a wide range of keys to be used.
St. Mary's Church in Lübeck
Despite strong family connections and a musically enthusiastic employer, tension built up
between Bach and the authorities after several years in the post. Bach was dissatisfied with the
standard of singers in the choir, while his employer was upset by his unauthorised absence from
Arnstadt; Bach was gone for several months in 1705–06, to visit the great organist and composer
Dieterich Buxtehude and his Abendmusiken at the Marienkirche in the northern city of Lübeck.
The visit to Buxtehude involved a 400 kilometre (250 mi) journey on foot each way. The trip
reinforced Buxtehude's style as a foundation for Bach's earlier works. Bach wanted to become
amanuensis (assistant and successor) to Buxtehude, but did not want to marry his daughter,
which was a condition for his appointment.[23]
In 1706, Bach was offered a post as organist at St. Blasius's in Mühlhausen, which he took up the
following year. It included significantly higher remuneration, improved conditions, and a better
choir. Four months after arriving at Mühlhausen, Bach married Maria Barbara Bach, his second
cousin. They had seven children, four of whom survived to adulthood, including Wilhelm
Friedemann Bach and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach who both became important composers as
well. Bach was able to convince the church and city government at Mühlhausen to fund an
expensive renovation of the organ at St. Blasius's. Bach, in turn, wrote an elaborate, festive
cantata—Gott ist mein König, BWV 71—for the inauguration of the new council in 1708. The
council paid handsomely for its publication, and it was a major success.[17]
Return to Weimar (1708–17)
Portrait of the young Bach (disputed)[24]
In 1708, Bach left Mühlhausen, returning to Weimar this time as organist and from 1714
"Konzertmeister", director of music, at the ducal court, where he had an opportunity to work
with a large, well-funded contingent of professional musicians.[17] Bach moved with his family
into an apartment very close to the ducal palace. In the following year, their first child was born
and Maria Barbara's elder, unmarried sister joined them. She remained to help run the household
until her death in 1729.
Bach's time in Weimar was the start of a sustained period of composing keyboard and orchestral
works. He attained the proficiency and confidence to extend the prevailing structures and to
include influences from abroad. He learned to write dramatic openings and employ the dynamic
motor-rhythms and harmonic schemes found in the music of Italians such as Vivaldi, Corelli, and
Torelli. Bach absorbed these stylistic aspects in part by transcribing Vivaldi's string and wind
concertos for harpsichord and organ; many of these transcribed works are still played in concert
often. Bach was particularly attracted to the Italian style in which one or more solo instruments
alternate section-by-section with the full orchestra throughout a movement.[25]
In Weimar, Bach continued to play and compose for the organ, and to perform concert music
with the duke's ensemble.[17] He also began to write the preludes and fugues which were later
assembled into his monumental work Das Wohltemperierte Clavier ("The Well-Tempered
Clavier"—Clavier meaning clavichord or harpsichord),[26] consisting of two books, compiled in
1722 and 1744,[27] each containing a prelude and fugue in every major and minor key.
The autograph of Bach's Violin Sonata No. 1 in G minor (BWV 1001)
Also in Weimar Bach started work on the Little Organ Book for his eldest son, Wilhelm
Friedemann, containing traditional Lutheran chorales (hymn tunes) set in complex textures to
train organists. In 1713 Bach was offered a post in Halle when he advised the authorities during a
renovation by Christoph Cuntzius of the main organ in the west gallery of the Marktkirche Unser
Lieben Frauen. Johann Kuhnau and Bach played again when it was inaugurated in 1716.[28][29]
Musicologists debate whether his first Christmas cantata Christen, ätzet diesen Tag, BWV 63,
was premiered here in 1713,[30] or if it was performed for the bicentennial of the Reformation in
1717.[31] Bach eventually fell out of favour in Weimar and was, according to a translation of the
court secretary's report, jailed for almost a month before being unfavourably dismissed: "On
November 6, [1717], the quondam concertmaster and organist Bach was confined to the County
Judge's place of detention for too stubbornly forcing the issue of his dismissal and finally on
December 2 was freed from arrest with notice of his unfavourable discharge."[32]
Köthen (1717–23)
Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen hired Bach to serve as his Kapellmeister (director of music) in
1717. Prince Leopold, himself a musician, appreciated Bach's talents, paid him well, and gave
him considerable latitude in composing and performing. The prince was Calvinist and did not
use elaborate music in his worship; accordingly, most of Bach's work from this period was
secular,[33] including the orchestral suites, the six suites for solo cello, the sonatas and partitas for
solo violin, and the Brandenburg concertos.[34] Bach also composed secular cantatas for the court
such as the Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht, BWV 134a.
Despite being born in the same year and only about 80 miles apart, Bach and Handel never met.
In 1719 Bach made the 20 mile journey from Köthen to Halle with the intention of meeting
Handel, however Handel had recently departed the city.[35] In 1730, Bach's son Friedmann
travelled to Halle to invite Handel to visit the Bach family in Leipzig, however the visit did not
come to pass.[36]
On 7 July 1720, while Bach was abroad with Prince Leopold, Bach's first wife suddenly died.
The following year, he met Anna Magdalena Wilcke, a young, highly gifted soprano 17 years his
junior, who performed at the court in Köthen; they married on 3 December 1721.[37] Together
they had 13 more children, six of whom survived into adulthood: Gottfried Heinrich, Johann
Christoph Friedrich, and Johann Christian, all of whom became significant musicians; Elisabeth
Juliane Friederica (1726–81), who married Bach's pupil Johann Christoph Altnikol; Johanna
Carolina (1737–81); and Regina Susanna (1742–1809).[38]
Leipzig (1723–50)
St. Thomas Church, Leipzig
In 1723, Bach was appointed Cantor of the Thomasschule at Thomaskirche in Leipzig, and
Director of Music in the principal churches in the town, namely the Nikolaikirche and the
Paulinerkirche, the church of the University of Leipzig.[39] This was a prestigious post in the
mercantile city in the Electorate of Saxony, which he held for 27 years until his death. It brought
him into contact with the political machinations of his employer, Leipzig's city council.
Nikolaikirche, ca. 1850
Bach was required to instruct the students of the Thomasschule in singing and to provide church
music for the main churches in Leipzig. Bach was required to teach Latin, but he was allowed to
employ a deputy to do this instead. A cantata was required for the church services on Sundays
and additional church holidays during the liturgical year. He usually performed his own cantatas,
most of which were composed during his first three years in Leipzig. The first of these was Die
Elenden sollen essen, BWV 75, first performed in the Nikolaikirche on 30 May 1723, the first
Sunday after Trinity. Bach collected his cantatas in annual cycles. Five are mentioned in
obituaries, three are extant.[40] Most of these concerted works expound on the Gospel readings
prescribed for every Sunday and feast day in the Lutheran year. Bach started a second annual
cycle the first Sunday after Trinity of 1724, and composed only Chorale cantatas, each based on
a single church hymn. These include O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 20, Wachet auf, ruft uns
die Stimme, BWV 140, Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 62, and Wie schön leuchtet der
Morgenstern, BWV 1.
Bach drew the soprano and alto choristers from the School, and the tenors and basses from the
School and elsewhere in Leipzig. Performing at weddings and funerals provided extra income for
these groups; it was probably for this purpose, and for in-school training, that he wrote at least
six motets, at least five of which are for double choir.[41] As part of his regular church work, he
performed other composers' motets, which served as formal models for his own.[17]
Café Zimmermann Leipzig, where the Collegium Musicum performed
Bach broadened his composing and performing beyond the liturgy by taking over, in March
1729, the directorship of the Collegium Musicum, a secular performance ensemble started by the
composer Georg Philipp Telemann. This was one of the dozens of private societies in the major
German-speaking cities that was established by musically active university students; these
societies had become increasingly important in public musical life and were typically led by the
most prominent professionals in a city. In the words of Christoph Wolff, assuming the
directorship was a shrewd move that "consolidated Bach's firm grip on Leipzig's principal
musical institutions".[42] Year round, the Leipzig's Collegium Musicum performed regularly in
venues such as the Café Zimmermann, a Coffeehouse on Catherine Street off the main market
square. Many of Bach's works during the 1730s and 1740s were written for and performed by the
Collegium Musicum; among these were parts of his Clavier-Übung (Keyboard Practice) and
many of his violin and harpsichord concertos.[17]
In 1733, Bach composed a Missa of Kyrie and Gloria which he later incorporated in his Mass in
B minor. He presented the manuscript to the King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and
Elector of Saxony, August III in an eventually successful bid to persuade the monarch to appoint
him as Royal Court Composer.[4] He later extended this work into a full Mass, by adding a
Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei, the music for which was partly based on his own cantatas, partly
new composed. Bach's appointment as court composer was part of his long-term struggle to
achieve greater bargaining power with the Leipzig Council. Although the complete mass was
probably never performed during the composer's lifetime,[43] it is considered to be among the
greatest choral works of all time. Between 1737 and 1739, Bach's former pupil Carl Gotthelf
Gerlach took over the directorship of the Collegium Musicum.
Places Bach lived
In 1747, Bach visited the court of King Frederick II of Prussia at Potsdam. The king played a
theme for Bach and challenged him to improvise a fugue based on his theme. Bach improvised a
three-part fugue on one of Frederick's fortepianoss, then a novelty, and later presented the king
with a Musical Offering which consists of fugues, canons and a trio based on this theme. Its sixpart fugue includes a slightly altered subject more suitable for extensive elaboration.
In the same year Bach joined the Correspondierende Societät der musicalischen
Wissenschaften (de) of Lorenz Christoph Mizler after a long formal preparation which was
necessary by the Society. Mizler called his former teacher one of his “guten Freunde und
Gönner” (good friends and sponsors).[44] This is particularly noteworthy because Mizler was a
passionate representative of the German and Polish Enlightenment.[45] Bach's membership had
several effects. On the occasion of his entry to this Society Bach composed Einige canonische
Veraenderungen, / über das / Weynacht-Lied: / Vom Himmel hoch da / komm ich her (BWV
769).[46] In 1746, during the preparation of Bach's entry, the famous Bach-portrait was painted by
Elias Gottlob Haussmann. A portrait had to be submitted by each member of the Society.[47] The
canon triplex á 6 voc. (BWV 1076) on this portrait was dedicated to the Society.[48] The Society
insisted on a necrology of each member. Therefore, Mizler initiated the history of the Bach
biographies in the Musikalische Bibliothek (de).[49] It was often argued, that other late works
might have a connection with the music theory based Society.[50] One of those works was The
Art of Fugue, which was composed shortly before his death, but Bach never completed the final
fugue. It consists of 18 complex fugues and canons based on a simple theme.[51] It was only
published posthumously in 1751.[52]
The final work Bach completed was a chorale prelude for organ, entitled Vor deinen Thron tret
ich hiermit (Before thy throne I now appear, BWV 668a) which he dictated to his son-in-law,
Johann Altnikol, from his deathbed. When the notes on the three staves of the final cadence are
counted and mapped onto the Roman alphabet, the initials "JSB" are found.[53]
Death (1750)
Bach's grave, St. Thomas' Church, Leipzig
Bach's health declined in 1749; on 2 June, Heinrich von Brühl wrote to one of the Leipzig
burgomasters to request that his music director, Gottlob Harrer, fill the Thomascantor and
Director musices posts "upon the eventual ... decease of Mr. Bach."[30] Bach became increasingly
blind, so the British eye surgeon John Taylor operated on Bach while visiting Leipzig in March
or April 1750.[54]
On 28 July 1750 Bach died at the age of 65. A contemporary newspaper reported "the unhappy
consequences of the very unsuccessful eye operation" as the cause of death.[55] Modern historians
speculate that the cause of death was a stroke complicated by pneumonia.[6][7][8] His son Emanuel
and his pupil Johann Friedrich Agricola wrote an obituary of Bach.[56]
Bach's estate included five Clavecins, two lute-harpsichords, three violins, three violas, two
cellos, a viola da gamba, a lute and a spinet, and 52 "sacred books", including books by Martin
Luther and Josephus.[57] He was originally buried at Old St. John's Cemetery in Leipzig. His
grave went unmarked for nearly 150 years. In 1894 his coffin was finally found and moved to a
vault in St. John's Church. This building was destroyed by Allied bombing during World War II,
so in 1950 Bach's remains were taken to their present grave at Leipzig's Church of St.
