Baroque Era
1630
England makes peace with France and Spain Charles I (Eng) begins 11-year rule without parliament • About 1,000 English settlers arrive in Massachusetts; Boston founded • Galilei (It) completes his Dialogue on The Two Chief Systems of the World (Ptolemaic and Copernican)
1631
Sweden gains powerful allies—France, the Neth erlands, Saxony, Brandenburg and Flesse— against Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II • First French newspaper, La Gazette, is published • Earthquake in Naples and first serious eruption of volcano Vesuvius since 1068: 3,000 killed
1632
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden dies at the Battle of Lutzen; his infant daughter Christina succeeds him • Galileo Galilei publishes Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World, but Church allows him only to hypothesise that the Earth revolves around Sun
1633
Thirty Years' War continues: Protestant Duke Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar invades Franconia, seizes Barnberg and Hochstadt from the Bavarians, and occupies much of the Palatinate • Roman Catholic Church places Galileo Galilei under house arrest for life for insinuating as fact that the Earth revolves around the Sun
1634
Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II dismisses Albrecht von Wallenstein from supreme army command; Wallenstein is murdered at the emperor’s instigation • Ferdinand ll’s son, Ferdinand of Hungary, becomes Imperial commander-in chief
1635
In Thirty Years’ War, Treaty of Prague: Ferdinand II makes peace with Saxony • France declares war on Spain • King Charles I opens Hyde Park to the public; he also establishes the Royal Mail service • Rembrandt (Neth) paints Belshazzar's Feast
Frontispiece and title page of the Dialogue
1630
Girolamo Frescobaldi publishes Arie musicali, a collection of 44 songs for one to three voices and continuo.
Girolamo Frescobaldi Primo Libro di Arie Musicali
Girolamo Frescobaldi Secondo Libro di Arie Musicali
Martin Peerson publishes the first English examples of a figured bass in his Mottects or Grave Chamber Musique.
Peerson: "Private Musicke" Motets, Anthems and Airs
00:00 - Blow Out The Trumpet
02:31 - Man Dream No More
07:10 - O Let Me At Thy Footstool Fall
09:47 - See O See Who Is Here Come
11:27 - Upon My Lap My Sovereign Sits
18:41 - The Fall Of The Leaf
20:27 - Lock Op Fair Lids
24:05 - Resolved To Love
26:24 - Piper's Paven
31:27 - Hey The Horn
32:34 - O Precious Time
34:01 - Now Robin Laugh And Sing
36:20 - The Primrose
37:44 - Alaman
39:09 - O God That No Time Dost Despise
41:01 - Self-Pity's Tears
44:53 - Open The Door
47:15 - Ah Were She Pitiful
48:58 - At Her Fair Hands
51:24 - Sing Love Is Blind
53:10 - Lord Ever Bridle My Desires
55:14 - O God When Thou Wentest
Around this time Italian-Jewish composer Salamone Rossi dies in Mantua, aged about 60.
7 January
Francesco Bruni (Cavalli), aged 27, weds a wealthy widow, Maria Sozomeno.
April
Monteverdi's opera Proserpina rapita (The Abduction of Proserpine) is first performed at the Palazzo Mocenigo, Venice, during the wedding celebrations of Giustiniana Mocenigo and Lorenzo Giustiniani. Apart from one trio, the music is lost.
8 June
Nobleman Alessandro Striggio (ll), musician and librettist, dies of the plague while on diplomatic business in Venice, aged about 57.
Alessandro Striggio the Younger (ca. 1573 – 8 June 1630) was an Italian librettist. The younger Striggio is most famous for his association with the composer Claudio Monteverdi. He wrote the libretto for Monteverdi's first opera Orfeo (1607), a landmark in the history of the genre, as well as the ballo (sung ballet) Tirsi e Clori. Striggio worked at the court of Mantua and died of the plague while on a diplomatic mission to Venice.
Summer
Alessandro Grandi, one of Italy’s foremost composers, dies from the plague in Bergamo, aged about 44. Plague rages across northern Italy at this time; some towns and cities lose as much as half their population.
19 November
Johann Schein, aged 44,
dies from chronic ill-health
in Leipzig.
Heinrich Schutz, his friend and compatriot, fulfils his death-bed request by composing a setting of 1 Timothy 1:15-17, the motet Das ist je gewisslich wahr (That is surely true).
