Un portal on escoltar i gaudir de l'art musical dels segles XVI, XVII, XVIII i XIX. Compartir la bellesa de la música és l'objectiu d'aquest espai i fer-ho donant a conèixer obres de compositors molt o poc coneguts és el mètode.
Spanish composer. Born in Catalonia, he was trained as a choirboy at the
Cathedral of Sigüenza before moving to Madrid, where by 1707 he worked
as a composer and instructor for the Royal Chapel. After briefly
returning to Sigüenza as maestro de capilla following a competitive
examination (oposición), he was appointed maestro de capilla at the
royal monastery of Las Descalzas Reales in Madrid in 1711, working
alongside organist José de Nebra. In the musicological field, he
participated in the 'Valls controversy', writing a text that defended
Francisco Valls's use of an unprepared dissonance in the Missa Scala
Aretina. His surviving works, which include masses, villancicos, and
pastorelas, are preserved in Spanish archives such as Montserrat, El
Escorial, and the Sanctuary of Arantzazu, with some manuscript copies
dating up to 1751.
Bohemian composer, violinist and teacher. He received his early
schooling in Německý Brod, though his first musical instruction
doubtless came from his father. From 1728 to 1734 he attended the Jesuit
Gymnasium in Jihlava; the Jesuits of Bohemia, whose pupils included the
foremost musicians in Europe, maintained high standards of musical
education during this period. Stamitz is known to have spent the
following academic year, 1734-35, at Prague University. His activities
during the next six years, however, remain a mystery. It seems logical
to assume that his decision to leave the university was prompted by a
desire to establish himself as a violin virtuoso, a goal that could be
pursued in Prague, Vienna or countless other centres. The precise
circumstances surrounding Stamitz’s engagement by the Mannheim court are
unclear. The date of his appointment was probably 1741, for he remarked
in a letter of 29 February 1748 to Baron von Wallbrunn in Stuttgart
that he was in his eighth year of service to the elector. The most
likely hypothesis is perhaps that Stamitz’s engagement resulted from
contacts made late in 1741 during the Bohemian campaign and coronation
in Prague of the Bavarian Elector Carl Albert (later Carl VII), one of
whose closest allies was the Elector Palatine. In January 1742 Stamitz
no doubt performed at Mannheim as part of the festivities surrounding
the marriage of Carl Theodor. At Mannheim Stamitz advanced rapidly: in
1743, when he was first violinist at the court, he was granted an
increase in salary of 200 gulden; in payment lists from 1744 and 1745
his salary is given as 900 gulden, the highest of any instrumentalist at
Mannheim; in 1745 or early 1746 he was awarded the title of
Konzertmeister; and in 1750 he was appointed to the newly created post
of director of instrumental music.
The latter promotion came almost two years after the offer of a position
at the court of Duke Carl Eugen in Stuttgart with an annual salary of
1500 gulden, an offer that the Elector Palatine probably saw fit to
match, as Stamitz remained in Mannheim. In court almanacs for 1751 and
1752 Stamitz is also listed as one of the two Kapellmeisters, but after
the arrival of Ignaz Holzbauer in 1753 he appears as director of
instrumental music alone. Stamitz’s principal responsibilities at court
were the composition and performance of orchestral and chamber music,
although he seems also to have composed some sacred music for the court
chapel. As leader of the band and conductor Stamitz developed the
Mannheim orchestra into the most renowned ensemble of the time, famous
for its precision and its ability to render novel dynamic effects.
Stamitz was also influential as a teacher; in addition to his sons Carl
and Anton, he taught such outstanding violinists and composers as
Christian Cannabich, the Toeschi brothers, Ignaz Fränzl and Wilhelm
Cramer. In 1744 Stamitz married Maria Antonia Lüneborn. They had five
children: the composers Carl and Anton, a daughter Maria Francisca
(1746-1799) and two children who died in infancy. In 1749 Stamitz and
his wife journeyed to Německý Brod to attend the installation of
Stamitz’s younger brother Antonín Tadeáš as dean of the Dean’s church.