Thomas.[17]
Legacy
Statue of Bach by Donndorf, Eisenach
A detailed obituary of Bach was published (without attribution) four years later in 1754 by
Lorenz Christoph Mizler (a former student) in Musikalische Bibliothek (de), a music periodical.
The obituary remains probably "the richest and most trustworthy"[58] early source document
about Bach. After his death, Bach's reputation as a composer at first declined; his work was
regarded as old-fashioned compared to the emerging classical style.[59] Initially he was
remembered more as a player and teacher.
During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, Bach was widely recognised for his
keyboard work. Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Robert Schumann, and Felix Mendelssohn were
among his most prominent admirers; they began writing in a more contrapuntal style after being
exposed to Bach's music.[60] Beethoven described him as the "Urvater der Harmonie", the
"original father of harmony".[61]
Statue of Bach, Leipzig
Bach's reputation among the wider public was enhanced in part by Johann Nikolaus Forkel's
1802 biography of the composer.[62] Felix Mendelssohn significantly contributed to the revival of
Bach's reputation with his 1829 Berlin performance of the St Matthew Passion.[63] In 1850, the
Bach Gesellschaft (Bach Society) was founded to promote the works; in 1899 the Society
published a comprehensive edition of the composer's works with little editorial intervention.
During the 20th century, the process of recognising the musical as well as the pedagogic value of
some of the works continued, perhaps most notably in the promotion of the Cello Suites by Pablo
Casals, the first major performer to record these suites.[64] Another development has been the
growth of the "authentic" or "period performance" movement, which attempts to present music
as the composer intended it. Examples include the playing of keyboard works on harpsichord
rather than modern grand piano and the use of small choirs or single voices instead of the larger
forces favoured by 19th- and early 20th-century performers.[65]
Bach's music is frequently bracketed with the literature of William Shakespeare and the science
of Isaac Newton.[66] In Germany, during the twentieth century, many streets were named and
statues were erected in honour of Bach. His music features three times – more than any other
composer – on the Voyager Golden Record, a phonograph record containing a broad sample of
the images, common sounds, languages, and music of Earth, sent into outer space with the two
Voyager probes.[67]
A large crater in the Bach quadrangle on Mercury is named in Bach's honor[68] as are the mainbelt asteroids 1814 Bach and 1482 Sebastiana.[69]
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel (German: Georg Friedrich Händel; pronounced [ˈhɛndəl]; 23
February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-born British Baroque composer famous for his
operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Born in a family indifferent to music, Handel
received critical training in Halle, Hamburg and Italy before settling in London (1712) as a
naturalized British subject in 1727.[1] By then he was strongly influenced by the great composers
of the Italian Baroque and the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition.
Within fifteen years, Handel had started three commercial opera companies to supply the English
nobility with Italian opera. In 1737 he had a physical breakdown, changed direction creatively
and addressed the middle class. As Alexander's Feast (1736) was well received, Handel made a
transition to English choral works. After his success with Messiah (1742) he never performed an
Italian opera again. Handel was only partly successful with his performances of English oratorio
on mythical and biblical themes, but when he arranged a performance of Messiah to benefit the
Foundling Hospital (1750) the criticism ended. It has been said that the passion of Handel's
oratorios is an ethical one, and that they are hallowed not by liturgical dignity but by moral ideals
of humanity.[2] Almost blind, and having lived in England for almost fifty years, he died in 1759,
a respected and rich man. His funeral was given full state honours, and he was buried in
Westminster Abbey.
Handel is regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time, with works such as Water Music,
Music for the Royal Fireworks and Messiah remaining popular. Handel composed more than
forty operas in over thirty years, and since the late 1960s, with the revival of baroque music and
original instrumentation, interest in Handel's operas has grown.
Handel's baptismal registration (Marienbibliothek in Halle)
Handel was born in 1685 in Halle, Duchy of Magdeburg, to Georg Händel and Dorothea Taust.[3]
His father, 63 when George Frideric was born, was an eminent barber-surgeon who served the
court of Saxe-Weissenfels and the Margraviate of Brandenburg.[4] According to Handel's first
biographer, John Mainwaring, he "had discovered such a strong propensity to Music, that his
father who always intended him for the study of the Civil Law, had reason to be alarmed. He
strictly forbade him to meddle with any musical instrument but Handel found means to get a
little clavichord privately convey'd to a room at the top of the house. To this room he constantly
stole when the family was asleep".[5] At an early age Handel became a skilful performer on the
harpsichord and pipe organ.[6]
Händel-Haus (2009) – birthplace of George Frideric Handel
Entrance of Teatro del Cocomero in Florence
Handel and his father travelled to Weissenfels to visit either Handel's half-brother, Carl, or
nephew, Georg Christian,[7] who was serving as valet to Duke Johann Adolf I.[8] On this trip,
young Handel was lifted onto an organ's stool, where he surprised everyone with his playing.[9]
This performance helped Handel and the duke to convince his father to allow him to take lessons
in musical composition and keyboard technique from Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow, the organist of
Halle's Marienkirche.[9] Zachow composed music for the Lutheran services at the church, and
from him Handel learned about harmony and counterpoint, copying and analysing scores, and
gained instruction on the oboe, violin, harpsichord and organ.[9] In 1698 Handel played for
Frederick I of Prussia and met Giovanni Bononcini in Berlin.
From Halle to Italy[edit]
The Hamburg Opera am Gänsemarkt in 1726
In 1702, following his father's wishes, Handel started studying law under Christian Thomasius at
the University of Halle;[10] and also earned an appointment for one year as the organist in the
former cathedral, by then an evangelical reformed church. Handel seems to have been
unsatisfied, and in 1703 he accepted a position as violinist and harpsichordist in the orchestra of
the Hamburg Oper am Gänsemarkt.[11] There he met the composers Johann Mattheson, Christoph
Graupner and Reinhard Keiser. His first two operas, Almira and Nero, were produced in 1705.[12]
He produced two other operas, Daphne and Florindo, in 1708. It is unclear whether Handel
directed these performances.
According to Mainwaring, in 1706 Handel travelled to Italy at the invitation of Ferdinando de'
Medici, but Mainwaring must have been confused. It was Gian Gastone de' Medici, whom
Handel had met in 1703–1704 in Hamburg.[13] Ferdinando tried to make Florence Italy's musical
capital, attracting the leading talents of his day. He had a keen interest in opera. In Italy Handel
met librettist Antonio Salvi, with whom he later collaborated. Handel left for Rome and, since
opera was (temporarily) banned in the Papal States, composed sacred music for the Roman
clergy. His famous Dixit Dominus (1707) is from this era. He also composed cantatas in pastoral
style for musical gatherings in the palaces of cardinals Pietro Ottoboni, Benedetto Pamphili and
Carlo Colonna. Two oratorios, La Resurrezione and Il Trionfo del Tempo, were produced in a
private setting for Ruspoli and Ottoboni in 1709 and 1710, respectively. Rodrigo, his first allItalian opera, was produced in the Cocomero theatre in Florence in 1707.[14] Agrippina was first
produced in 1709 at Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo, owned by the Grimanis. The opera, with a
libretto by Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani, and according to Mainwaring[who?] it ran for 27 nights
successively. The audience, thunderstruck with the grandeur and sublimity of his style,[15]
applauded for Il caro Sassone ("the dear Saxon"—referring to Handel's German origins).
Move to London[edit]
George Frideric Handel (left) and King George I on the River Thames, 17 July 1717, by Édouard
Jean Conrad Hamman (1819–88).
In 1710, Handel became Kapellmeister to German prince Georg, the Elector of Hanover, who in
1714 would become King George I of Great Britain and Ireland.[16] He visited Anna Maria Luisa
de' Medici and her husband in Düsseldorf on his way to London in 1710. With his opera Rinaldo,
based on La Gerusalemme Liberata by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso, Handel enjoyed great
success, although it was composed quickly, with many borrowings from his older Italian
works.[17] This work contains one of Handel's favourite arias, Cara sposa, amante cara, and the
famous Lascia ch'io pianga.
In 1712, Handel decided to settle permanently in England. He received a yearly income of £200
from Queen Anne after composing for her the Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate, first performed in
1713.[18][19]
One of his most important patrons was The 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Cork, a young
and incredibly wealthy member of an Anglo-Irish aristocratic family.[20] For the young Lord
Burlington, Handel wrote Amadigi di Gaula, a magical opera, about a damsel in distress, based
on the tragedy by Antoine Houdar de la Motte.
The conception of an opera as a coherent structure was slow to capture Handel's imagination[21]
and he renounced it for five years. In July 1717 Handel's Water Music was performed more than
three times on the Thames for the King and his guests. It is said the compositions spurred
reconciliation between the King and Handel.[22]
Cannons (1717–18)[edit]
Main article: Handel at Cannons
The Chandos portrait. The 1st Duke of Chandos was an important patron for Handel.
In 1717 Handel became house composer at Cannons in Middlesex, where he laid the cornerstone
for his future choral compositions in the twelve Chandos Anthems.[23] Romain Rolland stated that
these anthems were as important for his oratorios as the cantatas were for his operas.[24] Another
work he wrote for The 1st Duke of Chandos, the owner of Cannons, was Acis and Galatea:
during Handel's lifetime it was his most performed work. Winton Dean wrote, "the music catches
breath and disturbs the memory".[25]
In 1719 the Duke of Chandos became one of the main subscribers to Handel's new opera
company, the Royal Academy of Music, but his patronage of music declined after he lost money
in the South Sea bubble, which burst in 1720 in one of history's greatest financial cataclysms.