Schütz, Das ist je gewisslich wahr
John Banister, English composer and violinist, born.
Carlo Pallavicino, Italian composer, born.
Alessandro Poglietti, Italian organist and composer, born.
Antonio Sartorio, Italian composer, born.
John Banister
John Banister (1630–3 October 1679) was an English musical composer and violinist.
Banister was the son of one of the waits (municipal musicians) of the parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, and that profession he at first followed. His father was his first instructor, and he arrived at such proficiency on the violin that Charles II became interested in him and sent him for further education to France. On his return, Charles appointed him to the post of leader of his own band, vacated by the death of Thomas Baltzar in 1663.
About 1666–1667 he is said to have been dismissed by the king for an impertinent remark concerning the appointment of French musicians to the royal band. This seems to be referred to in Pepys's Diary, dated 20 February 1666 – 1667, although Banister's name occurs in a list of the King's Chapel in 1668.
On 30 December 1672, he inaugurated a series of concerts at his own house, which are remarkable as being the first lucrative concerts given in London. One peculiarity of the arrangements was that the audience, on payment of one shilling, were entitled to demand what music they wished to be performed.
These entertainments continued to be given by him, as we learn from advertisements in the London Gazette of the period, until within a short time of his death, which took place on 3 October 1679. He was buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey.
His most important composition is the music to the tragedy of Circe by Dr. C. Davenant, which was performed at the Duke of York's Theatre in 1676. Manuscript copies of the first act are preserved in the library of the Royal College of Music, and in the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge. In the same year he wrote music to The Tempest in conjunction with Pelham Humphrey.
Several songs by Banister, some of them belonging to some classic tragedy of which the name is unknown, and written jointly with Dr. Blow, are in a manuscript in the Christ Church Library, Oxford. In the contemporary collections of printed music his name occurs frequently. Besides his vocal compositions, he wrote a great many short pieces for one, two, and three violins, and also for the lute. He was especially skilled in writing upon a ground bass.
Full Fathom Five - John Banister
Carlo Pallavicino
Carlo Pallavicino (Pallavicini; c. 1630 – 29 January 1688) was an Italian composer.
Pallavicino was born at Salò. From 1666 to 1673, he worked at the Dresden court; from 1674 to 1685, at the Ospedale degli Incurabili (a conservatory where orphaned children were musically trained) in Venice and further in Dresden. In August and September 1687, he was with the concert master Georg Gottfried Backstroh back in Venice. He asked for renewal of his leave because his wife expected to give birth, but he was rejected. He died in Dresden, and his grave is located in the Convent of the St. Mariestern.
He wrote more than 20 operas premiered in Venice and Dresden, oratorios and sacred works. His son, Dresden court writer Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino was a known librettist.
"Laetatus sum" (excerpt) - Carlo Pallavicino
Antonio Sartorio
Antonio Sartorio (1630 – 30 December 1680) was an Italian composer active mainly in Venice, Italy, and in Hanover, Germany. He was a leading composer of operas in his native Venice in the 1660s and 1670s and was also known for composing in other genres of vocal music. Between 1665 and 1675 he spent most of his time in Hanover, where he held the post of Kapellmeister to Duke Johann Friedrich of Brunswick-Lüneburg – returning frequently to Venice to compose operas for the Carnival. In 1676 he became vice maestro di capella at San Marco in Venice.
Sartorio settled in Venice in 1675, taking up residence in the San Giovanni Grisostomo quarter of the city. He won the position of vice maestro di cappella of the St Mark's Basilica, narrowly defeating Carlo Grossi for the post and assuming his position there on 7 May 1676. A set of eight-part psalms for two choirs that he wrote for the basilica were published in 1680; notably being his only printed volume of music. On 17 December 1676, his opera Giulio Cesare in Egitto premiered in Venice to a resounding success. He composed four more operas between 1677 and 1679.
Sartorio was supposed to have been visited by Duke Friedrich in early 1680, but the duke died on 18 December 1679 in Augsburg at the start of his fifth journey to Italy. Towards the end of 1680, Sartorio began composing another opera, La Flora, but he died before he could finish the work.