In February 1750, while the family was still in Bohemia, Stamitz’s
brother Václav Jan or Wenzel Johann (1724-after 1771), also a musician,
was in Mannheim. Johann Stamitz returned to Mannheim in March 1750, but
his wife remained temporarily in Německý Brod, where Anton Stamitz was
born on 27 November 1750. Probably in late summer 1754 Stamitz undertook
a year-long journey to Paris, appearing there for the first time at the
Concert Spirituel on 8 September 1754. He presumably returned to
Mannheim in autumn 1755, dying there less than two years later at the
age of 39.
German organist and composer. He first learnt music with his grandfather
Johann Michael Agthe, Kantor at the Rathsschule, and his great-uncle
Andreas Agthe, a local organist; he later continued his musical studies
as a choirboy and as a member of the local Stadtpfeiferei. From 1776 to
1782 he was director of music with the Hündelberg theatrical company in
Reval (now Tallinn), where he composed his first Singspiele 'Martin
Velten' (1778). He then moved to Ballenstedt to join the court orchestra
of Prince Friedrich Albrecht of Anhalt-Bernburg as an organist and
harpsichordist. There he became known as one of the best organists of
his time and, after further studies with Friedrich Wilhelm Rust, as an
active composer of Singspiele, songs and instrumental pieces. His
best-known work is a setting of August Friedrich Ferdinand von
Kotzebue’s 'Der Spiegelritter' (1795), which was first performed by an
amateur society in Ballenstedt and several times revived. He also left
11 symphonies, two concertos, and 14 Dances. His son Albrecht Wilhelm
Johann Agthe (1790-1873) was a pianist, teacher and composer.
Italian composer. He was taken by his father at an early age to Naples,
where he studied violin under Nicola Fiorenza and composition under
Francesco Durante at the Conservatorio Santa Maria di Loreto. In 1756 he
composed his first opera, Fra Donato, which launched his career as a
composer of opera in Italy. Although he served for several years as an
assistant maestro di cappella at the conservatory, he abandoned his
teaching profession by 1763 to concentrate on commissions from
throughout the country, eventually establishing a reputation as a
dramatic and talented composer. In 1768 while in Venice he became
director of the Conservatorio dell’Ospedaletto, teaching singing to
students such as Nancy Storace. In 1772 he moved to London, where he
obtained a great success with his operas but was known for a dissolute
lifestyle. This forced Sacchini to travel to Paris in 1781, where he was
caught in the middle of the feud between Niccolò Piccinni and Christoph
Willibald von Gluck, both of whose partisans condemned him as a member
of the other’s faction. In 1786 he produced his most enduring work,
Oedip à Colonne, at the request of Marie Antoinette, but his early death
from his lifestyle and acute gout prevented him from realizing its
success. As a composer, Sacchini was known for his dramatic musical
style, particularly in serious opera. He was able to move fluidly
between both the Italian and French styles, often using varied forms and
progressive harmonic structures. His works include 47 operas, seven
oratorios, two symphonies, six string quartets, six trio sonatas, and 12
violin sonatas or lessons, in addition to numerous insertion arias,
Masses, motets, Psalms, and other sacred works.
Spanish teacher and composer. The eldest son of Francesc Viola's third
marriage, his mother's name was Maria Rosa Valentí. He trained at the
Escolania de Montserrat under Benet Julià and Josep Antoni Martí. On 20
March 1756, he began his novitiate at the Monastery of Montserrat, where
he took his vows in 1757. He then moved to Madrid, where he completed
his ecclesiastical and musical studies at the Church of Nuestra Señora
de Montserrat, coming under the influence of José de Nebra. He also
premiered many of his works there, achieving great success at the royal
chapel. Upon returning to Montserrat in 1768, he was appointed master of
the Escolania, teaching renowned students such as Fernando Sor, who
wrote memoirs detailing the life of his master Anselm Viola, and master
of the music chapel, positions he held until his death. As a composer,
he wrote instrumental works, sonatas, and other pieces for keyboard
instruments, as well as a classical-style concerto for bassoon and
orchestra. He composed two masses for voices and orchestra, two
Magnificats for six and seven voices (the second with basso continuo),
'Tèrcia i Completes' (both for seven voices with accompaniment), and a
Lamentation for alto and orchestra.
