Niccolò Jommelli
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Niccolò Jommelli (; 10 September 1714 – 25 August 1774) 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 ...
of the Neapolitan School. Along with other composers mainly in the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
and France, he was responsible for certain operatic reforms including reducing ornateness of style and the primacy of star singers somewhat.


Biographical information


Early life

Jommelli was born to Francesco Antonio Jommelli and Margarita Cristiano in
Aversa Aversa () is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Caserta in Campania, southern Italy, about 24 km north of Naples. It is the centre of an agricultural district, the ''Agro Aversano'', producing wine and cheese (famous for the typical dome ...
, a town some north of
Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
. He had one brother, Ignazio, who became a Dominican friar and was of some help to him in his elder years, and three sisters. His father was a prosperous
linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong and absorbent, and it dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. Lin ...
merchant, who entrusted him for musical instruction to Canon Muzzillo, the director of the choir of Aversa Cathedral. When this proved successful, he was enrolled in 1725 at the Conservatorio di Santo Onofrio a Capuana in Naples, where he studied under Ignazio Prota alongside Tomaso Prota and Francesco Feo. Three years later he was transferred to the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini, where he was trained under Niccolò Fago, with Don Giacomo Sarcuni and Andrea Basso, as second maestri (''maestri di canto''), or singing teachers. He was greatly influenced by Johann Adolf Hasse, who was in Naples during this period. After completing his studies he began work, and wrote two opere buffe, ''L'errore amoroso'' in early 1737 and ''Odoardo'' in late 1738. His first
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 ...
, ''Ricimero re di Goti'', was such a success in Rome in 1740 that he immediately received a commission from
Henry Benedict Stuart Henry Benedict Thomas Edward Maria Clement Francis Xavier Stuart, Cardinal Duke of York (6 March 1725 – 13 July 1807) was a Roman Catholic Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal, and was the third and final Jacobitism, Jacobite heir to pub ...
, the Cardinal-Duke of York. When still studying at the conservatory, Jommelli was impressed with Hasse's use of ''obbligato'' recitative to increase the tension at certain dramatic moments in his operas. Speaking of obbligato recitative for ''Ricimero'', Charles de Brosses says that Jommelli's use of ''obbligato'' recitative was better than anything he had heard in France. Charles de Brosses, ''L'Italie il y a cent ans, ou lettres écrites d'Italie à quelques amis en 1739 et 1740''


First operas

His first opera, the comedy ''L'errore amoroso'', was presented, with great success, under the protection of the Marquis del Vasto, Giovanni Battista d'Avalos, in the winter of 1737 at the Teatro Nuovo of Naples. It was followed the next year by a second comic opera, ''Odoardo'', in the Teatro dei Fiorentini. His first serious opera ''Ricimero rè de' Goti'', presented in the Roman Teatro Argentina in January 1740, brought him to the attention and then the protection of the Duke of York, Henry Benedict. The duke would later be raised to the rank of cardinal and procure Jommelli an appointment at the Vatican. During the 1740s, Jommelli wrote operas for many Italian cities: Bologna, Venice, Turin, Padua, Ferrara, Lucca, Parma, Naples and Rome.


Studies with Padre Martini

When in Bologna in 1741 for the production of his ''Ezio'', Jommelli (in a situation blurred by anecdotes) met Padre Martini. Saverio Mattei said that Jommelli studied with Martini, and claimed to have learned with him "the art of escaping any anguish or aridity". Nonetheless, his constant travelling to produce his many operas seems to have prevented him from ever taking composition lessons on a regular basis. Moreover, his relationship with Martini was not without mutual criticism. The main result of his stay in Bologna and his association with Martini was to present to the Accademia Filarmonica of that city, as application for admission, his first known sacred composition, a five-voice fugue a cappella on the final words of the small doxology, "Sicut erat". Musicologist Karl Gustav Fellerer, who examined several such works, testifies that Jommelli's piece, though being just "a rigid school work", could well rank among the best admission pieces now stored in the Bolognese Accademia Filarmonica. During the early 1740s he wrote an increasing amount of religious music, mainly oratorios, and his first liturgical piece still extant, a very simple "Lætatus sum" in F major dated 1743, is part of the Santini collection in
Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...
. Shortly after his time in Bologna, Jommelli moved to Venice and composed ''Merope'', which was the forerunner for French operatic style later in the century. In the years immediately after this, he wrote operas for Venice, Turin, Bologna, Ferrara and Padua, and two popular oratorios, ''Isacco figura del Redentore'' and ''Betulia liberata''.