"Quando voglio", A. Sartorio
Antonio Sartorio - L' Orfeo - Scene and aria for Euridice in L'Orfeo (1672)
"Sempre dolente" from Sartorio's L'Orfeo
Antonio Sartorio - Anacreonte Tiranno (Venedig 1678)
Alessandro Poglietti
Alessandro Poglietti (ca. 1630 in Tuscany, Italy – July, 1683 in Vienna, Austria) was a Baroque organist and composer of unknown origin. In the second half of the 17th century Poglietti settled in Vienna, where he attained an extremely high reputation, becoming one of Leopold I's favorite composers. Poglietti held the post of court organist for 22 years from 1661 until his death during the Turkish siege that led into the Battle of Vienna.
Poglietti is primarily important for his keyboard music, particularly Rossignolo (1677), a collection of diverse pieces for harpsichord that includes a large number of imitations of natural sounds, and a collection of 12 ricercares, which was widely copied during his lifetime.
Nothing is known of Poglietti's origins and early life. Tuscany and Bohemia have been suggested as his possible birthplace. He may have received musical training in Rome or Bologna. Towards the 1660s Poglietti settled in Vienna: in early 1661 he became organist and Kapellmeister at the Jesuit church Zu den neun Chören der Engel (Nine Choirs of Angels), and on 1 July 1661 he was appointed organist of the court Kapelle under Leopold I (a post previously held by none other than Johann Jakob Froberger).
Poglietti held the court position until his death and apparently enjoyed a high reputation. The Emperor (who was a composer himself) was particularly fond of Poglietti, ennobling him and bestowing upon him the title Comes palatinus Caesareus, and the composer was also favored by the Pope, who made him a Knight of the Golden Spur, i.e., a member of the second highest Order of Papal Orders of Chivalry. Poglietti also had friends among Austrian nobility, among them Count Anton Franz von Collalto and Karl II von Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn, Prince-Bishop of Olomouc—in 1672 Poglietti inherited estates near their residences. Another important connection of Poglietti's was with the Göttweig Benedictine Abbey, where he stayed as a guest a number of times, and where his only known opera was performed, in 1677. Composer Johann Kaspar Kerll was a personal friend of Poglietti's, and he may have known Johann Pachelbel, who visited Vienna in the mid-1670s.
Poglietti died in Vienna in July 1683, during the Turkish siege that eventually led into the Battle of Vienna.
Alessandro Poglietti - 12 Ricercari
Alessandro Poglietti - Il Rossignolo
1631
Juan Hidalgo, aged 16, begins his professional career as harpist to the Spanish Royal Chapel.
Samuel Scheidt issues the first of four books of Geistliche Concerten (Spiritual Concertos).
Samuel Scheidt - SSWV 188-190 Wies Gott Gefällt Mirs Auch (Chorale) For STB And Continuo - From 1631 Newe Geistliche Concerten - Prima Pars
22 February
Dramatist Ben Jonson and designer Inigo Jones present the English court masque Chloridia, their final collaboration. Jonson regards the masque as an opportunity for high art; Jones sees it simply as a piece d’occasion. Their artistic differences and bickering result in Jonson being excluded from subsequent royal masque commissions. Shown is Jones’s revealing costume design for ‘Spring’, from Chloridia.
Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – 6 August 1637) was an English playwright, poet, actor, and literary critic of the 17th century, whose artistry exerted a lasting impact upon English poetry and stage comedy.
Pier Francesco Valentini publishes his Canone nel modo Salomonis for 96 voices. He advises that additional voices to the canone (canon) may be applied as required, up to 144,000— the ‘sealed’ number from the 12 tribes of Israel in Revelation, chapter 7.
Pier Francesco Valentini: Quasi Aurora. Canone a dieci Contralti sopra le Vocali
Pierre Beauchamp, French choreographer, dancer and composer, born
12 April
Tarquinio Merula is appointed maestro di capella of Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo.
21 November
Monteverdi provides a Solemn Mass for the Feast of Sancta Maria (Mass of Thanksgiving) at St Mark’s to celebrate the end of a devastating period of plague in Venice (the Gloria appears in his Selva morale of 1641). Around a third of the city’s population have died from an outbreak that began the previous year.
"Mass of Thanksgiving" à 4 voci - Monteverdi
Pierre Beauchamp
Pierre Beauchamp, Beauchamp also spelled Beauchamps, (born 1636, Versailles, Fr.—died 1705, Paris), French ballet dancer and teacher whose contributions to the development of ballet include the definition of the five basic positions of the feet.