Handel himself invested in South Sea stock in 1716, when prices were low[26] and sold before
1720.[27]
Royal Academy of Music (1719–34)[edit]
Main article: Royal Academy of Music (company)
Handel House at 25 Brook Street, Mayfair, London
In May 1719, The 1st Duke of Newcastle, the Lord Chamberlain, ordered Handel to look for new
singers.[28] Handel travelled to Dresden to attend the newly built opera. He saw Teofane by
Antonio Lotti, and engaged the cast for the Royal Academy of Music, founded by a group of
aristocrats to assure themselves a constant supply of baroque opera or opera seria. Handel may
have invited John Smith, his fellow student in Halle, and his son Johann Christoph Schmidt, to
become his secretary and amanuensis.[29] By 1723 he had moved into a Georgian house at 25
Brook Street, which he rented for the rest of his life.[30] This house, where he rehearsed, copied
music and sold tickets, is now the Handel House Museum.[31] During twelve months between
1724 and 1725, Handel wrote three outstanding and successful operas, Giulio Cesare, Tamerlano
and Rodelinda. Handel's operas are filled with da capo arias, such as Svegliatevi nel core. After
composing Silete venti, he concentrated on opera and stopped writing cantatas. Scipio, from
which the regimental slow march of the British Grenadier Guards is derived,[32] was performed
as a stopgap, waiting for the arrival of Faustina Bordoni.
In 1727 Handel was commissioned to write four anthems for the Coronation ceremony of King
George II. One of these, Zadok the Priest, has been played at every British coronation ceremony
since.[33] In 1728 John Gay's The Beggar's Opera premiered at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre and
ran for 62 consecutive performances, the longest run in theatre history up to that time.[34] After
nine years Handel's contract was ended but he soon started a new company.
The Queen's Theatre at the Haymarket (now Her Majesty's Theatre), established in 1705 by
architect and playwright John Vanbrugh, quickly became an opera house.[35] Between 1711 and
1739, more than 25 of Handel's operas premièred there.[36] In 1729 Handel became joint manager
of the Theatre with John James Heidegger.
A musical portrait of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and his sisters by Philip Mercier, dated 1733,
using Kew Palace as its plein-air backdrop
The Queen's Theatre in the Haymarket in London by William Capon
Handel travelled to Italy to engage seven new singers. He composed seven more operas, but the
public came to hear the singers rather than the music.[37] After two commercially successful
English oratorios Esther and Deborah, he was able to invest again in the South Sea Company.
Handel reworked his Acis and Galatea which then became his most successful work ever.
Handel failed to compete with the Opera of the Nobility, who engaged musicians such as Johann
Adolf Hasse, Nicolo Porpora and the famous castrato Farinelli. The strong support by Frederick,
Prince of Wales caused conflicts in the royal family. In March 1734 Handel directed a wedding
anthem This is the day which the Lord hath made, and a serenata Parnasso in Festa for Anne of
Hanover.[38]
Opera at Covent Garden (1734–41)[edit]
In 1733 the Earl of Essex received a letter with the following sentence: "Handel became so
arbitrary a prince, that the Town murmurs". The board of chief investors expected Handel to
retire when his contract ended, but Handel immediately looked for another theatre. In
cooperation with John Rich he started his third company at Covent Garden Theatre. Rich was
renowned for his spectacular productions. He suggested Handel use his small chorus and
introduce the dancing of Marie Sallé, for whom Handel composed Terpsichore. In 1735 he
introduced organ concertos between the acts. For the first time Handel allowed Gioacchino
Conti, who had no time to learn his part, to substitute arias.[39] Financially, Ariodante was a
failure, although he introduced ballet suites at the end of each act.[40] Alcina, his last opera with a
magic content, and Alexander's Feast or the Power of Music based on John Dryden's Alexander's
Feast starred Anna Maria Strada del Pò and John Beard.
In April 1737, at age 52, Handel apparently suffered a stroke which disabled the use of four
fingers on his right hand, preventing him from performing.[41] In summer the disorder seemed at
times to affect his understanding. Nobody expected that Handel would ever be able to perform
again. But whether the affliction was rheumatism, a stroke or a nervous breakdown, he recovered
remarkably quickly .[42] To aid his recovery, Handel had travelled to Aachen, a spa in Germany.
During six weeks he took long hot baths, and ended up playing the organ for a surprised
audience.[43]
Deidamia, his last opera, was performed three times in 1741. Handel gave up the opera business,
while he enjoyed more success with his English oratorios.[44]
Oratorio[edit]
Further information: List of Handel's oratorios
Handel by Philip Mercier
Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, an allegory, Handel's first oratorio[45] was composed in
Italy in 1707, followed by La Resurrezione in 1708 which uses material from the Bible. The
circumstances of Esther and its first performance, possibly in 1718, are obscure.[46] Another 12
years had passed when an act of piracy caused him to take up Esther once again.[47] Three earlier
performances aroused such interest that they naturally prompted the idea of introducing it to a
larger public. Next came Deborah, strongly coloured by the Anthems[48] and Athaliah, his first
English Oratorio.[49] In these three oratorios Handel laid foundation for the traditional use of the
chorus which marks his later oratorios.[50] Handel became sure of himself, broader in his
presentation, and more diverse in his composition.[51]
It is evident how much he learned from Arcangelo Corelli about writing for instruments, and
from Alessandro Scarlatti about writing for the solo voice; but there is no single composer who
taught him how to write for chorus.[52] Handel tended more and more to replace Italian soloists
by English ones. The most significant reason for this change was the dwindling financial returns
from his operas.[53] Thus a tradition was created for oratorios which was to govern their future
performance. The performances were given without costumes and action; the performers
appeared in a black suit.[54]
Caricature of Handel by Joseph Goupy (1754)
In 1736 Handel produced Alexander's Feast. John Beard appeared for the first time as one of
Handel's principal singers and became Handel's permanent tenor soloist for the rest of Handel's
life.[55] The piece was a great success and it encouraged Handel to make the transition from
writing Italian operas to English choral works. In Saul, Handel was collaborating with Charles
Jennens and experimenting with three trombones, a carillon and extra-large military kettledrums
(from the Tower of London), to be sure "...it will be most excessive noisy".[56] Saul and Israel in
Egypt both from 1739 head the list of great, mature oratorios, in which the da capo and dal segno
aria became the exception and not the rule.[57] Israel in Egypt consists of little else but choruses,
borrowing from the Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline. In his next works Handel changed his
course. In these works he laid greater stress on the effects of orchestra and soloists; the chorus
retired into the background.[58] L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato has a rather diverting
character; the work is light and fresh.
During the summer of 1741, The 3rd Duke of Devonshire invited Handel to Dublin, capital of
the Kingdom of Ireland, to give concerts for the benefit of local hospitals.[59] His Messiah was
first performed at the New Music Hall in Fishamble Street on 13 April 1742, with 26 boys and
five men from the combined choirs of St. Patrick's and Christ Church cathedrals participating.[60]
Handel secured a balance between soloists and chorus which he never surpassed.
In 1747 Handel wrote his oratorio Alexander Balus. This work was produced at Covent Garden
Theatre, on March 23, 1748, and to the aria Hark! hark! He strikes the golden lyre, Handel wrote
the acccompaniment for mandolin, harp, violin, viola, and violoncello.[9]
The use of English soloists reached its height at the first performance of Samson. The work is
highly theatrical. The role of the chorus became increasingly important in his later oratorios.
Jephtha was first performed on 26 February 1752; even though it was his last oratorio, it was no
less a masterpiece than his earlier works.[61]
Later years[edit]
George Frideric Handel in 1733, by Balthasar Denner (1685–1749)
In 1749 Handel composed Music for the Royal Fireworks; 12,000 people attended the first
performance.[62] In 1750 he arranged a performance of Messiah to benefit the Foundling
Hospital. The performance was considered a great success and was followed by annual concerts
that continued throughout his life. In recognition of his patronage, Handel was made a governor
of the Hospital the day after his initial concert. He bequeathed a copy of Messiah to the
institution upon his death.[63] His involvement with the Foundling Hospital is today
commemorated with a permanent exhibition in London's Foundling Museum, which also holds
the Gerald Coke Handel Collection. In addition to the Foundling Hospital, Handel also gave to a
charity that assisted impoverished musicians and their families.
In August 1750, on a journey back from Germany to London, Handel was seriously injured in a
carriage accident between The Hague and Haarlem in the Netherlands.[64] In 1751 one eye started
to fail. The cause was a cataract which was operated on by the great charlatan Chevalier Taylor.
This did not improve his eyesight, but possibly made it worse.[44] He died eight years later in
1759 at home in Brook Street, at age 74. The last performance he attended was of Messiah.
Handel was buried in Westminster Abbey.[65] More than three thousand mourners attended his
funeral, which was given full state honours.
Handel never married, and kept his personal life private. His initial will bequeathed the bulk of
his estate to his niece Johanna, however four codicils distributed much of his estate to other
relations, servants, friends and charities.[66]
Handel owned an art collection that was auctioned posthumously in 1760.[67] The auction
catalogue listed approximately seventy paintings and ten prints (other paintings were
bequeathed).[67]
Senesino, the famous castrato from Siena
Main articles: List of compositions by George Frideric Handel and List of operas by
Handel.
Handel's compositions include 42 operas, 29 oratorios, more than 120 cantatas, trios and duets,
numerous arias, chamber music, a large number of ecumenical pieces, odes and serenatas, and 16
organ concerti. His most famous work, the oratorio Messiah with its "Hallelujah" chorus, is
among the most popular works in choral music and has become the centrepiece of the Christmas
season. Among the works with opus numbers published and popularised in his lifetime are the
Organ Concertos Op.4 and Op.7, together with the Opus 3 and Opus 6 concerti grossi; the latter
incorporate an earlier organ concerto The Cuckoo and the Nightingale in which birdsong is
imitated in the upper registers of the organ. Also notable are his sixteen keyboard suites,
especially The Harmonious Blacksmith.
Handel introduced previously uncommon musical instruments in his works: the viola d'amore
and violetta marina (Orlando), the lute (Ode for St. Cecilia's Day), three trombones (Saul),
clarinets or small high cornetts (Tamerlano), theorbo, French horn (Water Music), lyrichord,
double bassoon, viola da gamba, bell chimes, positive organ, and harp (Giulio Cesare,
Alexander's Feast).[68]
Between 1787 and 1797 Samuel Arnold compiled a 180-volume collection of Handel's works—
however it was far from complete.[69] Also incomplete was the collection produced between 1843
and 1858 by the English Handel Society (found by Sir George Macfarren).[70]
The 105-volume Händel-Gesellschaft ("German Handel Society") edition was published between
1858 and 1902—mainly due to the efforts of Friedrich Chrysander. For modern performance, the
realisation of the basso continuo reflects 19th century practice. Vocal scores drawn from the
edition were published by Novello in London, but some scores, such as the vocal score to
Samson are incomplete.
