Baldassare Galuppi (18 October 17063 January 1785) was an Italian composer, born on the island of
Burano
Burano is an island in the Venetian Lagoon, northern Italy, near Torcello at the northern end of the lagoon, known for its lace work and brightly coloured homes. The primary economy is tourism.
Geography
Burano is from Venice, a 45-minute t ...
in the
Venetian Republic
The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...
. He belonged to a generation of composers, including
Johann Adolph Hasse
Johann Adolph Hasse (baptised 25 March 1699 – 16 December 1783) was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a co ...
,
Giovanni Battista Sammartini
Giovanni Battista Sammartini (c. 1700 – 15 January 1775) was an Italian composer, violinist, organist, choirmaster and teacher. He counted Gluck among his students, and was highly regarded by younger composers including Johann Christian ...
, and
C. P. E. Bach, whose works are emblematic of the prevailing
galant music
In music, galant refers to the style which was fashionable from the 1720s to the 1770s. This movement featured a return to simplicity and immediacy of appeal after the complexity of the late Baroque era. This meant simpler, more song-like melodi ...
that developed in Europe throughout the 18th century. He achieved international success, spending periods of his career in Vienna, London and
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, but his main base remained Venice, where he held a succession of leading appointments.
In his early career Galuppi made a modest success in ''
opera seria
''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called ''dramma per musica'' or ''melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to abo ...
'', but from the 1740s, together with the playwright and librettist
Carlo Goldoni Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to:
*Carlo (name)
*Monte Carlo
*Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
*A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince Char ...
, he became famous throughout Europe for his comic operas in the new ''
dramma giocoso
''Dramma giocoso'' (Italian, literally: drama with jokes; plural: ''drammi giocosi'') is a genre of opera common in the mid-18th century. The term is a contraction of ''dramma giocoso per musica'' and describes the opera's libretto (text). The ge ...
'' style. To the succeeding generation of composers, he was known as "the father of comic opera". Some of his mature ''opere serie'', for which his librettists included the poet and dramatist
Metastasio
Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of ''opera seria'' libretti.
Early life
Me ...
, were also widely popular.
Throughout his career Galuppi held official positions with charitable and religious institutions in Venice, the most prestigious of which was ''maestro di cappella'' at the
Doge
A doge ( , ; plural dogi or doges) was an elected lord and head of state in several Italian city-states, notably Venice and Genoa, during the medieval and renaissance periods. Such states are referred to as " crowned republics".
Etymology
The ...
's chapel,
St Mark's Basilica
The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark ( it, Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco), commonly known as St Mark's Basilica ( it, Basilica di San Marco; vec, Baxéłega de San Marco), is the cathedral church of the Catholic Chu ...
.
[ In these various capacities he composed a large amount of sacred music. He was also highly regarded as a virtuoso performer on and composer for keyboard instruments.
In the latter half of the 18th century, Galuppi's music was largely forgotten outside of Italy, and ]Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
's invasion of Venice in 1797 resulted in Galuppi's manuscripts being scattered around Western Europe, and in many cases, destroyed or lost. Galuppi's name persists in the English poet Robert Browning
Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings ...
's 1855 poem "A Toccata of Galuppi's
"A Toccata of Galuppi's" is a poem by Robert Browning, originally published in the 1855 collection ''Men and Women''. The title refers to the fact that the speaker is either playing or listening to a toccata by the 18th-century Venetian compos ...
", but this has not helped maintain the composer's work in the general repertoire. Some of Galuppi's works were occasionally performed in the 200 years after his death, but it was not until the last years of the 20th century that his compositions were extensively revived in live performance and on recordings.
Biography
Early years
Galuppi was born on the island of Burano
Burano is an island in the Venetian Lagoon, northern Italy, near Torcello at the northern end of the lagoon, known for its lace work and brightly coloured homes. The primary economy is tourism.
Geography
Burano is from Venice, a 45-minute t ...
in the Venetian Lagoon, and from as early as age 22 was known as "Il Buranello", a nickname which even appears in the signature on his music manuscripts, "Baldassare Galuppi, called 'Buranello'."[Monson, Dale E]
"Galuppi, Baldassare"
''Grove Music Online
''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...
'', Oxford Music Online, accessed 3 September 2011 His father was a barber, who also played the violin in theatre orchestras, and is believed to have been his son's first music teacher. Although there is no documentation, oral tradition as related to Francesco Caffi
Francesco Caffi (14 June 1778 in Venice – 24 January 1874 in Padua) was a councillor and musicologist.
Life
Caffi was born the son of Michele and Bianca Boncio on 14 June 1778. Caffi initially studied law (the profession of his family) priv ...
in the nineteenth century says that the young Galuppi was trained in composition and harpsichord
A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...
by Antonio Lotti
Antonio Lotti (5 January 1667 – 5 January 1740) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era.
Biography
Lotti was born in Venice, although his father Matteo was '' Kapellmeister'' at Hanover at the time. Oral tradition says that in 1682, Lotti ...
, the chief organist at St Mark's Basilica
The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark ( it, Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco), commonly known as St Mark's Basilica ( it, Basilica di San Marco; vec, Baxéłega de San Marco), is the cathedral church of the Catholic Chu ...
. At the age of 15 Galuppi composed his first opera, ''Gli amici rivali'', which, according to Caffi, was performed unsuccessfully at Chioggia
Chioggia (; vec, Cióxa , locally ; la, Clodia) is a coastal town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Venice in the Veneto region of northern Italy.
Geography
The town is situated on a small island at the southern entrance to the L ...
and equally unsuccessfully in Vicenza
Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan.
Vicenza is a th ...
under the title ''La fede nell'incostanza''.[
From 1726 to 1728, Galuppi was harpsichordist at the ]Teatro della Pergola
The Teatro della Pergola is an historic opera house in Florence, Italy. It is located in the centre of the city on the Via della Pergola, from which the theatre takes its name. It was built in 1656 under the patronage of Cardinal Gian Carlo de' Med ...
in Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
. On his return to Venice in 1728, he produced a second opera, ''Gl'odi delusi dal sangue'', written in collaboration with another Lotti pupil, Giovanni Battista Pescetti
Giovanni Battista Pescetti (c. 170420 March 1766) was an organist, harpsichordist, and composer known primarily for his operas and keyboard sonatas. Musicologist and University of California, Santa Barbara professor John E. Gillespie wrote that Pes ...
; it was well received when it was presented at the Teatro San Angelo
The Teatro San Angelo (in Venetian dialect) or Teatro Sant' Angelo (in Italian) was once a theatre in Venice which ran from 1677 until 1803.
It was the last of the major Venetian theatres to be built in the 1650s–60s opera craze following Teatr ...
.[Anderson, Keith (2011). "Baldassare Galuppi (1706–1785)", Notes to Naxos CD 8.572490] The collaborators followed it with an ''opera seria
''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called ''dramma per musica'' or ''melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to abo ...
'', ''Dorinda'', the next year. This, too, was modestly successful, and Galuppi began to receive commissions for operas and oratorios.[
In 1740, Galuppi was appointed director of music at the Ospedale dei Mendicanti in Venice, where his duties ranged from teaching and conducting to composing liturgical music and oratorios.][ In his first year of service at the Mendicanti, he composed 31 works: 16 motets, 13 settings of the '']Salve Regina
The "Salve Regina" (, ; meaning 'Hail Queen'), also known as the "Hail Holy Queen", is a Marian hymn and one of four Marian antiphons sung at different seasons within the Christian liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church. The Salve Regina ...
'', and two psalm settings.[Arnold, Denis]
"Galuppi's Religious Music"
''The Musical Times
''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country.
It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainze ...
'', 1 January 1985, pp. 45–47 and 49–50 Although he became internationally known as an operatic composer, he maintained a steady output of sacred music throughout his career.[
]
London and return to Venice
In 1741 Galuppi was invited to work in London. He petitioned the Mendicanti authorities for leave of absence, to which they agreed.
He was in England for 18 months, supervising productions for the Italian opera company at the King's Theatre. Of the 11 operas under his direction, at least three are known to have been his own compositions, ''Penelope'', ''Scipione in Cartagine'' and ''Sirbace''; a fourth was presented shortly after he left London to return to Venice.[ Rival composer ]Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...
attended one of these productions.[ Galuppi also attracted attention as a keyboard virtuoso and composer.][ His contemporary, the English musicologist ]Charles Burney
Charles Burney (7 April 1726 – 12 April 1814) was an English music historian, composer and musician. He was the father of the writers Frances Burney and Sarah Burney, of the explorer James Burney, and of Charles Burney, a classicist a ...
, wrote that "Galuppi had had more influence on English music than any other Italian composer". However, in Burney's view Galuppi's skills were still immature during his spell in London. Burney wrote, "He now copied the hasty, light and flimsy style which reigned in Italy at this time, and which Handel's solidity and science had taught the English to despise."[Burney (1789), p. 448]
On his return to Venice in May 1743, Galuppi returned to his employment with the Mendicanti, and to composing for the opera houses. The operatic fashion in Venice was on the point of changing from ''opera seria'' to a new style of comic opera, ''dramma giocoso
''Dramma giocoso'' (Italian, literally: drama with jokes; plural: ''drammi giocosi'') is a genre of opera common in the mid-18th century. The term is a contraction of ''dramma giocoso per musica'' and describes the opera's libretto (text). The ge ...
''.[ Full-length comic operas from Naples and Rome were becoming fashionable; Galuppi adapted three of them for Venetian audiences in 1744, and the following year composed one of his own, ''La forza d'amore'', which was only a mild success.][ He continued to compose serious operas, sometimes in partnership with the librettist ]Metastasio
Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of ''opera seria'' libretti.
Early life
Me ...
. The latter believed firmly that the music was there to serve the text rather than vice versa. He grumbled about Galuppi in 1749, "He is, I presume, an excellent composer for violins, for cellos and for voices, but he is an exceedingly bad one for poets. When he writes he thinks as much about the words as you do about being elected Pope ... As far as the public is concerned, he is appreciated by those who judge with their ears but not their souls."[Luisi, Francesco (2001). "Galuppi: ''Il mondo alla roversa''", Notes to Chandos CD CHAN 0676] Nevertheless, their joint work prospered, and was staged in other countries. In Vienna, their ''Demetrio'' and ''Artaserse'' were great successes, the former breaking all local box-office records.[
]
In May 1748 Galuppi was appointed ''vice-maestro'' of the Doge's chapel, St Mark's.[ In time this would lead to a large body of religious compositions, but for the present Galuppi was chiefly engaged in operatic work.][ It is not clear to Denis Arnold why he accepted the post at St Mark's. The musicologist writes, "He was already a very successful opera composer and with his duties at the Mendicanti he must have had enough to do. The salary at St Mark's was only 120 ducats. ... At this time it was not a very distinguished ''cappella''. The choir probably numbered about 30; but since their posts continued up to death, a fair proportion of the singers were old."][ However, Daniel Heartz points out that Galuppi's salary eventually increased to 400 ducats per annum, and then to 600 ducats. In addition to the prestige of the position, Galuppi was given a house near the basilica in which he and his family lived rent-free, and as he had very few firm obligations as vice-maestro, the position left him with the flexibility to compose for other venues, including opera houses in Venice, Vienna, London, and Berlin. By the time of his death, Galuppi and Gluck were two of the highest paid composers of the 18th century. (See Heartz, 2003)
Galuppi was fortunate that when he turned once more to comic opera in 1749 he collaborated with ]Carlo Goldoni Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to:
*Carlo (name)
*Monte Carlo
*Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
*A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince Char ...