In 1661 Beauchamp was appointed director of the Académie Royale de Danse, which in 1672 under the composer Jean-Baptiste Lully became a part of the Académie Royale de Musique, now called the Paris Opéra. As a dancer Beauchamp was noted for his dignified style and for his technique, particularly his pirouettes; in 1681 he appeared as Louis XIV’s female partner in Lully’s ballet Le Triomphe de l’amour. Considered the first choreographer of the Paris Opéra, Beauchamp arranged many court ballets and staged the dance sequences in several of Molière’s plays as well as Lully’s operas.
He also devised a system of dance notation that, though never published, was used by his pupils, one of whom was Raoul Feuillet, author of one of the earliest published systems of dance notation.
With Lully and Louis XIV, Beauchamp was largely responsible for the increasing professionalization of ballet; through his teaching he helped raise technical standards so that specialized training became necessary and amateur dancers from the royal court were no longer the sole performers of ballet. He retired in 1687 following Lully’s death.
Pierre Beauchamp - Ballet Des Fâcheux (1661)
00:00 Ouverture
02:41 Courante de Mr. de Lully
03:30 1e Entrée - Les Siluains
04:48 2e Air pour les mesmes
05:18 1e Entrée du 2e Acte - Les Joueurs de Mail
06:30 2e Entrée - Les Curieux
08:25 Les Joueurs de Boulle
09:28 Les Frondeurs
10:44 Sauetiers et Reuandeuses
11:45 Les Jardiniers
13:10 2e Air des Jardiniers
14:31 Pr. Entrée du 3e Acte - Les Suisses
15:38 Les Bergers
17:00 2e Air des Bergers
1632
Stefano Landi presents the ascetic life of Saint Alexis in his opera Il Sant’Alessio (1631), staged for the inauguration of Rome’s first opera house, the Teatro Barberini. The libretto, by Giulio Rospigliosi (the future Pope Clement IX), is notable for its departure from Greek myth and pastoral fable. Landi contributes to the evolution of the overture, introducing the opera with an instrumental prelude in three sections.
Stefano Landi - Sant'Alessio
Prologo
0:00 - I. Sinfonia
2:30 - II. Coro di Schiavi: Chiaro giorno lieta sorte
3:18 - III. Ritornello e Roma: Né fur solo i miei figli
7:12 - IV. Coro di Schiavi: Già fastosa Guerriera
Atto I
8:19 - I. Dopo tant'anni al fine
13:52 - II. Era la notte
15:31 - III. Sopra salde colonne
16:57 - IV. Arietta a una voce: Se l'hore volano
19:40 - V. Arietta a due voci: Poca voglia di far bene
20:48 - VI. Ma colà mesto
25:00 - VII. Coro di Demoni: Si disserrino
26:23 - VIII. Dalla notte profonda - Sdegno horribile
29:05 - IX. Deh raffrenate
33:10 - X. Amara, invida Notte
36:30 - XI. Hoimè quel sospirar
39:07 - XII. Coro di Domestici: Dovunque stassi
41:20 - XIII. Coro a sei: Con miserabil sorte
43:53 - XIV. Scena aggiunta per induzione di un ballo: La più bella che sia
Atto II
46:14 - I. Sinfonia
48:33 - II. O Tè felice
49:40 - III. Propitìa arride
51:15 - IV. A Dio Tebro
56:47 - V. Mà che più tardo - Affretta il piè
1:00:07 - VI. Hor non mi manchi il Ciel
1:06:44 - VII. Alessio che farai?
1:10:22 - VIII. Humil servo
1:15:44 - IX. Alessio, Alessio a mè rivolgi il guardo
1:18:00 - X. O Morte gradita
1:21:22 - XI. Già con desir costante
1:26:34 - XII. Io di vera pietà Madre
1:28:14 - XIII. Quei che sospirano
1:31:38 - XIV. Tal'hor che men s'attende
1:33:31 - XV. Rassereniamo il cor con lieti auspici - Questo Egeo, ch'è stabil campo
1:36:28 - XVI. Coro: Il Ciel pietoso
Atto III
1:38:36 - I. Sinfonia
1:40:40 - II. Mal si resiste a fermo core
1:42:35 - III. Dovunque io voglio il ciglio
1:44:43 - IV. Eccomi pronto; ascolta
1:48:03 - V. Ohimè ch'un'hora sola
1:49:53 - VI. O mia cieca follia
1:51:15 - VII. O Luci voi
1:52:44 - VIII. Foglio, ch'in te racchiudi
1:57:00 - IX. O pianti, o dogli estreme
1:58:11 - X. Coro d'Angeli: Lasciate il pianto
1:58:55 - XI. O mia Consorte
2:00:13 - XII. Vive Alessio
2:02:15 - XIII. Coro d'Angeli: Il Ciel vagheggia
2:03:05 - XIV. Balletto delle Virtù: Godi pur alma gradita
Composer, singer and lutenist Walter Porter issues his Madrigales and Ayres for two to five voices, in London. The collection features eontinuo parts, recitative and one of the earliest English examples of the concertato style.
