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Dafne (Opitz-Schütz)
''Die Dafne'' (1627) is an opera. Its libretto was written by Martin Opitz (which survives) and its music was composed by Heinrich Schütz (which is lost). It has traditionally been regarded as the first German opera, though it has also been proposed more recently that it was in fact a spoken drama with inserted song and ballet numbers. History Development Opitz was already a friend of Schütz and in all wrote twelve German madrigal texts for him. In 1625 and 1626 Opitz visited the Dresden court, to work with Schütz on a ''Sing-Comoedie'' based on the model of Jacopo Peri's ''Dafne''. Opitz rewrote the libretto after Rinuccini, translating it into Alexandrine verse, and his libretto was so highly regarded that it was later adapted back into Italian by later Italian librettists. Opitz and Schütz' were probably attracted by religious content of the work, rather than the purely pagan mythology of Dafne or Euridice. The electoral secretary to the Saxon Court, Johann Seusse also e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heinrich Schütz
Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as one of the most important composers of the 17th century. He is credited with bringing the Italian style to Germany and continuing its evolution from the Renaissance into the Early Baroque. Most of his surviving music was written for the Lutheran church, primarily for the Electoral Chapel in Dresden. He wrote what is traditionally considered the first German opera, '' Dafne'', performed at Torgau in 1627, the music of which has since been lost, along with nearly all of his ceremonial and theatrical scores. Schütz was a prolific composer, with more than 500 surviving works. He is commemorated as a musician in the Calendar of Saints of some North American Lutheran churches on 28 July with Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel. Early life Schütz was born in Köstritz, the eldest son ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle, famine, and disease, while some areas of what is now modern Germany experienced population declines of over 50%. Related conflicts include the Eighty Years' War, the War of the Mantuan Succession, the Franco-Spanish War, and the Portuguese Restoration War. Until the 20th century, historians generally viewed it as a continuation of the religious struggle initiated by the 16th-century Reformation within the Holy Roman Empire. The 1555 Peace of Augsburg attempted to resolve this by dividing the Empire into Lutheran and Catholic states, but over the next 50 years the expansion of Protestantism beyond these boundaries destabilised the settlement. While most modern commentators accept differences over religion and Imperial authority were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Origins Of Opera
The art form known as ''opera'' originated in Italy in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, though it drew upon older traditions of medieval and Renaissance courtly entertainment. The word ''opera'', meaning "work" in Italian, was first used in the modern musical and theatrical sense in 1639 and soon spread to the other European languages. The earliest operas were modest productions compared to other Renaissance forms of sung drama, but they soon became more lavish and took on the spectacular stagings of the earlier genre known as intermedio. '' Dafne'' by Jacopo Peri was the earliest composition considered opera, as understood today, although with only five instrumental parts it was much more like a chamber opera than either the preceding intermedi or the operas of Claudio Monteverdi a few years later. It was written around 1597, largely under the inspiration of an elite circle of literate Florentine humanists who gathered as the " Camerata". Significantly, ''Dafne'' wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christian I, Duke Of Saxe-Merseburg
Christian I of Saxe-Merseburg ( Dresden, 27 October 1615 – Merseburg, 18 October 1691), was the first duke of Saxe-Merseburg and a member of the House of Wettin. He was the sixth (third surviving) son of Johann Georg I, Elector of Saxony, and his second wife Magdalene Sibylle of Prussia. Life As a younger son, Christian had little prospect of inheriting the Electorate of Saxony, and instead received from his father in 1650 the administration of the former Bishopric of Merseburg, which had been confiscated after the Reformation. He was also elected by the Chapter of the cathedral. In a testament signed on 20 July 1652, the Elector John George I settled on an official division of the Albertine lands. Christian moved to Merseburg with his wife and children on 30 September 1653 and set up a household of his own. His court soon encompassed 150 people. Christian took formal possession of his lands on 22 April 1657, a few months after the funeral of his father on 27 Janua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maurice, Duke Of Saxe-Zeitz
Maurice of Saxe-Zeitz (28 March 1619 – 4 December 1681) was a duke of Saxe-Zeitz and member of the House of Wettin. Born in Dresden, he was the youngest surviving son of John George I, Elector of Saxony, and his second wife Magdalene Sibylle of Prussia. Life Together with his brothers, Maurice was educated at the court of the Elector of Saxony in Dresden. Among his teachers, Field Marshal Kurt of Einsiedel took an outstanding role. From August 1642 until September 1645, Maurice and his brother Christian took a Grand Tour through northern Germany and the Netherlands. In 1645, shortly after his return home, Maurice was selected by Prince Ludwig I of Anhalt-Köthen to be a member of the Fruitbearing Society. In 1650, he was appointed Bailiwick of Thuringia by the Teutonic Knights. He selected as his chancellor and president to his consistory the noted state scientist and theologian Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff. As ''Hofprediger'' he chose the dramatist Johann Sebastian Mitter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
August Buchner