. Although an established and eminent playwright by the time he worked with Galuppi, Goldoni was happy for his libretti to be subservient to the music.[Luisi, Francesco (2001). "Galuppi: ''Il mondo alla roversa''", Notes to Chandos CD CHAN 0676] He was as warm in his regard for Galuppi as Metastasio was cold. Their first collaboration was ''Arcadia in Brenta'' followed by four more joint works within a year.[ They were enormously popular at home and abroad, and to meet the demand for new ''drammi giocosi'' and ''opere serie'' Galuppi had to resign his post at the Mendicanti in 1751. By the middle of the 1750s he was, in the words of musicologist Dale Monson, "the most popular opera composer anywhere".][
For the next ten years, Galuppi remained in Venice, with occasional sorties elsewhere for commissions and premieres, producing a series of secular and religious works.][ His operas, serious or comic, were in demand across Europe. Of the British premiere of '']Il filosofo di campagna
''Il filosofo di campagna'' (''The Country Philosopher'') is a dramma giocoso per musica in 3 acts by composer Baldassare Galuppi. The opera uses an Italian language libretto by Carlo Goldoni. The work premiered at the Teatro San Samuele
Teat ...
'' in 1761 Burney wrote, "This burletta surpassed in musical merit all the comic operas that were performed in England, till the '' Buona Figliuola''."
In April 1762 Galuppi was appointed to the leading musical post in Venice, ''maestro di capella'' of St Mark's,[ and in July of the same year he was also appointed ''maestro di coro'' (choir master) at the ]Ospedale degli Incurabili
The Ospedale degli Incurabili (''Hospital for the Incurables'') or Complesso degli Incurabili is an ancient and prominent hospital complex located on Via Maria Longo in central Naples, Italy. Part of the complex, including the remarkable pharma ...
.[ At St Mark's, he set about reforming the choir. He persuaded the Basilica authorities, the Procurators, to be more flexible in payments to singers, allowing him to attract performers with first-rate voices such as ]Gaetano Guadagni
Gaetano Guadagni (16 February 1728 – 11 November 1792) was an Italian mezzo-soprano castrato singer, most famous for singing the role of Orpheus at the premiere of Gluck's opera '' Orfeo ed Euridice'' in 1762.
Career
Born at Lodi, Guadag ...
and Gasparo Pacchiarotti
Gaspare Pacchierotti (21 May 1740 – 28 October 1821) was a mezzo-soprano castrato, and one of the most famous singers of his time.
Training and first appearances
Details of his early life are scarce. It is possible that he studied with Mario ...
.[
]
Saint Petersburg
Early in 1764 Catherine the Great
, en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes
, house =
, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
, mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...
of Russia made it known through diplomatic channels that she wished Galuppi to come to Saint Petersburg as her court composer and conductor. There were prolonged negotiations between Russia and the Venetian authorities before the Senate of Venice agreed to release Galuppi for a three-year engagement at the Russian court. The contract required him to "compose and produce operas, ballets and cantatas for ceremonial banquets", at a salary of 4,000 rubles and the provision of accommodation and a carriage.[Ritzarev, p. 81] Galuppi was reluctant, but Venetian officials assured him that his post and salary as ''maestro di cappella'' at St. Mark's were secure until 1768 as long as he supplied a ''Gloria'' and a ''Credo'' for the Basilica's Christmas mass each year.[Rossi, Franco (2003). "Galuppi: Mass for St Mark's, 1766", Notes to Chandos CD CHAN 0702]
In June 1764 the senate granted Galuppi formal leave to go. He resigned his post at the Incurabili, made provision for his wife and daughters (who were to remain in Venice, while his son travelled with him),[ and set off for Russia. He made detours on his journey, visiting C.P.E. Bach in Berlin and encountering ]Giacomo Casanova
Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (, ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, (''Story of My Life''), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of information about the c ...
