Baroque Era
1721
Sweden and Russia agree the Peace of Nystadt: Russia gains much of eastern Baltic; Sweden is left as a minor nation • Bubonic plague kills 9,000 people in the French cities of Marseille and Toulon • Norwegian pastor Hans Egede begins modern colonisation of Greenland • Nathan Bailey (Eng): Universal Etymological Dictionary • Charles de Montesquieu (Fr): Lettres Persanes • Watteau - The Italian Comedians
1722
Tsar Petr I, the Great (Russ), exploits Persian disunion to capture Persian city of Derbent • Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen discovers Easter Island and Samoa in the Pacific Ocean • Guy's Hospital, London, is founded with cash given by bookseller Thomas Guy • Daniel Defoe (Eng): novels Moll Flanders
1723
Hungarian parliament accepts Holy Roman Emperor Karl Vi’s Pragmatic Sanction, settling Habsburg succession on his daughter Maria Theresa • Russian forces take the city of Tiflis (modern Tbilisi) in the Caucasus, from disunited Persia • British traders claim the Gambia area for the African Company • Richard Steele (Ire): drama The Conscious Lovers
1724
Spanish king Felipe V abdicates, but resumes throne after the death of his son Luis I • Russia and Turkey plot to carve up Persia, and Turks invade Kermanshah province and other parts of western Persia • Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, outside Oxford (Eng), is completed • La Bourse (stock exchange) is opened in Paris (Fr) • Cotton Mather (N Amer): Curiosa Americana • Daniel Defoe (Eng): Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain (first part)
1725
Spain and Austria sign the Treaty of Vienna; Britain, France, Prussia and Netherlands retaliate with the Treaty of Hanover • Louis XV marries Maria, daughter of former king of Poland Stanistaw Leszczyhski • Petr I, the Great (Russ), dies; is succeeded by second wife, Ekaterina (Catherine) I • The Imamate (Muslim country) of Futa Djallon (Guinea) is established • Letters by Marquise de Sevigne (Fr) published posthumously
Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (18 January 1689 – 10 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, ), French political philosopher whose principal work, The Spirit of Laws, was a major contribution
to political theory.
1721
Some say, comparel to Buononcinny
That Mynheer Handel's
but a Ninny.
Others aver, that he to Handel
Is scarcely jit to hold a Candle:
Strange that this difference
there should be
Twixt Tweedle-dum
and Tweedle-dee!
John Byrom’s epigram, written around this time, mocking the rivalry between Londons opera giants, George Frideric Handel and Giovanni Bononcini. The last two lines of the verse have been attributed to both Pope and Swift.
Pietro Antonio Locatelli’s XII Concerto grossi Op. 1, is published in Amsterdam. The collection follows the Corellian model of eight church concertos and four chamber concertos.
Pietro Antonio Locatelli - 12 Concerti Grossi Op I
Concerto grosso in F Major, Op. 1:
Concerto grosso in C Minor, Op. 1:
Concerto grosso in B-Flat Major, Op. 1
Concerto grosso in E Minor, Op. 1
Concerto grosso in D Major, Op. 1:
Concerto grosso in C Minor, Op. 1
Concerto grosso in F Major, Op. 1:
Concerto grosso in F Minor, Op. 1
Concerto grosso in D Major, Op. 1
Concerto grosso in C Major, Op. 1
Concerto grosso in C Minor, Op. 1
Concerto grosso in G Minor, Op. 1
24 March
Johann Sebastian Bach dedicates six concertos to the Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg in the hope of gaining employment or patronage. The later named 'Brandenburg’ concertos incorporate a rich variety of instrumental combinations and rank among the most innovative musical collections of the Baroque period. The Margrave takes little notice of them and no job offer is forthcoming.
J.S. Bach Brandenburg Concertos 1 - 6
1. Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F, BWV 1046 0:00
2. Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G, BWV 1048 17:54
3. Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D, BWV 1050 28:22
4. Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B flat, BWV 1051 47:25
5. Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G, BWV 1049 1:03:55
6. Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F, BWV 1047 1:20:01
15 April
The opera Muzio Scevola by Filippo Amadei (fl. 1690–1730) was an Italian composer, who was active in Rome and London. From 1719 to 1722 he was in London, where he wrote the first act of the opera Muzio Scevola), Giovanni Bononcini and George Frideric Handel —each of whom have set an act—is premiered at the King’s Theatre in London. Beginning with Amadei and ending with Handel, the quality of the music increases during the course of the opera. The Royal Academy production fuels the rivalry between Bononcini and Handel.
