Giacomo Antonio Perti
Encyclopedia
Giacomo Antonio Perti was an Italian composer
of the Baroque
era. He was mainly active at Bologna
, where he was Maestro di Cappella for sixty years. He was the teacher of Giuseppe Torelli
and Giovanni Battista Martini
.
, then part of the Papal States
, and began studying music early, learning harpsichord
and violin
there; later he studied counterpoint
. By the age of 17 he had already written a mass
, a motet
, and a setting of the Magnificat
; and in 1678 he wrote his first opera
and oratorio
. During a stay in Parma
, where he studied with Giuseppe Corso detto Celano, he formed his sacred music style; most of his psalm settings of the 1680s and 1690s show the influence of Corso. Later he went to Venice
, most likely for a production of one of his operas.
In 1690 he was appointed the post of Maestro di Cappella at S Pietro, replacing his uncle Lorenzo Perti. In 1696 he became Maestro di Cappella in another Bolognese church, S.Petronio, after the death of Giovanni Paolo Colonna the year before. He remained in charge for exactly sixty years, until his death at age 95.
Perti was a prolific composer of operas and sacred music, and was recognized as a distinguished musician not only by other composers, but by aristocrats and emperors, including Ferdinando de' Medici (one of the last of the Medici) and Emperors Leopold I and Charles VI.
, Antonio Cesti
, and Luigi Rossi ; however he shows considerable originality in instrumentation
, use of dialogue and countermelody. His output of sacred music was even more remarkable: he wrote 120 psalm settings, for one voice, chorus, basso continuo, and various other instruments; 54 motets, for similar forces; 28 masses
; 83 versetti and other liturgical works.
He also wrote secular music, including 142 solo cantata
s (one of the commonest secular vocal forms in late 17th century Italy), and some instrumental music including sonatas and sinfonia
s for a variety of instruments.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of the Baroque
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
era. He was mainly active at Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, where he was Maestro di Cappella for sixty years. He was the teacher of Giuseppe Torelli
Giuseppe Torelli
Giuseppe Torelli was an Italian violist, violinist, teacher, and composer.Torelli is most remembered for his contributions to the development of the instrumental concerto Giuseppe Torelli (April 22, 1658 – February 8, 1709) was an Italian violist, violinist, teacher, and composer.Torelli is most...
and Giovanni Battista Martini
Giovanni Battista Martini
Giovanni Battista Martini , also known as Padre Martini, was an Italian musician.-Biography:Martini was born at Bologna....
.
Life
He was born in BolognaBologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, then part of the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
, and began studying music early, learning harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
and violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
there; later he studied counterpoint
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
. By the age of 17 he had already written a mass
Mass (music)
The Mass, a form of sacred musical composition, is a choral composition that sets the invariable portions of the Eucharistic liturgy to music...
, a motet
Motet
In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...
, and a setting of the Magnificat
Magnificat
The Magnificat — also known as the Song of Mary or the Canticle of Mary — is a canticle frequently sung liturgically in Christian church services. It is one of the eight most ancient Christian hymns and perhaps the earliest Marian hymn...
; and in 1678 he wrote his first opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
and oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
. During a stay in Parma
Parma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
, where he studied with Giuseppe Corso detto Celano, he formed his sacred music style; most of his psalm settings of the 1680s and 1690s show the influence of Corso. Later he went to Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, most likely for a production of one of his operas.
In 1690 he was appointed the post of Maestro di Cappella at S Pietro, replacing his uncle Lorenzo Perti. In 1696 he became Maestro di Cappella in another Bolognese church, S.Petronio, after the death of Giovanni Paolo Colonna the year before. He remained in charge for exactly sixty years, until his death at age 95.
Perti was a prolific composer of operas and sacred music, and was recognized as a distinguished musician not only by other composers, but by aristocrats and emperors, including Ferdinando de' Medici (one of the last of the Medici) and Emperors Leopold I and Charles VI.
Works
Perti was highly regarded for his sacred music and his operas. Of the operas, few remain of the original 26. Perti maintained in his Op.1 that he was influenced by the melodic style of Francesco CavalliFrancesco Cavalli
Francesco Cavalli was an Italian composer of the early Baroque period. His real name was Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni, but he is better known by that of Cavalli, the name of his patron Federico Cavalli, a Venetian nobleman.-Life:Cavalli was born at Crema, Lombardy...