by happenstance outside of Riga, before arriving in Saint Petersburg on 22 September 1765.[
For the empress's court, Galuppi composed new works, both operatic and liturgical, and revived and revised many others.][ He wrote one opera there, ''Ifigenia in Tauride'' (1768), and two cantatas, ''La virtù liberata'' (1765) and ''La pace tra la virtù e la bellezza'' (1766), the latter to words by Metastasio.][ In addition to the work for which he had been contracted, Galuppi gave weekly recitals at the harpsichord, and sometimes conducted orchestral concerts.][ To improve standards he was a hard taskmaster to the court orchestra, but was from the outset enormously impressed by the court choir. He is reported to have exclaimed, "I'd never heard such a magnificent choir in Italy".][Ritzarev, p. 88] Galuppi took pride in his prestigious appointments; the title page of his 1766 Christmas mass for St Mark's describes him as: "First Master and Director of all the Music for Her Imperial Majesty the Empress of all the Russias, etc. etc. and First Master of the Ducal Chapel of St. Mark's in Venice."[ In 1768, as had been agreed, he returned to Venice, detouring again on his journey, this time to visit ]Johann Adolph Hasse
Johann Adolph Hasse (baptised 25 March 1699 – 16 December 1783) was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a co ...
in Vienna.[
]
Later years
On his return to Venice, Galuppi resumed his duties at St Mark's and successfully applied for reappointment at the Incurabili, holding the post until 1776, when financial constraints obliged all the ''ospedali'' to cut back their musical activities.[ In his later years he wrote more sacred than secular music. His output continued to be considerable in both quantity and quality. Burney, who visited him in Venice, wrote in 1771:
Galuppi told Burney his definition of good music: ''vaghezza, chiarezza, e buona modulazione'' (beauty, clearness, and good ]modulation
In electronics and telecommunications, modulation is the process of varying one or more properties of a periodic waveform, called the ''carrier signal'', with a separate signal called the ''modulation signal'' that typically contains informatio ...
)". Burney commented on Galuppi's prodigious workload that in addition to his duties at St Mark's and the Incurabili, "he has a hundred sequins a year as domestic organist to the family of Gritti, and is organist of another church, of which I have forgotten the name".
The last opera by Galuppi was ''La serva per amore'', premiered in October 1773. In May 1782 he conducted concerts to mark a papal visit to Venice by Pope Pius VI
Pope Pius VI ( it, Pio VI; born Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to his death in August 1799.
Pius VI condemned the French Revoluti ...
. Thereafter he continued to compose, despite declining health. His last known completed work is the 1784 Christmas mass for St Mark's.[
After a two-month illness, Galuppi died on 3 January 1785.][ He was buried in the church of San Vitale, and, much mourned, was commemorated by a requiem mass "solemnized in the church of Santo Stefano, paid for by professional musicians, at which the actors of the Teatro S Benedetto sang".
]
Music
Operas
According to ''The Musical Times
''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country.
It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainze ...
'' Galuppi, with 109 operas, was the sixth most prolific opera composer. His output was exceeded by his contemporaries Draghi, Piccinni, Paisiello
Giovanni Paisiello (or Paesiello; 9 May 1740 – 5 June 1816) was an Italian composer of the Classical era, and was the most popular opera composer of the late 1700s. His operatic style influenced Mozart and Rossini.
Life
Paisiello was born i ...
, Guglielmi, and the most prolific of all, with 166 operas, Wenzel Müller
Wenzel Müller (26 September 1767 – 3 August 1835) was an Austrian composer and conductor. Other than Rossini, Verdi, or Puccini, he is regarded as the most prolific opera composer of all time with his 166 operas.
Life and career
Müller w ...
