BARBARA STROZZI 043

Barbara Strozzi
c. 1619–1677, ITALIAN
Born into the male world of 17th-century Venice, Strozzi was the most-
IN CONTEXT
published composer of secular vocal music in her day and a key figure The Unknowns and the
in the rise of the cantata and aria. Like-Minded
Giulio Strozzi (1583–1652), Barbara
Strozzi’s father, was a member of the
Born in Venice around 1619, Barbara ◁ CANTATA BY STROZZI Academia degli Incogniti (Academy of
Strozzi was the illegitimate child and The original piano sheet shown here is the Unknowns), a circle of prominent
in Barbara Strozzi’s own handwriting— Venetian intellectuals who were
adopted daughter of the influential highly influential in political and
the composer was an important figure
poet Giulio Strozzi. Her mother, in the development of the Italian cantata. cultural life in the region and did
Isabella Garzoni, was a servant and much to promote opera in Venice. In
possibly also a courtesan (a high- 1637, Giulio founded the Accademia
degli Unisoni (the Academy of the
class prostitute) of Giulio’s. A member to the private sphere of writing and Like-Minded), a musical offshoot of
of the Accademia degli Incogniti performing, in the very limited genres the Unknowns, where he showcased
(Academy of the Unknowns, see box, of secular vocal and chamber music, his daughter’s vocal and musical
right), Giulio used his elite connections to small, elite circles of men (see box). talent. Barbara was the academy’s
dazzling hostess and would often sing
to promote his daughter’s musical and perform her own compositions.
talents, and sent her off to study Finding a voice Women were seldom permitted into
with the prominent composer and Nonetheless, her work was popular such gatherings—her presence
pioneer of opera Francesco Cavalli. in England, Austria, and Germany, there sparked scandal and satirical
commentary, and contributed to her
as well as Venice. Her success as reputation not only as a notable, and
A woman’s work a prolific female composer was beautiful, composer-performer, but
By 1637, aged 18, Strozzi had made due to her tenacity, shrewdness in also as a courtesan.
a name for herself as a virtuoso business, and scant regard for what
singer, and in 1644 she launched was deemed respectable for women
her career as a female composer Following the death of her father in of her day. Far from concealing her
with the publication of her First Book 1652, Strozzi published numerous identity behind a male pseudonym—
of Madrigals for two to four voices. works (no doubt for financial reasons): a tactic used by many women who
By her early thirties, she had four more than 100 pieces of secular vocal wanted their voices to be heard—
children. Their father was probably music—ariettas; arias; and lengthy, she put her name to all her works.
Giovanni Vidman, patron of the arts complex cantatas—and a book of Strozzi lived most of her life in
and a friend of her father. However, sacred songs. Most of her music is for Venice but died in Padua in 1677. Her
Strozzi was a single mother and never solo soprano and focuses on themes popularity waned after her death and
married. Unsubstantiated accounts of love and desire. Her work is notable the details of her life and work were
suggest she was also a courtesan. for her sensitivity to text and to sound. largely relegated to obscurity until the
Conspicuously absent from Strozzi’s 1990s, when they were recuperated
compositions and performances is by feminist scholars interested in
◁ BARBARA STROZZI opera, despite the fact that it was such understanding her achievements
This portrait of Strozzi with a breast
a fashionable new genre. As scholars in the context of the uncompromisingly GIULIO STROZZI, BARBARA’S FATHER,
exposed has divided critics: for some, it
confirms her status as a courtesan; for Diane Jezic and Elizabeth Wood have patriarchal environment of 17th- c. 1620s
others, it indicates her maternal role. suggested, her gender confined her century Venice.

“ Being a woman I am concerned about

publishing this work. Would that it … not
be endangered by the swords of slander. ”
BARBARA STROZZI, ON THE PUBLICATION OF HER FIRST BOOK OF MADRIGALS IN 1644
044 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES

Arcangelo Corelli
1653–1713, ITALIAN
Hailed by music theorist Angelo Berardi as “the new Orpheus of our
days,” Corelli helped to define the Italian instrumental sonata and
concerto. Despite a modest output, he was influential throughout Europe.