Italian priest and composer. He was initially educated in Trento and
Innsbruck in philosophical and humanistic subjects appropriate to the
clerical vocation he was to follow. In 1691 he was admitted to the
Collegium Germanicum in Rome, where he studied theology. While in Rome,
he also studied composition under the guidance of Giuseppe Ottavio
Pitoni and possibly violin (not documented) with Arcangelo Corelli.
Bonporti returned to Trent ordained as a priest and obtained a minor
office in the cathedral in 1697. There he published his first opus, a
set of ten trio sonatas and where on the title-page he called himself
‘gentiluomo di Trento’. He moved to Padua in 1740, lodging in the house
of a fellow priest. A final appeal to Empress Maria Theresa in 1746, in
which op.12 was enlisted, proved fruitless. He died three years later
and was buried in Padua. Bonporti regarded himself as primarily a priest
rather than a composer. His output consists in twelve opus, and the
foremost of them is his 'Concerti a quattro', Op.11 (c.1715). Such as
many italian composers of his time, he based his musical language on
Corelli.
Joseph Bologne de Saint-George (1744-1799)
- Symphonie concertante des 'Second œuvre de | deux | symphonies |
concertantes | Pour deux Violons principaux, | deux Violons ripieno,
Alto et Basse, | deux Hautbois et deux Cors, | ad Libitum ... Oeuvre IX'
(1777)
Performers: Miroslav Vilimec (violin); Radio Symphony Orchestra Pilsen; Frantisek Preisler (conductor)
Caribbean composer, violinist, swordsman, equestrian and military
commander. Son of a manumitted African mother and French plantation
owner (his last name was apparently taken from one of the plantations
his father owned), he grew up in the vicinity of Basse-Terre. His family
went to France in 1747 to escape difficulties with the law but returned
to Guadeloupe a few years later. In 1753 they moved permanently, first
to Bordeaux then to Paris, where he underwent his earliest musical
education, probably under Antonio Lolli and a few years later
François-Joseph Gossec. In 1769 he became a violinist in the Concerts
des amateurs, later becoming its director. During this time, beginning
with his debut as a soloist in 1772, he became famous for his technical
proficiency on his instruments, earning the epithet as the finest
violinist of the age. A proposal to make him musical director of the
Opéra in 1776 was blocked by four singers who refused to work with a
“mulatto.” In 1781 he founded the Loge Olympique orchestra sponsored by
one of Paris’s largest masonic lodges; he conducted the premieres of
Haydn’s so-called Paris symphonies, which he had helped commission. In
1787 he traveled to London, where his prowess as a violinist and
swordsman were thought legendary. A supporter of the Revolution, he was
given command of troops from France’s colonial domains in 1792, but a
year later he was denounced and spent 18 months in prison.
Disillusioned, he sailed to Hispanola to participate in the newly
independent Haiti of Toussant l’Ouverture. There the corruption and poor
living standards further eroded his health and state of mind. He
returned to Paris to conduct the Cercle d’harmonie orchestra, but was
unable to escape poverty. During his lifetime, Saint-Georges was a
remarkable bon vivant who freely interacted in the upper circles of
Parisian society. His music was known for its tunefulness and technical
brilliance, using devices such as bariolage that were extremely
uncommon. His 1778 opera 'Le partie du chasse' was well received. In all
he wrote six operas, 13 violin concertos, 10 sinfonia concertantes, a
bassoon concerto, two symphonies, nine violin sonatas, 18 string
quartets, and several other smaller pieces. His multifaceted personality
has been the subject of both literature (six novels) and a motion
picture. He is reckoned as one of the greatest Afro-Caribbean musicians
of the period.