18 February
Composer and cellist Giovanni Battista Vitali is born in Bologna.
16 April
Monteverdi is ordained as a priest. This year also marks the publication of a second book of Scherzi musicali. In addition to songs for solo voice and eontinuo, the collection includes his evocative Zefiro torna (Zephyr Returns) for two tenors and continuo.
Claudio Monteverdi “Scherzi Musicali (1632)”
I. Con que soavità (00:00)
II. Ohimè ch’io cado (04:55)
III. Sì dolc’è il tormento (09:05)
IV. Maledetto sia l’aspetto (15:25)
V. Quel sguardo sdegnosetto (17:00)
VI. Eri già tutta mia (19:13)
VII. Ecco di dolci raggi (21:47)
VIII. Et è pur dunque vero (24:17)
IX. La mia turca (31:19)
X. Voglio di vita uscir (33:22)
XI. Più lieto il guardo (38:44)
XII. Perchè se m’odiavi (42:35)
XIII. Lamento di Arianna (45:40)
29 November
Composer Giovanni Battista Lulli (later Jean-Baptiste Lully) is born into a milling family, in Florence.
Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers, French organist, composer and theorist, born.
29 December
Tarquinio Merula is sacked from his position as maestro di cappella of Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo for alleged acts of indecency towards various pupils. He contests his loss of salary, but later backs down and writes an official statement of apology to avoid criminal proceedings.
Giovanni Battista Vitali
Giovanni Battista Vitali (18 February 1632 – 12 October 1692) was an Italian composer and violone player.
Vitali was born in Bologna and spent all of his life in the Emilian region, moving to Modena in 1674. His teacher in his early years was probably Maurizio Cazzati (1616–1678), maestro di cappella at the main church in Bologna, San Petronio Basilica from 1657 to 1671.
The first documented evidence of Vitali’s musical activities appears in the records of the San Petronio orchestra for 1658, when he is listed under the title ‘Violoni’, referring to the cello/bass instrument that he played.
Vitali remained in the orchestra until 1673, when he took up an appointment as maestro di cappella at the chapel of the Confraternità del Rosario, Bologna. His first publication, Opus 1 (1666), tells us that he was a member of the Accademia dei Filaschisi. This musical institution, which had been established in 1633, disbanded in 1666 when most of its members joined the Accademia Filarmonica. Vitali is also listed as a member of the Accademia Filarmonica in 1666, the year of its founding. The academy archives record various details of its members, including where they came from (if not from Bologna) and their dates of birth and death. Vitali’s death date is here recorded as 12 October 1692.
He was also, significantly, not an organist – unlike the vast majority of maestri di cappella in Bologna during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It is unlikely, therefore, that even if Vitali had stayed longer in Bologna he would have been offered the job of maestro di cappella at San Petronio, the most important musical position in the city.
In 1674 Vitali attained the position of one of two vice-maestri di cappella at the secular court of the Este family in Modena. Unlike Modena, Bologna was part of the Papal States, under the administration of Rome. The Church’s influence was strong (around one hundred and fifty religious institutions at the end of the seventeenth century). Music and the theatre were evidently strongly supported and patronised by the court under Duke Francesco II (1660–1694). Here, Vitali must have witnessed a greater diversity of musical styles and genres than he had been exposed to in Bologna. The period between 1680 and 1685 saw his most productive time: he published six collections of music and was promoted to maestro di cappella in 1684. He was succeeded in this position by the opera composer Antonio Giannettini (1648–1721) in 1686. His last two publications, Artificii musicali, Opus 13 (1689), and the posthumously published Sonate da camera, Opus 14 (1692), make no mention of Vitali holding any official position, although the fact that both publications are dedicated to members of the Este family implies that he maintained links with the court.