Among the many notable musicians Cardinal Benedetto Pamphili, a great Rome, including Handel, and traveled
who were drawn to Rome in the 17th patron of the arts and a competent beyond the Alps after Corelli signed a
century, Arcangelo Corelli was famed composer himself, lured Corelli to play publishing deal with Estienne Roger of
for his expressive violin-playing and in the Sunday concerts at his palace Amsterdam in 1712. Bach and Tartini
exemplary compositions. Although in Rome, and later appointed him were among those who based original
he was by all accounts a serene and as his music master. “Il Bolognese,” as compositions on themes by Corelli,
modest man, his performances were Corelli was known, also attracted the a trend that was revived in the 20th
said often to be fiery and dynamic. patronage of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, century by Rachmaninoff and Tippett.
Arcangelo was born in Fusignano to whom he dedicated his Op. 4 Corelli’s Op. 6 collection, published
in February 1653 into a family of collection of chamber trios. The young in 1714, a year after his death,
wealthy landowners. His father died Ottoboni, the last in a controversial contains 12 concerti grossi: eight in △ CARDINAL PIETRO OTTOBONI
just before he was born, so he and line of cardinal-nephews appointed by the so-called church style, four in the A musician himself (and also a librettist),
his four siblings were raised solely by the pope, treated Corelli as a friend, as chamber style. Europe’s music-lovers Ottoboni was one of Corelli’s patrons.
This portrait, c. 1689, shows the cardinal
their mother. He probably received his evident in his letters to the composer. were captivated by their ingenuity— in his early twenties.
first music lessons from a priest and, not least the lilting Largo from Op. 6,
in 1666, aged 13, was sent to Bologna Ingenuity and originality No. 8, the “Christmas Concerto”—
to continue his studies. An exceptional The ample orchestras belonging to and by the great economy and ease
violin-player, he was soon accepted the two cardinals served as musical of Corelli’s writing. His six publications ▷ ARCANGELO CORELLI
as a member of Bologna’s recently laboratories for Corelli. He used went through multiple editions and Corelli was born in Fusignano into a
wealthy family who waged an abortive
founded Accademia Filarmonica. them to test his concertos for strings. remained in the repertoire throughout
campaign to rule the town. His success,
These were strikingly inventive works the 18th century, rare in an age that although derived from immense talent,
From strength to strength that influenced other musicians in was hungry for the latest fashions. was certainly aided by family connections.
Corelli flourished after moving to
Rome in the mid-1670s. Propelled
by impressive family connections and ON TECHNIQUE
considerable talent, he moved up the The concerto grosso
ranks of instrumentalists to become Corelli published only six volumes
a chamber musician to the former of works, devoted to solo sonatas, trio
queen of Sweden, Christina, who had sonatas, and concertos for strings. He
lived in the city since her abdication in made significant contributions to each
genre, setting high artistic standards
1654. He dedicated his Op. 1 collection and accommodating a rich variety
of church sonatas to her and, while of moods. Corelli’s concerti grossi,
working for other members of Rome’s conceived for the large ensembles
elite, continued to perform for her until engaged by his rich Roman patrons,
served as models of independent
her death in 1689. instrumental music, set free from
the human voice and poetic texts.
They exploit contrasts of volume and
dramatic intensity between a small
group of instruments, or concertino,
and a larger company of players,
the ripieno or “full” band.

SCORE FROM CONCERTO GROSSO IN

G MINOR, ARCANGELO CORELLI, 1675
046

▷ HENRY PURCELL, c. 1695

This portrait of Henry Purcell was painted
by John Closterman in the year of the
great composer’s tragically early death
in 1695. He was just 36 and at the peak
of his career. The illness that caused
his death is unknown, although there
is speculation that it was tuberculosis.
There is also speculation that he died
from a chill, which he caught when he
came home drunk one night and his
wife locked him out of the house.

Henry Purcell
1659–1695, ENGLISH
Famed, above all, for Dido and Aeneas—the first true English
opera—Purcell was one of the greatest and most versatile
composers of the Baroque period.
HENRY PURCELL 047

