Nicola Francesco Haym (6 July 1678 – 31 July 1729) was an Italian
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 ...
librettist
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 ...
,
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 ...
, theatre manager and performer, literary editor and
numismatist
A numismatist is a specialist in numismatics ("of coins"; from Late Latin ''numismatis'', genitive of ''numisma''). Numismatists include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholars who use coins and other currency in object-based research. Altho ...
. He is best remembered for adapting texts into libretti for the London operas of
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...
and
Giovanni Bononcini
Giovanni Bononcini (or Buononcini) (18 July 1670 – 9 July 1747) (sometimes cited also as Giovanni Battista Bononcini) was an Italian Baroque composer, cellist, singer and teacher, one of a family of string players and composers.
Biography
E ...
. Libretti that he provided for Handel included those for ''
Giulio Cesare
''Giulio Cesare in Egitto'' (; , HWV 17), commonly known as ''Giulio Cesare'', is a dramma per musica ('' opera seria'') in three acts composed by George Frideric Handel for the Royal Academy of Music in 1724. The libretto was written by Nic ...
'', ''
Ottone
''Ottone, re di Germania'' ("Otto, King of Germany", HWV 15) is an opera by George Frideric Handel, to an Italian–language libretto adapted by Nicola Francesco Haym from the libretto by Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino for Antonio Lotti's opera ...
'', ''
Flavio
''Flavio, re de' Longobardi'' ("Flavio, King of the Lombards", HWV 16) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The Italian-language libretto was by Nicola Francesco Haym, after Matteo Noris's ''Flavio Cuniberto''. It was Hand ...
'', ''
Tamerlano
''Tamerlano'' (Tamerlane, HWV 18) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The Italian libretto was by Nicola Francesco Haym, adapted from Agostin Piovene's ''Tamerlano'' together with another libretto entitled ''Bajazet'' aft ...
'', ''
Rodelinda'', and several others; for Bononcini, he produced two, ''Calfurnia'' and ''Astianatte''.
Compositions
Haym was born in
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 ...
. His career began as a
cellist
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...
in Italy, and he arrived in London in 1701: he swiftly became master of the
2nd Duke of Bedford's chamber music. He wrote the libretto for Bononcini's ''
Camilla'', a seminal work of enormous success that did much to establish Italian opera in London. Later, when operas in London came to be performed entirely in Italian, rather than in a bilingual blend of English and Italian, Haym spent much time adapting both libretti and music for the many ''
pasticcio
In music, a ''pasticcio'' or ''pastiche'' is an opera or other musical work composed of works by different composers who may or may not have been working together, or an adaptation or localization of an existing work that is loose, unauthorized, o ...
s'' that were staged at this time.
Haym became the teacher and manager of the already successful soprano
Joanna Maria Lindehleim
Joanna Lindehleim who performed as the Baroness (16?? – 1724) was a singer in London who was born abroad. She came to notice in about 1703. She was known as the wife of a Swedish baron named Andrew Lenduss of Lendenheim.
Life
The details of her ...
negotiating a 100 guinea contract for ten performances in 1706. They would live together for the rest of their lives. In 1720 he was employed as a continuo cellist for the new
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...
; in 1722, however, he became the Academy's Secretary for its final six seasons: he not only wrote the libretti but also took on the role of stage manager during this time. Prior to his death in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in 1729, he was planning to assist Handel and Heidegger construct a new Academy after the demise of the old one.
Publishing work
![Del tesoro britannico Fleuron T131381-41](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Del_tesoro_britannico_Fleuron_T131381-41.png)
Haym was a collector of paintings and engravings and made drawings himself. In 1719-29 Haym published a catalogue of ancient Greek and Roman coins and medals ''Del tesoro britannico parte prima'',
Google Books
/ref> the first work on the ancient coins in the collection of the British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
. This was illustrated with his own drawings. He was also the author of ''Biblioteca Italiana, o sia Notizia de' Libri Rari nella lingua Italiana'', a bibliography of Italian books from the beginning of printing to about 1715. Published in London in 1726 and reprinted in Venice in 1728 and 1741, the work was originally intended to list only rare books. However, subsequent editors, beginning with Angelo Geremia, so enlarged the work that it came to be considered a general bibliography of Italian literature. It is arranged in sections, beginning with history and geography, then poetry, followed by prose writings, and a final extensive section on arts and sciences, including grammar, linguistics, history of art, philosophy, politics and political history, mathematics, and astronomy. The format of the cited books is given, in addition to some indication of rarity and advice on the best edition. A much enlarged edition was published in Milan in 1771-72 by Federico Giandonati, and the work was the standard bibliography of Italian literature until the nineteenth century. It served as a model for Giuseppe Baretti
Giuseppe Marc'Antonio Baretti (24 April 1719, Turin, Piedmont – 5 May 1789, London) was an Italian Literary criticism, literary critic, poet, writer, translator, linguist and author of two influential language-translation dictionaries. During h ...
's ''The Italian Library'' (London, 1757); some claimed that Baretti "pillaged" Haym's work.
References
*Lowell Lindgren: "Franceso Haym, Nicola", ''Grove Music Online'' ed L. Macy (Accessed 19 April 2007)
grovemusic.com
subscription access.
*Joseph Cooper Walker
Joseph Cooper Walker (c.1762–1810) was an Irish antiquarian and writer.
Life
Walker was born in Dublin and educated under Thomas Ball. An invalid with acute asthma, in his earlier years he travelled a great deal for his health, and for many year ...
, ''Historical Memoir on Italian Tragedy''. London: E. Harding, 1799. 244.
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Haym, Nicola Francesco
Italian opera librettists
Italian numismatists
Italian male classical composers
Italian Baroque composers
1678 births
1729 deaths
Members of the Academy of Ancient Music
Musicians from Rome
Writers from Rome
Italian expatriates in England
18th-century Italian composers
18th-century Italian male musicians
Italian male dramatists and playwrights