August Buchner (2 November 1591 – 12 February 1661) was a German philologist, poet and literary scholar, an influential professor of poetry and rhetoric at the University of Wittenberg. Career Buchner was born in Dresden the son of Paul Buchner and his wife Maria, the daughter of the mayor of Dresden . After private education, he attended from 17 November 1604 the '' Landesschule Pforta'', where he received education in religion, classical languages and the liberal arts. He studied at the University of Wittenberg from 19 November 1610, first law and philosophy. He studied poetry with and , ethics with , Greek with , and rhetoric with . Before he achieved the magister degree, he was appointed professor of poetry in 1616 as the successor of Rodenberg by the court of Saxony. Among his students are Simon Dach, Paul Fleming, Johann Franck, Paul Gerhardt, Christian Gueintz, Christian Keymann, Balthasar Kindermann, Johann Klaj, Martin Opitz, David Schirmer, Andreas Tschernin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as the Mass, requiem and sacred cantata, or the story line of a ballet. ''Libretto'' (; plural ''libretti'' ), from Italian, is the diminutive of the word ''libro'' ("book"). Sometimes other-language equivalents are used for libretti in that language, ''livret'' for French works, ''Textbuch'' for German and ''libreto'' for Spanish. A libretto is distinct from a synopsis or scenario of the plot, in that the libretto contains all the words and stage directions, while a synopsis summarizes the plot. Some ballet historians also use the word ''libretto'' to refer to the 15 to 40 page books which were on sale to 19th century ballet audiences in Paris and contained a very detailed description of the ballet's story, scene by sce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orpheus
Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracians, Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned Ancient Greek poetry, poet and, according to the legend, travelled with Jason and the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece, and even descended into the Underworld of Hades, to recover his lost wife Eurydice. Ancient Greek authors as Strabo and Plutarch note Orpheus's Thracians, Thracian origins. The major stories about him are centered on his ability to charm all living things and even stones with his music (the usual scene in Orpheus mosaics), his attempt to retrieve his wife Eurydice from the Greek underworld, underworld, and his death at the hands of the maenads of Dionysus, who tired of his mourning for his late wife Eurydice. As an archetype of the inspired singer, Orpheus is one of the most significant figures in the classical reception studies, reception of classical myth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolfram Steude
Wolfram Steude (20 September 1931 – 9 March 2006) was a German musicologist and musician. Life Born in Plauen, Steude is the grandson of the Dresden architect . He graduated from the Dresden Kreuzschule and was a Crucian under Rudolf Mauersberger for two years. He studied Church music and organ at the Church Music Institute of the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig and at the . Afterwards he studied music and art until 1958. He received his doctorate in 1973 in Rostock with Rudolf Eller. From 1955 he was a full-time cantor, first in Leipzig and later until 1976 in Dresden-Loschwitz. Between 1961 and 1981 Steude worked first as a freelancer and then full-time in the music department of the Saxon State Library in Dresden. In 1985, he was jointly responsible for the Heinrich Schütz Honour of the GDR and was honoured for this with the National Prize of the German Democratic Republic. Until 1996 he worked first as a lecturer and curator, and from 1992 as professor at the Dre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peneus
In Greek mythology, Peneus (; Ancient Greek: Πηνειός) was a Thessalian river god, one of the three thousand Rivers (Potamoi), a child of Oceanus and Tethys. Family The nymph Creusa bore him one son, Hypseus, who was King of the Lapiths, and three daughters, Menippe (mother of Phrastor by Pelasgus), Daphne and Stilbe.Diodorus Siculus, 4.69.1 Some sources state that he was the father of Cyrene, alternately known as his granddaughter through Hypseus. Daphne, in an Arcadian version of the myth, was instead the daughter of the river god Ladon. Peneus also had a son Atrax with Bura, and Andreus with an unknown consort. Tricce (or Tricca), eponym of the city Tricca, was mentioned as his daughter. In later accounts, Peneus was credited to be the father of Chrysogenia who consorted with Zeus and became the mother of Thissaeus. Pseudo-Clement, '' Recognitions'' 10.21-23 Meanwhile, his daughter Astabe coupled with Hermes and became the parents of Astacus, father ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never far from the Sun, either as morning star or evening star. Aside from the Sun and Moon, Venus is the brightest natural object in Earth's sky, capable of casting visible shadows on Earth at dark conditions and being visible to the naked eye in broad daylight. Venus is the second largest terrestrial object of the Solar System. It has a surface gravity slightly lower than on Earth and has a very weak induced magnetosphere. The atmosphere of Venus, mainly consists of carbon dioxide, and is the densest and hottest of the four terrestrial planets at the surface. With an atmospheric pressure at the planet's surface of about 92 times the sea level pressure of Earth and a mean temperature of , the carbon dioxide gas at Venus's surface is in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cupid
In classical mythology, Cupid (Latin Cupīdō , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus and the god of war Mars. He is also known in Latin as ' ("Love"). His Greek counterpart is Eros.''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215. Although Eros is generally portrayed as a slender winged youth in Classical Greek art, during the Hellenistic period, he was increasingly portrayed as a chubby boy. During this time, his iconography acquired the bow and arrow that represent his source of power: a person, or even a deity, who is shot by Cupid's arrow is filled with uncontrollable desire. In myths, Cupid is a minor character who serves mostly to set the plot in motion. He is a main character only in the tale of Cupid and Psyche, when wounded by his own weapons, he experiences the ordeal of love. Although other extended stories are not told abo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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