◁ DIDO AND AENEAS, SET DESIGN

Illustration of the set for Purcell’s opera IN CONTEXT
Dido and Aeneas, designed by Francesco
da Bibiena in 1712. Bibiena, an architect, Purcell and Queen Mary
not only built theaters, but was famous
for his spectacular set designs. In 1689, the accession of William III
and Mary II to the throne marked a
crucial point in Purcell’s career. While
the king was something of a philistine,
birthday odes for Queen Mary II (see Queen Mary loved music and was an
box, right). But with the militaristic enthusiastic patron of the arts. For
her, Purcell wrote his finest birthday
William III opposed to elaborate
odes, including the colorful “Come,
church music, he now began to write ye sons of art.” In March 1695, he
for a broader middle-class audience: also provided the music for Mary’s
in the published sets of “choyce ayres funeral in Westminster Abbey. One of
the pieces sung at the burial service,
and songs,” in incidental music for “Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets
plays, and in the “semi-operas” (as of our hearts,” was performed at
the contemporary writer Roger North Purcell’s own funeral later that year.
dubbed them) for the Dorset Garden
Theatre, off Fleet Street. Purcell the
court composer had morphed into a
composer for the commercial stage.
All-sung opera, that dangerously
During his brief yet hectic lifetime, At the age of 18, he was appointed exotic Italian import, was still
Henry Purcell was acknowledged as “composer-in-ordinary for the king’s deemed alien to the “robust” English
unequaled among English composers. violins.” In 1679, he became organist temperament. The recipe for public
After his premature death at the age of Westminster Abbey, and a year or success was to take an existing play,
of 36, he was hailed by contemporary two later he married Frances Peters. fillet it, and stuff it with music, dance,
commentators as “our all-pleasing and spectacular scenic effects. These
Britain’s Orpheus” and “the Delight Building a career multi-media extravaganzas, involving
of the Nation and the Wonder of the For the next decade, Purcell’s career separate casts of actors, dancers,
World.” A century later, he had become centered on court and chapel, with the and singers, present a serious
“our musical Shakespeare.” None of production of verse anthems, royal challenge to today’s producers and
the composers of his day matched odes, royal welcome songs (in which are therefore rarely performed. Yet the SILVER MEDAL FOR THE CORONATION
his melodic genius or his inspired the music repeatedly transcends the four semi-operas—Dioclesian, King OF WILLIAM AND MARY, 1689
eclecticism, which absorbed the sycophantic texts), and, in 1685, Arthur, The Fairy-Queen, and The Indian
fashionable continental styles of coronation anthems for James II. His Queen—from Purcell’s final years
Lully and Corelli (see pp.44–45) sets of viol fantasias and the Italianate contain some of his most atmospheric
without sacrificing a quintessential sonatas in three and four parts reveal and melodically alluring music.
Englishness. His great sensitivity to his genius, not least in their rich
the rhythms of the English language chromatic harmonies. The poignantly
remains unsurpassed. concise Dido and Aeneas (c. 1683–1689)
Yet the biography of the composer tells the story of the love between
who became a national icon remains Aeneas, hero of Virgil’s epic poem the
fragmentary. What is certain is that Aeneid, and the Carthaginian queen
he was born into a family of court Dido, who commits suicide when
musicians in 1659, grew up in the Aeneas is tricked into abandoning her.
shadow of Westminster Abbey, After James II was overthrown in
London, and was one of 12 boy 1688, Purcell’s creative activities
trebles in the Chapel Royal. broadened. From 1689, he provided

▷ SCORE FROM THE FAIRY-QUEEN

This handwritten score is of the aria
“Thrice Happy Lovers” from Act 5 of
Purcell’s semi-opera The Fairy-Queen
of 1692. The piece cautions against
jealousy and the “anxious Care and
Strife,/That attends a married Life.”
ANTONIO VIVALDI 049

Antonio Vivaldi
1678–1741, ITALIAN
Versatile and highly prolific, Vivaldi was the outstanding Italian composer
of his time as well as a celebrated violinist. However, after his death, he
was virtually forgotten and not rediscovered until the 20th century.

◁ VENICE, FRANCESCO GUARDI

This 18th-century painting of Venice is a
contemporary view of the city so closely
associated with Vivaldi. He was born,
ordained, and fêted there for much of his
life, leaving just a year before his death.

IN CONTEXT
St. Mark’s, Venice
Vivaldi’s first known appearance as a
musician came at the age of 18, when
he performed alongside his father as
a violinist in St. Mark’s, Venice’s most
important church. It was built mainly
in the late 11th century and has a
long tradition in music. The eminent
composers associated with it include
Giovanni Gabrieli, who was principal
organist in 1585–1612, and Claudio
Monteverdi, who was music director
in 1613–1643. Music featured not only
inside the church but also in religious
Vivaldi’s name is inseparable from his own instrument, the violin), he wrote such an good amateur violinist that he processions in St. Mark’s Square.
most famous work, The Four Seasons, 50 or so operas, of which 16 survive was able to turn professional, and in
one of the most frequently performed complete and others in part, a large 1685 he began working as a musician
and recorded pieces in the classical amount of sacred music, numerous at St. Mark’s Church.
repertoire. However, these four violin sonatas for one or two instruments,
concertos represent only a tiny part and various other compositions. Critics Music and religion
of his output. In addition to about 500 have accused him of overproduction Vivaldi inherited his father’s talent
concertos (almost half of them for his and repetition, but his finest creations on the violin, so a musical career
rank among the greatest of their time. beckoned, but religion was also to
Vivaldi was born in Venice and play an important role in his life.
◁ ANTONIO VIVALDI although he traveled a good deal, In 1693, he began training for the
The heavy wig that Vivaldi wears in
within Italy and elsewhere, he spent priesthood, perhaps influenced by
this anonymous contemporary portrait
hides his red hair, which earned him the most of his life in the city. His father, an uncle who was a priest at the
nickname il prete rosso (“the red priest”). who started out as a barber, was family’s parish church.