The continuing Hallische Händel-Ausgabe edition was first inaugurated in 1955 in the Halle
region in Saxony-Anhalt, Eastern Germany. It did not start as a critical edition, but after heavy
criticism of the first volumes, which were performing editions without a critical apparatus (for
example, the opera Serse was published with the title character recast as a tenor reflecting prewar German practice), it repositioned itself as a critical edition. Influenced in part by cold-war
realities, editorial work was inconsistent: misprints are found in abundance and editors failed to
consult important sources. In 1985 a committee was formed to establish better standards for the
edition. The unification of Germany in 1990 removed communication problems, and the volumes
issued have since shown a significant improvement in standards.[44]
Between 1978 and 1986 the German academic Bernd Baselt catalogued Handel's works in his
Händel-Werke-Verzeichnis publication. The catalogue has achieved wide acceptance and is used
as the modern numbering system, with each of Handel's works designated an "HWV" number,
for example Messiah is catalogued as "HWV 56".
A Masquerade at the King's Theatre, Haymarket (c. 1724)
Handel's works were collected and preserved by two men in particular: Sir Samuel Hellier, a
country squire whose musical acquisitions form the nucleus of the Shaw-Hellier Collection,[71]
and the abolitionist Granville Sharp.[72] The catalogue accompanying the National Portrait
Gallery exhibition marking the tercentenary of the composer's birth calls them two men of the
late eighteenth century "who have left us solid evidence of the means by which they indulged
their enthusiasm".[73]
After his death, Handel's Italian operas fell into obscurity, except for selections such as the aria
from Serse, "Ombra mai fù". The oratorios continued to be performed but not long after Handel's
death they were thought to need some modernisation, and Mozart orchestrated a German version
of Messiah and other works. Throughout the 19th century and first half of the 20th century,
particularly in the Anglophone countries, his reputation rested primarily on his English oratorios,
which were customarily performed by enormous choruses of amateur singers on solemn
occasions.
Since the early music revival many of the forty-two operas he wrote have been performed in
opera houses and concert halls.
Handel's music was studied by composers such as Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven
Recent decades have revived his secular cantatas and what one might call 'secular oratorios' or
'concert operas'. Of the former, Ode for St. Cecilia's Day (1739) (set to texts by John Dryden)
and Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne (1713) are noteworthy. For his secular oratorios, Handel
turned to classical mythology for subjects, producing such works as Acis and Galatea (1719),
Hercules (1745) and Semele (1744). These works have a close kinship with the sacred oratorios,
particularly in the vocal writing for the English-language texts. They also share the lyrical and
dramatic qualities of Handel's Italian operas. As such, they are sometimes performed onstage by
small chamber ensembles. With the rediscovery of his theatrical works, Handel, in addition to his
renown as instrumentalist, orchestral writer, and melodist, is now perceived as being one of
opera's great musical dramatists.
A carved marble statue of Handel, created for the Vauxhall Gardens in 1738 by Louis-François
Roubiliac, and now preserved in the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Handel's work was edited by Samuel Arnold (40 vols., London, 1787–1797), and by Friedrich
Chrysander, for the German Händel-Gesellschaft (105 vols., Leipzig, 1858–1902).
Händel adopted the spelling "George Frideric Handel" on his naturalisation as a British subject,
and this spelling is generally used in English-speaking countries. The original form of his name,
Georg Friedrich Händel, is generally used in Germany and elsewhere, but he is known as
"Haendel" in France. Another composer with a similar name, Handl or Händl, was an Austrian
from Carniola and is more commonly known as Jacobus Gallus.
Handel has generally been accorded high esteem by fellow composers, both in his own time and
since.[74] Bach attempted, unsuccessfully, to meet with Handel while he was visiting Halle.[75]
Mozart is reputed to have said of him, "Handel understands affect better than any of us. When he
chooses, he strikes like a thunder bolt."[76] To Beethoven he was "the master of us all... the
greatest composer that ever lived. I would uncover my head and kneel before his tomb".[76]
Beethoven emphasised above all the simplicity and popular appeal of Handel's music when he
said, "Go to him to learn how to achieve great effects, by such simple means".
Handel Commemoration in Westminster Abbey, 1784
After Handel's death, many composers wrote works based on or inspired by his music. The first
movement from Louis Spohr's Symphony No. 6, Op. 116, "The Age of Bach and Handel",
resembles two melodies from Handel's Messiah. In 1797 Ludwig van Beethoven published the
12 Variations in G major on ‘See the conqu’ring hero comes’ from Judas Maccabaeus by
Handel, for cello and piano. Guitar virtuoso Mauro Giuliani composed his Variations on a
Theme by Handel, Op. 107 for guitar, based on Handel's Suite No. 5 in E major, HWV 430, for
harpsichord. In 1861, using a theme from the second of Handel's harpsichord suites, Johannes
Brahms wrote the Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24, one of his most
successful works (praised by Richard Wagner). Several works by the French composer FélixAlexandre Guilmant use Handel's themes, for example his March on a Theme by Handel uses a
theme from Messiah. French composer and flautist Philippe Gaubert wrote his Petite marche for
flute and piano based on the fourth movement of Handel's Trio Sonata, Op. 5, No. 2, HWV 397.
Argentine composer Luis Gianneo composed his Variations on a Theme by Handel for piano. In
1911, Australian-born composer and pianist Percy Grainger based one of his most famous works
on the final movement of Handel's Suite No. 5 in E major (just like Giuliani). He first wrote
some variations on the theme, which he titled Variations on Handel's 'The Harmonious
Blacksmith' . Then he used the first sixteen bars of his set of variations to create Handel in the
Strand, one of his most beloved pieces, of which he made several versions (for example, the
piano solo version from 1930). Arnold Schoenberg's Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra
in B flat major (1933) was composed after Handel's Concerto Grosso, Op. 6/7.
Handel is honoured with a feast day on 28 July in the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church
(US), with Johann Sebastian Bach and Henry Purcell; in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran
Church, with J.S. Bach and Heinrich Schütz; and in the calendar of saints prepared by The Order
of Saint Luke for the use of The United Methodist Church, with J.S. Bach.[77]
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (Italian: [anˈtɔːnjo ˈluːtʃo viˈvaldi]; 4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741),
nicknamed il Prete Rosso ("The Red Priest") because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque
composer, Catholic priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Recognized as one of the
greatest Baroque composers, his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe.
Vivaldi is known mainly for composing instrumental concertos, especially for the violin, as well
as sacred choral works and over forty operas. His best known work is a series of violin concertos
known as The Four Seasons.
Many of his compositions were written for the female music ensemble of the Ospedale della
Pietà, a home for abandoned children where Vivaldi had been employed from 1703 to 1715 and
from 1723 to 1740. Vivaldi also had some success with stagings of his operas in Venice, Mantua
and Vienna. After meeting the Emperor Charles VI, Vivaldi moved to Vienna, hoping for
preferment. The Emperor died soon after Vivaldi's arrival.
Though Vivaldi's music was well received during his lifetime, it later declined in popularity until
its vigorous revival in the first half of the 20th century. Today, Vivaldi ranks among the most
popular and widely recorded of Baroque composers.
The church where Vivaldi was baptised: San Giovanni Battista in Bragora, Sestiere di Castello,
Venice
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was born in 1678 in Venice,[1] then the capital of the Republic of Venice.
He was baptized immediately after his birth at his home by the midwife, which led to a belief
that his life was somehow in danger. Though not known for certain, the child's immediate
baptism was most likely due either to his poor health or to an earthquake that shook the city that
day. In the trauma of the earthquake, Vivaldi's mother may have dedicated him to the
priesthood.[2] Vivaldi's official church baptism took place two months later.[3]
Vivaldi's parents were Giovanni Battista Vivaldi and Camilla Calicchio, as recorded in the
register of San Giovanni in Bragora.[4] Vivaldi had five siblings: Margarita Gabriela, Cecilia
Maria, Bonaventura Tomaso, Zanetta Anna, and Francesco Gaetano.[5] Giovanni Battista, who
was a barber before becoming a professional violinist, taught Antonio to play the violin and then
toured Venice playing the violin with his young son. Antonio was probably taught at an early
age, judging by the extensive musical knowledge he had acquired by the age of 24, when he
started working at the Ospedale della Pietà.[6] Giovanni Battista was one of the founders of the
Sovvegno dei musicisti di Santa Cecilia, an association of musicians.[7]
The president of the Sovvegno was Giovanni Legrenzi, an early Baroque composer and the
maestro di cappella at St Mark's Basilica. It is possible that Legrenzi gave the young Antonio his
first lessons in composition. The Luxembourg scholar Walter Kolneder has discerned the
influence of Legrenzi's style in Vivaldi's early liturgical work Laetatus sum (RV Anh 31), written
in 1691 at the age of thirteen. Vivaldi's father may have been a composer himself: in 1689, an
opera titled La Fedeltà sfortunata was composed by a Giovanni Battista Rossi - the name under
which Vivaldi's father had joined the Sovvegno di Santa Cecilia.[8]
Vivaldi's health was problematic. His symptoms, strettezza di petto ("tightness of the chest"),
have been interpreted as a form of asthma.[3] This did not prevent him from learning to play the
violin, composing or taking part in musical activities,[3] although it did stop him from playing
wind instruments. In 1693, at the age of fifteen, he began studying to become a priest.[9] He was
ordained in 1703, aged 25. He was soon nicknamed il Prete Rosso, "The Red Priest", because of
his red hair.[10] "Rosso" is Italian for "Red", and would have referred to the colour of his hair, a
family trait. Not long after his ordination, in 1704, he was given a dispensation from celebrating
Mass because of his ill health. Vivaldi only said Mass as a priest a few times. He appears to have
withdrawn from priestly duties, but he remained a priest.
At the Conservatorio dell'Ospedale della Pietà
In September 1703, Vivaldi became maestro di violino (master of violin) at an orphanage called
the Pio Ospedale della Pietà (Devout Hospital of Mercy) in Venice.[1] While Vivaldi is most
famous as a composer, he was regarded as an exceptional technical violinist as well. The German
architect Johann Friedrich Armand von Uffenbach referred to Vivaldi as "the famous composer
and violinist" and said that "Vivaldi played a solo accompaniment excellently, and at the
conclusion he added a free fantasy [an improvised cadenza] which absolutely astounded me, for
it is hardly possible that anyone has ever played, or ever will play, in such a fashion."[11]
Vivaldi was only 25 when he started working at the Ospedale della Pietà. Over the next thirty
years he composed most of his major works while working there.[12] There were four similar
institutions in Venice; their purpose was to give shelter and education to children who were
abandoned or orphaned, or whose families could not support them. They were financed by funds
provided by the Republic.[13] The boys learned a trade and had to leave when they reached 15.
The girls received a musical education, and the most talented stayed and became members of the
Ospedale's renowned orchestra and choir.