Venice

Some time around 1745, Hasse recommended Jommelli for a position as the Director of Music at the Ospedale degli Incurabili in Venice, one of that city's colleges for female musicians. This full-time employment required him to compose sacred music (mostly settings of the
Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...
and the Divine Office), but the financial security it gave him also allowed him to compose several other dramatic works. Hasse's recommended appointment of Jommelli as ''maestro di cappella'' to the Ospedale degl' Incurabili in Venice is not definitively documented. But in 1745, he did start writing religious works for the women's choir of the church of the Incurabili, San Salvatore, as part of his obligations as chapel master along with teaching the more advanced students of the institution. There are no manuscripts of Jommelli's music composed for the Incurabili, but there are many copies of different versions of several of his works that may, with some certainty, be attributed to his period as maestro there. Among the music Helmut Hochstein lists as being composed for Venice are to be found four oratorios: "Isacco figura del Redentore", "La Betulia liberata", "Joas" and "Juda proditor"; some numbers in a collection of solo motets called "Modulamina Sacra"; one Missa breve in F major with a Credo in D major, probably a second Mass in G major, one Te Deum and five psalms. Although two of his earliest biographers, Mattei and Villarosa, give 1748 as the year when Jommelli gave up his employment in Venice, his last compositions for the Incurabili are from 1746. He must have left Venice at the very end of 1746 or at the beginning of the following year, because on 28 January 1747 Jommelli was staging at the Argentina theatre in Rome his first version of "Didone abbandonata", and in May at San Carlo in Naples a second version of "Eumene".


Rome

It was the need of an active chapel master for the basilica of St. Peter's in preparing for the Jubilee festival year that brought both Jommelli and Davide Perez to Rome in 1749, a year-long commemoration celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church every fifty years, so this was an important occasion for the Roman aristocracy to show off. Jommelli was summoned by the Cardinal Duke of York, Henry Benedict, to compose for him a setting of Metastasio's oratorio '' La passione di Gesù Cristo'' still played annually in Rome, and who presented him to Cardinal Alessandro Albani, an intimate of Pope Benedict XIV.


Stuttgart and last years

He subsequently visited Vienna before taking a post as Kapellmeister to Duke Karl Eugen of Württemberg in Stuttgart in 1753. This period saw some of his greatest successes, including the composition of what are regarded as some of his best works. Many were staged at the Duke's private theatres in the Palace of Ludwigsburg, outside Stuttgart.
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
and his father Leopold passed through Ludwigsburg in 1763 on their " grand tour" and met the composer. Jommelli returned to Naples in 1768, by which time ''
opera buffa Opera buffa (, "comic opera"; : ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramma bernesc ...
'' was more popular than Jommelli's ''
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 ...
'', and his last works were not so well received. He suffered a
stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...
in 1771 which partially paralyzed him, but continued to work until his death three years later, in Naples.


Works

Jommelli wrote
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,
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 and other sacred works, but by far the most important part of his output were his operas, particularly his '' opere serie'' of which he composed around sixty, several with libretti by Metastasio. These tended to concentrate more on the story and drama of the opera than on flashy technical displays by the singers, as was the norm in Italian opera at that time. He wrote more ensemble numbers and choruses, and, influenced by French opera composers such as
Jean-Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; ; – ) was a French composer and music theory, music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of ...
, introduced
ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
s into his work. He used the orchestra (particularly the
wind instrument A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator (usually a tube) in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set at or near the end of the resonator. The pitch ...
s) in a much more prominent way to depict what was going on in the story, including passages for orchestra alone, rather than consigning it to merely support for the singers. From Hasse, he learned to write orchestrally accompanied
recitative Recitative (, also known by its Italian name recitativo () is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repeat lines ...
s rather than just "secco" recitatives for voice and continuo (mainly
harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...
). His reforms are sometimes regarded as equal in importance to
Christoph Willibald Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; ; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period (music), classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of th ...
's.