“ I have heard him boast of composing

a concerto faster than a copyist could
write it down. ” THE NAVE OF ST. MARK’S CHURCH,
VENICE, ITALY
CHARLES DE BROSSES, FRENCH VISITOR TO VENICE, 1739
050 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES

KEY WORKS

1711 1713 c.1715 1725 1735

L’estro armonico, a Vivaldi’s first Writes Gloria, his The Four Seasons Griselda, an opera
set of 12 concertos, opera, Ottone in most famous piece is published in in which Vivaldi
is published in villa ([Emperor] Otto of choral music; it is Amsterdam in a set of collaborates with
Amsterdam and has at his Villa), has its lost after his death 12 concertos entitled the playwright Carlo
a wide influence. premiere in Vicenza. and not performed The Contest Between Goldoni, has its
again until 1939. Harmony and Invention. premiere in Venice.

Vivaldi was ordained a priest in March with the home almost until the end of to the Holy Roman Empire—where
1703, at the age of 25. Six months his life. However, his other activities he wrote several works for the
later, he was appointed violin teacher and travels meant that his services court of the music-loving governor,
at the Ospedale della Pietà (Hospital of could not be exclusive, and his Prince Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt.
Mercy), a home for orphaned and character seems at times to have In the early 1720s, he spent much
abandoned girls—one of four such caused conflict with the institution’s of his time in Rome, where several of
△ L’ESTRO ARMONICO institutions in Venice. Music was part administrators. He was notorious his operas were performed (he was
The title page of Vivaldi’s Harmonic of the curriculum at these homes and for his vanity, boastfulness, and the impresario as well as composer).
Inspiration, published in 1711, shows by Vivaldi’s time, the Pietà in particular touchiness about criticism, and From late 1729 to early 1731, he
a dedication to Ferdinand, Grand Prince of
Tuscany, a great patron of the arts, and was famous for the quality of its choir some contemporaries thought that traveled in central Europe with
of music in particular. Ferdinand’s villa at and orchestra. Leading composers his worldliness conflicted with his his elderly father, visiting Vienna
Poggio a Caiano near Florence was the wrote music especially for them and status as a priest. and perhaps also Prague.
venue for many musical performances. their concerts were eagerly attended. Vivaldi’s operas brought him into
In addition to teaching, Vivaldi’s International fame contact with an attractive young
duties at the Pietà came to include Vivaldi’s music was first published in singer called Anna Girò (or Giraud),
composing, conducting, and buying Venice in 1705, but more significantly, who regularly appeared in them,
instruments. He kept his association in 1711 Estienne Roger, a Frenchman usually in a leading role, from 1726
working in Amsterdam, to 1739. Although she was about
published a collection of 12 30 years younger than Vivaldi, there
of his concertos collectively was gossip that they were lovers. The
entitled L’estro armonico rumors were probably groundless,
(Harmonic Inspiration). Roger but they damaged Vivaldi’s career.
was the most important music In particular, in 1738 the archbishop
publisher in Europe, partly of Ferrara forbade him to enter
because of the quality of his the city and this led to canceled
engraving and printing, but performances of his operas there.
mainly because he had a highly
efficient distribution network, A late move to Vienna
with agents in Berlin, London, By this time, Vivaldi’s music had
Paris, and other cities. He played in any case passed the peak of its
a key role in securing Vivaldi’s popularity in Italy and in 1740 he
international reputation. moved to Vienna, hoping to win
▷ SCORE FOR OPUS 9, LA CETRA Vivaldi’s own travels also further patronage from the emperor
Antonio Vivaldi dedicated his set of 12 helped spread his fame. His first Charles VI (the two had first met in
concertos for the violin, entitled La cetra
opera was produced in Vicenza 1728 and Charles—an accomplished
(named after a lyre-like instrument), to
Charles VI and presented the emperor in 1713 and in 1718–1720 he amateur musician—had treated
with a manuscript copy. lived in Mantua—a city subject him generously). However, soon

“ Such playing has not been heard

before and can never be equaled … ”
J.F.A. VON UFFENBACH, ON HEARING VIVALDI PLAYING A SOLO, 1715
ANTONIO VIVALDI 051

after Vivaldi arrived, Charles died

unexpectedly and the composer’s ON TECHNIQUE
career petered out. He died in The Baroque violin
Vienna the following year and
was given a very modest funeral, The violins used in Vivaldi’s time
are superficially similar to today’s
which suggests that he was short
models, but there are significant
of money. Although he had earned differences in their design. There
a considerable amount throughout is no chin rest on the Baroque violin,
his career, he also spent profusely, because early instrumentalists
played it in a lower position than
not least on producing his operas.
the one familiar today, and the
After his death, Vivaldi’s reputation fingerboard is shorter. Strings
declined and he remained virtually are made of organic materials
forgotten throughout the 19th century. (sheep intestines) rather
than the metal or synthetic
Scholarly interest in the composer
materials that superseded
emerged in the early 20th century them. The sound produced
and in 1926 was given a boost by is typically lighter and more
the discovery of a large collection intimate than that of the
modern violin. Specialist
of his scores, including hundreds of performers of early
previously unknown works. music often use
However, Vivaldi’s popular fame Baroque violins,
did not develop significantly until the either original
instruments
1950s, closely linked with the rise or replicas.
of LP records, which first appeared
in 1948. The Four Seasons seemed
tailor-made for the new format
(with two concertos fitting neatly
on each side) and the work soon
caught the public imagination.

