La passione di Gesù Cristo
Encyclopedia
La Passione di Gesù Cristo is the title of a libretto
by Metastasio
which was repeatedly set as an azione sacra or oratorio
by many composers of the late baroque, "rococo
", and early classical period.
. Court composer Antonio Caldara
's original setting of La passione di Gesù Cristo signor nostro was performed in at the holy sepulchre in the Hofburgkapelle, the court chapel in Vienna, for Holy Week on 3 April 1730.
The oratorio marks a departure from the settings of actual Gospel passion narratives such as the Latin Passio Secundum Ioannem of Alessandro Scarlatti
to a more theatrical style. The four central roles are S. Pietro, S. Giovanni, Maria Maddalena, Giuseppe d'Arimatea - with John, Mary Magdalene and Joseph of Arimathea answering Peter's questions about the crucifixion.
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by Metastasio
Metastasio
Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi, better known by his pseudonym of Metastasio, was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of opera seria libretti.-Early life:...
which was repeatedly set as an azione sacra or 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...
by many composers of the late baroque, "rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
", and early classical period.
Writing and original setting
The libretto was written by the imperial poet in Rome on the instruction of Charles VI, Holy Roman EmperorCharles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VI was the penultimate Habsburg sovereign of the Habsburg Empire. He succeeded his elder brother, Joseph I, as Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia , Hungary and Croatia , Archduke of Austria, etc., in 1711...
. Court composer Antonio Caldara
Antonio Caldara
Antonio Caldara was an Italian Baroque composer.Caldara was born in Venice , the son of a violinist. He became a chorister at St Mark's in Venice, where he learned several instruments, probably under the instruction of Giovanni Legrenzi...
's original setting of La passione di Gesù Cristo signor nostro was performed in at the holy sepulchre in the Hofburgkapelle, the court chapel in Vienna, for Holy Week on 3 April 1730.
The oratorio marks a departure from the settings of actual Gospel passion narratives such as the Latin Passio Secundum Ioannem of Alessandro Scarlatti
Alessandro Scarlatti
Alessandro Scarlatti was an Italian Baroque composer especially famous for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered the founder of the Neapolitan school of opera. He was the father of two other composers, Domenico Scarlatti and Pietro Filippo Scarlatti.-Life:Scarlatti was born in...
to a more theatrical style. The four central roles are S. Pietro, S. Giovanni, Maria Maddalena, Giuseppe d'Arimatea - with John, Mary Magdalene and Joseph of Arimathea answering Peter's questions about the crucifixion.
Other settings
- 1735 Giovanni Lorenzo Gregori, Lucca.
- 1736 Michelangiolo Magagni, 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....
. - 1738 Giuseppe Venturelli, 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....
. - 1742 David Pérez (composer)David Pérez (composer)Davide Perez was an Italian opera composer.-Early years:He was the son of Giovanni Perez and Rosalina Serrari, both Neapolitans...
(1711–1778), Palermo. - 1743 Domenico Valentini, Venice. (music lost)
- 1743 Niccolò Conti, Venice.
- 1749 Niccolò JommelliNiccolò JommelliNiccolò Jommelli was an Italian composer. He was born in Aversa and died in Naples. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he made important changes to opera and reduced the importance of star singers.-Early life:Jommelli was born to Francesco Antonio Jommelli and...
, La Passione di NS Gesù Cristo, Venice. Which was considered "remarkably well set" by Charles BurneyCharles BurneyCharles Burney FRS was an English music historian and father of authors Frances Burney and Sarah Burney.-Life and career:...
and admired by James Edward SmithJames Edward SmithSir James Edward Smith was an English botanist and founder of the Linnean Society.Smith was born in Norwich in 1759, the son of a wealthy wool merchant. He displayed a precocious interest in the natural world...
. - 1750 Johann Georg Schürer, Dresden
- 1755 Johann Ernst EberlinJohann Ernst EberlinJohann Ernst Eberlin was a German composer and organist whose works bridge the baroque and classical eras. He was a prolific composer, chiefly of church organ and choral music...
in German translation at the Convent of the Benedictines, Salzburg. - 1759 Giovanni Masi, 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....
. - 1767 Johann Gottlieb NaumannJohann Gottlieb NaumannJohann Gottlieb Naumann was a German composer, conductor, and Kapellmeister.- Life :...
, PaduaPaduaPadua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
. - 1776 Antonio SalieriAntonio SalieriAntonio Salieri was a Venetian classical composer, conductor and teacher born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, but who spent his adult life and career as a faithful subject of the Habsburg monarchy....
, Vienna. - Metastasio is recorded to have said before the emperor that Salieri's setting "was the most expressive of any written on this poem." - 1777 Josef MyslivečekJosef MyslivecekJosef Mysliveček was a Czech composer who contributed to the formation of late eighteenth-century classicism in music...
, 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,...
. - 1778 Joseph SchusterJoseph Schuster (composer)Joseph Schuster was a German composer.-Life and career:Schuster was born at Dresden, where he received his first musical training from his father, a court musician, and from Johann Georg Schürer. Thanks to a scholarship from the Saxon Prince-electors, he was able to study with Giovanni Battista...
, DresdenDresdenDresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
. (Pupil of Johann Georg Schürer above). - 1775 Pietro Crispi, maestro di capella, RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. - 1778 Giuseppe Morosini patrizio veneto, Venice.
- 1778 Joseph Starzer (1726–1787), Vienna.
- 1782 Francesco AzopardiFrancesco AzopardiFrancesco Azopardi was a Maltese composer and music theorist.-Life and career:Azopardi received his musical training in Malta and during his stay from 1763 to 1774 in Naples at the Conservatory of San Onofrio under Carlo Cotumacci and Joseph Doll. He worked at St...
, Manoel TheatreManoel TheatreThe Manoel Theatre is reputed to be Europe's third-oldest working theatre, and the oldest working theatre in the Commonwealth of Nations...
, VallettaVallettaValletta is the capital of Malta, colloquially known as Il-Belt in Maltese. It is located in the central-eastern portion of the island of Malta, and the historical city has a population of 6,098. The name "Valletta" is traditionally reserved for the historic walled citadel that serves as Malta's...
. - 1784 Paisiello, Saint PetersburgSaint PetersburgSaint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, also Warsaw, 1784. - 1786 Sales, TrierTrierTrier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
- 1787 Federico Torelli, Bologna
- 1788 Carlo Spontoni, Bologna
- 1790 Pietro GuglielmiPietro Alessandro GuglielmiPietro Alessandro Guglielmi was an Italian opera composer.Guglielmi was born in Massa. He received his first musical education from his father, and afterwards studied under Francesco Durante at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto at Naples...
, MadridMadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
. - 1792 Stanislao MatteiStanislao MatteiStanislao Mattei was an Italian composer, musicologist, and teacher. A pupil of Giovanni Battista Martini, Mattei's music bares a close resemblance to his style of composition...
, Bologna. - 1812 Francesco MorlacchiFrancesco MorlacchiFrancesco Morlacchi was an Italian composer of more than twenty operas. During the many years he spent as the royal Royal Kapellmeister in Dresden, he was instrumental in popularizing the Italian style of opera.-Biography:...
, Dresden. (Pupil of Stanislao Mattei above).