George Frideric Handel - Muzio Scevola - 1721 HWV 13
Sebastiano Ricci - Muzio Scevola
Autumn
In Hamburg Georg Philipp Telemann begins his new appointment as music director of the city’s five principal churches and Kantor of the Johanneum Lateinschule.
3 December
18 months after the death of his first wife, Johann Sebastian Bach marries the 20-year-old Anna Magdalena Wilken. The daughter of a court trumpeter, Anna is a skilled singer and harpsichordist. The composer’s second marriage will produce 13 children, six of whom will survive into adulthood.
Anna Magdalena Bach (22 September 1701 – 22 February 1760) was an accomplished singer and the second wife of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Anna Magdalena Wilcke was born at Zeitz, in the Electorate of Saxony, to a musical family. Her father, Johann Caspar Wilcke (c.1660–1733), was a trumpet player, who had a career at the courts of Zeitz and Weißenfels. Her mother, Margaretha Elisabeth Liebe, was the daughter of an organist. Little is known about her early musical education.
By 1721 Anna Magdalena was employed as a singer (soprano) at the ducal court of Köthen. Johann Sebastian Bach had been working there as Kapellmeister, or director of music, since December 1717. It is possible that Johann Sebastian Bach first heard her sing at Weißenfels, as he is known to have performed at the court there.
Bach married Anna on December 3, 1721, 17 months after the death of his first wife, Maria Barbara Bach. In 1723, Bach was appointed Cantor of the Thomasschule in Leipzig. Anna Magdalena continued to sing professionally after her marriage. For example, she returned to Köthen in 1729 to sing at Prince Leopold's funeral. The Bachs' shared interest in music contributed to their happy marriage. She regularly worked as a copyist, transcribing her husband's music, which she sold as a means to contribute to the family income. Bach wrote a number of compositions dedicated to her, most notably the two Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach. During the Bach family's time in Leipzig, Anna Magdalena organized regular musical evenings featuring the whole family playing and singing together with visiting friends. The Bach house became a musical centre in Leipzig.
Together they raised the children from his first marriage and had 13 children of their own from 1723 to 1742, seven of whom died at a young age:
Christiana Sophia Henrietta (1723–1726)
Gottfried Heinrich (1724–1763)
Christian Gottlieb (1725–1728)
Elisabeth Juliana Friederica, called "Liesgen" (1726–1781),
Ernestus Andreas (1727–1727)
Regina Johanna (1728–1733)
Christiana Benedicta (1729–1730)
Christiana Dorothea (1731–1732)
Johann Christoph Friedrich, the 'Bückeburg' Bach (1732–1795)
Johann August Abraham (1733–1733)
Johann Christian, the 'London' Bach (1735–1782)
Johanna Carolina (1737–1781)
Regina Susanna (1742–1809)
The title page to Singende Muse an der Pleiße, a collection of strophic songs published in Leipzig in 1736, by Johann Sigismund Scholze. It has been suggested that the two people shown may be Bach and his wife Anna Magdalena
9 December
George Frideric Handel’s one new dramatic work for the season, a pasticcio entitled Floridante, bores many at the King’s Theatre, London.
George Frideric Handel - Floridante - HWV 14
1722
Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni's 12 Concerti a cinque, Op. 9, is published in Amsterdam.
Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni - 12 Concertos, Op.9
Concerto for Violin No.1 in B flat major, Op.9
Concerto for Oboe No.2 in D minor, Op.9
Concerto for Two Oboes No.3 in F major, Op.9
Concerto for Violin No.4 in A major, Op.9
Concerto for Oboe No.5 in C major, Op.9
Concerto for Two Oboes No.6 in G major, Op.9
Concerto for Violin No.7 in D major, Op.9
Concerto for Oboe No.8 in G minor, Op.9
Concerto for Two Oboes No.9 in C major, Op.9
Concerto for Violin No.10 in F major, Op.9
Concerto for Violin No.11 in B flat major, Op.9
Concerto for Two Oboes No.12 in D major, Op.9
Johann Sebastian Bach completes the first volume of the Well-Tempered Clavier, containing 24 pairs of preludes and fugues in all major and minor keys. He will combine them with a second set 22 years later, making the renowned Forty-eight Preludes and Fugues. Inspired by Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer's Ariadne musica (1702), it becomes the most famous keyboard collection of the Baroque period. This year also marks the composition of the Clavierbuchlein for Anna Magdalena.