, Antonio Cesti
Antonio Cesti
Antonio Cesti , known today primarily as an Italian composer of the Baroque era, he was also a singer , and organist. He was "the most celebrated Italian musician of his generation".- Biography :...
, and Luigi Rossi ; however he shows considerable originality in instrumentation
Instrumentation (music)
In music, instrumentation refers to the particular combination of musical instruments employed in a composition, and to the properties of those instruments individually...
, use of dialogue and countermelody. His output of sacred music was even more remarkable: he wrote 120 psalm settings, for one voice, chorus, basso continuo, and various other instruments; 54 motets, for similar forces; 28 masses
Mass (music)
The Mass, a form of sacred musical composition, is a choral composition that sets the invariable portions of the Eucharistic liturgy to music...
; 83 versetti and other liturgical works.
He also wrote secular music, including 142 solo cantata
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
s (one of the commonest secular vocal forms in late 17th century Italy), and some instrumental music including sonatas and sinfonia
Sinfonia
Sinfonia is the Italian word for symphony. In English it most commonly refers to a 17th- or 18th-century orchestral piece used as an introduction, interlude, or postlude to an opera, oratorio, cantata, or suite...
s for a variety of instruments.
Operas
- Marzio Coriolano, 1683
- Oreste in Argo, 1685
- L'incoronazione di DarioL'incoronazione di Dario (Perti)L'incoronazione di Dario is an opera in three acts composed by Giacomo Antonio Perti to a libretto by Adriano Morselli . It premiered on January 13, 1686 at the Teatro Malvezzi in Bologna...
, 1686 - La Flavia, 1686
- La Rosaura, 1689
- Dionisio Siracusano, 1689
- Brenno in Efeso, 1690
- L'inganno scoperto per vendetta, 1691
- Il Pompeo, 1691
- Furio Camillo, 1692
- Nerone fatto cesare, 1693
- La forza della virtù, 1694
- Laodicea e Berenice, 1695
- Penelope la casta, 1696
- Fausta restituita all'impero, 1697
- Apollo geloso, 1698
- Lucio Vero, 1700
- Astianatte, 1701
- Dionisio re di Portogallo, 1707
- Il Venceslao, ossia Il fraticida innocente, 1708
- Ginevra principessa di Scozia, 1708
- Berenice redina d'Egitto, 1709
- Demetrio, 1709
- Rodelinda regina de' Longobardi, 1710
- Un prologo per il cortegiano, 1739
Oratorios
- Due gigli porporati nel martirio di santa Serafia e santa Sabina, BolognaBolognaBologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, 1679 - AbramoAbramoAbramo is a surname. People with this surname include:* Livio Abramo * Lélia Abramo , Italian-Brazilian actress* Philip Abramo , Italian-American mobster...
vincitor de' propri affetti, BolognaBolognaBologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, 1683 (rev. Agar, 1689; spurious titles: Agar scacciata, Sara) - Il MosèMoseMose or Mosè is a given name, and may refer to:In music:* Mose Allison, American jazz pianist and singer* Mose Rager, guitar player from KentuckyIn sports:* Mose Navarra, former tennis player from Italy...
conduttor del popolo ebreo, ModenaModenaModena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....
, 1685 - Oratorio della Passione, BolognaBolognaBologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, 1685 (rev. Gesù al sepolcro, 1703) - La beata Imelde Lambertini bolognese, BolognaBolognaBologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, 1686 - «Oratorio à 6 Voci, con concertino, e concerto grosso» (unknown subject), ModenaModenaModena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....
