Alessandro Stradella (3 April 1639 - February 25, 1682) was an Italian composer of the middle Baroque. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England. Events 138 - The Emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius, effectively making him his successor Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750. He was born in Rome, and was murdered in Genoa. Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Genoa ( Genova, ˈdʒɛːnova in Italian; Zena in Genoese and Ligurian; Genua in Latin and archaically in English
Not much is known about his early life, but he was from an aristocratic family, educated at Bologna, and was already making a name for himself as a composer at the age of 20, being commissioned by Queen Christina of Sweden. Aristocracy is a form of Government, where rule is established through an internal struggle over who has the most status and influence over society and internal relations Bologna (boloɲa from Latin Bononia, Bulåggna in Bolognese dialect is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy Christina (Kristina Augusta ( – 19 April 1689 later known as Christina Alexandra and sometimes Countess Dohna, was In 1667 he moved to Rome where he composed copiously, mostly sacred music, and began to live a dissolute life. With a friend he attempted to embezzle money from the Roman Catholic Church, but was found out: he fled the city, only returning much later when he thought it was safe. Unfortunately his numerous incautious affairs with women began to make him enemies among the powerful men of the city, and he had to leave Rome for good.
In 1677 he went to Venice, where he was hired by a powerful nobleman as the music tutor to his mistress. Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the As might be expected, Stradella was shortly involved with her, and had to flee when their liaison was found out; but this time the nobleman hired a gang of thugs to follow him and kill him, which they narrowly failed to do. Stradella went next to Genoa, where he wrote operas and cantatas; unfortunately he was again involved in an affair with a poorly-chosen woman, and this time a hired killer caught up with him at the Piazza Banchi and stabbed him to death. Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto A cantata (derived from the Italian word 'cantare' meaning 'to sing' is a vocal composition with an instrumental Accompaniment and often
Stradella was an extremely influential composer at the time, though his fame was eclipsed in the next century by Corelli, Vivaldi and others. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Arcangelo Corelli (February 17 1653 &ndash January 8 1713 was a French Violinist Probably his greatest significance is in originating the concerto grosso: while Corelli in his Op. The concerto grosso ( Italian for big concert(o, Plural concerti grossi) is a form of Baroque music in which the musical material 6 was the first to publish works under this title, Stradella clearly uses the format earlier in one of his Sonate di viole. Since the two knew each other, a direct influence is likely.
Stradella wrote at least six operas, as well as numerous cantatas and oratorios. He also wrote 27 separate instrumental pieces, most for strings and basso continuo, and typically in the sonata da chiesa format. Sonata da chiesa ( Italian: Church sonata) is an instrumental composition dating from the Baroque period generally consisting of four movements
His colorful life and bloody death clearly made a good story for an opera of its own. Three separate composers made operas out of his life, the most famous being Friedrich von Flotow with his Alessandro Stradella (Hamburg, 1844). Friedrich von Flotow (27 April 1812 &ndash 24 January 1883 was a German Composer. Hamburg (English, German: ˈhambʊɐk local pronunciation Low German / Low Saxon: Hamborg) is the second-largest city in Germany Year 1844 ( MDCCCXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year
American novelist F. Marion Crawford also produced a highly romanticized novel of Stradella's affair and flight from Venice, titled Stradella (Macmillan 1909). Francis Marion Crawford ( August 2, 1854 - April 9, 1909) was an American Writer noted for his many Novels Macmillan Publishers Ltd, also known as The Macmillan Group, is a privately-held International Publishing company owned by Georg von Holtzbrinck
References and further reading
- "Alessandro Stradella", in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd. , 1980. ISBN 1-56159-174-2
- Carolyn Gianturco: "Alessandro Stradella", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed March 13, 2006), (subscription access)
- Encyclopaedia Britannica 1911: "Alessandro Stradella"
External links
- Free scores by Alessandro Stradella in the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA)
- Alessandro Stradella in the Grove Concise Dictionary of Music, 1994, Oxford University Press
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic