October 17, 2016. Liszt and Marenzio. Several composers were born this week. The most famous of them is Franz Liszt, born on October 22nd of 1811. We love him, despite his somewhat diminished reputation (these days he’s performed less frequently than, for example, in the mid-20th century). We’ve written about him many times, even publishing several short articles on his piano cycle, Années de Pèlerinage. So this time we’ll just play some of his music – Piano concerto no. 1, for example. It’s said that Liszt composed the theme of the first movement in 1830, when he was 19, but completed the concerto almost 20 years later, in 1849. He premiered it six years later, in 1855, in Weimar, with an orchestra conducted by his good friend, Hector Berlioz. (Liszt, the greatest piano virtuoso of his – and probably of any – time, stopped concertizing around 1847, settling in Weimar, but still gave occasional performances). Here it is, in a brilliant, exhilarating performance by Sviatoslav Richter, with Kirill Kondrashin conducting the London Symphony orchestra. The recording was made in 1961.
Liszt is not the only composer born this week. We’ve never written about Luca Marenzio, an Italian Renaissance composer famous for his madrigals. Marenzio was born on October 18th of 1553, or at least that’s what the musicologists surmise. To place him within the timeline of Italian music, Marenzio was one year older than Giovanni Gabrieli and about eight years younger than Luzzasco Luzzaschi about whom we wrote just last week.
Marenzio was born near Brescia in Northern Italy. When he was 25 years old, he was hired by Cardinal Luigi d’Este. The Cardinal was a son of Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara and Modena who in turn was the eldest son of Duke Alfonso I d'Este and the famous (or, rather, infamous) Lucrezia Borgia. Marenzio worked for the Cardinal as maestro di capella for eight years, till the Cardinal’s death. Luigi d’Este had two palaces in Rome and also maintained the enormous Villa d'Este, outside of Rome, which was built by his uncle, Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este (Ippolito, also a patron of arts, brought Palestrina to the Villa to take care of the music there). While in d’Este’s employ, Marenzio composed a large number of madrigals which were published not just in Italy but also in Antwerp, Nuremberg and London. Luigi d’Este died in 1586 but Marenzio stayed in Rome as a freelance composer. About a year later he entered the service of Cardinal Ferdinando de Medici, who soon after became the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Marenzio moved to Florence, where he stayed till 1589. Upon leaving Florence, he returned to Rome, where he had a number of patrons, including the Pope himself. The pope sent him on an unusual trip, to the court of the King of Poland, Sigismund III Vasa. Marenzio stayed in Warsaw for almost two years. He returned to Rome in 1598 and died soon after, age 45, on August 22nd of 1599. It’s somewhat of a mystery why Marenzio isn’t known better these days. The best of Marenzio’s madrigals are beautiful, full of wonderful, sometimes unusually chromatic sonorities. Here are three examples, Liquide perle amor from 1580, Bascami mille volte from 1585 and Et ella ancide, e non val c'huom si chiuda from 1599, the last year of his life; all three madrigals are for five voices, Marenzio’s preferred type. They are performed by Concerto Italiano conducted by Rinaldo Alessandrini.
Liszt and Marenzio, 2016
October 17, 2016. Liszt and Marenzio. Several composers were born this week. The most famous of them is Franz Liszt, born on October 22nd of 1811. We love him, despite his somewhat
diminished reputation (these days he’s performed less frequently than, for example, in the mid-20th century). We’ve written about him many times, even publishing several short articles on his piano cycle, Années de Pèlerinage. So this time we’ll just play some of his music – Piano concerto no. 1, for example. It’s said that Liszt composed the theme of the first movement in 1830, when he was 19, but completed the concerto almost 20 years later, in 1849. He premiered it six years later, in 1855, in Weimar, with an orchestra conducted by his good friend, Hector Berlioz. (Liszt, the greatest piano virtuoso of his – and probably of any – time, stopped concertizing around 1847, settling in Weimar, but still gave occasional performances). Here it is, in a brilliant, exhilarating performance by Sviatoslav Richter, with Kirill Kondrashin conducting the London Symphony orchestra. The recording was made in 1961.
Liszt is not the only composer born this week. We’ve never written about Luca Marenzio, an Italian Renaissance composer famous for his madrigals. Marenzio was born on October 18th of 1553, or at least that’s what the musicologists surmise. To place him within the timeline of Italian music, Marenzio was one year older than Giovanni Gabrieli and about eight years younger than Luzzasco Luzzaschi about whom we wrote just last week.
Marenzio was born near Brescia in Northern Italy. When he was 25 years old, he was hired by Cardinal Luigi d’Este. The Cardinal was a son of Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara and Modena who in turn was the eldest son of Duke Alfonso I d'Este and the famous (or, rather, infamous) Lucrezia Borgia. Marenzio worked for the Cardinal as maestro di capella for eight years, till the Cardinal’s death. Luigi d’Este had two palaces in Rome and also maintained the enormous Villa d'Este, outside of Rome, which was built by his uncle, Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este (Ippolito, also a patron of arts, brought Palestrina to the Villa to take care of the music there). While in d’Este’s employ, Marenzio composed a large number of madrigals which were published not just in Italy but also in Antwerp, Nuremberg and London. Luigi d’Este died in 1586 but Marenzio stayed in Rome as a freelance composer. About a year later he entered the service of Cardinal Ferdinando de Medici, who soon after became the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Marenzio moved to Florence, where he stayed till 1589. Upon leaving Florence, he returned to Rome, where he had a number of patrons, including the Pope himself. The pope sent him on an unusual trip, to the court of the King of Poland, Sigismund III Vasa. Marenzio stayed in Warsaw for almost two years. He returned to Rome in 1598 and died soon after, age 45, on August 22nd of 1599. It’s somewhat of a mystery why Marenzio isn’t known better these days. The best of Marenzio’s madrigals are beautiful, full of wonderful, sometimes unusually chromatic sonorities. Here are three examples, Liquide perle amor from 1580, Bascami mille volte from 1585 and Et ella ancide, e non val c'huom si chiuda from 1599, the last year of his life; all three madrigals are for five voices, Marenzio’s preferred type. They are performed by Concerto Italiano conducted by Rinaldo Alessandrini.