Bernardo Pasquini (

Massa e Cozzile Massa e Cozzile is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pistoia in the Italian region Tuscany, located about northwest of Florence and about west of Pistoia, in the central part of the Valdinievole. It was the birthplace of composer Be ...

, 7 December 1637

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, 21 November 1710) was an Italian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is ...

s, cantatas and keyboard music. A renowned virtuoso keyboard player in his day, he was one of the most important Italian composers for harpsichord between

Girolamo Frescobaldi Girolamo Alessandro Frescobaldi (; also Gerolamo, Girolimo, and Geronimo Alissandro; September 15831 March 1643) was an Italian composer and virtuoso keyboard player. Born in the Duchy of Ferrara, he was one of the most important composers of k ...

and Domenico Scarlatti, having also made substantial contributions to the opera and oratorio.

Biography

Pasquini was born in Massa in Val di Nievole (today

, in the province of Pistoia,

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

). He was a pupil of Mariotto Bocciantini in Uzzano (Pistoia). When he was 13, he moved to

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

with his uncle Giovanni Pasquini, where, at the age of 16, he would become the organist of Accademia della Morte and serve from 1653–55, a prestigious post that would later serve as a launching pad for his successors. He was quickly drawn to Rome, and, in 1657, he was appointed as the organist of

Santa Maria in Vallicella Santa Maria in Vallicella, also called Chiesa Nuova, is a church in Rome, Italy, which today faces onto the main thoroughfare of the Corso Vittorio Emanuele and the corner of Via della Chiesa Nuova. It is the principal church of the Oratorians, ...

(Chiesa nuova). In February 1664 he was appointed organist of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore and

Santa Maria in Aracoeli The Basilica of St. Mary of the Altar of Heaven ( la, Basilica Sanctae Mariae de Ara coeli in Capitolio, it, Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara coeli al Campidoglio) is a titular basilica in Rome, located on the highest summit of the Campidoglio. ...

. Finally, after ten years in Rome, in November 1667 he entered into a long period of service of the Borghese family, enjoying the patronage of Prince Giovanni Battista Borghese, and, from May 1693, his son and successor, Prince Marcantonio Borghese. As a composer and keyboard player, Pasquini collaborated on music performances for a host of famous patrons in Rome, such as cardinals Flavio Chigi,

Benedetto Pamphilj Benedetto Pamphili (often with the final ''long i'' orthography, Pamphilj) (25 April 1653 – 22 March 1730) was an Italian cardinal, patron of the arts and librettist for many composers. Life Pamphili was born in Rome on 25 April 1653 int ...

, and the politically savvy

Pietro Ottoboni Pope Alexander VIII ( it, Alessandro VIII; 22 April 1610 – 1 February 1691), born Pietro Vito Ottoboni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 October 1689 to his death in February 1691. He is to date the las ...

. Queen

Christina of Sweden Christina ( sv, Kristina, 18 December ( New Style) 1626 – 19 April 1689), a member of the House of Vasa, was Queen of Sweden in her own right from 1632 until her abdication in 1654. She succeeded her father Gustavus Adolphus upon his death ...

played an important role in his career, and it was in her honour that his operas ''L'Alcasta'' (libretto by Giovanni Filippo Apolloni), and ''Il Lisimaco'' (libretto by Giacomo Sinibaldi) were performed respectively in 1673 and 1681. His first opera for Queen Christina focused on the theme of just feminine revenge, and included an incredibly ornate dedication which compared the Queen to Alexander the Great. From 1671 until 1692, Pasquini wrote "no fewer than 16 operas, 15 oratorios and about 70 cantatas." He composed numerous operas, all staged in Rome between 1672 and 1692, and which were performed again or excerpted in shows at several Italian theatres (Florence, Pisa, Naples, Ferrara, Perugia, Genoa, Rimini etc.). Pasquini was a renowned teacher of harpsichord. Among his pupils were Tommaso Bernardo Gaffi and his nephew Felice Bernardo Ricordati. Many important musicians of the late 1600s and early 1700s had lessons from him including Georg Muffat, who praised Pasquini for having taught him "the Italian way of playing the organ and harpsichord." Pasquini taught many other notable musicians of the era, including

Johann Philipp Krieger Johann Philipp Krieger (also ''Kriger'', ''Krüger'', ''Krugl'', and ''Giovanni Filippo Kriegher''; baptised 27 February 1649; died 7 February 1725) was a German Baroque composer and organist. He was the elder brother of Johann Krieger. Life Ea ...