Shortly after Vivaldi's appointment, the orphans began to gain appreciation and esteem abroad,
too. Vivaldi wrote concertos, cantatas and sacred vocal music for them.[14] These sacred works,
which number over 60, are varied: they included solo motets and large-scale choral works for
soloists, double chorus, and orchestra.[15] In 1704, the position of teacher of viola all'inglese was
added to his duties as violin instructor.[16] The position of maestro di coro, which was at one time
filled by Vivaldi, required a lot of time and work. He had to compose an oratorio or concerto at
every feast and teach the orphans both music theory and how to play certain instruments.[17]
His relationship with the board of directors of the Ospedale was often strained. The board had to
take a vote every year on whether to keep a teacher. The vote on Vivaldi was seldom unanimous,
and went 7 to 6 against him in 1709.[18] After a year as a freelance musician, he was recalled by
the Ospedale with a unanimous vote in 1711; clearly during his year's absence the board realized
the importance of his role.[18] He became responsible for all of the musical activity of the
institution[19] when he was promoted to maestro di' concerti (music director) in 1716.[20]
In 1705, the first collection (Connor Cassara) of his works was published by Giuseppe Sala:[21]
his Opus 1 is a collection of 12 sonatas for two violins and basso continuo, in a conventional
style.[16] In 1709, a second collection of 12 sonatas for violin and basso continuo appeared, his
Opus 2.[22] A real breakthrough as a composer came with his first collection of 12 concerti for
one, two, and four violins with strings, L'estro armonico Opus 3, which was published in
Amsterdam in 1711 by Estienne Roger,[23] dedicated to Grand Prince Ferdinand of Tuscany. The
prince sponsored many musicians including Alessandro Scarlatti and George Frideric Handel. He
was a musician himself, and Vivaldi probably met him in Venice.[24] L'estro armonico was a
resounding success all over Europe. It was followed in 1714 by La stravaganza Opus 4, a
collection of concerti for solo violin and strings,[25] dedicated to an old violin student of
Vivaldi's, the Venetian noble Vettor Dolfin.[26]
In February 1711, Vivaldi and his father traveled to Brescia, where his setting of the Stabat
Mater (RV 621) was played as part of a religious festival. The work seems to have been written
in haste: the string parts are simple, the music of the first three movements is repeated in the next
three, and not all the text is set. Nevertheless, perhaps in part because of the forced essentiality of
the music, the work is one of his early masterpieces.
Despite his frequent travels from 1718, the Pietà paid him 2 sequins to write two concerti a
month for the orchestra and to rehearse with them at least five times when in Venice. The Pietà's
records show that he was paid for 140 concerti between 1723 and 1733.
Opera impresario
First edition of Juditha triumphans[27]
In early 18th-century Venice, opera was the most popular musical entertainment. It proved most
profitable for Vivaldi. There were several theaters competing for the public's attention. Vivaldi
started his career as an opera composer as a sideline: his first opera, Ottone in villa (RV 729) was
performed not in Venice, but at the Garzerie Theater in Vicenza in 1713.[28] The following year,
Vivaldi became the impresario of the Teatro Sant'Angelo in Venice, where his opera Orlando
finto pazzo (RV 727) was performed. The work was not to the public's taste, and it closed after a
couple of weeks, being replaced with a repeat of a different work already given the previous
year.[24]
In 1715, he presented Nerone fatto Cesare (RV 724, now lost), with music by seven different
composers, of which he was the leader. The opera contained eleven arias, and was a success. In
the late season, Vivaldi planned to put on an opera composed entirely by him, Arsilda, regina di
Ponto (RV 700), but the state censor blocked the performance. The main character, Arsilda, falls
in love with another woman, Lisea, who is pretending to be a man.[24] Vivaldi got the censor to
accept the opera the following year, and it was a resounding success.
At this period, the Pietà commissioned several liturgical works. The most important were two
oratorios. Moyses Deus Pharaonis, (RV 643) is lost. The second, Juditha triumphans (RV 644),
celebrates the victory of the Republic of Venice against the Turks and the recapture of the island
of Corfù. Composed in 1716, it is one of his sacred masterpieces. All eleven singing parts were
performed by girls of the Pietà, both the female and male roles. Many of the arias include parts
for solo instruments—recorders, oboes, clarinets[citation needed], violas d'amore, and mandolins—
that showcased the range of talents of the girls.[29]
Also in 1716, Vivaldi wrote and produced two more operas, L'incoronazione di Dario (RV 719)
and La costanza trionfante degli amori e degli odi (RV 706). The latter was so popular that it
performed two years later, re-edited and retitled Artabano re dei Parti (RV 701, now lost). It was
also performed in Prague in 1732. In the following years, Vivaldi wrote several operas that were
performed all over Italy.
His progressive operatic style caused him some trouble with more conservative musicians, like
Benedetto Marcello, a magistrate and amateur musician who wrote a pamphlet denouncing him
and his operas. The pamphlet, Il teatro alla moda, attacks Vivaldi without mentioning him
directly. The cover drawing shows a boat (the Sant'Angelo), on the left end of which stands a
little angel wearing a priest's hat and playing the violin. The Marcello family claimed ownership
of the Teatro Sant'Angelo, and a long legal battle had been fought with the management for its
restitution, without success. The obscure writing under the picture mentions non-existent places
and names: ALDIVIVA is an anagram of A. Vivaldi.
In a letter written by Vivaldi to his patron Marchese Bentivoglio in 1737, he makes reference to
his "94 operas". Only around 50 operas by Vivaldi have been discovered, and no other
documentation of the remaining operas exists. Although Vivaldi may have exaggerated, in his
dual role of composer and impresario it is plausible that he may either have written or been
responsible for the production of as many as 94 operas during a career which by then had
spanned almost 25 years.[30] While Vivaldi certainly composed many operas in his time, he never
reached the prominence of other great composers like Alessandro Scarlatti, Johann Adolph
Hasse, Leonardo Leo, and Baldassare Galuppi, as evidenced by his inability to keep a production
running for any extended period of time in any major opera house.[31]
His most successful operas were La constanza trionfante and Farnace which garnered six
revivals each.[31]
Mantua and the Four Seasons[edit]
Caricature by P. L. Ghezzi, Rome (1723)[32]
"La primavera" (Spring) – Movement 1: Allegro from The
Four Seasons
A 2000 live performance by Wichita State University
Chamber Players.
Problems playing this file? See media help.
In 1717 or 1718, Vivaldi was offered a new prestigious position as Maestro di Cappella of the
court of prince Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt, governor of Mantua.[33] He moved there for three
years and produced several operas, among which was Tito Manlio (RV 738). In 1721, he was in
Milan, where he presented the pastoral drama La Silvia (RV 734, 9 arias survive). He visited
Milan again the following year with the oratorio L'adorazione delli tre re magi al bambino Gesù
(RV 645, also lost). In 1722 he moved to Rome, where he introduced his operas' new style. The
new pope Benedict XIII invited Vivaldi to play for him. In 1725, Vivaldi returned to Venice,
where he produced four operas in the same year.
During this period Vivaldi wrote the Four Seasons, four violin concertos depicting scenes
appropriate for each season. Three of the concerti are of original conception, while the first,
"Spring", borrows motifs from a Sinfonia in the first act of his contemporaneous opera "Il
Giustino". The inspiration for the concertos was probably the countryside around Mantua. They
were a revolution in musical conception: in them Vivaldi represented flowing creeks, singing
birds (of different species, each specifically characterized), barking dogs, buzzing mosquitoes,
crying shepherds, storms, drunken dancers, silent nights, hunting parties from both the hunters'
and the prey's point of view, frozen landscapes, ice-skating children, and warming winter fires.
Each concerto is associated with a sonnet, possibly by Vivaldi, describing the scenes depicted in
the music. They were published as the first four concertos in a collection of twelve, Il cimento
dell'armonia e dell'inventione, Opus 8, published in Amsterdam by Le Cène in 1725.
During his time in Mantua, Vivaldi became acquainted with an aspiring young singer Anna
Tessieri Girò who was to become his student, protégée, and favorite prima donna.[34] Anna, along
with her older half-sister Paolina, became part of Vivaldi's entourage and regularly accompanied
him on his many travels. There was speculation about the nature of Vivaldi's and Giro's
relationship, but no evidence to indicate anything beyond friendship and professional
collaboration. Although Vivaldi's relationship with Anna Girò was questioned, he adamantly
denied any romantic relationship in a letter to his patron Bentivoglio dated 16 November
1737.[35]
Later life and death[edit]
At the height of his career, Vivaldi received commissions from European nobility and royalty.
The serenata (cantata) Gloria e Imeneo (RV 687) was commissioned in 1725 by the French
ambassador to Venice in celebration of the marriage of Louis XV. The following year, another
serenata, La Sena festeggiante (RV 694), was written for and premiered at the French embassy
as well, celebrating the birth of the french royal princesses, Henriette and Louise Elisabeth.
Vivaldi's Opus 9, La Cetra, was dedicated to Emperor Charles VI. In 1728, Vivaldi met the
emperor while he was visiting Trieste to oversee the construction of a new port. Charles admired
the music of the Red Priest so much that he is said to have spoken more with the composer
during their one meeting than he spoke to his ministers in over two years. He gave Vivaldi the
title of knight, a gold medal and an invitation to Vienna. Vivaldi gave Charles a manuscript copy
of La Cetra, a set of concerti almost completely different from the set of the same title published
as Opus 9. The printing was probably delayed, forcing Vivaldi to gather an improvised collection
for the emperor.
Frontispiece of Il teatro alla moda
Accompanied by his father, Vivaldi traveled to Vienna and Prague in 1730, where his opera
Farnace (RV 711) was presented.[36] Some of his later operas were created in collaboration with
two of Italy's major writers of the time. L'Olimpiade and Catone in Utica were written by Pietro
Metastasio, the major representative of the Arcadian movement and court poet in Vienna. La
Griselda was rewritten by the young Carlo Goldoni from an earlier libretto by Apostolo Zeno.
Like many composers of the time, the final years of Vivaldi's life found him in financial
difficulties. His compositions were no longer held in such high esteem as they once were in
Venice; changing musical tastes quickly made them outmoded. In response, Vivaldi chose to sell
off sizeable numbers of his manuscripts at paltry prices to finance his migration to Vienna.[37]
The reasons for Vivaldi's departure from Venice are unclear, but it seems likely that, after the
success of his meeting with Emperor Charles VI, he wished to take up the position of a composer
in the imperial court. On his way to Vienna, Vivaldi may have stopped in Graz to see Anna
Girò.[38]
It is also likely that Vivaldi went to Vienna to stage operas, especially as he took up residence
near the Kärntnertortheater. Shortly after his arrival in Vienna, Charles VI died, which left the
composer without any royal protection or a steady source of income. Soon afterwards, Vivaldi
became impoverished[39][40] and died during the night of 27/28 July 1741, aged 63,[41] of "internal
infection", in a house owned by the widow of a Viennese saddlemaker. On 28 July he was buried
in a simple grave in a burial ground that was owned by the public hospital fund. Vivaldi's funeral
took place at St. Stephen's Cathedral, but the young Joseph Haydn had nothing to do with this
burial, since no music was performed on that occasion. The cost of his funeral with a
'Kleingeläut' was 19 Gulden 45 Kreuzer which was rather expensive for the lowest class of
burials.
