Giulio Strozzi (1583 - 31 March 1652) was a
Venetian poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
and
libretto
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 theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...
writer. His libretti were put to music by composers like
Claudio 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 considered ...
,
Francesco Cavalli
Francesco Cavalli (born Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni; 14 February 1602 – 14 January 1676) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian composer, organist and singer of the early Baroque music, Baroque period. He succeeded his teacher Claudio Monteverd ...
,
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 ...
, and
Francesco Sacrati
Francesco Sacrati (17 September 1605 in Parma, Italy – 20 May 1650 in Modena, Italy) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era, who played an important role in the early history of opera. He wrote for the Teatro Novissimo in Venice as wel ...
. He sometimes used the pseudonym Luigi Zorzisto.
Biography
Giulio Strozzi was a bastard, and later legitimized, son of Roberto Strozzi, from the
Strozzi family
The House of Strozzi is the name of an ancient (later noble) Florentine family, who like their great rivals the Medici family, began in banking before moving into politics. Until its exile from Florence in 1434, the Strozzi family was by far the ...
. Born in Venice in 1583, he first studied there before going to the
University of Pisa
The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe.
History
The Origins
The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...
to study law.
He lived and worked in Rome,
Padua
Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
and
Urbino
Urbino ( ; ; Romagnol: ''Urbìn'') is a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of ...
before returning to Venice in the 1620s. He was the adoptive father of composer
Barbara Strozzi
Barbara Strozzi (also called Barbara Valle; baptised 6 August 1619 – 11 November 1677) was an Italian composer and singer of the Baroque Period. During her lifetime, Strozzi published eight volumes of her own music, and had more secular ...
(born in 1619 from Isabella Garzoni, a woman servant living in Strozzi's house, and possibly his illegitimate daughter).
He remained there until his death on 31 March 1652.
Work
He wrote poetry and plays, but is best remembered as one of the first writers of
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 litu ...
, the texts used for all kinds of musical plays but most specifically opera.
His earliest known work was in 1609, an oration for the burial of
Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (30 July 1549 – 3 February 1609) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1587 to 1609, having succeeded his older brother Francesco I.
Early life
Ferdinando was the fifth son (the third surviving at t ...
, for whom he also organized the burial rites. It was the first in a long-term series of efforts to get the patronage of the Medici family during the next decades, including a lengthy dedication of his 1624 reprint of the ''Venetia edificata'' to
Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Ferdinando II de' Medici (14 July 1610 – 23 May 1670) was grand duke of Tuscany from 1621 to 1670. He was the eldest son of Cosimo II de' Medici and Maria Maddalena of Austria. He was remembered by his contemporaries as a man of culture and ...
.
In 1621, he wrote his only epic poem, ''Venetia edificata''. It was expanded and reprinted in 1624. Celebrating the glory of the
Republic of Venice
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, ...
, it was at the same time written in support of
Galileo Galilei
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...
and his controversial scientific theories. He also wrote a translation of the Spanish ''
Lazarillo de Tormes
''The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes and of His Fortunes and Adversities'' ( es, La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes y de sus fortunas y adversidades ) is a Spanish novella, published anonymously because of its anticlerical content. It was published s ...
'' which remained unpublished.
From 1627 on, he mostly dedicated himself to writing opera libretti, and he was probably the most important opera writer in Venice in the 1630s and 1640s. He wrote ''
La finta pazza Licori
The Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643), in addition to a large output of church music and madrigals, wrote prolifically for the stage. His theatrical works were written between 1604 and 1643 and included operas, of which three—' ...
'' for
Claudio 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 considered ...
in 1627. The two had first met in 1621. The opera was never performed and it is unknown how much of the music for it had been written before the project was abandoned. Both the music and the libretto are lost.
In the 1630s and 1640s, Strozzi was one of the driving forces behind the successful growth of opera in Venice. He wrote the libretto for the opening of the
Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paolo
The Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paolo (often written as Teatro SS. Giovanni e Paolo) was a theatre and opera house in Venice located on the Calle della Testa, and takes its name from the nearby Basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice. Built by the ...
in 1639 (''
La Delia'', 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 ...
), and for the 1641 opening of the
Teatro Novissimo
The Teatro Novissimo was a theatre in Venice located in the Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo with its entrance on the Calle de Mendicanti. It was the first theatre built in Venice specifically for the performance of opera. Because it was purpose-built ...
(''
La finta pazza
''La finta pazza'' (''The feigned madwoman'') is an opera composed by Francesco Sacrati to a libretto by Giulio Strozzi. Its premiere in Venice during the Carnival season of 1641 inaugurated the Teatro Novissimo. It became one of the most popular ...
'', music by
Francesco Sacrati
Francesco Sacrati (17 September 1605 in Parma, Italy – 20 May 1650 in Modena, Italy) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era, who played an important role in the early history of opera. He wrote for the Teatro Novissimo in Venice as wel ...
).
In 1630 Strozzi wrote ''
Proserpina Rapita
Proserpina ( , ) or Proserpine ( ) is an ancient Roman goddess whose iconography, functions and myths are virtually identical to those of Greek Persephone. Proserpina replaced or was combined with the ancient Roman fertility goddess Libera, whose ...
