This Week in Classical Music: September 4, 2023.Jacopo Peri and Florence. Last week we started the story of Jacopo Peri, an important but mostly forgotten composer.Before we get back to it, we’d like to mention a Florentine institution that was instrumental in the development of ideas that Peri followed in his work.This institution is called Camerata de’ Bardi, or Florentine Camerata.
Count Giovanni de’ Bardi was a nobleman, writer, composer, and, in his younger years, a soldier.He was also an important patron of the arts and organized a society dedicated to the study of ancient Greek music in relation to the music of the day.That was in the 1570s and ‘80s, so we have to remember that the important music of the time was composed in the form of polyphony by the likes of Palestrina.We love his music, and that of Orlando Lasso or Tomás Luis de Victoria Victoria, and consider it the pinnacle of the Renaissance, but for Bardi and his circle, it felt outdated.They believed that the polyphonic idiom doesn’t allow the creation of emotionally expressive works and makes the words unintelligible (the criticism shared by many in the church).Thus, as an alternative, they came up with the “monody,” which replaced the multi-voiced polyphony with a single melodic line and instrumental accompaniment.The ideas of the Camerata were based on the members’ understanding of the music of Classical Greece, which most likely was wrong: they believed that Greek plays were sung, not spoken.That didn’t matter much as these ideas led to the creation of the recitative and the aria, and soon after, the cantata and, importantly, opera.
The most active members of the Camerata were composers Giulio Caccini, Vincenzo Galilei, the father of Galileo Galilei, and Pietro Strozzi, but the society included many Florentine intellectuals and composers.Jacopo Peri was one of the first to put these ideas into practice, creating Dafne and Euridice, the first two operas in history.The librettos to the operas were written by another member of the Camerata, the poet Ottavia Rinuccini.
Euridice was performed in October of 1600 in the Palazzo Pitti during the celebrations of the wedding of Maria de’ Medici and Henry IV, King of France.Peri’s rivals, composers Caccini and Cavalieri, also took part in the production: the jealous Caccini rewrote the parts sung by his musicians, and Cavalieri staged the opera’s production (that was not enough for Cavalieri: he expected to be put in charge of all the festivities, which didn’t happen; disappointed, he left Florence for good.We recently mentioned this episode while writing about Cavalieri).
In the 1600s, while residing in Florence and continuing to compose for the Medici court, Peri established a close relationship with Ferdinando Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua.He wrote two operas for the Mantuan court, neither of which were performed, and many songs and instrumental pieces, the majority of which are now lost. Later in his life, he worked mostly in collaboration with other composers, a practice quite unusual for our time.He wrote two operas with Marco da Gagliano, the second, La Flora, for the occasion of the election of Ferdinand II as the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.Pery died in 1633 and was buried in the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence.
Here is the Prologue from Jacopo Peri’s Euridice, and here – the first scene of the opera, about five minutes of singing, with two wonderful choruses.The soloists and the Ensemble Arpeggio are conducted by Robert de Caro.
Jacopo Peri, part II, 2023
This Week in Classical Music: September 4, 2023. Jacopo Peri and Florence. Last week we started the story of Jacopo Peri, an important but mostly forgotten composer. Before we get back
to it, we’d like to mention a Florentine institution that was instrumental in the development of ideas that Peri followed in his work. This institution is called Camerata de’ Bardi, or Florentine Camerata.
Count Giovanni de’ Bardi was a nobleman, writer, composer, and, in his younger years, a soldier. He was also an important patron of the arts and organized a society dedicated to the study of ancient Greek music in relation to the music of the day. That was in the 1570s and ‘80s, so we have to remember that the important music of the time was composed in the form of polyphony by the likes of Palestrina. We love his music, and that of Orlando Lasso or Tomás Luis de Victoria Victoria, and consider it the pinnacle of the Renaissance, but for Bardi and his circle, it felt outdated. They believed that the polyphonic idiom doesn’t allow the creation of emotionally expressive works and makes the words unintelligible (the criticism shared by many in the church). Thus, as an alternative, they came up with the “monody,” which replaced the multi-voiced polyphony with a single melodic line and instrumental accompaniment. The ideas of the Camerata were based on the members’ understanding of the music of Classical Greece, which most likely was wrong: they believed that Greek plays were sung, not spoken. That didn’t matter much as these ideas led to the creation of the recitative and the aria, and soon after, the cantata and, importantly, opera.
The most active members of the Camerata were composers Giulio Caccini, Vincenzo Galilei, the father of Galileo Galilei, and Pietro Strozzi, but the society included many Florentine intellectuals and composers. Jacopo Peri was one of the first to put these ideas into practice, creating Dafne and Euridice, the first two operas in history. The librettos to the operas were written by another member of the Camerata, the poet Ottavia Rinuccini.
Euridice was performed in October of 1600 in the Palazzo Pitti during the celebrations of the wedding of Maria de’ Medici and Henry IV, King of France. Peri’s rivals, composers Caccini and Cavalieri, also took part in the production: the jealous Caccini rewrote the parts sung by his musicians, and Cavalieri staged the opera’s production (that was not enough for Cavalieri: he expected to be put in charge of all the festivities, which didn’t happen; disappointed, he left Florence for good. We recently mentioned this episode while writing about Cavalieri).
In the 1600s, while residing in Florence and continuing to compose for the Medici court, Peri established a close relationship with Ferdinando Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua. He wrote two operas for the Mantuan court, neither of which were performed, and many songs and instrumental pieces, the majority of which are now lost. Later in his life, he worked mostly in collaboration with other composers, a practice quite unusual for our time. He wrote two operas with Marco da Gagliano, the second, La Flora, for the occasion of the election of Ferdinand II as the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Pery died in 1633 and was buried in the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence.
Here is the Prologue from Jacopo Peri’s Euridice, and here – the first scene of the opera, about five minutes of singing, with two wonderful choruses. The soloists and the Ensemble Arpeggio are conducted by Robert de Caro.