JS Bach - Well Tempered Clavier, Book I BWV 846-869
J. S. Bach - Clavier Büchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach
Czech composer Jan Dismas Zelenka issues his Six Trio Sonatas (ZWV181), scored mainly for two oboes, bassoon and continuo.
Zelenka - Trio Sonatas for Oboe and Bassoon ZWV181
22 February
Giovanni Bononclni’s opera Griselda consolidates a period of resounding success for both the composer and the Royal Academy of Music. Thanks to Bononcini the Academy achieves its first (but last) profitable season.
Bononcini - Griselda - Per la gloria d’adorarvi
Late spring
Georg Philipp Telemann becomes musical director of the Gansemarktoper, Hamburg (Hamburg Opera).
5 June
Johann Kuhnau dies in
Leipzig, aged 62.
Johann Sebastian Bach and Georg Philipp Telemann are among the applicants for the now vacant post of Kantor.
In Paris Francois Couperin publishes his Concerts royaux, four works for harpsichord or (unspecified) instrumental ensemble. He also brings out the third volume of his Pieces de clavecin.
François Couperin - Les Concerts Royaux, 4 suite per flauto, oboe, fagotto, violino e basso continuo (1722)
Concerto n. 1 in sol maggiore
Concerto n. 2 in re maggiore 13:54
Concerto n. 3 in la maggiore 29:21
Concerto n. 4 in mi minore 48:00
Francois Couperin - III Ordre de Clavecin
30 June
Bohemian composer Georg Benda (brother of Franz Benda) is born in Stare Benatky.
13 August
Georg Philipp Telemann is offered the post of Kantor of St Thomas’s School in Leipzig. His current employers in Hamburg refuse to release him from his duties, but in compensation they grant him an increase of salary.
13 August
Violin maestro Francesco Maria Veracini, mentally disturbed, narrowly escapes serious injury as he jumps out of a third-story window, convinced that jealous rivals seek to kill him.
In Hamburg Johann Mattheson goes to press with Critica musica, the first periodical dedicated exclusively to musical events, composers, book reviews and discussions on music.
Autumn
The Royal Academy decide not to engage Giovanni Bononcini for the new opera season, possibly due to his association with Jacobite sympathisers.
Jean-Philippe Rameau publishes his 450-page Traite de l'harmonie (Treatise on Harmony), in which he discusses chord inversions, key-centres and other aspects of tonality. It is soon recognised as a seminal publication on modem harmonic theory.
24 November
Dutch composer and organist Johann Adam Reincken, co-founder of the Hamburg Opera (inaugurated 1678), dies in Hamburg, probably aged in his late 70s. He is buried two weeks later at St Catherine s Church in a grave he had purchased 15 years earlier.
Georg Benda
Jiří Antonín Benda, also Georg Anton Benda (30 June 1722 – 6 November 1795), was a Czech composer, violinist and Kapellmeister of the classical period.
Born into a family of notable musicians in Old Benatek (today Benátky nad Jizerou), Bohemia, he studied at the Piarist Gymnasium (grammar school) in Kosmanos and at the Jesuit Gymnasium in Gitschin from 1735 to 1742. Benda was 19 when Frederick the Great bestowed upon him in 1741 the position of second violinist in the chapel of Berlin. The following year Benda was summoned to Potsdam as a composer and arranger for his older brother Franz, himself an illustrious composer and violinist. Seven years later, in 1749, he entered the service of the Duke of Gotha as Kapellmeister, where he constantly cultivated his talents for composition, specializing in religious music.
A stipend from the duke allowed Benda to take a study trip to Italy in 1764. He returned to Gotha in 1766, and devoted himself to composition. In all, he wrote about ten operas, several operettas, and the melodramas Ariadne auf Naxos, Medea and Almansor und Nadine. In 1778 he resigned his position and visited Hamburg, Vienna, and other cities, and finally settled at the little hamlet of Köstritz.Benda's most important contribution lies in the development of the German melodramas, a form of musical stage entertainment which influenced Mozart. In 1774, the Swiss-born director Abel Seyler's theatrical company arrived in Gotha, and Seyler commissioned Benda to write several successful melodramas, including Ariadne auf Naxos, Medea and Pygmalion. Besides that he wrote many instrumental pieces including many sinfonias, keyboard sonatas, keyboard concertos, violin concertos and a smaller number of trio sonatas, violin sonatas and flute sonatas.
Benda also wrote music for masonic rituals.