Giovanni Battista Vitali - Chamber Works
Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers
Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers (ca. 1632, Paris – 13 November 1714) was a French organist, composer and theorist. His first livre d'orgue is the earliest surviving published collection with traditional French organ school forms (a collection by Louis Couperin that is in manuscript does not seem to have been published. See Guy Oldham, "Louis Couperin: A New Source of French Keyboard Music of the Mid-17th Century", Recherches sur la musique française classique, Vol. I (1960), pp. 51–59). Nivers's other music is less known; however, his treatises on Gregorian chant and basso continuo are still considered important sources on 17th century liturgical music and performance practice.
Nivers was born into a prosperous family: his father was farmer to the bishop. In the early 1650s Nivers became organist of Saint-Sulpice, a post he would retain until 1702. In 1668 the composer married; he had one son.
Nivers's subsequent career was quite illustrious. On 19 June 1678 he was chosen as one of the four organists of the Chapelle Royale—an ensemble of musicians who performed sacred music for the king. The other three organists were Nicolas Lebègue, Jacques Thomelin and Jean Buterne. Nivers only resigned late in life, in 1708, and was succeeded by Louis Marchand. This prestigious post was followed by another in 1681, when the composer succeeded Henri Dumont as master of music to the queen. Finally, in 1686 Nivers was in charge of the music at the Maison Royale de Saint-Louis in Saint-Cyr-l'École—a convent school for young ladies who were poor but of noble birth. Nivers apparently had difficulties with the founder of the school, Madame de Maintenon, but retained the post until his death.
Nivers composed several religious vocal works, and published three organ books (1665, 1667, 1675) containing more than 200 pieces. They include suites in all ancient (ecclesiastical) modes, a mass, hymns, and settings of the Deo Gratias and Te Deum. These books are the first collections of organ music to have been printed in France since Jean Titelouze's. With his colleague and friend Lebègue, Nivers embodies the solo organ style which was subsequently represented - and adorned - by François Couperin and the short-lived Nicolas de Grigny. Several theoretical treatises by Nivers are preserved. They remain useful sources for knowledge of both musical theory and practice of his time.
Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers - Magnificat
Nivers - Kyrie De La Messe Du 2ème Ton
1633
Widowed for the second time, Francesca Caccini returns to Florence to resume her musical services to the Medici family.
Francesca Caccini
Luigi Rossi is appointed organist at San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome, a position he will hold for the rest of his life.
The church’s sumptuous Baroque interior is home to Caravaggio’s famous triptych on the life of St Matthew, including The Inspiration of St Matthew.
In disarray from the continuing Thirty Years’ War, the Dresden Court Chapel grants Heinrich Schutz leave to become Kapellmeister to the royal court in Copenhagen.
30 January
Michelangelo Rossi's opera Erminia sid Giordano (Herminia on the Jordan) is first staged at the Palazzo Barberini in Rome. The libretto, by Rospigliosi, is based upon Tasso’s epic Gerusalemme liberata.
Michelangelo Rossi: Erminia sul Giordano (1633) - Sinfonia from the opera
12 August
Jacopo Peri, singer and one of the pioneering composers of opera, dies in Florence, aged 71. For much of his life he was in musical service to the Medici court.
Giovanni Felice Sances brings out his Cantade libro secondo, the first publication to incorporate both strophic and through-composed cantatas.
Giovanni Felice Sances - Usurpator Tiranno (Cantade Libro Secondo, 1633)
24 October
Renowned organist and composer
Jehan Titelouze dies in Rouen, aged about 70.
A musical conservative, he is considered by many as the founding father of the French organ school.
1634
Composer and theorist Adriano Banchieri dies in Bologna, aged about 66.
Austrian composer Antonio Draghi is born around this time.
3 February
James Shirley’s lavish masque The Triumph of Peace, with music by William Lawes and Simon Ives, together with scenery and costumes by Inigo Jones, is staged in the Banqueting House in Whitehall for King Charles I. The total cost of the spectacle is estimated at £21,000 (the modern-day equivalent of around £2.5m).
James Shirley (September 1596 – October 1666) was an English dramatist.
