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Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli (; 4 April 1752 – 5 May 1837) was an Italian
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 def ...
, chiefly of
opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
during the classical period.


Life


Early career

Zingarelli was born in Naples, where he studied (from the age of 7) at the Santa Maria di Loreto conservatory under Fenaroli and Speranza. In 1789–1790 Zingarelli went to Paris to compose ''Antigone''. He left France hurriedly at the time of the
revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...
and eventually returned to Italy. He was appointed
maestro di cappella ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (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 has evolved considerably in i ...
at
Milan Cathedral Milan Cathedral ( ; ), or Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of the Nativity of Saint Mary (), is the cathedral church of Milan, Lombardy, Italy. Dedicated to the Nativity of Mary, Nativity of St. Mary (), it is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdi ...
in 1793, and remained there until 1794, when he took up the prestigious post of maestro di cappella at the
Basilica della Santa Casa The Basilica della Santa Casa () is a Marian shrine in Loreto, Marche, Loreto, in Marche, the Marches, Italy. The basilica is known for enshrining the house in which the Blessed Virgin Mary is believed by some Catholics to have lived. Pious legen ...
, Loreto.


Rome

In 1804, Zingarelli was appointed choir master of the
Sistine Chapel The Sistine Chapel ( ; ; ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the pope's official residence in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), it takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who had it built between 1473 and ...
in Rome. Seven years later he publicly refused, as an Italian patriot, to conduct a
Te Deum The ( or , ; from its incipit, ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to a date before AD 500, but perhaps with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin ...
for
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
's new-born son, known as King of Rome, in
St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (), or simply St. Peter's Basilica (; ), is a church of the Italian High Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the city of Rome, Italy. It was initiall ...
. As a result of this refusal he was captured and taken to Paris. Nevertheless, the Emperor was a great admirer of Zingarelli's music and soon gave the composer his liberty. In addition, Zingarelli was awarded a state pension.


Naples

In 1813, Zingarelli moved to Naples, where he became director of the conservatory. Then in 1816 he replaced
Giovanni Paisiello Giovanni Paisiello (or Paesiello; 9 May 1740 – 5 June 1816) was an Italian composer of the Classical era, and was the most popular opera composer of the late 1700s. His operatic style influenced Mozart and Rossini. Life Paisiello was born i ...
as choir master of
Naples Cathedral The Naples Cathedral (; ), or the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary (), is a Roman Catholic cathedral, the main church of Naples, southern Italy, and the seat of the Archbishop of Naples. It is widely known as the Cathedral of Saint Januarius ...
, a position he held until his death in 1837. He died at
Torre del Greco Torre del Greco (; ; "Greek man's Tower") is a ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Naples in Italy, with a population of c. 85,000 . The locals are sometimes called ''Corallini'' because of the once plentiful coral in the nearby sea, and becaus ...
in 1837.
Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian Romantic composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''bel canto'' opera ...
wrote a ''sinfonia funebre'' for his funeral.


Works


Opera

In his early career, Zingarelli concentrated on writing opera; his debut was with the
opera seria ''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called ''dramma per musica'' or ''melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to abou ...
''Montezuma'', given at San Carlo on 13 August 1781, which aroused some interest, although the public in Naples found it too “learned”.
Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
revived it at the
Eszterháza Eszterháza is a palace in Fertőd, Hungary, built by Prince Nikolaus I, Prince Esterházy, Nikolaus Esterházy. Sometimes called the "Hungarian Palace of Versailles, Versailles", it is Hungary's grandest Rococo edifice. It was the home of Josep ...
theatre in 1785. ''Antigone'', in which Zingarelli adopted some of the reform principles of French opera, won little favour in Paris; after that he eschewed innovation and contented himself with tried and tested formulae. Zingarelli wrote 37 mainly comic operas in a prolific career. Between 1785 and 1803 he wrote mainly for
La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...
of Milan, the first to be produced here being ''Alsinda''. He achieved immediate success with ''Il mercato di Monfregoso'' and ''La secchia rapita''. However '' Giulietta e Romeo'' is nowadays often considered his best opera. His last opera, ''Berenice'', achieved considerable success in his lifetime after its initial production in Rome. Surviving operas include: *''Montezuma'' (1781) *''Alsinda'' (1785) *''Ifigenia in Aulide'' (1787) *''Artaserse'' (1789) *''Antigone'' (1790) *''La morte di Cesare'' (1790) *''Pirro re di Epiro'' (1791) *''Annibale in Torino'' (1792) *''L'oracolo sannita'' (1792) *''Il mercato di Monfregoso'' (1792) *''Apelle'' (1793, revised as ''Apelle e Campaspe'' (1795) *''Quinto Fabio'' (1794) *''Il conte di Saldagna'' (1794) *''Gli Orazi e i Curiazi'' (1795) *'' Giulietta e Romeo'' (1796) *''La morte di Mitridate'' (1797) *''Ines de Castro'' (1798) *''Carolina e Mexicow'' (1798) *''Meleagro'' (1798) *''Il ritratto'' (1799) *''Il ratto delle Sabine'' (1799) *''Clitennestra'' (1800) *''Edipo a Colono'' (1802) *''Il bevitore fortunato'' (1803) *''Berenice regina d'Armenia'' (1811) There are 4 doubtful works; and 17 operas were lost including: *''La secchia rapita'' (1793) *''Baldovino'' (1811) (libretto by Jacopo Ferretti)


Sacred music

Being a deeply religious
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, Zingarelli devoted much of his attention to masses,
oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...
s,
cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...
s, and
motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...
s. For Loreto he composed 541 works, including 28 masses. In 1829, aged 80, he wrote a ''Cantata Sacra'', based on
Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "Yahweh is salvation"; also known as Isaias or Esaias from ) was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. The text of the Book of Isaiah refers to Isaiah as "the prophet" ...
chapter 12 for the Birmingham Music Festival. This was the occasion for the memorably inauspicious début of his protégé and representative Michael Costa, aged 19. The intention was that Costa should rehearse and conduct the work, but J. B Cramer and Thomas Greatorex elbowed him out and was instead engaged as a tenor soloist in another concert. Unfortunately both the work and Costa's singing met with ferocious criticism: " his cantatais one of the most tame, insipid things we were ever doomed to hear: a heap of common-place trash from the first to the last note. After twaddling in B-flat for half-an-hour, he ventures for a few bars into F, then returns to B, and there is an end." "As a singer ostais far below mediocrity, and he does not compensate for his vocal deficiencies by his personal address, which is abundantly awkward. In the theatre while singing the air "Nel furor delle tempeste" Bellini's ''Il pirata">Vincenzo_Bellini.html" ;"title="rom Vincenzo Bellini">Bellini's ''Il pirata]'' and accompanying himself, he had a narrow escape. The tempests proved contagious, and were beginning to manifest themselves in the galleries, and had he remained but a few moments longer on the stage, he would have witnessed a storm compared to which the roarings of his own Vesuvius would have seemed but a murmur." Less than a month before his death he produced an oratorio, ''The Flight into Egypt'', and his
requiem mass A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is u ...
, composed for his own funeral, is said to embody his most devotional church style.


Educational works

Zingarelli wrote two influential books of partimenti, which are the biggest corpus of partimenti after those of Fedele Fenaroli.


See also

*


References


Further reading

*


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zingarelli, Nicola Antonio 1752 births 1837 deaths 18th-century Italian male musicians 18th-century Italian composers 19th-century Italian classical composers 19th-century Italian male musicians Catholic liturgical composers Italian opera composers Italian male opera composers Composers from Naples Neapolitan school composers People from Torre del Greco Musicians from the Kingdom of Naples