Concerto legacy
Although Vivaldi set great store by
his operas, they are now little known
and his reputation rests mainly on his
concertos. They are full of exuberant,
inventive music and notable for the
three-movement pattern that Vivaldi
established and that was copied by BAROQUE VIOLIN, 1750
countless others: a slow, lyrical middle
movement between two much quicker
ones—the first one typically majestic
and the third more playful. The Four
Seasons is also one of the earliest
and greatest examples of program
music—that is, music expressing a
narrative or pictorial idea: barking
dogs, rustic bagpipes, and icy
landscapes are among the vivid
images that Vivaldi conjures.

◁ CHARLES VI OF AUSTRIA
Vivaldi met Charles VI—depicted here
in a painting by Josef Kiss and Friedrich
Mayrhofer—while the emperor was
visiting Trieste. Charles became a
great admirer of Vivaldi’s work,
conferring on him the title of knight.
052

▷ GEORG PHILIPP TELEMANN

The composer and organist helped
transform German music in the first
half of the 18th century. His astonishing
output, which embraced all the main
forms of composition, amounted to
a staggering 3,000 or so works.

Georg P. Telemann
1681–1767, GERMAN
Open to every major style of composition, Telemann was a creative
powerhouse. He produced, among other treasures, some of the world’s
finest late-Baroque instrumental works.
GEORG P. TELEMANN 053

During his lifetime, Georg Philipp St. Thomas’s, Leipzig’s mayor invited She also racked up heavy gambling
Telemann was Germany’s leading him to write works for St. Thomas’s debts, paid off with help from her
composer. His output was vast: he and for New Church. Telemann formed husband’s friends, before finally
wrote almost 40 operas, more than a student band soon after, became leaving home in 1736.
1,000 church cantatas, around 125 musical director of Leipzig’s opera Telemann’s productivity in Hamburg
overture-suites, at least the same and organist of New Church, and fell alone was superhuman. But he
number of concertos, 50 sonatas, out with the envious Johann Kuhnau, still found time to freelance for the
40 quartets, a mountain of chamber St. Thomas’s overworked cantor. Bayreuth and Eisenach courts; write
music, and about 250 pieces for solo During his Leipzig apprenticeship three autobiographies; maintain
keyboard. He harmonized 500 hymns and later in service to the Count of friendships with Bach and Handel;
and published several dozen songs. Promnitz, Telemann mastered the create the first German-language
Yet Telemann was celebrated not for major European musical styles while music periodical; correspond
the quantity but for the quality of his absorbing Polish and Moravian folk with talented young composers,
work, for his innovation and invention, music. He took jobs in Eisenach, including his godson C.P.E. Bach;
his genius for combining diverse Bach’s hometown, and in Frankfurt, teach composition; write poetry;
musical styles, and his ability to where he made a rich living as broaden the bounds of what a
keep pace with changing tastes. city director of music and church musician could be; and even take
musician. In 1721, he accepted up gardening. He remained active
A secret passion an invitation to become cantor of as a composer into his eighties
Telemann was born in Magdeburg Hamburg’s famous Johanneum and was still exploring the latest
(see box, below) in 1681. His father and the musical director of its musical styles shortly before his
died soon after his birth. Although the five main churches; he increased death in 1767.
young Georg received singing lessons his workload the following year After his death, Telemann was
and basic keyboard training, he was by becoming director of the city’s airbrushed from history, partly △ SCORE, SACRED CANTATA
essentially a self-taught musician and Gänsemarkt Oper, Germany’s first because he was overshadowed This autographed score for Telemann’s
composer. His mother disapproved of public opera house. by Bach and Handel. However, in Sacred Cantata shows the section for
the first violin. It is one of more than
his passion for music, and confiscated recent years, performers have revived 1,000 church cantatas that he wrote.
all his instruments; like Handel, who Marital issues and workload select pieces from his Tafelmusik
was 50 miles (80 km) south in Halle, Telemann’s first wife had died in 1711. (Table Music) of 1733—a vast survey
he practiced and composed in secret. His second wife, his junior by 17 years, of almost every instrumental genre
Family pressure and personal with whom he had eight sons and one of the day—and championed works
ambition nudged Telemann to study daughter, had an affair with a Swedish such as Hamburger Ebb und Fluht
law at Leipzig University. After his military official that was satirized in (known as Water Music) and his
setting of Psalm 6 was performed at a Hamburg marionette play in 1724. heart-rending Brockes-Passion.