Benda died in Köstritz, in Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, at the age of 73
Georg Anton Benda - Harpsichord Concertos
Georg Anton Benda - Sonatinas op.34
J. A. Benda: Sinfonia n. 2 for flute, oboe, bassoon, strings & b.c. in G major
"Medea" - Jiří Antonín Benda.
"Ariadne auf Naxos" - Jiří Antonín Benda
Georg Anton Benda - Weihnachtsmusik 1784
1723
George Frideric Handel engages the angelic voice of 22-year-old Francesca Cuzzoni for £2,000 a season. During the first rehearsals they fall out, with the opera diva refusing to sing an aria according to Handel's instructions. Seizing Cuzzoni, Handel threatens to throw her out of the window. Cuzzoni decides to sing it Handel’s way.
Leading French violinist Jean-Marie Leclair produces his Premier livre de sonates for violin and basso continuo.
Jean Marie Leclair - Sonates ( Livre I )
Dresden-based Jan Dismas Zelenka composes his Italianate Simphonie a 8 in A minor, possibly intended for the summer coronation celebrations of Charles VI in Prague.
Zelenka - Simphonie a 8 Concertanti in A minor, ZWV189
January
Unable to secure the services of Georg Philipp Telemann, the Leipzig council elects Christoph Graupner above Johann Sebastian Bach as their new choice for Kantor. History repeats itself: the Landgrave of Darmstadt refuses Graupner’s resignation and compensates by giving him a payrise.
12 January
George Frideric Handel’s first collaboration with librettist Nicola Haym produces one of his finest operas, Ottone, introduced at the King’s Theatre, London. Francesca Cuzzoni gives a spectacular debut performance as Teofane.
Handel : Ottone "Notte cara"
First Sunday after Trinity
Johann Sebastian Bach begins the first of his five Leipzig cantata cycles. He supplies one cantata (up to around 20 minutes worth of music) each week for the three-hour Sunday service.
Johann Sebastian Bach - ) Cantata BWV 75: Die Elenden sollen essen (30 May 1723)
July
The Pieta governors ask Antonio Vivaldi to supply two concertos a month for their orchestra and direct rehearsals on occasions while in Venice. Vivaldi accepts the arrangement and supplies 140 concertos over the following six years. He is paid one gold sequin for each concerto.
18 July
Johann Sebastian Bach’s unaccompanied motet Jesu, meine Freude is performed at the funeral of the wife of Leipzig’s chief postmaster.
J. S. Bach: Motet BWV 227 'Jesu, meine freude'
28 August
Johann Joseph Fux’s opera Costanza e Fortezza (Constancy and Fortitude) is premiered with around 300 instrumentalists and singers during the coronation celebrations of Charles VI as King of Bohemia. Staged in a large open-air theatre in Prague, the event is directed by vice maestro Caldera, as Fux is incapacitated with chronic gout. The composer-instrumentalists Jan Dismas Zelenka, Carl Heinrich Graun, Silvius Leopold Weiss and Johann Joachim Quantz all perform in the orchestra.
Johann Joseph Fux: "Costanza e fortezza"
25 February
George Frideric Handel is granted an honorary appointment as Composer of Music for His Majesty’s Chapel Royal.
22 December
Carl Friedrich Abel, German composer, born.
April
The Leipzig town council settles for what they consider to be ‘mediocre’ talent, appointing Johann Sebastian Bach to the post of Kantor of St Thomas’s School and musical director to the town’s principal churches. Bach receives free lodging but a paltry yearly wage of 87 thaler. Additional commissions and engagements, together with endowments, give him an annual salary of around 700 thaler, roughly the same as a craftsman.
Christmas Day
Johann Sebastian Bach's Magnificat in E flat (BWV243) is first performed at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig.
Johann Sebastian Bach - Magnificat in E-flat major, BWV 243a
Francesca Cuzzoni
Francesca Cuzzoni, (born c. 1698, Parma, duchy of Parma [Italy]—died 1770, Bologna, Papal States), Italian soprano, one of the first great prima donnas.
Cuzzoni studied with Francesco Lanzi and appeared first in Parma in 1716. She made her debut in Venice in 1718 as Dalinda in Carlo Francesco Pollarolo’s Ariodante and in London in 1723 as Teofane in George Frideric Handel’s Ottone, performed by his opera company. There she subsequently achieved prominence and was at her best in the many Handel roles written for her, as Cleopatra, Asteria, Rodelinda, and Antigona.
The enthusiasm of Cuzzoni’s devotees in London led to public disputes, however, first with followers of Francesco Senesino and later with those of Faustina Bordoni. The notoriety of her rivalry with Bordoni obscured her considerable accomplishments, but she performed in many more operas in Italy between 1730 and 1738, including Johann Adolf Hasse’s Ezio and Euristeo, Nicola Antonio Porpora’s Arianna in Nasso, Leonardo Leo’s Olimpiade, and Antonio Caldara’s Ormisda. In 1750 she returned to London to give a benefit concert and the next year, beset by debts, made a final appearance there. Her fortunes continued to decline, and she died in poverty.
Carl Friedrich Abel
Carl Friedrich Abel (22 December 1723 – 20 June 1787) was a German composer of the Classical era. He was a renowned player of the viola da gamba, and composed important music for that instrument.
Abel was born in Köthen, a small German city, where his father, Christian Ferdinand Abel, had worked for years as the principal viola da gamba and cello player in the court orchestra. In 1723 Abel senior became director of the orchestra, when the previous director, Johann Sebastian Bach, moved to Leipzig. The young Abel later boarded at Leipzig's Thomasschule, where he was taught by Bach.
On Bach's recommendation in 1743 he was able to join Johann Adolph Hasse's court orchestra at Dresden where he remained for fifteen years. In 1759 (or 1758 according to Chambers), he went to England and became chamber-musician to Queen Charlotte, in 1764.
In 1762, Johann Christian Bach, the eleventh son of J.S. Bach, joined him in London, and the friendship between him and Abel led, in 1764 or 1765, to the establishment of the famous Bach-Abel concerts, England's first subscription concerts. He traveled to Germany and France between 1782 and 1785. Throughout his life he had enjoyed excessive living, and his drinking probably hastened his death, which occurred in London on 20 June 1787. He was buried in the churchyard of St Pancras Old Church.
Carl Friedrich Abel - Symphonies Op.7
1. in G Major, Op.7, No.1, WKO 13 0:00
2. in B-Flat Major, Op.7, No.2, WKO 14 9:50
3. in D Major, Op.7, No.3, WKO 15 18:16
4. in F Major, Op.7, No.4, WKO 16 29:25
5. in C Major, Op.7, No.5, WKO 17 38:15
6. in B-Flat Major, Op.7, No.6, WKO 18 46:00
Carl Friedrich Abel - The Concertos for Flute and Strings op. 6
Flute Concerto No. 1 in C major, WKO 46
Flute Concerto No. 2 in E minor, WKO 47
Flute Concerto No. 3 in D major, WKO 48
Flute Concerto No. 5 in G major, WKO 50
Carl Friedrich Abel - 6 Concerts pour Clavecin ou Piano Forte Op 11
1724
Francois Couperin blends French and Italian styles in Les gouts-reunis, a chamber music collection for unspecified instruments.
François Couperin - Quatorzième concert (Les Goûts réunis) - Violon, hautbois et basse continue
William Croft brings out his Musica sacra, a two-volume anthology of church music comprising 31 anthems and a Burial Service. The innovative publication is presented in score format, rather than in the standard parts. His Burial Service becomes regularly performed at state funerals.
W Croft - The Burial Service
In London Francesco Geminiani is appointed solo director and perpetual dictator of the Masonic society Philo Musicae et Architecturae Societas. The lodge functions to promote Italian music and architecture.
1 February
Domenico Natale Sarro’s opera Didone abbandonata opens with great success at the Teatro San Bartolomeo in Naples. Pietro Metastasio supplies the libretto and with it launches his own career.
Domenico Natale Sarro "Didone Abbandonata"
Dido and Aeneas
Dido (Didone), Queen of Carthage, had been promised in marriage to King Iarbas (Iarba), but fell in love with the Trojan warrior Aeneas (Enea), who had been shipwrecked on the shores of her city. Iarbas appears disguised as "Arbace" to warn Dido that Aeneas cannot become King of Carthage. Nevertheless, Dido refuses to marry Iarbas. Although Aeneas is now in love with Dido, he asks her sister Selene to tell her of his plans to leave Carthage for Italy. War then breaks out between Aeneas and Iarbas in which the Trojan is triumphant. After his victory, Dido convinces Aeneas to remain in Carthage and become her husband. But when the ghost of Aeneas' father reminds him of his duty to his people, Aeneas realises that he must abandon Dido. Heartbroken, she commits suicide as Aeneas and his men set sail for Italy.
Benedetto Giacomo Marcello begins his influential Estro poetico armonico, containing 50 psalm settings together with a preface on musical style. He criticises complex (Baroque) polyphony and elaborate modulation, arguing instead for ‘noble simplicity’ in music. In so doing he becomes an important advocate of the galant style, steering musical thinking towards the Classical era.
Benedetto Marcello - Salmo XIV° (Estro Poetico-Armonico)
B. Marcello - Salmo XVIII per coro e orchestra
Benedetto Marcello : Salmo XLII ''Dal Tribunal Augusto''
Benedetto Marcello - Salmo XXXX ("L'estro poetico-armonico", 1724/26)
Benedetto Marcello - The 50th Psalm
Jean-Philippe Rameau publishes his second book of keyboard works in Pieces de clavessin avec une methode pour la mechanique des doigts. Typical of French keyboard music of the time, most are based on dance forms and several feature intriguing character titles, such as Les tricotets (The Knitters), Les sauvages (The Savages) and L’egiptienne (The Egyptian Woman).
Jean-Philippe Rameau Suite de Clavecin en e 1724
8 January
The Neapolitan composer Leonardo Vinci secures major success in Rome with his opera Farnace, premiered at the Teatro delle Dame.
20 February
George Frideric Handel’s masterful opera Giulio Cesare, to a text by Nicola Francesco Haym, premieres at the King’s Theatre, London. The success of the opera effectively finishes off the competition between Handel and Giovanni Bononcini.
7 April
Johann Sebastian Bach introduces his St John Passion during the Good Friday service at the church of St Nicholas, Leipzig. Performed in two sections before and after the sermon, it is his largest sacred work to date.
Bach: St. John Passion BWV 245
Autumn
The 14-year-old mezzo soprano Anna Giro makes her Venice debut in Tomaso Albinoni’s opera Laodice. Around this time she becomes Antonio Vivaldi’s pupil and subsequently his prima-donna in more than 30 operatic productions.
Anna Girò (born circa 1710-died 1748), or Anna Giraud La Mantovana, was the stage name of Anna Maddalena Tessieri, an Italian mezzo-soprano. She is best known for her collaborations with composer Antonio Vivaldi, who wrote several operatic roles for her.
Girò was born in Mantua. Girò's father was a French barber and wig manufacturer. She began to study with Vivaldi around 1720. She made her debut at Treviso in the fall of 1723, and in 1724 debuted on stage in Venice, performing Laodice by Tomaso Albinoni. She sang for Vivaldi starting with her 1726 appearance in his opera Dorilla in Tempe.
31 October
George Frideric Handel introduces Tamerlano at the King’s Theatre, London. Composed in around 20 days, the opera inaugurates the sixth season of the Royal Academy of Music.
Händel - Tamerlano, HWV18
1725
Johann Sebastian Bach composes his second Clavierbuchlein for Anna Magdalena, and completes his second cycle of Leipzig cantatas.
Johann Sebastian Bach - Klavierbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach 1725 (Cd. No.1)
(00:00:00 - 00:21:04) No.1 - Partita a-Moll (BWV 827)
1. Prélude (00:00:00 - 00:03:08)
2. Allemande (00:03:09 - 00:06:50)
3. Corrente (00:06:51 - 00:09:33)
4. Sarabande (00:09:34 - 00:14:35)
5. Menuet (00:14:36 - 00:16:26)
6. Gique (00:16:27 - 00:21:04)
(00:21:05 - 00:51:25) No.2 - Partita e-Moll (BWV 830)
1. Prélude (00:21:05 - 00:27:17)
2. Allemande (00:27:18 - 00:31:27)
3. Corrente (00:31:28 - 00:35:31)
4. Sarabande (00:35:32 - 00:43:38)
5. Tempo di Gavotta (00:43:39 - 00:45:41)
6. Gique (00:45:42 - 00:51:25)
(00:51:26 - 00:52:45) No.3 - Menuet F-Dur (BWV Anh. 113)
(00:52:46 - 00:54:03) No.4 - Menuet G-Dur [(Chr. Petzold) (BWV Anh. 114)]
(00:54:04 - 00:56:10) No.5 - Menuet g-Moll [(Chr. Petzold) (BWV Anh. 115)]
(00:56:11 - 01:00:39) No.6 - Rondeau B-Dur [(Fr. Couperin) (BWV Anh. 183)]
(01:00:40 - 01:02:16) No.7 - Menuet G-Dur (BWV Anh. 116)