; the only composer of later generations who approached his output was Offenbach 100 years later. Like most of his contemporaries, Galuppi did not hesitate to re-use his own music, sometimes simply transplanting it and at other times reworking it substantially.[Talbot, Michael]
"Studien zur Opera seria von Baldassare Galuppi"
''Music & Letters'', Vol. 67, No. 2 (April 1986), pp. 202–203
He was called "the father of comic opera" by musicians of the generation that followed him.[ The 21st-century editor and musicologist Francesco Luisi writes that although this description is not strictly accurate, the Galuppi–Goldoni operas were "a genuinely new beginning for musical theatre".][ In Luisi's view these works fundamentally changed the nature of opera by making the music part of the drama and not merely a decoration.][ Galuppi's contemporary Esteban de Arteaga wrote approvingly that the composer was able to "illumine the personalities of the characters and the situations in which they find themselves by selecting the most appropriate type of voice and style of singing".][
As well as his general contribution to the essentials of comic opera, establishing the music as at least as important as the words, Galuppi's (and Goldoni's) more specific legacy to comic opera was the large-scale ''buffo'' finale to end the acts.][ Hitherto acts had ended in short choruses or ensembles, but the elaborate and substantial finales introduced by Galuppi and his librettist set the pattern for ]Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...
and Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...
.
Galuppi's music for his comic operas is described by Luisi as "largely syllabic … designed to enhance the intelligibility of the text … without impairing the fluidity of the melodic lines."[ In his ''opere serie'' he observed the convention of the '']da capo
Da capo (, also , ) is an Italian musical term that means "from the beginning" (literally, "from the head"). It is often abbreviated as D.C. The term is a directive to repeat the previous part of music, often used to save space, and thus is an ...
'' aria, but used it sparingly in his comic works.[ In performances of his serious operas, leading soloists would as a matter of course interpolate arias written by other composers: the "''opus integer''" – a complete work not to be tampered with – was not the rule in 18th-century ''opera seria''.
]
Sacred music
Among the corpus of Galuppi's authenticated sacred works are at least 284 works: 52 masses and movements pertaining to the mass, 73 settings of psalms and music for the offices, 8 motets, and 26 uncategorized works, including hymns, ''versetti'', a setting of St. John's Passion for women's voices, and a ''Baccanale'' for the church of San Rocco. The largest repository of manuscripts outside of Italy is the Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek in Dresden, but manuscripts are also found in collections in Munich, Paris, Prague, Vienna, and New York, among others. In recent years Ines Burde, Franco Passadore, and Franco Rossi have all made progress toward a comprehensive catalogue of Galuppi's sacred music, but a complete inventory is still out of reach due to the large number of lost or missing manuscripts, spurious attributions, and forgeries.
In his religious works, Galuppi mixed modern and antique styles.[ It was then the custom to incorporate into new church music the '' stile antico'' with smooth vocal lines in the tradition of ]Palestrina
Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; grc, Πραίνεστος, ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Pren ...
and a good deal of counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...
. However, Galuppi applied the ''stile antico'' sparingly, and when he felt constrained to write contrapuntal music for the choir he would balance it with a bright modern style for the orchestral accompaniment.[ His masses and psalm settings for St Mark's exploit all the resources available to a modern composer in the mid-18th century,][ with choir supported by an orchestra of strings and some or all of flutes, oboes, bassoons, horns, trumpets, and organ.][ In his ''tutti'' choral writing, Galuppi generally leaned toward syllabic settings, reserving the technically demanding ]melisma
Melisma ( grc-gre, μέλισμα, , ; from grc, , melos, song, melody, label=none, plural: ''melismata'') is the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in this style is referr ...
tic passages for soloists.
Monson notes that the church music composed by Galuppi in Saint Petersburg had a lasting influence on Russian church music: "His 15 ''a cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
'' works on Russian texts for the Orthodox liturgy proved to be a watershed. Their Italian, light contrapuntal style joined with native melodic idioms was continued by Traetta
Tommaso Michele Francesco Saverio Traetta (30 March 1727 – 6 April 1779) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he was responsible for certain operatic ref ...
and Sarti
The Italian language surname Sarti is derived from the occupation of tailor. Notable people with the surname include:
*Adolfo Sarti (1928–1992), Italian Christian Democrat politician
*Alessio Sarti (born 1979), Italian football (soccer) goalkee ...
and maintained by, among others, D.S. Bortnyans'ky, his pupil."[ Marina Ritzarev comments that the Italian ]Vincenzo Manfredini
Vincenzo Manfredini (22 October 1737 – 5 or 16 August 1799) was an Italian composer, harpsichordist and a music theorist.
