This Week in Classical Music: August 28, 2023.Jacopo Peri. For the last two weeks, we've been preoccupied with Emilio de' Cavalieri, partly because his music is so interesting, but also because he and his parents had fascinating lives.And the period during which they lived – the Italian Renaissance and early Baroque – is captivating.One composer, whose birthday we missed while being engaged with Cavalieri, lived during the same time and was Cavalieri’s rival.His name is Jacopo Peri.Peri was born on August 20th of 1561, either in Florence or, more likely, in Rome, like Cavalieri.About 10 years younger than Cavalieri, he spent most of his productive life at the court of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, in Florence, the place where Cavalieri was employed for about 20 years.There was a difference in their position: the older composer was also the duke’s confidant, while Peri was “only” a musician and organizer of dramatic events.
Peri’s youth was spent in Florence; he had a very good voice and was employed in different churches (it seems he also sang in the choir of the Baptistery).He was a virtuoso player of the theorbo (chitarrone in Italian), a lute with a very long neck.Severo Bonini, a Florentine composer and Peri’s younger contemporary, said that “he could move the hardest heart to tears through his singing” and superb accompaniment.Peri also excelled at playing the organ and keyboard instruments.He was hired at the Medici court in 1588, soon after the accession of Grand Duke Ferdinando I.Like Cavalieri, he took part in composing music for different intermedi (we discussed these “proto-operas” last week), and participated in staging the festivities celebrating Ferdinando’s marriage to Christine of Lorraine.He also performed in these intermedi, singing and accompanying himself.
Peri’s interests were broad and, as a member of different learned Academies, he actively participated in the vigorous intellectual life of Florence.He became friends with Jacopo Corsi, a fellow composer and important patron of the arts, second only to the Medicis.Through Corsi he met the poet Ottavio Rinuccini.In 1597, Rinuccini wrote a libretto for Dafne, a dramatic piece, the music for which was composed by Peri and Corsi.Dafne is now considered the first opera in the history of music.While the libretto survived, the music for Dafne is mostly lost, with only six fragments extant; four were written by Peri and two by Corsi.The opera’s instrumental accompaniment is small: a harpsichord, an archlute (a type of theorbo), a regular lute, a viol, and a flute.Claudio Monteverdi, who by many is considered the “father of the opera,” even though his L’Orfeo was written 10 years later, in 1607, significantly expanded the accompanying ensemble. Dafne was a big success, and in 1600, for the festivities surrounding the marriage of King of France Henry IV and Marie de' Medici, Grand Duke Francesco’s daughter, the court requested another opera.Rinuccini was again the librettist, but this time Peri collaborated with Giulio Caccini.Their effort produced Euridice, the second opera ever written and the first whose music fully survived.(These days Caccini is best known for the music he never wrote, the so-called Ave Maria, composed around 1970 by a Russian lutenist Vladimir Vavilov, author of many musical hoaxes).Euridice was very successful (Peri himself sang the role of Orfeo and his performance was highly praised) and was later staged in other cities.
We’ll finish our story of Jacopo Peri and play some of his music next week.One last note before we go: Itzhak Perlman will turn 78 in three days.
Jacopo Peri, 2023
This Week in Classical Music: August 28, 2023. Jacopo Peri. For the last two weeks, we've been preoccupied with Emilio de' Cavalieri, partly because his music is so interesting, but also
because he and his parents had fascinating lives. And the period during which they lived – the Italian Renaissance and early Baroque – is captivating. One composer, whose birthday we missed while being engaged with Cavalieri, lived during the same time and was Cavalieri’s rival. His name is Jacopo Peri. Peri was born on August 20th of 1561, either in Florence or, more likely, in Rome, like Cavalieri. About 10 years younger than Cavalieri, he spent most of his productive life at the court of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, in Florence, the place where Cavalieri was employed for about 20 years. There was a difference in their position: the older composer was also the duke’s confidant, while Peri was “only” a musician and organizer of dramatic events.
Peri’s youth was spent in Florence; he had a very good voice and was employed in different churches (it seems he also sang in the choir of the Baptistery). He was a virtuoso player of the theorbo (chitarrone in Italian), a lute with a very long neck. Severo Bonini, a Florentine composer and Peri’s younger contemporary, said that “he could move the hardest heart to tears through his singing” and superb accompaniment. Peri also excelled at playing the organ and keyboard instruments. He was hired at the Medici court in 1588, soon after the accession of Grand Duke Ferdinando I. Like Cavalieri, he took part in composing music for different intermedi (we discussed these “proto-operas” last week), and participated in staging the festivities celebrating Ferdinando’s marriage to Christine of Lorraine. He also performed in these intermedi, singing and accompanying himself.
Peri’s interests were broad and, as a member of different learned Academies, he actively participated in the vigorous intellectual life of Florence. He became friends with Jacopo Corsi, a fellow composer and important patron of the arts, second only to the Medicis. Through Corsi he met the poet Ottavio Rinuccini. In 1597, Rinuccini wrote a libretto for Dafne, a dramatic piece, the music for which was composed by Peri and Corsi. Dafne is now considered the first opera in the history of music. While the libretto survived, the music for Dafne is mostly lost, with only six fragments extant; four were written by Peri and two by Corsi. The opera’s instrumental accompaniment is small: a harpsichord, an archlute (a type of theorbo), a regular lute, a viol, and a flute. Claudio Monteverdi, who by many is considered the “father of the opera,” even though his L’Orfeo was written 10 years later, in 1607, significantly expanded the accompanying ensemble. Dafne was a big success, and in 1600, for the festivities surrounding the marriage of King of France Henry IV and Marie de' Medici, Grand Duke Francesco’s daughter, the court requested another opera. Rinuccini was again the librettist, but this time Peri collaborated with Giulio Caccini. Their effort produced Euridice, the second opera ever written and the first whose music fully survived. (These days Caccini is best known for the music he never wrote, the so-called Ave Maria, composed around 1970 by a Russian lutenist Vladimir Vavilov, author of many musical hoaxes). Euridice was very successful (Peri himself sang the role of Orfeo and his performance was highly praised) and was later staged in other cities.
We’ll finish our story of Jacopo Peri and play some of his music next week. One last note before we go: Itzhak Perlman will turn 78 in three days.