(01:02:17 - 01:03:24) No.8a/b - Polonaise F-Dur (BWV Anh. 117a/b)
(01:03:25 - 01:04:31) No.9 - Menuet B-Dur (BWV Anh. 118)
(01:04:32 - 01:05:23) No.10 - Polonaise g-Moll (BWV Anh. 119)
(01:05:24 - 01:07:35) No.11 - Choral: Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten (BWV 691)
(01:07:36 - 01:08:43) No.12 - Choral: Gib dich zufrieden und sei stille F-Dur (BWV 510)
(01:08:44 - 01:09:44) No.13a/b - Choral: Gib dich zufrieden und sei stille (BWV 511 - BWV512)
(01:09:45 - 01:10:59) No.14 - Menuet a-Moll (BWV Anh. 120)
(01:11:00 - 01:12:07) No.15 - Menuet c-Moll (BWV Anh. 121)
(01:12:08 - 01:12:57) No.16 - Marche D-Dur [(C.Ph.E. Bach) (BWV Anh. 122)]
(01:12:58 - 01:14:00) No.17 - Polonaise g-Moll [(C.Ph.E. Bach) (BWV Anh. 123)]
(01:14:01 - 01:14:59) No.18 - Marche G-Dur [(C.Ph.E. Bach) (BWV Anh. 124)]
(01:15:00 - 01:16:33) No.19 - Polonaise g-Moll [(C.Ph.E. Bach) (BWV Anh. 125)]
Johann Sebastian Bach - Klavierbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach 1725 (Cd. No.2)
(00:00:00 - 00:03:08) No.20a/b - Aria: Sooft ich meine Tobackspfeife (BWV 515/515a)
(00:03:09 - 00:04:31) No.21 - Menuet G-Dur fait par Mons. Böhm (BWV deest)
(00:04:32 - 00:05:09) No.22 - Musette D-Dur (BWV Anh. 126)
(00:05:10 - 00:06:32) No.23 - Marche Es-Dur (BWV Anh. 127)
(00:06:33 - 00:07:43) No.24 - [(Polonaise) d-Moll (BWV Anh. 128)]
(00:07:44 - 00:10:01) No.25 - Aria: Bist du bei mir [(G.H. Stölzel ?) (BWV 508)]
(00:10:02 - 00:15:35) No.26 - Aria G-Dur (BWV 988/1)
(00:15:36 - 00:18:30) No.27 - Solo per il Cembalo: Allegro [(C.Ph.E. Bach) (BWV Anh. 129)]
(00:18:31 - 00:20:14) No.28 - Polonaise G-Dur/G Major/sol majeur/Sol mayor [(J. A. Hasse) (BWV Anh. 130)]
(00:20:15 - 00:22:33) No.29 - Praeludium C-Dur (BWV 846/1)
(00:22:34 - 00:39:04) No.3 - Suite 1 pour le Clavessin (BWV 812)
Allemande (00:22:34 - 00:27:31)
Courante (00:27:32 - 00:29:23)
Sarabande (00:29:24 - 00:33:01)
Menuet 1 (00:33:02 - 00:34:09)
Menuet 2 (00:34:10 - 00:35:29)
Gique (00:35:30 - 00:39:04)
(00:39:05 - 00:48:17) No.31 - Suite 2 pour le Clavessin (BWV 813)
Allemande (00:39:05 - 00:42:18)
Courante (00:42:19 - 00:44:14)
Sarabande (00:44:15 - 00:48:17)
(00:48:18 - 00:48:58) No.32 - (Satz ohne Bez.) F-Dur/F Major/fa majeur/Fa mayor [(J.Chr. Bach) (BWV Anh. 131)]
(00:48:59 - 00:50:25) No.33 - Aria: Warum betrübst du dich (BWV 516)
(00:50:26 - 00:51:32) No.34 - Recitativo: Ich habe genug! aus (BWV 82)
(00:51:33 - 00:58:17) No.38 - Aria: Schlummert ein, ihr matten Augen aus (BWV 82)
(00:58:18 - 00:59:14) No.36 - Choral: Schaffs mit mir, Gott (BWV 514)
(00:59:15 - 01:00:12) No.37 - Menuet d-Mol (BWV Anh. 132)
(01:00:13 - 01:02:35) No.38 - Aria di Giovannini: Willst du dein Herz mir schenken (BWV 518)
(01:02:36 - 01:03:29) No.39a - Choral: Dir, dir, Jehova will ich singen (BWV 299)
(01:03:30 - 01:05:46) No.39b - Aria: Dir, dir, Jehova will ich singen (BWV 299)
(01:05:47 - 01:07:13) No.40 - Aria: Wie wohl ist mir, o Freund der Seelen (BWV 517)
(01:07:14 - 01:08:28) No.41 - Aria: Gedenke doch, mein Geist, zurücke (BWV 509)
(01:08:29 - 01:09:49) No.42 - Choral O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort (BWV 513)
J. S. Bach: Liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen (BWV 123) Cantata for Epiphany 1725
The Court Theatre in Vienna engages the mezzo soprano Faustina Bordoni at a salary of 15,000 florins. Later this year the Royal Academy of Music, eager to inject new excitement into their opera season, invites Bordoni to London.