Chamber music

*Sonata in C for Organ 4-Hands (c. 1750) *Trio Sonata in D for 2 Flutes and Cello (c. 1750)


Instrumental music

*''Ciaccona'' in Eb for Organ, Op. 5/13 (c. 1764) *“Sinfonia di Salterio” with two violins and basso continuo


Masses

*''Missa pro defunctis'' (Requiem) in Eb (1756) *''Missa solemnis'' in D for Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass, Choir and Orchestra (1766)


Psalms

*''Beatus vir'' (c. 1750) *''Laetatus sum'' (Psalm 122) in F (1743) *''Miserere'' (Psalm 51) in G a 4 concertato (1749) *''Miserere'' in G minor for 5 voices (SSATB), choir and continuo, HC1.23 (1750) *''Miserere'' in D for 2 sopranos, alto and tenor (1751, for Rome) *''Miserere'' in E minor for 8 voices (1753, for Stuttgart) *''Pietà, pietà, Signore (Miserere)'' in G minor for 2 sopranos, strings and continuo (1774)


Oratorios

*''Isacco, figura del Redentore'' (1742) *'' Betulia liberata'' per 4 voci, coro e strumenti (Rome, 1743) – libretto by Metastasio *''
Gioas re di Giuda ''Gioas re di Giuda'' (Joas, king of Judah) is an Italian-language oratorio libretto by Pietro Metastasio written in 1735 for imperial court composer Georg Reutter the younger and later set by at least 25 composers.Howard E. Smither, ''A History o ...
'' (Venice, 1745) – libretto by Metastasio *'' La Passione di Gesù Cristo'' per 4 voci (Venice, 1749) – libretto by Metastasio


Operas

*''L'errore amoroso'' (Naples, 1737) – libretto by Antonio Palomba *''Odoardo'' (Naples, 1738) *''Ricimero re de' Goti'' (Rome, 1740) *''Astianatte'' (Rome, 1741) – libretto by Antonio Salvi *''Ezio'' (Bologna, 1741) – libretto by Metastasio *''Semiramide riconosciuta'' (Turin, 1741) – libretto by Metastasio *''Merope'' (Venice, 1741) – libretto by Apostolo Zeno *''Don Chichibio'' (Rome, 1742) *''Eumene'' (Bologna, 1742) – libretto by Apostolo Zeno *''Semiramide'' (Venice, 1742) – libretto by Francesco Silvani *''Tito Manlio'' (Turin, 1743) – libretto by Gaetano Roccaforte *''Demofoonte'' (Padua, 1743) – libretto by Metastasio *'' Alessandro nell'Indie'' (
Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...
, 1744) – libretto by Metastasio *''Ciro riconosciuto'' (Ferrara, 1744; later in Bologna and Venice) – libretto by Metastasio *''Sofonisba'' (Venice, 1746) – libretto by Antonio Zanetti e Girolamo Zanetti *'' Cajo Mario'' (Rome, 1746) – libretto by Gaetano Roccaforte *''Antigono'' (
Lucca Città di Lucca ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its Province of Lucca, province has a population of 383,9 ...
, 1746) – libretto by Metastasio *''Tito Manlio'' (Venice, 1746) – libretto by Jacopo Antonio Sanvitale *''Didone abbandonata'' (Rome, 1747; later in Stuttgart) – libretto by Metastasio *''L'amore in maschera'' (Naples, 1748) – libretto by Antonio Palomba *''Achille in Sciro'' (Vienna, 1749; much later in Rome) – libretto by Metastasio *''Artaserse'' (Rome, 1749) – libretto by Metastasio *''Demetrio'' (Parma, 1749) – libretto by Metastasio *Intermezzo ''Don Trastullo'' (Rome, 1749) *Intermezzo ''L’uccelatrice e il Don Narciso'' (Venice, 1751) – libretto by Carlo Goldoni *''Cesare in Egitto'' (Rome, 1751) – libretto by Giacomo Francesco Bussani *''Ifigenia in Aulide'' (Rome, 1751) – libretto by Mattia Verazi *''La villana nobile'' (Palermo, 1751) – libretto by Antonio Palomba *''Ipermestra'' (Spoleto, 1751) – libretto by Metastasio *''Talestri'' (Rome, 1751) – libretto by Gaetano Roccaforte *''I rivali delusi'' (Rome, 1752) *''Attilio Regolo'' (Rome, 1753) *''Bajazette'' (Turin, 1753) – libretto by Agostino Piovene *''Fetonte'' (Stuttgart, 1753) – libretto by Leopoldo de Villati *''La clemenza di Tito'' (Stuttgart, 1753) – libretto by Metastasio *''Il paratajo'' (Paris, 1753) – revision of ''L’uccelatrice e il Don Narciso'' *''Don Falcone'' (Bologna, 1754) *'' Catone in Utica'' (Stuttgart, 1754) – libretto by Metastasio *''Lucio Vero'' (Milan, 1754) *''Il giardino incantato'' (Stuttgart, 1755) *''Enea nel Lazio'' (Stuttgart, 1755) – libretto by Mattia Verazi *''Penelope'' (Stuttgart, 1755) – libretto by Mattia Verazi *''Il Creso'' (Rome, 1757) – libretto by Giovacchino Pizzi *''Temistocle ''(Naples, 1757) – libretto by Metastasio *''Tito Manlio'' (Stuttgart, 1758) *''Ezio'' (Stuttgart, 1758) *''L'asilo d'amore'' (Stuttgart, 1758) *''Endimione'' (Stuttgart, 1759) *''Nitteti'' (Stuttgart, 1759) – libretto by Metastasio *''Alessandro nell'Indie'' (Stuttgart, 1760) *''Cajo Fabrizio'' (Mannheim, 1760) – libretto by Mattia Verazi *''L'Olimpiade'' (Stuttgart, 1761) – libretto by Metastasio *''L'isola disabitata'' (Ludwigsburg, 1761) – libretto by Metastasio *''Semiramide riconosciuta'' (Stuttgart, 1762) *''Il trionfo d'amore'' (Ludwigsburg, 1763) – libretto by Giampiero Tagliazucchi *''Demofoonte'' (Stuttgart, 1764) *''Il re pastore'' (Ludwigsburg, 1764) – libretto by Metastasio *''La pastorella illustre'' (Stuttgart, 1764) – libretto by Giampiero Tagliazucchi *''Temistocle'' (Ludwigsburg, 1765) *''Imeneo in Atene'' (Ludwigsburg, 1765) *''Il matrimonio per concorso'' (Ludwigsburg, 1766) – libretto by Gaetano Martinelli *''La critica'' (Ludwigsburg, 1766) *'' Il Vologeso'' (Ludwigsburg, 1766) – libretto by Mattia Verazi *''Il matrimonio per concorso'' (Ludwigsburg, 1766) *''Il cacciatore deluso'' (Tübingen, 1767) – libretto by Gaetano Martinelli *''Fetonte'' (Ludwigsburg, 1768) *''L'unione coronata'' (Solitude, 1768) *''La schiava liberata'' (Ludwigsburg, 1768) – libretto by Gaetano Martinelli *'' Armida abbandonata'' (Naples, 1770) – libretto by Francesco Saverio de' Rogati *''Demofoonte'' (Naples, 1770) *'' Ifigenia in Tauride'' (Naples, 1771) – libretto by Mattia Verazi *''L'amante cacciatore'' (Rome, 1771) *''Le avventure di Cleomede'' (1771) – libretto by Gaetano Martinelli *''Cerere placata'' (Naples, 1772) *''Il trionfo di Clelia'' (Naples, 1774) – libretto by Metastasio