Biography
Manfredini was born in Pistoia, near Florence.
He studied music with his father, Francesco Onofrio Manfre ...
was Galuppi's predecessor as Russian court composer, and may have paved the way for his successor's innovations.
Several works long attributed to Galuppi by publishers were shown to be the work of Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...
. In 2003, a ''Nisi Dominus'' previously thought to be by Galuppi was reattributed to Vivaldi. The music of the latter, a generation earlier than Galuppi, had gone out of fashion after his death, and unscrupulous copyists and editors found that Galuppi's name on the title page increased a work's appeal. Three other works in the Saxon State Collection have also been reattributed from Galuppi to Vivaldi: a ''Beatus Vir'', a ''Dixit Dominus
Psalm 110 is the 110th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "The said unto my Lord". In Latin, it is known as Dixit Dominus ("The Lord Said"). It is considered both a royal psalm and a messianic psalm. ...
'' and a ''Laetatus sum''.
Instrumental works
Galuppi was much admired for his keyboard music. Few of his sonatas were published in his lifetime, but many survive in manuscript.[Anderson, Keith (2011). "Baldassare Galuppi (1706–1785)", Notes to Naxos CD 8.572263] Some of them follow the Scarlatti single-movement model; others are in the three-movement form later adopted by Haydn, Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
and others.[
Galuppi's skill as keyboard player is well documented. Hillers ''Wöchentliche Nachrichten'' in 1772 made this mention of Galuppi's reputation in Saint Petersburg: "Chamber concerts were held every Wednesday in the antechamber of the imperial apartments, in order to enjoy the special style and fiery accuracy of the clavier playing of this great artist; thus did the virtuoso earn the overall approval of the court." It is no surprise that a number of Galuppi's keyboard works should make it into print during his lifetime, including two sets of six sonatas, published in London as opus 1 (1756) and opus 2 (1759) respectively. Felix Raabe mentions the round number of 125 "sonatas, toccatas, divertimenti and etudes" for keyboard, based on Fausto Torrefranca's 1909 thematic catalogue of Galuppi's cembalo works. However, given some of the outrageous assertions on this topic that Torrefranca makes elsewhere (such as that the classical sonata form was created by Italian keyboard composers) the accuracy of this figure must be accepted only cautiously.
Galuppi's seven experimental ''Concerti a quattro'' are particularly innovative chamber music pieces that foreshadow the development of the classical string quartet. Each of the concerti is a three-movement work for two violins, viola and cello that integrates the counterpoint of the sonata da chiesa with daring chromatic twists and harmonic detours that become more pronounced as the set progresses quartet by quartet. Innovations such as the chromatically raised 5th that Burney singled out in Galuppi's arias of the 1740s appear, and many harmonic features of the late-classical period are foreshadowed, such as the final deceptive cadence in which an augmented sixth chord is substituted before the ultimate resolution.
Among other instrumental compositions by Galuppi, '' Grove's Dictionary'' lists sinfonias, overtures, trios and string quartets, and concerti for solo instruments and strings.][
]
Legacy
Robert Browning
Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings ...
's poem ''A Toccata of Galuppi's
"A Toccata of Galuppi's" is a poem by Robert Browning, originally published in the 1855 collection ''Men and Women''. The title refers to the fact that the speaker is either playing or listening to a toccata by the 18th-century Venetian compos ...