Faustina Bordoni (30 March 1697 – 4 November 1781) was an Italian mezzo-soprano.
Johann Joseph Fux publishes his Gradus ad Parnassum (Steps to Parnassus) in Vienna. Written in Latin, the compositional treatise is reprinted in German, Italian, English and French. It is one of the most important and influential music books ever written.
6 February
Johann Philipp Krieger, composer of some 2,000 cantatas (very few of which survive), dies in Weissenfels aged 75.
13 February
George Frideric Handel's opera Rodelinda opens at the Kings Theatre, London. Its success is only in part due to Handel’s craftsmanship—women flock equally to see the brown silk dress with silver trimmings worn by the prima donna, Francesca Cuzzoni. Her dress sparks a new fashion across London.
George Frideric Handel - RODELINDA, HWV 19
18 March
The inaugural concert of the Concert Spirituel takes place at the Tuileries Palace in Paris. Established by Anne Danican Philidor, (11 April 1681 – 8 October 1728), the subscription concerts take place on religious holidays (when the theatres are closed) and offer public performances of instrumental and choral music.
September
Johann Adolf Hasse displays galant sensitivities in the serenata Antonio e Cleopatra, first performed at the country estate of the royal advisor Carlo Carmignano in Naples. The 20-year-old Farinelli, rising castrato star, sings the role of Cleopatra, while the contralto Vittoria Tesi, (1700- 1775), complementing the gender swap, sings the part of Marc’Antonio.
Johann Adolph Hasse - Marc'Antonio e Cleopatra
27 September
Georg Philipp Telemann anticipates the Italian buffa style with his comic intermezzo Pimpinone, performed at the Theater am Gansemarkt in Hamburg. This year also marks his publication of Der harmonische Gottesdienst, the first of a three-volume series of cantata cycles.
Georg Philipp Telemann - Pimpinone
22 October
Composer Alessandro Scarlatti, impoverished due to unpaid salary and expensive professional care of his sick daughter, dies in Naples aged 65.
December
Antonio Vivaldi's Il cimento dell'artnonia e dell’inventione (The contest between Harmony and Invention, Op. 8) is published in Amsterdam. The collection includes a number of descriptive works including The Four Seasons, The Storm at Sea and The Hunt. Described by the 18th-century historian John Hawkins as ‘wild and irregular’, the concertos accentuate, more than ever before, dramatic contrasts between soloist and orchestra. The concertos of The Four Seasons (written perhaps ten years earlier) are issued with accompanying sonnets—probably Vivaldi's own—and represent milestone examples of programmatic orchestral music.
Vivaldi: Il Cimento dell'Armonia e dell'Invenzione, Op.8
CONCERTO No.1 for Violin, Strings and B.C. in E major "La Primavera" RV 269
CONCERTO No.2 for Violin, Strings and B.C. in G minor "L'Estate" RV 315 10:18
CONCERTO No.3 for Violin, Strings and B.C. in F major "L'Autunno" RV 293 20:45
CONCERTO No.4 for Violin, Strings and B.C. in F minor "L'Inverno" RV 297 27:43
CONCERTO No.5 for Violin, Strings and B.C. in E flat major "La Tempesta di Mare" RV 253 36:12
CONCERTO No.6 for Violin, Strings and B.C. in C major "Il Piacere" RV 180 44:35
CONCERTO No.7 for Violin, Strings and B.C. in D minor RV 242 57:44
CONCERTO No.8 for Violin, Strings and B.C. in G minor RV 332 1:05:55
CONCERTO No.9 for Violin, Strings and B.C. in D minor RV 236 1:15:41
CONCERTO No.10 for Violin, Strings and B.C. in B flat major "La Caccia" RV 362 1:23:48
CONCERTO No.11 for Violin, Strings and B.C. in D major RV 210 1:32:22
CONCERTO No.12 for Violin, Strings and B.C. in C major RV 178 1:44:38
Watteau - The Italian Comedians