The Triumph of Peace by William Lawes
Girolamo Frescobaldi returns to Rome, resuming duties as organist at St Peters. He now gains the patronage of the influential Barberini family.
Samuel Scheidt issues the second book of his Geistliche Concerte, small-scale sacred works for voices and continuo. He indicates that many of the pieces are reductions of much works, and "Whoever would like to publish and print them, to the glory of God, can obtain them from me at any time’.
Samuel Scheidt - Ich bin die Auferstehung / Warum betrübst du dich
29 September
The masque Comus, a collaboration between Henry Lawes and John Milton, is staged at Ludlow Castle in honour of the Earl of Bridgewater, Lord President of Wales.
John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, man of letters, and civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), written in blank verse.
Henry Lawes' Five Songs for John Milton's Masque: Comus
7 January
Adam Kriege, German composer, born.
Mid November
German composer and organist Johann Staden dies in Nuremberg, aged 53.
Antonio Draghi
Antonio Draghi (ca. 1634 – 16 January 1700) was a Baroque composer. He possibly was the brother of Giovanni Battista Draghi.
Draghi was born at Rimini in Italy, and was one of the most prolific composers of his time. His contribution to the development of Italian opera was particularly significant.
He began his musical career as a choirboy at Padua, but by 1657 he was appearing on stage, in the opera La fortuna di Rodope e di Damira which was produced in Venice. In 1666, his first solo effort, the opera La Mascherata, appeared.
In 1668, Draghi was appointed to the court of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, at Vienna, and he remained there until his death.
Antonio Draghi - La Vita nella Morte, oratorio del Sepolcro per soli, coro e orchestra (1688)
Libretto: Apostolo Zeno
His second collection of Arien (1667) survives and has been edited in vol. 19 of Denkmäler deutscher Tonkunst. His most famous song is "Nun sich der Tag geendet hat" (Now the day has ended), which may be found in the hymnal of the Lutheran church.
Adam Krieger - Der Liebe Macht
Adam Krieger
Adam Krieger (7 January 1634 – 30 June 1666) was a German composer. Born in Driesen, Neumark, he studied organ with Samuel Scheidt in Halle. He succeeded Johann Rosenmüller as organist at Leipzig's Nikolaikirche (1655–57) and founded the city's Collegium Musicum before settling for the rest of his career in Dresden.
Krieger composed and versified numerous songs. His fame rests on his pioneering role in the development of the solo Lied. His first collection of songs appeared in 1657; they are marked by simple folk-like melodies.
1635
Girolamo Frescobaldi publishes his influential Fiori musicali (Musical Flowers) in Venice. His most famous work presents a sizeable and diverse collection of organ pieces for use in the Mass, including toccatas, canzonas, ricercares and capriccios. It is later studied by Johann Sebastian Bach and Johann Joseph Fux.
Girolamo Frescobaldi I Fiori Musicali 1635
William Lawes takes up a court position as one of the King’s Lutes.
Samuel Scheidt publishes 12 concertos for two voices
and continuo in Liebliche Krafft-Blumlein, mostly comprising settings of Old Testament texts.
LUDI MUSICI de Samuel Scheidt
15 March
Part-time composer Louis XIII presents The Ballet de la Merlaison at Chantilly, France. The music, words and choreography are all by the king himself.
The Ballet de la Merlaison is a ballet de cour first performed in 1635 at the Château de Chantilly, during the reign of Louis XIII. It is the most popular ballet performed during the reign of Louis XIII, which marked an important development of the Ballet de cour.
The music of the ballet is considered to be written with the participation of Louis XIII. While some claim he had written only a few airs (Catherine Cressac in L'Orchestre de Louis XIII), most experts consider the entire ballet to be written by Louis XIII (A. Lloyd Moote in Louis XIII, the Just). One thing we know for sure is that Louis XIII made up the story, the choreography and danced himself in the ballet. The music is very typical for the era of Louis XIII, yet it is very interesting for modern musicologists, since it is crucial for the understanding of development from Late Renaissance to Early and High Baroque music.
Ballet de la Merlaison - Louis XIII - 11- Grand Ballet
May
Heinrich Schutz leaves Copenhagen and returns to Dresden to resume duties as Kapellmeister. The economic hardships of the Thirty Years’ War continue to afflict the court.
Rembrandt - Belshazzar's Feast