'' refers to Galuppi and his work. It is not known whether Browning was thinking of any one piece by Galuppi; in Galuppi's time, the terms "toccata" and "sonata" were less clearly differentiated than they later became, and were used interchangeably.[ A number of pieces have been suggested as Browning's inspiration, but as Charles van den Borren wrote in ''The Musical Times'', "every poet has the right to evade the prosaic minutiae of fact", and it is impossible to state with confidence that one Galuppi piece has more claim than another to be the inspiration for the poem.][Borren, Charles van den, trans. ]Richard Capell
Richard Capell (23 March 188521 June 1954) was a British journalist who was music critic for the ''Daily Mail'' (1911–1933) and thereafter at ''The Daily Telegraph''."Obituary in ''The Times'', ''Mr. Richard Capell'', 22 June 1954, p.10
Biogr ...
"Round about A Toccata of Galuppi's"
''The Musical Times'', 1 May 1923, pp 314–316 The poem inspired a 1989 setting, in modern idiom but with musical quotations from Galuppi's works, by the composer Dominick Argento
Dominick Argento (October 27, 1927 – February 20, 2019) was an American composer known for his lyric operatic and choral music. Among his best known pieces are the operas '' Postcard from Morocco'', '' Miss Havisham's Fire'', ''The Masque of An ...
.
Browning's poem was followed by a few revivals of Galuppi works, and the composer's music was played at memorials for the poet, both in church and in the concert hall. But performances of Galuppi's music remained sporadic. '' La diavolessa'' was revived for the first time at the Venice Music Festival in 1952; ''Il filosofo di campagna'' was revived in 1959, starring Ilva Ligabue
Ilva Ligabue (May 23, 1932, Reggio Emilia – August 19, 1998, Palermo) was an Italian operatic soprano, best known for the role of Alice Ford in ''Falstaff'', which she recorded twice, under Georg Solti (RCA, 1963) and Leonard Bernstein ...
and Renato Capecchi
Renato Capecchi (born Cairo, November 6, 1923; died Milan, June 30, 1998) was an Italian baritone, actor, and opera director.
He sang in the Italian premiere of Shostakovich's '' The Nose'' and Prokofiev's ''War and Peace'', and in the world pr ...
, and was staged at the Buxton Festival
The Buxton Festival is an annual summer festival of opera, music and (since 2000) a literary series, held in Buxton, Derbyshire, England since its beginnings in July 1979. The 2020 festival would have run but was cancelled due to the Covid-19 cri ...
in 1985.
Recordings
From the late 20th century onwards an increasing number of Galuppi's works have been committed to disc. Among the opera recordings on CD or DVD are ''Il caffè di campagna'' (2011), ''La clemenza di Tito'' (2010), ''La diavolessa'' (2004), ''Didone abbandonata'' (2007), ''Il filosofo di campagna'' (1959 and 2001), '' Gustavo primo re di Svezia'' (2005), ''Il mondo alla roversa'' (2007), and ''L'Olimpiade
''L'Olimpiade'' is an opera libretto in three acts by Metastasio originally written for an operatic setting by Antonio Caldara of 1733. Metastasio’s plot vaguely draws upon the narrative of "The Trial of the Suitors" provided from Book 6 of ...
'' (2009). Three series of recordings of the keyboard sonatas have been launched, by Peter Seivewright
Peter Seivewright (born 1954 in Skipton, England) is a British pianist. After music studies at Oxford, he was a post-graduate student at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, where he studied piano with Ryszard Bakst.
Work with Galu ...
on the Divine Art label, Matteo Napoli on Naxos
Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best ab ...
. and on Radio Vatican Studios own label. In addition, Brilliant Classics released, in 2016, a two-CD set of keyboard sonatas performed on the organ by . Choral works put on CD include the 1766 ''Messa per San Marco'' (2007),[ a cantata, ''L'oracolo del Vaticano'', to words by Goldoni (2004), and motets (2001).][Virgin VC5450302]
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
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External links
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Harpsichord Sonata No. 18 in C minor, arranged for organ
Sibley Music Library Digital Scores Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Galuppi, Baldassare
1706 births
1785 deaths
18th-century Italian male musicians
18th-century Venetian people
Cappella Marciana maestri
18th-century Italian composers
Italian Baroque composers
Italian male classical composers
Italian opera composers
Male opera composers
Musicians from Venice