He was buried next to Karlskirche, in an area which is now part of the site of the Technical
Institute. The house where he lived in Vienna has since been destroyed; the Hotel Sacher is built
on part of the site. Memorial plaques have been placed at both locations, as well as a Vivaldi
"star" in the Viennese Musikmeile and a monument at the Rooseveltplatz.
Only three portraits of Vivaldi are known to survive: an engraving, an ink sketch and an oil
painting. The engraving, by Francois Morellon La Cave, was made in 1725 and shows Vivaldi
holding a sheet of music. The ink sketch was done by Ghezzi in 1723 and shows Vivaldi's head
and shoulders in profile. The oil painting, which can be seen in the Liceo Musicale of Bologna,
gives us possibly the most accurate picture and shows Vivaldi's red hair under his blond wig.[42]
Style and influence[edit]
Vivaldi's music was innovative. He brightened the formal and rhythmic structure of the concerto,
in which he looked for harmonic contrasts and innovative melodies and themes; many of his
compositions are flamboyantly, almost playfully, exuberant.
Johann Sebastian Bach was deeply influenced by Vivaldi's concertos and arias (recalled in his St
John Passion, St Matthew Passion, and cantatas). Bach transcribed six of Vivaldi's concerti for
solo keyboard, three for organ, and one for four harpsichords, strings, and basso continuo (BWV
1065) based upon the concerto for four violins, two violas, cello, and basso continuo (RV 580).
Posthumous reputation[edit]
During his lifetime, Vivaldi's popularity quickly made him famous in other countries, including
France, where musical taste was less dictated by fashion than elsewhere,[citation needed] but after his
death the composer's popularity dwindled. After the Baroque period, Vivaldi's published concerti
became relatively unknown and were largely ignored. Even Vivaldi's most famous work, The
Four Seasons, was at that time unknown in its original edition.
During the early 20th century, Fritz Kreisler's Concerto in C, in the Style of Vivaldi (which he
passed off as an original Vivaldi work) helped revive Vivaldi's reputation. This spurred the
French scholar Marc Pincherle to begin an academic study of Vivaldi's oeuvre. Many Vivaldi
manuscripts were rediscovered, which were acquired by the Turin National University Library as
a result of the generous sponsorship of Turinese businessmen Roberto Foa and Filippo Giordano,
in memory of their sons. This led to a renewed interest in Vivaldi by, among others, Mario
Rinaldi, Alfredo Casella, Ezra Pound, Olga Rudge, Desmond Chute, Arturo Toscanini, Arnold
Schering and Louis Kaufman, all of whom were instrumental in the Vivaldi revival of the 20th
century.
In 1926, in a monastery in Piedmont, researchers discovered fourteen folios of Vivaldi's work
that were previously thought to have been lost during the Napoleonic Wars. Some missing
volumes in the numbered set were discovered in the collections of the descendants of the Grand
Duke Durazzo, who had acquired the monastery complex in the 18th century. The volumes
contained 300 concertos, 19 operas and over 100 vocal-instrumental works.[43]
The resurrection of Vivaldi's unpublished works in the 20th century is mostly due to the efforts
of Alfredo Casella, who in 1939 organized the historic Vivaldi Week, in which the rediscovered
Gloria (RV 589) and l'Olimpiade were revived. Since World War II, Vivaldi's compositions have
enjoyed wide success. Historically informed performances, often on "original instruments", have
increased Vivaldi's fame still further.
Recent rediscoveries of works by Vivaldi include two psalm settings of Nisi Dominus (RV 803,
in eight movements) and Dixit Dominus (RV 807, in eleven movements). These were identified
in 2003 and 2005 respectively, by the Australian scholar Janice Stockigt. The Vivaldi scholar
Michael Talbot described RV 807 as "arguably the best nonoperatic work from Vivaldi's pen to
come to light since... ...the 1920s".[44] Vivaldi's lost 1730 opera Argippo (RV 697) was
rediscovered in 2006 by the harpsichordist and conductor Ondřej Macek, whose Hofmusici
orchestra performed the work at Prague Castle on 3 May 2008, its first performance since 1730.
Lassus was born in Mons in the County of Hainaut (modern-day Belgium). Information about his
early years is scanty, although some uncorroborated stories have survived, the most famous of
which is that he was kidnapped three times because of the singular beauty of his singing voice.
At the age of twelve, he left the Low Countries with Ferrante Gonzaga and went to Mantua,
Sicily, and later Milan (from 1547 to 1549). While in Milan, he made the acquaintance of the
madrigalist Spirito l'Hoste da Reggio, a formative influence on his early musical style.
He then worked as a singer and a composer for Costantino Castrioto in Naples in the early 1550s,
and his first works are presumed to date from this time. Next he moved to Rome, where he
worked for Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, who maintained a household there;
and in 1553, he became maestro di cappella of the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, the
ecumenical mother church of Rome and a spectacularly prestigious post indeed for a man only
twenty-one years old. However, he stayed there for only a year. (Palestrina would assume this
post a year later, in 1555.)
No solid evidence survives for his whereabouts in 1554, but there are contemporary claims that
he traveled in France and England. In 1555 he returned to the Low Countries and had his early
works published in Antwerp (1555–1556). In 1556 he joined the court of Albrecht V, Duke of
Bavaria, who was consciously attempting to create a musical establishment on a par with the
major courts in Italy. Lassus was one of several Netherlanders to work there, and by far the most
famous. He evidently was happy in Munich and decided to settle there. In 1558 he married
Regina Wäckinger, the daughter of a maid of honor of the Duchess; they had two sons, both of
whom became composers. By 1563 Lassus had been appointed maestro di cappella, succeeding
Ludwig Daser in the post. Lassus remained in the service of Albrecht V and his heir, Wilhelm V,
for the rest of his life.
By the 1560s Lassus had become quite famous, and composers began to go to Munich to study
with him. Andrea Gabrieli went there in 1562, and possibly remained in the chapel for a year;
Giovanni Gabrieli also possibly studied with him in the 1570s. His renown had spread outside of
strictly musical circles, for in 1570 Emperor Maximilian II conferred nobility upon him, a rare
circumstance for a composer; Pope Gregory XIII knighted him; and in 1571, and again in 1573,
the king of France, Charles IX, invited him to visit. Some of these kings and aristocrats
attempted to woo him away from Munich with more attractive offers, but Lassus was evidently
more interested in the stability of his position, and the splendid performance opportunities of
Albrecht's court, than in financial gain. "I do not want to leave my house, my garden, and the
other good things in Munich," he wrote to the Duke of Electorate of Saxony in 1580, upon
receiving an offer for a position in Dresden.
In the late 1570s and 1580s Lassus made several visits to Italy, where he encountered the most
modern styles and trends. In Ferrara, the center of avant-garde activity, he doubtless heard the
madrigals being composed for the d'Este court; however, his own style remained conservative
and became simpler and more refined as he aged. In the 1590s his health began to decline, and he
went to a doctor named Thomas Mermann for treatment of what was called "melancholia
hypocondriaca", but he was still able to compose as well as travel occasionally. His final work
was often considered one of his best pieces: an exquisite set of twenty-one madrigali spirituali
known as the Lagrime di San Pietro ("Tears of St. Peter"), which he dedicated to Pope Clement
VIII, and which was published posthumously in 1595. Lassus died in Munich on 14 June 1594,
the same day that his employer decided to dismiss him for economic reasons; he never saw the
letter.
Music and influence[edit]
One of the most prolific, versatile, and universal composers of the late Renaissance, Lassus
wrote over 2,000 works in all Latin, French, Italian and German vocal genres known in his time.
These include 530 motets, 175 Italian madrigals and villanellas, 150 French chansons, and 90
German lieder. No strictly instrumental music by Lassus is known to survive, or ever to have
existed: an interesting omission for a composer otherwise so wide-ranging and prolific, during an
age when instrumental music was becoming an ever-more prominent means of expression, all
over Europe. The German music publisher Adam Berg dedicated 5 volumes of his Patrocinium
musicum (published from 1573–1580) to Lassus' music.
Sacred music[edit]
Orland di Lassus (Roland de Lattre). (Idealized portrait).
Lassus remained Catholic during this age of religious discord, although not dogmatically so, as
may be seen from his more worldly secular songs as well as his parody Masses and Magnificats
based on secular compositions. Nevertheless the Catholic Counter-Reformation, which under
Jesuit influence was reaching a peak in Bavaria in the late sixteenth century, had a demonstrable
impact on Lassus' late work, including the liturgical music for the Roman Rite, the burgeoning
number of Magnificats, the settings of the Catholic Ulenberg Psalter (1588), and especially the
great penitential cycle of spiritual madrigals, the 'Lagrime di San Pietro' (1594).
Masses[edit]
Almost 60 masses have survived complete; most of them are parody masses based on secular
works written by himself or other composers. Technically impressive, they are nevertheless the
most conservative part of his output. He usually conformed the style of the mass to the style of
the source material, which ranged from Gregorian chant to contemporary madrigals, but always
maintained an expressive and reverent character in the final product. Some of his masses are
based on extremely secular French chansons, some of which are frankly obscene (Entre vous
filles de quinze ans, "Oh you fifteen-year old girls", by Clemens non Papa, gave him source
material for his 1581 Missa entre vous filles, probably the most scandalous of the lot). That this
practice was not only accepted but encouraged by his employer is confirmed by evidence from
their correspondence, much of which has survived.
In addition to his traditional parody masses, he wrote a considerable quantity of missae breves,
"brief masses," syllablic short masses meant for brief services (for example, on days when Duke
Albrecht went hunting: evidently he did not want to be detained by long-winded polyphonic
music). The most extreme of these is a work actually known as the Jäger Mass (Missa
venatorum)—the "Hunter's Mass."
Some of his masses show influence from the Venetian School, particularly in their use of
polychoral techniques (for example, in the eight-voice Missa osculetur me, based on his own
motet). Three of his masses are for double choir, and they may have been influential on the
Venetians themselves; after all, Andrea Gabrieli visited Lassus in Munich in 1562, and many of
Lassus's works were published in Venice. Even though Lassus used the contemporary, sonorous
Venetian style, his harmonic language remained conservative in these works: he adapted the
texture of the Venetians to his own artistic ends.
Motets and other sacred music[edit]
Lassus is one of the composers of a style known as musica reservata—a term which has survived
in many contemporary references, many of them seemingly contradictory. The exact meaning of
the term is a matter of fierce debate, though a rough consensus among musicologists is that it
involves intensely expressive setting of text, chromaticism, and that it may have referred to
music specifically written for connoisseurs. A famous example of a composition by Lassus
which is a representative of this style is his series of 12 motets entitled Prophetiae Sibyllarum,
which is in a wildly chromatic style reminiscent of Gesualdo; some of his chord progressions in
this piece were not to be heard again until the 20th century.