German composer and conductor. He was the first child of the composer
Carl Ernst Daniel Nicolai (1785-1854) and his wife Christiane Lauber.
Because of his mother’s physical and mental illness, the marriage was
dissolved a few months after Nicolai’s birth. He grew up in the care of
foster-parents until 1820, when his father took on responsibility for
his education. He studied piano at home, and in 1827 went to Berlin,
where he took lessons in theory with Carl Friedrich Zelter. He also took
courses with Bernhard Klein at the Royal Institute for Church Music. On
13 April 1833, he made his concert debut in Berlin as a pianist,
singer, and composer. He then was engaged as organist to the embassy
chapel in Rome by the Prussian ambassador, Christian Charles Josias von
Bunsen. While in Italy, he also studied counterpoint with Giuseppe
Baini. In 1837 he proceeded to Vienna, where he became a singing teacher
and Kapellmeister at the Karnthnertortheater. In 1838 he returned to
Italy where he presented in Trieste his first opera, 'Rosmonda
d'Inghilterra'. In late summer 1841 he was appointed principal conductor
of the Hofoper at the Kärntnertor, and was able to concentrate on the
operas of Mozart and Beethoven, which he particularly admired. Required
by contract to compose German operas, he provided his first original
German opera, 'Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor'. In summer 1844 he
undertook a long journey via Prague, Dresden, Leipzig and Berlin to
Königsberg, where he performed the 'Kirchliche Fest-Ouvertüre' which he
had dedicated to his native town, as part of the festival to celebrate
the 300th anniversary of the university. King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of
Prussia was so impressed that he tried to tempt him to Berlin; Nicolai,
however, did not at first respond to the offer. October 1847 saw him
installed as Kapellmeister at the Königliches Opernhaus in Berlin and,
as Mendelssohn’s successor, artistic director of the cathedral choir.
Wishing to reform Prussian church services, he immediately began to
compose a series of large-scale religious works. Soon afterwards he
joined the Tonkünstlerverband, a society concerned with the
reorganization of Prussian musical life; 'Die lustigen Weiber'
eventually received its première, without huge success, on 9 March 1849.
Two months later, Nicolai died. On the same day he was elected a member
of the Akademie der Künste, but too late to receive the news.
Austrian composer and organist. Almost nothing is known about his youth
until he was documented as organist at the Benedictine abbey of Göttweig
in 1736, a post he held until 1746. That year he was appointed choral
director of St Veit, Krems an der Donau (1746-1753) while he was
studying philosophy and theology. In 1752 he was ordained priest and a
year later he was appointed to the charge of the Chapel of All Saints at
Stein an der Donau, in a post he held the rest of his life. As a
composer, he show the influence of his fellows Johann Joseph Fux and
Antonio Caldara, both active in Vienna, but evolving to early Classical
style in his later works. Despite he focused on sacred music, among
them, masses (the foremost was his Große Orgelmesse in C, 1761),
requiems, and many liturgical pieces, he also wrote instrumental music
very close to Georg Christoph Wagenseil and Georg Matthias Monn on style
terms.
Spanish composer, organist, and cleric. Born in Peníscola, he belonged
to a family of musicians, including his brother Manuel Ciurana Ardiol
(fl. 1800-1842), who served as organist at Sant Nicolau in Valencia and
known for his 'Gran Salmodia de Misas' (1842). Tomás Ciurana Ardiol was
organist at the church of Morella before moving to the Collegiate church
of Xàtiva to occupy the same position. His tenure in Xàtiva included
the professional formation of successors such as Joaquin Aparicio
Ibáñez, who resided in Ciurana’s household on Sant Domènec Street. As a
composer, his output consists of works for keyboard instruments, ranging
from liturgical pieces like 'pasos y fugas' to sonatas influenced by
the European Galant style. Historical records in Xàtiva, including his
testamentary documents, provide evidence of his role in the city's
religious institutions and the continuation of local organ traditions.
