Benedetto Ferrari (ca. 1603 – 1681) was an Italian composer, particularly of opera, librettist, and

theorbo The theorbo is a plucked string instrument of the lute family, with an extended neck and a second pegbox. Like a lute, a theorbo has a curved-back sound box (a hollow box) with a wooden top, typically with a sound hole, and a neck extending ...

player. Ferrari was born in

Reggio nell'Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia ( egl, Rèz; la, Regium Lepidi), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has abou ...

. He worked in

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(1617–1618),

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...

(1619–1623), and possibly in Modena at some time between 1623 and 1637. He created music and libretti in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

and

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

, 1637–1644. Ferrari's ''Andromeda'', with music by

Francesco Manelli Francesco Manelli (Mannelli) ( 1595 – 1667) was a Roman Baroque composer, particularly of opera, and a theorbo player. He is most well known for his collaboration with fellow Roman composer Benedetto Ferrari in bringing commercial opera to Ve ...

, was the first Venetian opera performed in a

public theatre The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American Li ...

(in 1637). Subsequently, he provided both the text and the music for two operas, both presented in Venice: ''La maga fulminata'' (1638) and ''Il pastor regio'' (1640). The 1641 Bolognese staging of the latter included, as its final duet, the text "Pur ti miro, pur ti godo," which was later reused, possibly with Ferrari's music, for the final duet in the surviving manuscripts of

Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is consider ...

's ''

L'Incoronazione di Poppea ''L'incoronazione di Poppea'' ( SV 308, ''The Coronation of Poppaea'') is an Italian opera by Claudio Monteverdi. It was Monteverdi's last opera, with a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello, and was first performed at the Teatro Santi Giovanni ...

''.Questions of Authorship in Josquin, Monteverdi, and Mozart: Documentary versus Stylistic Evidence
By Jillian Andersen.

University of Puget Sound The University of Puget Sound (UPS or Puget Sound) is a private university in Tacoma, Washington. The university draws approximately 2,600 students from 44 states and 16 countries. It offers 1,200 courses each year in more than 50 traditional an ...

Sound Ideas Sound Ideas is the repository of one of the largest commercially available sound effects libraries in the world. It has accumulated the sound effects, which it releases in collections by download or on CD and hard drive, through acquisition, exclu ...

. Summer Research 2012. Ferrari went to

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in 1651, serving the emperor Ferdinand III. Upon returning to Modena in 1653 he was appointed court choirmaster. His post was eliminated in 1662 but reinstated in 1674, after which he served until his death at Modena. Many sources recount his virtuosity as a theorbo player. None of his operatic music survives. Extant works include

libretti A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major l ...

, an

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 ...

, and three books of

monodies In music, monody refers to a solo vocal style distinguished by having a single melodic line and instrumental accompaniment. Although such music is found in various cultures throughout history, the term is specifically applied to Italian song of ...

under the title ''Musiche varie a voce sola'' (Venice 1633, 1637, 1641). Though the last were composed within a relatively short time span, they reflect the changing style of accompanied monody, from the emergence of ''recitar cantando'' (midway between song and speech) to the vocal style that is typical of mid-17th century opera, with a more distinctive melody and a clearer rhythm.

References

Bibliography

*Fuller-Maitland, John Alexander and George Fox (1880). ''A Dictionary of Music and Musicians (A.D. 1450-1880)''. London: Macmillan. *Lee, E. M. (1909). ''The Story of Opera''. New York: Scribner's. *Smith, C. S. (1948). ''Makers of Opera''. New York: H. Bittner. 1600s births 1681 deaths Italian male classical composers Italian Baroque composers Italian opera librettists Theorbists 17th-century Italian composers Italian male dramatists and playwrights 17th-century male musicians {{Italy-composer-stub