Lassus wrote four settings of the Passion, one for each of the Evangelists, St. Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John. All are for a cappella voices. He sets the words of Christ and the narration of the
Evangelist as chant, while setting the passages for groups polyphonically.
As a composer of motets, Lassus was one of the most diverse and prodigious of the entire
Renaissance. His output varies from the sublime to the ridiculous, and he showed a sense of
humor not often associated with sacred music: for example, one of his motets satirizes poor
singers (his setting of Super flumina Babylonis, for five voices) which includes stuttering,
stopping and starting, and general confusion; it is related in concept if not in style to Mozart's A
Musical Joke. Many of his motets were composed for ceremonial occasions, as could be
expected of a court composer who was required to provide music for visits of dignitaries,
weddings, treaties and other events of state. But it was as a composer of religious motets that
Lassus achieved his widest and lasting fame.
Lassus's setting of the seven Penitential Psalms of David (Psalmi Davidis poenitentiales) is one
of the most famous collections of psalm settings of the entire Renaissance. The counterpoint is
free, avoiding the pervasive imitation of the Netherlanders such as Gombert, and occasionally
using expressive devices foreign to Palestrina. As elsewhere, Lassus strives for emotional
impact, and uses a variety of texture and care in text-setting towards that end. The final piece in
the collection, his setting of the De profundis (Psalm 129/130), is considered by many scholars to
be one of the high-water marks of Renaissance polyphony, ranking alongside the two settings of
the same text by Josquin des Prez.
Among his other liturgical compositions are hymns, canticles (including over 100 Magnificats),
responsories for Holy Week, Passions, Lamentations, and some independent pieces for major
feasts.
Secular music[edit]
Lassus wrote in all the prominent secular forms of the time. In the preface to his collection of
German songs, Lassus lists his secular works: Italian madrigals and French chansons, German
and Dutch songs. He is probably the only Renaissance composer to write prolifically in five
languages – Latin in addition to those mentioned above – and he wrote with equal fluency in
each. Many of his songs became hugely popular, circulating widely in Europe. In these various
secular songs, he conforms to the manner of the country of origin while still showing his
characteristic originality, wit, and terseness of statement.
Madrigals[edit]
Lassus leading a chamber ensemble, painted by Hans Mielich
In his madrigals, many of which he wrote during his stay in Rome, his style is clear and concise,
and he wrote tunes which were easily memorable; he also "signed" his work by frequently using
the word 'lasso' (and often setting with the sol-fege syllables la-sol, i.e. A-G in the key of C). His
choice of poetry varied widely, from Petrarch for his more serious work to the lightest verse for
some of his amusing canzonettas.
Lassus often preferred cyclic madrigals, i.e. settings of multiple poems in a group as a set of
related pieces of music. For example, his fourth book of madrigals for five voices begins with a
complete sestina by Petrarch, continues with two-part sonnets, and concludes with another
sestina: therefore the entire book can be heard as a unified composition with each madrigal a
subsidiary part.
Chansons[edit]
Another form which Lassus cultivated was the French chanson, of which he wrote about 150.
Most of them date from the 1550s, but he continued to write them even after he was in Germany:
his last productions in this genre come from the 1580s. They were enormously popular in
Europe, and of all his works, they were the most widely arranged for instruments such as lute
and keyboard. Most were collected in the 1570s and 1580s in three publications: one by Pierre
Phalèse the Elder in 1571, and two by Le Roy and Ballard in 1576 and 1584. Stylistically, they
ranged from the dignified and serious, to playful, bawdy, and amorous compositions, as well as
drinking songs suited to taverns. Lassus followed the polished, lyrical style of Sermisy rather
than the programmatic style of Clément Janequin for his writing.
One of the most famous of Lassus's drinking songs was used by Shakespeare in Henry IV, Part
II. English words are fitted to Un jour vis un foulon qui fouloit (as Monsieur Mingo) and sung by
the drunken Justice Silence, in Act V, Scene iii.
German lieder[edit]
A third type of secular composition by Lassus was the German lied. Most of these he evidently
intended for a different audience, since they are considerably different in tone and style from
either the chansons or madrigals; in addition, he wrote them later in life, with none appearing
until 1567, when he was already well-established at Munich. Many are on religious subjects,
although light and comic verse are represented as well. He also wrote drinking songs in German,
and contrasting with his parallel work in the genre of the chanson.
Georg Philipp Telemann
Georg Philipp Telemann (14 March 1681 – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer
and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer
against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hildesheim, Telemann
entered the University of Leipzig to study law, but eventually settled on a career in music. He
held important positions in Leipzig, Sorau, Eisenach, and Frankfurt before settling in Hamburg
in 1721, where he became musical director of the city's five main churches. While Telemann's
career prospered, his personal life was always troubled: his first wife died only a few months
after their marriage, and his second wife had extramarital affairs and accumulated a large
gambling debt before leaving Telemann.
Telemann was one of the most prolific composers in history[1] (at least in terms of surviving
oeuvre)[2] and was considered by his contemporaries to be one of the leading German composers
of the time—he was compared favorably both to his friend Johann Sebastian Bach, who made
Telemann the godfather and namesake of his son Carl Philipp Emanuel, and to George Frideric
Handel, whom Telemann also knew personally. Telemann's music incorporates several national
styles (French, Italian) and is even at times influenced by Polish popular music. He remained at
the forefront of all new musical tendencies and his music is an important link between the late
Baroque and early Classical styles.
Telemann's signature (1714 and 1757).
Contents
[hide]

1 Life
o
o
o
o
o






1.1 1681–1701: Childhood and early youth
1.2 1701–1706: Career in Leipzig and Sorau
1.3 1707–1721: Eisenach and Frankfurt
1.4 1721–1736: Early years in Hamburg
1.5 1736–1767: Last years
2 Legacy
3 Partial list of works
o 3.1 Operas
o 3.2 Passions
o 3.3 Cantatas
o 3.4 Oratorios
o 3.5 Orchestral suites
o 3.6 Chamber music
o 3.7 Concertos
 3.7.1 Violin
 3.7.2 Viola
 3.7.3 Horn
 3.7.4 Trumpet
 3.7.5 Chalumeau
 3.7.6 Oboe
 3.7.7 Flute
4 Media
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
o 7.1 Further information on Telemann and his works
o
o
7.2 Modern editions
7.3 Free sheet music
Life[edit source | edit]
1681–1701: Childhood and early youth[edit source | edit]
Telemann's birthplace, the city of Magdeburg, in early 18th century. Some 50 years before
Telemann's birth the city was sacked and had to be rebuilt.
Telemann was born in Magdeburg, the capital of the Duchy of Magdeburg, BrandenburgPrussia, into an upper-middle-class family. His parents were Heinrich Telemann, deacon at the
Church of the Holy Spirit (Heilige-Geist-Kirche) in Magdeburg, and Maria Haltmeier, daughter
of a clergyman from Regensburg. Many of the family members worked for the church and only a
few distant relatives were musicians. The composer himself claimed that he inherited the talent
for music from his mother, whose nephew Joachim Friedrich was Kantor at Verden (Telemann
would later publish a treatise by Joachim Friedrich's son, who became an organist). On his
father's side, only a single relative is known to have been a professional musician: Heinrich
Thering, Telemann's great-grandfather, served as Kantor at Halberstadt in the late 16th century.
Telemann's brother Heinrich Matthias (1672–1746) eventually became a clergyman.
Heinrich Telemann died in 1685, leaving Maria to raise the children and oversee their education.
Telemann studied at the Altstädtisches Gymnasium and at the Domschule, where he was taught
the catechism, Latin and Greek. At age 10 he took singing lessons and studied keyboard playing
for two weeks with a local organist. This was enough to inspire the boy to teach himself other
instruments (recorder, violin and zither) and start composing. His first pieces were arias, motets,
and instrumental works, and at age 12 he composed his first opera, Sigismundus. Neither Maria
nor her advisers were supportive of these endeavours, however. They confiscated all of the boy's
instruments and forbade him any musical activities, yet Telemann continued composing, in
secret. In late 1693 or early 1694 his mother sent him to a school in Zellerfeld, hoping that this
would convince her son to choose a different career. However, the superintendent of the school,
Caspar Calvoer, recognized Telemann's talents and even introduced him to musical theory;
Telemann continued composing and playing various instruments, taught himself thoroughbass
and regularly supplied music for the church choir and the town musicians.
In 1697 Telemann left for Hildesheim, where he entered the famous Gymnasium Andreanum.
Here too his talents were recognized and in demand: the rector himself commissioned music
from Telemann. The young composer frequently travelled to courts at Hanover and Brunswick
where he could hear and study the latest musical styles. Composers such as Antonio Caldara,
Arcangelo Corelli, and Johann Rosenmuller were early influences. Telemann also continued
studying various instruments, and eventually became an accomplished multi-instrumentalist: at
Hildesheim he taught himself flute, oboe, chalumeau, viola da gamba, double bass, and bass
trombone. After graduating from Gymnasium Andreanum (with excellent results, despite his
musical activities), Telemann went to Leipzig in late 1701 to become a student at the Leipzig
University, where he intended to study law. In his 1718 autobiography Telemann explained that
this decision was taken because of his mother's urging. However, some 22 years later, in the
1740 autobiography, he offered a different explanation, claiming that he was motivated by his
desire for university education. This was not to come: according to Telemann himself, a setting
of Psalm 6 by him inexplicably found its way into his luggage and was found by his roommate at
the university. The work was subsequently performed and so impressed those who heard it that
the mayor of Leipzig himself approached Telemann and commissioned him to regularly compose
works for the city's two main churches (Thomaskirche and Nikolaikirche).
1701–1706: Career in Leipzig and Sorau[edit source | edit]
Once he established himself as a professional musician in Leipzig, Telemann became
increasingly active in organizing the city's musical life. From the start, he relied heavily on
employing students: the very first ensemble he founded was a student collegium musicum that
had some 40 members. They gave public concerts and also provided music for the Neukirche. In
1702 Telemann became director of the opera house Opernhaus auf dem Brühl, where too he
employed student performers. Finally, when Telemann got the post of organist and music
director at the Neukirche, he only played the organ once, and assigned the organist's duties to his
students. Between 1702 and 1705 Telemann composed at least eight operas, four of which went
to the Leipzig operahouse and four to the Weissenfels court. During his time at Leipzig, he was
continually influenced by the music of Handel, whom he met earlier, in 1701. He also studied the
works of Johann Kuhnau, Kantor of the Thomaskirche and city director of music in Leipzig; in
his later years, Telemann recounted how much he learned about counterpoint from Kuhnau's
work.
However, Telemann's growing prominence and methods caused a conflict between him and
Kuhnau. By employing students Telemann took away a major resource for Kuhnau's choir (and
church music in Leipzig in general); Kuhnau was also concerned that students were too
frequently performing in operas, leaving them with less time to devote to church music.