English composer and organist. Born with a club foot (later corrected
somewhat by surgery), he showed remarkable musical talent at an early
age, being able to play the harpsichord at the age of four and
performing concertos in public at six. For a time he was taught by
Thomas Garland, the Cathedral organist, and before he was eight he had
composed songs and his first opera. This was considered by connoisseurs
as an ‘extraordinary instance of infantine genius’, but the music is
lost. From 13 November 1756 fairly regular advertisments appeared in the
Norwich Mercury for concerts at which Hook performed concertos, many of
which were benefit concerts. Hook employed his talents in various ways
at this time, including teaching, composing, transcribing music and
tuning keyboard instruments. By 1763 he had moved to London, where his
prowess on the instrument led to employment as a soloist in the
Marylebone Gardens public concerts. On 29 May 1766 he married Elizabeth
Jane Madden (?-1805) at St Pancras Old Church. In May 1767 he had
applied unsuccessfully for the post of organist for the united parishes
of St Matthew Friday Street and St Peter Westcheap, but before 6
September 1772 he had been appointed organist of St Johns Horselydown,
Bermondsey. In 1768 he was appointed organist and composer to Marylebone
Gardens. From 1774 to 1806 he also performed regularly at the Vauxhall
Gardens and participated in the English opera at Covent Garden. On 18
October 1805 Hook’s wife died, and a year later, on 4 November 1806, he
married his second wife, Harriet Horncastle James (?-1873). It is not
known why he suddenly left his position at Vauxhall after almost a half
century of service there. As a composer, he wrote over 2000 songs
(including catches and glees), as well as 52 operas-stage works, 21
concertos, 40 odes (and an oratorio), and a large number of sonatas. His
musical style was at once progressive and reflective of European
continental trends. His son Theodore Edward Hook (1788-1841) was a
writer, intellectual, prankster and civil servant, mainly known for his
practical jokes, particularly the Berners Street hoax in 1810.
German composer and organist of French birth. He studied with
Jean-Baptiste Lully and his contemporaries in Paris from 1663 to 1669.
He returned to Alsace to become a student, first at the Jesuit college
at Séléstat in 1669, then in 1671 at a similar institution at Molsheim,
where he was appointed organist to the exiled Strasbourg Cathedral
chapter. Then he held posts in Prague (1677), and Salzburg, where he was
appointed organist and chamber musician to the Archbishop Max Gandolf
in 1678. In the early 1680s, he was granted leave to study in Rome,
where he met Arcangelo Corelli. He returned to Salzburg in September
1682. In 1690, he became Kapellmeister for Johann Philipp, bishop of
Passau in a post he held the rest of his life. As a composer, his 15
orchestral suites model the French manner, while the 12 concerti grossi
(1701) bring out the typical Corellian textures and contrasts of small
and large groups. He also composed 5 sonatas for strings and continuo, a
single violin sonata, 3 lost operas, and a volume of organ music
containing 12 toccatas, a chaconne, a passacaglia, and an aria with
variations. His 1699 treatise, the 'Regulae Concentuum Partiturae', is
one of the best on continuo playing. He considered himself a German,
although his ancestors were Scottish and his family had settled in Savoy
in the early 17th century. He was a prominent composer of instrumental
music who was particularly important for the part he played in
introducing the French and Italian styles into Germany. Three of his
sons worked at the Hofkapelle in Vienna: Franz Georg Gottfried Muffat
(1681-1710), Johann Ernst Muffat (1686-1746) and Gottlieb Muffat
(1690-1770).