IN CONTEXT
The Thirty Years’ War
Magdeburg, devastated during the
Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648), was
in ruins when Telemann was a boy.
Memories of bloodshed and famine,
the legacy of the Protestant city’s
destruction by Catholic forces in
1631, haunted its people. The shadow
of civil war focused German minds on
promoting national and international
peace via commerce and the arts.
German composers contributed to
the harmony of nations by creating
what became known as the “mixed
taste,” a union of different styles.
Telemann proved a musical alchemist,
able to transform what he called
“French liveliness … Italian flattery …
and the British and Polish jesting”.

THE FALL OF MAGDEBURG IN 1631,

DURING THE THIRTY YEARS’ WAR
JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU 055

Jean-Philippe Rameau
1683–1764, FRENCH
Having always nursed ambitions to succeed on the stage, Rameau
produced his first opera at the age of 50. He never looked back,
becoming a highly distinguished Baroque composer and music theorist.

Jean-Philippe Rameau was born in financier Le Riche de la ◁ TITLE PAGE, CODE

Dijon to a musical family. His father Pouplinière, who enabled OF MUSIC PRACTICE IN CONTEXT
was a church organist; Jean-Philippe him to stage his opera Rameau’s Code of Music
Practice, published in 1760, War of the Buffoons
took a similar path, holding a series Hippolyte et Aricie in was a leading work of music
of posts as an organist, which he 1733. (The work later theory in the 18th century. In the early 1750s, Rameau became
embroiled in a war of words about the
combined with writing and teaching. divided the critics:
relative merits of Italian comic opera
It was Rameau’s writing that first devotees of the and its more serious counterpart in
drew him to the public’s attention. His operatic composer approach. He expanded France. The controversy was sparked
Treatise on Harmony (1722) caused Jean-Baptiste Lully Lully’s string orchestra— by the success of Giovanni Battista
Pergolesi’s La serva padrona (The
a stir and became highly influential. found it too brash, adding flutes, bassoons,
Servant turned Mistress). Performed
Two years later, a book of harpsichord too “Italian,” but it oboes, trumpets, and by a troupe known as the Bouffons
pieces cemented his reputation. He also won many admirers.) drums—and created complex (Buffoons), this prompted the French
continued to compose, concentrating harmonic interplays between his philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau
to produce a pamphlet praising the
mainly on sacred music, but a major Seizing opportunity choruses and his soloists. “Lully
vigor of the Italians. A patriotic
breakthrough still eluded him. In part, Rameau took advantage of this needs actors,” he proclaimed, “but exchange of pamphlets ensued. As
this may have been due to Rameau’s opportunity. During the 1730s, I need singers.” the leading operatic composer of
prickly temperament (the writer he composed a series of operas, the day, Rameau was often branded
a reactionary figure in these texts.
Voltaire was among those with whom including Castor et Pollux and Les Altered perceptions
he had a tempestuous relationship). Indes Galantes, which became two Rameau eventually achieved the
Eventually, he found a patron in the of his most popular productions. He same renown as Lully. Many of his
retained Lully’s varied format, with later productions were staged at the
its mix of spectacles, transformation Paris Opéra or in royal palaces and, in
◁ JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU, c. 1728 scenes, and ballet interludes—Lully’s old age, Louis XV honored him with a
Rameau’s musical career was launched
works comprise lyric tragedy, the title, a pension, and the office of royal
after having taken a trip to Italy as a
young man and playing “as first fiddle” opera-ballet, and the comedy-ballet. composer. With the rise of Italian
with a group of traveling musicians. Rameau favored a more dynamic comic opera, however, there was an
ironic turnaround in his reputation.
In his youth, the critics had dubbed
Rameau too Italian (too ornate), but
during the “War of the Buffoons” (see
box, right), pamphleteers mocked
him for not being Italian enough, for
being a staid representative of the ITALIAN COMPOSER GIOVANNI BATTISTA
old French school. His reputation PERGOLESI (1710–1736)
was restored in the 20th century.