Denouncing Telemann as an "opera musician", Kuhnau petitioned the city council several times
against the younger composer. In the end, however, his efforts proved fruitless, and the only
thing the council did was to forbid Telemann to appear on the operatic stage. Kuhnau's rights
were never fully restored, not even after Telemann left Leipzig.
The Castle in Pleß, today Pszczyna, where the Promnitz family resided when Telemann worked
for them in 1704–1706
In 1704 Telemann received an invitation to become Kapellmeister for the court of Count
Erdmann II of Promnitz at Sorau (now Żary, in Poland). Leipzig authorities only granted him
resignation in early 1705, however, and he arrived in Sorau in June. This new position allowed
him to study contemporary French music, which was particularly popular at the court: the works
of Lully and Campra. Also, when the court spent six months in Pleß (now Pszczyna), Telemann
had an opportunity to hear and study Polish and Moravian folk music, which fascinated and
inspired him. In performing his duties at the court, Telemann was as prolific as in Leipzig,
composing at least 200 ouvertures, by his own recollection, and other works. Unfortunately, the
Great Northern War put an end to Telemann's career at Sorau. In late January or early February
1706 he was forced to flee from the invading troops of the Swedish King Charles XII. He spent
some time in Frankfurt an der Oder before returning to Sorau in the summer.
1707–1721: Eisenach and Frankfurt[edit source | edit]
The details of how Telemann obtained his next position are unknown. Around 1707–1708 he
entered the service of Duke Johann Wilhelm of Saxe-Eisenach, becoming Konzertmeister on 24
December 1708 and Secretary and Kapellmeister in August 1709. Thus began one of the most
productive periods in Telemann's life: during his tenure at Eisenach he composed a wealth of
instrumental music (sonatas and concertos), and numerous sacred works, which included four or
five complete annual cycles of church cantatas, 50 German and Italian cantatas, and some 20
serenatas. In 1709 he made a short trip to Sorau to marry Amalie Louise Juliane Eberlin, lady-inwaiting to the Countess of Promnitz and daughter of the musician Daniel Eberlin. They went
back to Eisenach, where in January 1711 Amalie Louise gave birth to a daughter. Unfortunately,
the mother died soon afterwards; Telemann's marriage lasted only for 15 months. The event had
a profound effect on the composer: he later recounted experiencing a religious awakening, and
also published "Poetic Thoughts" on the death of his first wife in 1711. By the end of that year he
was frustrated with court life and started seeking another appointment. He declined an offer from
the Dresden court, since he wanted to work with greater artistic freedom; Telemann wanted a
post similar to the one he had in Leipzig. Sometime between late December 1711 and early
January 1712 he applied for the newly vacant Frankfurt post of city director of music and
Kapellmeister at the Barfüsserkirche. The application was successful and Telemann arrived in
Frankfurt on 18 March 1712.
Telemann's new duties were similar to those he had in Leipzig. He provided various music for
two churches, the Barfüsserkirche and the Katharinenkirche (composing, among other pieces,
more annual cycles of cantatas), as well as for civic ceremonies; he also revived the city's
collegium musicum. After May 1712, Telemann also served as administrator and treasurer of the
Haus Braunfels, administrator of a charitable foundation, and organizer of a tobacco collegium.
On 28 August 1714 he married his second wife, Maria Catharina Textor, daughter of a council
clerk. The couple had nine children (none became musicians), but the marriage would later prove
disastrous for Telemann. The following year he began publishing his music; four collections of
instrumental pieces appeared within the next three years, and many more publications would
follow. On 11 March 1717, Telemann was appointed Kapellmeister von Haus aus at Eisenach:
he fulfilled the duties of the position by regularly sending new music from Frankfurt to Eisenach.
1721–1736: Early years in Hamburg[edit source | edit]
Georg Philipp Telemann. Engraving by Georg Lichtensteger, c. 1745.
On 10 July 1721 Telemann was invited to work in Hamburg as Kantor of the Johanneum
Lateinschule and musical director of the city's five largest churches, succeeding Joachim
Gerstenbüttel. The composer accepted; he remained in Hamburg for the rest of his life. His time
there was even more productive than his time in Eisenach. Once again he was required to
compose numerous cantatas, not only for the churches but also for civic ceremonies; he also gave
public concerts, led another collegium musicum, and assumed the directorship of the opera house
Gänsemarktoper. Initially, however, Telemann encountered a number of problems: some church
officials found opera and collegium musicum performances to be objectionable (for "inciting
lasciviousness"), and the city printer was displeased with Telemann publishing printed texts for
his yearly Passions. The former matter was resolved quickly, but Telemann's exclusive right to
publish his own work was only recognized in full in 1757. Telemann's opera productions were
not particularly popular, and eventually the opera house had to be closed down in 1738.
It is probably these difficulties that prompted Telemann to apply, already in 1722, for the post of
Thomaskantor in Leipzig (Kuhnau died on 5 June that year). Of the six musicians who applied,
he was the favored candidate, even winning the approval of the city's council. Telemann declined
the position, but only after using the offer as leverage to secure a pay raise for his position in
Hamburg. When Telemann declined the job, it was offered to Christoph Graupner, who also
declined it—though chiefly because he could not secure a dismissal from his employer the
Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. This paved the way for J.S. Bach, who went on to occupy the
position for the rest of his life.[3] Telemann returned to Hamburg, but would still supplement his
income by taking up additional jobs: from 1723 to 1726 he served as Kapellmeister von Haus
aus to the Bayreuth court, and between 1725 and 1730 he acted as corresponding agent to the
court at Eisenach, supplying news from northern Europe.
In Hamburg Telemann started publishing his literary works: poems, texts for vocal music,
sonnets, and poems on the deaths of friends and colleagues. From 1725 he actively published his
music as well, engraving and advertising the editions himself. More than 40 volumes of music
appeared between 1725 and 1740 and these were widely distributed across Europe, owing to
Telemann's numerous contacts in various countries. All this publishing activity, however, was in
part driven by the need for money. Telemann's wife Maria Catherina amassed a very large
gambling debt, 4,400 Reichsthaler, which amounted to more than Telemann's annual income.
The marriage was already in trouble by the early 1720s, as Maria Catherina was publicly
rumored to be having an affair with a Swedish military officer. Telemann's friends in Hamburg
organized a collection to save the composer's finances, and eventually he was saved from
bankruptcy. But by 1736 Maria had left Telemann's home. She outlived her husband by some
eight years and died in 1775 at a convent in Frankfurt.
1736–1767: Last years[edit source | edit]
Plan and view of Hamburg in 1730, from an 18th-century Covens & Mortier atlas
In late September or early October 1737 Telemann took an extended leave from Hamburg and
went to Paris. There he countered various unauthorized publications of his music by obtaining
his own publishing privilege. He immediately published several works, most importantly the
Nouveaux quatuors, which were revised and expanded versions of the early composition stolen
from him. The Nouveaux quatuors were enthusiastically received by the court and the city
musicians. Telemann returned to Hamburg by the end of May 1738. Around 1740 his musical
output fell sharply, even though he continued fulfilling his duties as Hamburg music director. He
became more interested in music theory and completed a treatise on the subject, Neues
musicalisches System (1742/3, published 1752). He also took up gardening and cultivating rare
plants, a popular Hamburg hobby which was shared by Handel. Telemann still followed
European musical life, however: throughout the 1740s and the 1750s he exchanged letters and
compositions with younger composers such as C.P.E. Bach, Franz Benda, Johann Friedrich
Agricola, and others.
After Telemann's eldest son Andreas died in 1755, he assumed the responsibility of raising
Andreas' son Georg Michael Telemann, who eventually became a composer. In his later years,
Telemann's eyesight began to deteriorate, and he was increasingly troubled by health problems.
This led to a further decline in his output around 1762. However, he still composed some music
of the highest quality, and continued to write until his death on the evening of 25 June 1767. The
cause of death was a "chest ailment." He was buried on 29 June in the Johannisfriedhof. (This
church and his grave no longer exist.) He was succeeded at his Hamburg post by his godson,
Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach.
Legacy[edit source | edit]
Telemann was the most prolific composer of his time: his oeuvre comprises more than 3,000
pieces. The first accurate estimate of the number of his works was provided by musicologists
only during the 1980s and 1990s, when extensive thematic catalogues were published. During
his lifetime and the latter half of the 18th century, Telemann was very highly regarded by
colleagues and critics alike. Numerous theorists (Marpurg, Mattheson, Quantz, and Scheibe,
among others) cited his works as models, and major composers such as J.S. Bach and Handel
bought and studied his published works. He was immensely popular not only in Germany but
also in the rest of Europe: orders for editions of Telemann's music came from France, Italy, the
Netherlands, Belgium, Scandinavian countries, Switzerland, and Spain. It was only in the early
19th century that his popularity came to a sudden halt. Most lexicographers started dismissing
him as a "polygraph" who composed too many works, a Vielschreiber for whom quantity came
before quality. Such views were influenced by an account of Telemann's music by Christoph
Daniel Ebeling, a late-18th-century critic who in fact praised Telemann's music and made only
passing critical remarks of his productivity. After the Bach revival, Telemann's works were
judged as inferior to Bach's and lacking in deep religious feeling.[4] For example, by 1911, the
Encyclopædia Britannica lacked an article about Telemann, and in one of its few mentions of
him referred to "the vastly inferior work of lesser composers such as Telemann" in comparison to
Handel and Bach [5]
Particularly striking examples of such judgements were produced by noted Bach biographers
Philipp Spitta and Albert Schweitzer, who criticized Telemann's cantatas and then praised works
they thought were composed by Bach, but which were composed by Telemann.[6] The last
performance of a substantial work by Telemann (Der Tod Jesu) occurred in 1832, and it was not
until the 20th century that his music started being performed again. The revival of interest in
Telemann began in the first decades of the 20th century and culminated in the Bärenreiter critical
edition of the 1950s. Today each of Telemann's works is usually given a TWV number, which
stands for Telemann-Werke-Verzeichnis (Telemann Works Catalogue).
Telemann's music was one of the driving forces behind the late Baroque and the early Classical
styles. Starting in the 1710s he became one of the creators and foremost exponents of the socalled German mixed style, an amalgam of German, French, Italian and Polish styles. Over the
years, his music gradually changed and started incorporating more and more elements of the
galant style, but he never completely adopted the ideals of the nascent Classical era: Telemann's
style remained contrapuntally and harmonically complex, and already in 1751 he dismissed
much contemporary music as too simplistic. Composers he influenced musically included pupils
of J.S. Bach in Leipzig, such as Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach and
Johann Friedrich Agricola, as well as those composers who performed under his direction in
Leipzig (Christoph Graupner, Johann David Heinichen and Johann Georg Pisendel), composers
of the Berlin lieder school, and finally, his numerous pupils, none of whom, however, became
major composers.
Equally important for the history of music were Telemann's publishing activities. By pursuing
exclusive publication rights for his works, he set one of the most important early precedents for
regarding music as the intellectual property of the composer. The same attitude informed his
public concerts, where Telemann would frequently perform music originally composed for
ceremonies attended only by a select few members of the upper class.