Emilio de' Cavalieri | |
|---|---|
| Born | circa 1550 |
| Died | March 11, 1602(1602-03-11) (aged 52) Rome, Papal States |
| Resting place | Cappella de' Cavalieri inSanta Maria in Ara Coeli, Rome |
| Occupation | Composer |
| Employer | Ferdinando I de' Medici |
| Father | Tommaso dei Cavalieri |
Emilio de' Cavalieri (c. 1550 – 11 March 1602), orEmilio dei Cavalieri (the spellings "del" and "Cavaliere" are contemporary typographical errors), was an Italiancomposer, producer,organist, diplomat,choreographer anddancer at the end of theRenaissance era. His work, along with that of other composers active in Rome, Florence and Venice, was critical in defining the beginning of the musicalBaroque era. A member of theRoman School of composers, he was an influential early composer ofmonody, and wrote what is usually considered to be the firstoratorio.[1]
Cavalieri was born in Rome of an aristocratic and musical family. He was the son ofTommaso dei Cavalieri (c. 1509–1587), a close friend ofMichelangelo. He probably received his early training there, and was working as an organist and music director in the period from 1578 to 1584. He spent much of his time in Rome as an organiser ofLenten oratorios. While in Rome he became associated with CardinalFerdinando I de' Medici.
In 1587, Ferdinando de' Medici succeeded his brother as Grand Duke of Tuscany, and in 1588 he brought Cavalieri to Florence as an overseer of artists, craftsmen and musicians. Cavalieri was master of ceremonies for the extremely opulentintermedi that theMedici family required for events such as weddings. CountGiovanni de' Bardi, the founder and patron of theFlorentine Camerata, also collaborated on these productions. In May 1589, the festivities for the marriage of Grand Duke Ferdinando toChristina of Lorraine included a performance ofGirolamo Bargagli's [de]La pellegrina, with six especially elaborateintermedi. The 1st number of the finalintermedio (6) was initially a piece by Bardi but was replaced in the actualintermedio by Cavalieri's virtuosic number based on theAria del Gran Duca which became popular all over Europe and occurs in many arrangements and variations such as that made byPeter Philips in Antwerp. Cavalieri may have gotten some of his ideas formonody directly from Bardi, since Cavalieri was not a member of the Camerata during its period of activity a few years earlier. He may have developed his rivalry withGiulio Caccini, another extremely important and influential early monodist during this period.
In the 1590s, while still in Florence, Cavalieri produced severalpastorales (a semi-dramatic predecessor to opera, set in the country, with shepherds and shepherdesses as common characters). In addition to his musical activities, he was employed as a diplomat during this time, assisting in papal politics, including buying the votes of key cardinals for the elections of popesInnocent IX andClement VIII who were expected to favour the Medici.
During the 1590s he made frequent diplomatic trips to Rome, remaining active in the musical life there, and was connected with theCongregation of the Oratory of St Philip Neri.[2] He premiered his famousRappresentatione di Anima, et di Corpo... in February 1600; this piece is generally held to be the firstoratorio. According to Roman records the piece was produced twice that year at the Oratorio de Filippini adjacent toSanta Maria in Vallicella, and was witnessed by thirty-five cardinals.
In 1600 Cavalieri producedEuridice, one of the firstoperas, byJacopo Peri (libretto byOttavio Rinuccini); this was part of an elaborate set of festivities for the wedding ofHenry IV of France andMarie de' Medici. Unfortunately for Cavalieri, he was not given control of the main event, the production ofIl rapimento di Cefalo—his rival Giulio Caccini took over from him—and he left Florence in anger, never to return.
Emilio de' Cavalieri died on 11 of March 1602 in Rome. He is buried in Cappella de' Cavalieri inSanta Maria in Ara Coeli. Emilio de' Cavalieri tomb disappeared during renovations in the 18th century. In March 2002 a replacement plaque commemorating his burial was placed in the chapel. The plaque states, in translation:
Emilio de' Cavalieri
Roman gentleman,
innovative and talented composer,
creator of the first operas,
superintendent of all the musicians
and artists at the court of the Medici,
conservator of the Roman senate and people.
Buried here 11 March 1602
On the four hundredth anniversary of his death[1]
Cavalieri claimed to be the inventor of thestile rappresentativo, what is now usually known asmonody, and he made the claim with considerable irritation: "everyone knows I am the inventor of [this style]", he said in a letter of 1600, "and I said so myself in print".[3] Caccini seems to have got more of the credit, perhaps deservedly so, because of his early association with Bardi andVincenzo Galilei in the 1570s in Florence, where the style was first discussed and probably invented. Comparing himself to Caccini, he said of their two styles: "[my] music moves people to pleasure and sadness, while theirs [i.e. Caccini's and Peri's] moves them to boredom and disgust."
Among Cavalieri's secular compositions weremadrigals, monodies, and pieces he wrote forintermedi; his sacred compositions included a setting of theLamentations of Jeremiah, and theRappresentatione di Anima, et di Corpo. This work, probably the most historically important composition of Cavalieri to survive, consists of alternating speech,strophic songs,recitative-like sections and madrigalian parts; subsequent oratorios often used it as a starting-point. It is the first work to be published with afigured bass. Most importantly, however, it was an attempt to demonstrate, at musically conservative Rome, that the modern monodic style was consistent with the aims of theCounter-Reformation and could be adapted to a religious as opposed to a secular purpose. The quick adoption of the modern musical style by other Roman composers attests to its effectiveness in this regard. Cavalieri was followed by otherRoman School composers of the 17th century who includedDomenico Mazzocchi,Giacomo Carissimi andAlessandro Scarlatti.
Most of his music is in the most advanced style of the time. His four-part vocal music usually has a highlyornamented and expressive melodic line; the differentiation of the melodic line from the others is one of the defining features of the early Baroque. Some historians believed that Cavalieri was the originator of thetrill.[4] Sometimes he experimented with theenharmonic modulation, orenharmonicchromaticism which requiredequal temperament; apparently he built a specialpipe organ in the 1590s for playing this kind of music.[citation needed]