◁ HIPPOLYTE ET ARICIE
Rameau’s first opera was the lyric
tragedy Hippolyte et Aricie, shown
here at a performance in Toulouse
in 2009. Although written late in life,
the work propelled him to fame.
056 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES

Johann Sebastian Bach

1685–1750, GERMAN
Hailed by many as the greatest Baroque composer, Bach created music
ON TECHNIQUE
ranging from oratorios to intimate keyboard pieces. His composition Lutheran church music
combines mathematical complexity with profound humanity. Music was an integral element of
Lutheran church services. By the
18th century, the singing of chorales
(hymns) by the congregation was
◁ BACH HOUSE, EISENACH
accompanied and harmonized by
The half-timbered house in Eisenach,
an organist, who might provide solo
once mistakenly thought to be Bach’s
preludes and interludes. Cantatas—
birthplace, now serves as a museum to
more elaborate performances by solo
his life and work. It contains several of
singers, choir, and instrumentalists—
the instruments he owned and played.
were also integrated into the service.
The musical element of a service
might last an hour or more. Sunday
at the age of 15, his vocal ability services were the main musical
performances available in German
won him a place at the prestigious
cities, although some Lutherans felt
Michaeliskirche school in Lüneburg, that music distracted from worship.
near Hamburg in northern Germany.
There, his interest in the organ grew
under the influence of composer
Georg Böhm, the organist at
Lüneburg’s Johanniskirche.

Disgruntled employee
Bach finished his education at the
age of 17 and set out to earn a
living. After a spell in a minor post
at the court of the duke of Weimar,
The last of eight children, Johann as well as its Lutheran Protestantism. in 1703 he became church organist,
Sebastian Bach was born in the town He was orphaned at the age of nine, first at Arnstadt, then Mühlhausen,
of Eisenach in Thuringia, Germany, in his father dying nine months after both towns in Thuringia. However,
March 1685. Members of his family his mother, and was sent to live with with his exuberant talents harnessed
had been musicians since the 16th his eldest brother, Christoph, at nearby to mundane work, he proved to be a
century: his father, Johann Ambrosius, Ohrdurf. Christoph was an organist troublesome employee. The church
was a talented string player prominent who had been a pupil of the celebrated authorities in Arnstadt were annoyed
in Eisenach’s small-town musical life; composer Johann Pachelbel (see p.83) that he spent a long leave of absence
several uncles were organists; and a and Johann Sebastian’s informal in distant Lübeck, where he had
cousin, Johann Christoph Bach, had musical education was able to traveled to hear performances by
achieved some renown as a composer. continue under his brother’s gaze. Dieterich Buxtehude, then at the
Johann Sebastian learned to play It may have been at Ohrdurf that he cutting edge of German music. They GERMAN BAROQUE ORGAN MADE
and compose early in life, immersed first learned to play the organ, and he also claimed that his accompaniments IN THURINGIA IN AROUND 1650
in his family’s rich musical tradition certainly sang in the church choir as, to chorales were far too elaborate.

“ One can’t fake things in Bach, and if one ▷ JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH, 1746

gets all of them to work, the music sings. ” This portrait by the German artist
Elias Gottlob Haussmann depicts Bach
at the age of around 60, holding his
HILARY HAHN, VIOLINIST famous six-voice puzzle canon.
058 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES

Early recognition
IN PROFILE By this time, the quality of Bach’s
Anna Magdalena Bach organ-playing had begun to attract
attention and some of his noteworthy
Bach’s second wife, born Anna compositions had also emerged. The
Magdalena Wülcken in 1701, was
cantata Gott ist mein König (God is My
the daughter of a trumpeter. Before
they married, she was a singer at King), his first published work, was
the Köthen court. She gave birth printed while he was at Mühlhausen
to the first of 13 children in 1723. in 1707. He may also have composed
Anna Magdalena was a competent
musician who copied scores for her
the Toccata and Fugue in D minor—
husband, but claims she wrote some one of his most celebrated organ
of his music are spurious. The Anna works—around this time.
Magdalena Notebooks, collections of Bach followed a strict Lutheran
music assembled by Bach for his
wife, testify to her role in domestic
code of sexual morality. The only
music-making. After Bach’s death, early evidence of interest in women
Anna Magdalena was left destitute. was a complaint from church
She died a beggar in 1760 and was authorities that he had allowed a
buried in a pauper’s grave.
“strange maiden” into the Arnstadt
organ loft. In 1707, buoyed by a
small inheritance from his
PAGE FROM THE CHACONNE IN BACH’S maternal uncle, he married his △ THE DUKE OF SAXE-WEIMAR
PARTITA IN D MINOR FOR SOLO VIOLIN, second cousin, Maria Barbara. In 1708, Bach took a position as chamber
HANDWRITTEN BY ANNA MAGDALENA musician in the court of Duke Wilhelm
They had seven children, only four of
Ernst of Saxe-Weimar, who ruled over
whom survived infancy. Most of these the duchy with his brother, Johann Ernst.
Bach in turn grumbled about the births took place at the ducal court at
wide-ranging duties he had been Weimar, where, from 1708, Bach was
given, which distracted him from the an organist and later a concertmaster. notably the work of Italian composer
organ and his composition. He had no Antonio Vivaldi. It also spread Bach’s
patience with the poor quality of local Weimar influences reputation as a virtuoso. He was
musicians, and once engaged in a The wider connections of a dukedom reportedly invited to Dresden to
violent brawl with a young bassoonist brought Bach into contact with current take part in a musical contest with
whose abilities he had insulted. musical trends outside Germany, French organist Louis Marchand; the
Frenchman failed to turn up, implicitly
conceding defeat. Although less
constraining, and considerably better
paid, than being a Thuringian church
organist, Bach’s position as a servant
of the capricious duke of Weimar was
never wholly comfortable. In 1717, he
sought permission to accept the post
of musical director at another German
court, that of Prince Leopold of Köthen.
Outraged by this disloyalty, the duke
imprisoned Bach for a month, before
reluctantly letting him go.
Prince Leopold was a keen amateur
musician who maintained a small
orchestra, and Köthen provided

