Paolo Francesco Lorenzani (5 January 1640 – 28 October 1713) was an Italian composer of the

Baroque Era The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including th ...

. While living in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, he helped promote appreciation for the Italian style of music. Lorenzani 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 ...

and was trained by Orazio Benevoli, ''

maestro di cappella (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

'' for the

Cappella Giulia The Cappella Giulia, officially the Reverend Musical Chapel Julia of the Sacrosanct Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican, is the choir of St. Peter's Basilica that sings for all solemn functions of the Vatican Chapter, such as Holy Mass, ...

in The Vatican. He served in

as ''maestro di cappella'' at the

Church of the Gesù , image = Church of the Gesù, Rome.jpg , imagesize = , caption = Giacomo della Porta's façade, precursor of Baroque , mapframe = yes , mapframe-caption = Click on the map for a full ...

and ''Collegio Romano'', the first Jesuit university, which later expanded to become

Pontifical Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

. He later served at the cathedral of Messina in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

.John Hawkins. "Paolo Lorenzani" in ''A General History of the Science and Practice of Music, V. 2'', p. 674. (Kessinger, 2006). In 1678, Lorenzani traveled to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, hoping to find fortune. His motets were performed for

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

, who recognized his talent and appointed him music master to the

queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

. Under orders of the king, Lorenzani traveled back to Italy and recruited singers for the monarch's chapel. Despite assistance from

Madame de Montespan Madame may refer to: * Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French * Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel * ''Madame'' ( ...

, he never achieved sufficient popularity to overcome great antagonism from Jean-Baptiste Lully, a great force in French music at the time. Underhanded efforts by Lully probably kept Lorenzani from receiving several available posts at the ''Chapelle royale'' in 1683. This setback and the death of the queen marked the beginning of Lorenzani's break with

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

. Due to his

ultramontane Ultramontanism is a clerical political conception within the Catholic Church that places strong emphasis on the prerogatives and powers of the Pope. It contrasts with Gallicanism, the belief that popular civil authority—often represented by th ...

beliefs, he was ordered to leave Versailles, thanks to protests made by Lully.John McManners. ''Church and Society in Eighteenth-Century France, Vol. 1''. (Oxford University Press, 1999). p.468. Despite all of that, an Italian ''Serenade'' in 1684 proved to be a success, thanks to help from

Michel Richard Delalande Michel Richard Delalande e Lalande'' (; 15 December 1657 – 18 June 1726) was a French Baroque composer and organist who was in the service of King Louis XIV. He was one of the most important composers of grands motets. He also wrote orch ...

. In Paris, he earned a post as ''maître de musique'' at a

Theatines The Theatines officially named the Congregation of Clerics Regular ( la, Ordo Clericorum Regularium), abreviated CR, is a Catholic order of clerics regular of Pontifical Right for men founded by Archbishop Gian Pietro Carafa in Sept. 14, 1524. I ...

monastery. Here, he conducted his own music in the presence of Italophile aristocrats. In 1688, his opera ''

Oronthée ''Oronthée'' (or ''Orontée'') is a French-language opera by the composer Paolo Lorenzani, first performed by the singers and musicians of the Académie Royale de Musique (the Paris Opera) at Chantilly on 23 August 1688 as part of the celebratio ...

'', composed in the French style, premiered at the ''Académie royale'' in

Chantilly Chantilly may refer to: Places France *Chantilly, Oise, a city located in the Oise department **US Chantilly, a football club *Château de Chantilly, a historic château located in the town of Chantilly United States * Chantilly, Missou ...

. In 1693 Lorenzani published his ''Grand Motets'', which were dedicated to the king. He returned to Rome in 1695 and served as ''maestro di cappella'' for the Cappella Giulia.

References

1640 births 1713 deaths Italian male classical composers Italian Baroque composers Italian musicians 18th-century Italian composers 18th-century Italian male musicians {{Italy-composer-stub