Recordings

* ''Agonia di Christo'', conducted by Roberto Gini and Ensemble Concerto (1991), Nuova Era records: ''Agonia di Cristo. E altri musiche per il Venerdi Santo.'' *One concerto in ''Neapolitan Flute Concertos'', Auser Musici, Carlo Ipata (2010), Hyperion CDA 67784 *Six trio sonatas, played by the Accademia Farnese (Oct. 20, 1997), Mondo Musica label *''Armida abbandonata'', conducted by Rousset (Maison de la Radio, Paris, July 24 to Aug. 2, 1994), FNAC label *''Didone abbandonata'', conducted by Bernius (1994), Orfeo label *''Il Vologeso'', conducted by Bernius (1997), Orfeo label *''L'uccelatrice e il Don Narciso'', conducted by Fracassi (live in Piacenza, 2000), Bongiovanni label *''L'uccelatrice e il Don Narciso'', conducted by Moretto (live in Milan, 2003), Dynamic label *Requiem, Coro e Orchestra Ghislieri conducted by Giulio Prandi (studio recording, 2019), Arcana Label *''Il Vologeso'', The Mozartists, conducted by Ian Page (2021), Signum Records


References


Citations


Sources

* Maurício Dottori. ''The Church Music of Davide Perez and Niccolò Jommelli''. Curitiba: DeArtes-UFPR, 2008
(via Google Books)


External links


Don Trastullo
*
Istituto Internazionale per lo studio del '700 musicale napoletano
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jommelli, Niccolo 1714 births 1774 deaths 18th-century Italian male musicians 18th-century Italian composers Italian Classical-period composers Italian opera composers Italian male opera composers Neapolitan school composers People from Aversa