, Giuseppe Fabbrini, Floriano Arresti, Johann Georg Christian Störl, and Franz Jakob Horneck, and probably also

Ferdinand Tobias Richter Ferdinand Tobias Richter (22 July 1651 – 3 November 1711) was an Austrian Baroque composer and organist. Richter was born in Würzburg. From 1675 to 1679 he served as organist at Heiligenkreuz Abbey in southern Austria. In 1683 he move ...

and Carlo Domenico Draghi. Together with

Arcangelo Corelli Arcangelo Corelli (, also , , ; 17 February 1653 – 8 January 1713) was an Italian composer and violinist of the Baroque era. His music was key in the development of the modern genres of sonata and concerto, in establishing the preeminence of th ...

and Alessandro Scarlatti, in 1706 Pasquini became a member of the

Academy of Arcadia The Accademia degli Arcadi or Accademia dell'Arcadia, "Academy of Arcadia" or "Academy of the Arcadians", was an Italian literary academy founded in Rome in 1690. The full Italian official name was Pontificia Accademia degli Arcadi. History F ...

. He is frequently paired with Scarlatti in discussions of keyboard technique and compositional style. Pasquini died in Rome on 21 November 1710, and was buried in his parish church of

San Lorenzo in Lucina The Minor Basilica of St. Lawrence in Lucina ( it, Basilica Minore di San Lorenzo in Lucina or simply it, San Lorenzo in Lucina; la, S. Laurentii in Lucina) is a Roman Catholic parish, titular church, and minor basilica in central Rome, Italy. ...

. A sepulchral monument, still existing in the church, was erected by the nephew Felice Bernardo Ricordati and the pupil Tommaso Bernardo Gaffi. His keyboard music is almost entirely preserved in four manuscript volumes (partially autographs), which were compiled between circa 1691 and 1708, by the composer and other collaborators, now preserved in Berlin (Staatsbibliothek – Preußische Kulturbesitz, Landsberg 215), and London (British Library, Add. 31501/I-II-III). One of his harpsichord pieces was transcribed for orchestra by Ottorino Respighi for his suite ''

Gli uccelli ''The Birds'' ( it, Gli uccelli) is a suite for small orchestra by the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi. Dating from 1928, the work is based on music from the 17th and 18th-century and represents an attempt to transcribe birdsong into musica ...

.''

Works

Operas * ''La sincerità con la sincerità ovvero il Tirinto'' (1672) * ''L'amor per vendetta ovvero l'Alcasta'' (1673) * ''La donna ancora è fedele'' (1676) * ''Trespolo tutore'' (1677) * ''La forza d'amore'' (before 1679) * ''Dov'è amore è pietà'' (''Ipermestra'') (1679) * '' L'Idalma, ovvero chi la dura la vince'' (1680) * ''Il Sidonio ovvero il raro esempio di costanza e fede'' (1680) * ''Il Lisimaco'' (1681) * ''La Tessalonica'' (1683) * ''Arianna'' (1685) * ''Il silentio d'Arpocrate'' (1686) * ''Santa Dimna figlia del re d'Irlanda'' (1687; only act 2. Act 1

Alessandro Melani Alessandro Melani (4 February 1639 – 3 October 1703) was an Italian composer and the brother of composer Jacopo Melani, and castrato singer Atto Melani. Along with Bernardo Pasquini and Alessandro Scarlatti, he was one of the leading composers ...

; Act 3 Alessandro Scarlatti) * ''I giochi troiani'' (1688) * ''La caduta del regno delle Amazzoni'' (1690) * ''Alessio'' (1690) * ''Il Colombo overo l'India scoperta'' (1690) * ''Eudossia'' (1692) Oratorios * ''Caino e Abele'' (1671) * ''Agar'' (1675) * ''Assuero'' (1675) * ''Sant'Alessio'' (1675) * ''Santa Agnese'' (1678) * ''Divae Clarae triumphus'' (1682) * ''L'idolatria di Salomone'' (1686) * ''I fatti di Mosè nel deserto'' (1687) * ''Il martirio dei santi Vito, Modesto e Crescenzia'' (1687) * ''La purità trionfante overo Martiniano il santo'' (1688 in collaboration with G.L. Lulier, T.B. Gaffi, G. Ercole, L. Amadori) * ''La sete di Cristo'' (1689) * ''La caduta di Salomone'' (1693) * ''Davide trionfante contro Goliath'' (1694) * ''S. Maria di Soria'' (1694) * ''S. Filippo Neri'' (cantata) Pasquini composed around sixty cantatas, mainly for one voice and continuo, but also for two or three voices, with or without instruments, and continuo.Complete modern edition ''Bernardo Pasquini, Le cantate'', ed. by Alexandra Nigito, Turnhout, 2012. He celebrated the ubiquitous cuckoo in ''Toccata con lo Scherzo del Cucco'', written in florid style in 1702. It is perhaps the best keyboard cuckoo piece in existence for it imitates the cuckoo's notes, which seems to have been a favourite device in early baroque music. In 2016, Arnoldo Morelli, a scholar from the University of L’Aquila, lamented the tendency among musicologists and music histories to label Pasquini merely as an exponent of keyboard music, without attention to his substantial output of oratorios and opera.

Selected recordings

* ''Mottetti a voce sola e composizioni per organo'', Alea Musica, Alexandra Nigito. Tactus (TC.631802) *

Oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is ...

''Caino e Abele'', conductor Alessandro De Marchi. Symphonia 1990 * Oratorio ''Santa Agnese'' Consortium Carissimi. 2 CD Arion * 2

passion cantata In Christian music, a Passion is a setting of the Passion of Christ. Liturgically, most Passions were intended to be performed as part of church services in the Holy Week. Passion settings developed from Medieval intoned readings of the Gospe ...

s – ''Hor ch'il Ciel fra densi horrori; Padre, Signore e Dio''. Sharon Rostorf-Zamir, Furio Zanasi, Capella Tiberina, conductor Giovanni Caruso.

Brilliant Classics Brilliant Classics is a classical music label based in the Dutch town of Leeuwarden. It is renowned for releasing super-budget-priced editions on CD of the complete works of J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and many other composers. The label also ...

, DDD, 2010 * ''Bernardo Pasquini – Suites and Variations'', Lydia Maria Blank, harpsichord, 2015, Etcetera (KTC 1532) * ''La sete di Christo'', oratorio, Concerto romano, conductor Alessandro Quarta, 2015, Christophorus 77398 *''Pasquini: Sonate Per Gravecembalo, Manuscript S.B.P.K. Landsberg 215'', . Brilliant Classics, 2019. *''Pasquini: Sonate per Gravicembalo'', Roberto Loreggian. Chandos, 2004 (CHAN 0704).

Notes

References

* * Arnaldo Morelli, ''La virtù in corte. Bernardo Pasquini (1637–1710)'', Lucca, Libreria Musicale Italiana, 2016.

External links

*
Catalogue of the works of Bernardo Pasquini

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pasquini, Bernardo 1637 births 1710 deaths People from the Province of Pistoia Italian male classical composers Italian Baroque composers Italian organists Male organists Italian harpsichordists Italian opera composers Male opera composers 18th-century keyboardists 18th-century Italian composers 18th-century Italian male musicians