''. His last libretto, ''
Veremonda
''Veremonda, l'amazzone di Aragona'' (''Veremonda, the Amazon of Aragon''; also known as ''Il Delio'') is an opera in three acts and a prologue by the Italian composer Francesco Cavalli. The libretto is by Giulio Cicognini with revisions by Giul ...
'', was written for
Francesco Cavalli
Francesco Cavalli (born Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni; 14 February 1602 – 14 January 1676) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian composer, organist and singer of the early Baroque music, Baroque period. He succeeded his teacher Claudio Monteverd ...
in 1652.
He was a member of the ''
Accademia degli Incogniti The Accademia degli Incogniti (Academy of the Unknowns), also called the Loredanian Academy, was a learned society of freethinking intellectuals, mainly noblemen, that significantly influenced the cultural and political life of mid-17th century Veni ...
'' in Venice. He was the founder of some cultural "academies", gatherings of like-minded intellectuals; these included the ''Ordinati'' during his stay in Rome, and the ''Dubbiosi'' in Venice. In 1637 he founded the ''Accademia degli Unisoni'', a gathering of musicians where his adopted daughter Barbara sang.
Bibliography
Poetry and plays
*1611: ''Erotilla'', a tragedy (reprinted 1616)
*1621: ''Il natale di amore'', poetry (second impression)
*1621: ''La Venetia edificata'', a heroic poem in twelve cantos about Venice (expanded to 24 cantos in 1624, reprinted 1626)
*1625: ''Il Barbarigo'', play (reprinted 1650)
*1628: ''I cinque fratelli'', poetry, set to music by Claudio Monteverdi
Libretti
*1627: ''
La finta pazza Licori
The Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643), in addition to a large output of church music and madrigals, wrote prolifically for the stage. His theatrical works were written between 1604 and 1643 and included operas, of which three—' ...
'', music by Claudio Monteverdi: unfinished and lost
*1629: ''
Gelosia placata Gelosia may refer to:
*Gelosia (1915 film), directed by Augusto Genina
*Jealousy (1942 film), directed by Ferdinando Maria Poggioli
*Jealousy (1953 Italian film), directed by Pietro Germi
*Gelosia multiplication, or Lattice multiplication
Lattic ...
'', music by
Giovanni Rovetta
Giovanni Rovetta (c. 1595/97–1668) was an Italian Baroque composer and ''maestro di capella'' of the Capella Marciana at St Mark's Basilica, Venice between Monteverdi and Cavalli.
He may have been a choirboy at St. Mark's, where his father p ...
*1630: ''
Proserpina rapita
Proserpina ( , ) or Proserpine ( ) is an ancient Roman goddess whose iconography, functions and myths are virtually identical to those of Greek Persephone. Proserpina replaced or was combined with the ancient Roman fertility goddess Libera, whose ...
'', music by Claudio Monteverdi (reprinted 1644)
*1639: ''
La Delia'', 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 ...
(reprinted 1644)
*1641: ''
La finta pazza
''La finta pazza'' (''The feigned madwoman'') is an opera composed by Francesco Sacrati to a libretto by Giulio Strozzi. Its premiere in Venice during the Carnival season of 1641 inaugurated the Teatro Novissimo. It became one of the most popular ...
'', music by
Francesco Sacrati
Francesco Sacrati (17 September 1605 in Parma, Italy – 20 May 1650 in Modena, Italy) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era, who played an important role in the early history of opera. He wrote for the Teatro Novissimo in Venice as wel ...
(reprinted in 1641, 1644 and 1645: reprints with changes and without Strozzis name in 1644 and 1647)
*1643: ''
La finta savia
''La finta savia'' is a 1643 drama by Giulio Strozzi written for the Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paolo with music by Filiberto Laurenzi. It is a sequel to Strozzi's ''La finta pazza'' (1641) whi was set to music by Francesco Sacrati. The music was ...
''
*1645: ''
Il Romolo e'l Remo'' (last part of a trilogy together with the two ''finta'' libretti)
Other works
*1609: Oration for the burial of
Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (30 July 1549 – 3 February 1609) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1587 to 1609, having succeeded his older brother Francesco I.
Early life
Ferdinando was the fifth son (the third surviving at t ...
*1621: Oration for the burial of
Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Cosimo II de' Medici (12 May 1590 – 28 February 1621) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1609 until his death. He was the elder son of Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Christina of Lorraine.
For the majority of his twelve-ye ...
*1632: ''Lettere famigliarmente scritta'', a collection of letters
*1644: ''Le glorie della Signora Anna Renzi romana'', a laudatio for the opera singer
Anna Renzi
Anna Renzi ( – after 1661) was an Italian soprano renowned for her acting ability as well as her voice, who has been described as the first diva in the history of opera.
Career
Born in Rome, Anna Renzi was highly popular in Vienna in 1640s and ...
who had sung title roles in a few of his works
Notes
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strozzi, Giulio
1583 births
1652 deaths
Italian male poets
17th-century Venetian writers
Italian opera librettists
Italian male dramatists and playwrights
Baroque writers