◁ BACH CHURCH, ARNSTADT

Bach served as the organist in the
Neue Kirche (New Church) in Arnstadt,
Thuringia, in 1703–1707. It was renamed
Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Kirche in his
honor in 1935.
fertile ground for Bach’s lively works based on the Italian concerto fell ill and died. He returned too late △ THE THOMASSCHULE, 1840
imagination. His focus shifted from grosso style in which soloists play for the funeral. A year later, Bach Bach lived in Leipzig at the Thomas
organ music and cantatas to works together with a small orchestra, married the 20-year-old singer Anna School, which was affiliated with
Thomaskirche, the Lutheran church
for harpsichord, violin, and cello, were written in 1721, and the first Magdalena Wülcken (see box, p.58). where he was musical director. This
and for the chamber orchestra. book of the Well-Tempered Clavier— sketch of the school was made by Felix
24 preludes and fugues in the full A decisive move to Leipzig Mendelssohn, who lived in a building
The Köthen years range of major and minor keys— Whether unsettled by these events opposite from 1835 to 1847. It was
Mendelssohn who helped revive interest
Although it is notoriously difficult to was completed the following year. or by changes at court, the prince in Bach’s works in the 19th century.
date many of Bach’s compositions, it The period at the court at Köthen married a woman who was utterly
was probably at Köthen that he wrote was generally a happy time for Bach, uninterested in music, and Bach
such masterpieces as the Concerto for but was marred by family tragedy in started looking for an alternative
Two Violins, the Suites for Solo Cello, 1720. While Bach was accompanying post and a new challenge. In 1723,
and the Sonatas and Partitas for Solo the prince to the spa at Carlsbad, his a vacancy appeared in the Saxon
Violin. The Brandenburg Concertos, six wife Maria Barbara unexpectedly city of Leipzig, a thriving center of

“ The sole end and aim of all music

should be the glory of God and the
recreation of the mind. ”
J.S. BACH
△ BACH AND HIS SONS, 1730 commerce and culture. A “cantor” was as one councilor put it, “when the best Bach’s creative energy in his early
This painting by German portraitist needed, who would be responsible man cannot be obtained, mediocre years in Leipzig was astonishing.
Balthasar Denner is thought to depict for the music in the Thomaskirche ones have to be accepted.” Bach had Responsible for the music at four
Bach, holding a cello, with three of his
sons; some historians, however, dispute and other major churches in the city. to promise that his music would “not churches, he wrote new cantatas at
that it shows the family of Bach. Having failed to recruit their desired last too long,” nor be “operatic” in style. an average rate of one a week, plus
candidate, the prominent composer Despite this unpromising beginning, larger-scale works for the high points
Georg Philipp Telemann, the city Bach had found a post he was to fill of the church year—the Magnificat for
authorities reluctantly took on Bach— for the rest of his life. Christmas 1723, the St. John Passion

KEY WORKS

1721 1722 1724 1727 1734–35 1741 1747 1749

Writes the six The Well-Tempered Bach’s St. John The St. Matthew The Christmas Writes 30 keyboard Writes The Musical Completes his
Brandenburg Clavier, Bach’s Passion is Passion is Oratorio, a work variations—called Offering, elaborate Mass in B Minor,
Concertos for the first book of 24 premiered at performed at in six parts, is the Goldberg fugal variations on a choral work,
Köthen court keyboard preludes Easter in his first Easter at Leipzig’s performed at Variations—for a tune provided by begun in 1733. It
orchestra. They and fugues, is year as director Thomaskirche. Leipzig’s the Russian Prussian King is not performed
are dedicated to published. A of church music Nikolaikirche. ambassador to Frederick II. in his lifetime.
the Margrave of second book in Leipzig. Saxony in Dresden.
Brandenburg. follows.