(?), 1687 (lost) - San Galgano Guidotti, BolognaBolognaBologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, 1694 - La Passione di Cristo, BolognaBolognaBologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, 1694 (= Oratorio sopra la passione del Redentore = Affetti di compassione alla morte del Redentor della Vita; composed in collaboration with pupils) - Christo al Limbo, BolognaBolognaBologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, 1698 - La morte del giusto, overo Il transito di san Giuseppe, Venezia, 1700 (lost)
- La Morte delusa, MilanMilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, 1703 (collaboration to the pasticcio; lost) - I trionfi di Giosuè, FlorenceFlorenceFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, 1704 (collaboration to the pasticcio; lost) - La sepoltura di Cristo, BolognaBolognaBologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, 1704 - San Petronio, BolognaBolognaBologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, 1720 (pasticcio) - La Passione del Redentore, BolognaBolognaBologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, 1721 - I conforti di Maria Vergine addolorata per la morte del suo divin Figliuolo, BolognaBolognaBologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, 1723 (spurious title: L'Amor Divino) - Il figlio prodigo, undated
- Oratorio della nascita del Signore, undated
- San Francesco, undated
- La sepoltura di Cristo, undated (attributed to Perti; spurious title: San Giovanni)
Selected recordings
- Lamentations. Capella Musicale di S. Petronio di Bologna, dir. Sergio Vartolo Naxos.
- Musiche sacre Arìon Choir & Consort, dir Giulio Prandi. Disc with Amadeus Magazine May 2010.
Further reading
- Jean Berger, The Sacred Works of Giacomo Antonio Perti, «Journal of the American Musicological Society», XVII, 1964, pp. 370-377.
- Marcello De Angelis, Il teatro di Pratolino tra Scarlatti e Perti. Il carteggio di Giacomo Antonio Perti con il principe Ferdinando de' Medici (1705-1710), «Nuova Rivista musicale italiana», XXI, 1987, pp. 606-640.
- Mario Fabbri, Nuova luce sull’attività fiorentina di Giacomo Antonio Perti, Bartolomeo Cristofori e Giorgio F. Haendel: valore storico e critico di una “Memoria” di Francesco M. Mannucci, «Chigiana», XXI, 1964, pp. 143-190.
- Osvaldo Gambassi, L’Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna. Fondazione, statuti e aggregazioni, Florence, Olschki, 1992 («Historiae musicae cultores», LXIII).
- Francesco Lora, Introduction to Giacomo Antonio Perti, Integrale della musica sacra per Ferdinando de’ Medici, principe di Toscana (Firenze 1704-1709), ed. by Francesco Lora, Bologna, Ut Orpheus, 2010-2011, 2 voll. («Tesori musicali emiliani», 2-3), vol. I, pp. V-XVIII, and vol. II, pp. V-XVIII.
- Francesco Lora, I mottetti di Giacomo Antonio Perti per Ferdinando de' Medici principe di Toscana. Ricognizione, cronologia e critica delle fonti, tesi di laurea, Università di Bologna, a.a. 2005/06.
- Francesco Lora, Mottetti grossi di Perti per le chiese di Bologna: una struttura con replica conclusiva del primo coro, senza «Alleluia», «Rassegna storica crevalcorese», n. 4, December 2006, pp. 26-57.
- Ausilia Magaudda - Danilo Costantini, Aurora Sanseverino (1669-1726) e la sua attività di committente musicale nel Regno di Napoli. Con notizie inedite sulla napoletana congregazione dei Sette Dolori, in Giacomo Francesco Milano e il ruolo dell'aristocrazia nel patrocinio delle attività musicali nel secolo XVIII. Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi (Polistena - San Giorgio Morgeto, 12-14 ottobre 1999), edited by Gaetano Pitarresi, Reggio Calabria, Laruffa, 2001, pp. 297-415.
- Juliane Riepe, Gli oratorii di Giacomo Antonio Perti: cronologia e ricognizione delle fonti, «Studi musicali», XXII, 1993, pp. 115-232.
- Anne Schnoebelen, Performance Practices at San Petronio in the Baroque, «Acta Musicologica», XLI, 1969, pp. 37-53.
- Giuseppe Vecchi, Giacomo Antonio Perti (1661-1756), BolognaBolognaBologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, Accademia Filarmonica, 1961. - Carlo Vitali, Preghiera, arte e business nei mottetti di Perti, «MI», a. XII, n. 4, ottobre-novembre 2002, pp. 29-30.
- Rodolfo Zitellini, Introduction to Giacomo Antonio Perti, Five-voice Motets for the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, ed. by Rodolfo Zitellini, Madison, A-R Editions, 2007 («Recent Researches in the Music of the Baroque Era», 147), pp. IX-XIV.