Alessandro Stradella
Born: October 1, 1644; Nepi, Italy
Died: February 25, 1682; Genoa, Italy
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One of the earlier members of that elite caste of composers who lived only into their mid-thirties (one thinks, of course, of Mozart, Schubert and Mendelssohn), Italian Baroque composer Alessandro Stradella is considered one of the most versatile and influential musical figures of the mid-seventeenth century. Born in Rome in 1644, Stradella first appears in the historical record eleven years later when his name is among the singers listed at St.
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Works
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A Santo Natale: Sinfonia (2)
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Adorata libertà, dal mio core non partite (1)
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Ah! troppo è ver (2)
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Ah! Troppo è Ver, cantata, for 6 voices, chorus, strings, lute & harp (1)
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Air d'église (1)
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Al rigor di due tiranni (1)
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Amanti, olà! "L'accademia d'Amore" (1)
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Aure, voi che spirate, cantata for voice, 2 violins & continuo (1)
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Avete torto, occhi miei cari (1)
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Avrò pur d'aspettar più? (1)
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Begl'occhi, il vostro piangere (1)
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Bel tempo, addio, son fatto amante (1)
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Benedictus dominus Deus (2)
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Cantata per il Santissimo Natale (3)
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Cara e dolce libertà (1)
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Chare Jesu suavissime (2)
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Che mi giovan le vittorie (1)
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Chi avesse visto un core (1)
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Chi mi disse che Amor dà tormento (1)
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Chi non porta amor nel petto (1)
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Chi resiste al dio bendato (1)
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Chi vuol libero il suo piè (1)
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Christmas Cantata: Ritornello (1)
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Clori son fido amante (1)
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Crocifissione e morte di N. S. Giesù Christo, 'Da cuspide ferrate' (1)
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Crocifissione e Morte di Nostro Signore Gesu Cristo (1)
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Crudo mar di fiamme orribili: Aria "Ma pur favello indarno" (1)
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Da Filinda aver chi può (1)
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Deh, frenate i furori (1)
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Deh, vola, o desio (1)
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Delizie contenti, aria for baritone, 2 violins & continuo (1)
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Delizie, contenti (1)
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Dell'ardore ch'il core distempra (1)
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Destatevi, o sensi, risvegliati, onore (1)
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Dialogo a due amante, cantata for 2 voices, 2 violins & continuo (1)
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Dormite, occhi, dormite, aria for baritone, 2 violins & continuo (1)
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Dormite, occhi, dormite, aria for voice, 2 violins & continuo (1)
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È pazzia l’innamorarsi (1)
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Fulmini quanto sa quel sembiante lusinghiero (1)
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Fulmini quanto sa quel sembiante lusinghiero, duet for soprano, bass & continuo (1)
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Furie del nero Tartaro (1)
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Il Barcheggio, for 3 voices, trumpet, 2 violins & continuo (1)
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Il barcheggio: Sinfonia (5)
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Il barcheggio: Sinfonia no 1 (4)
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Il barcheggio: Sinfonia no 2 in D major (2)
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Il barcheggio: Sinfonia no 2 in D major -1st movement, Allegro (1)
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Il duello: Aria (1)
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Il duello: Balletto (1)
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Il duello: Sinfonia (1)
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Il mio cor ch'è infelicissimo (1)
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Il mio core per voi, luci belle (1)
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La bellissima speranza, for 2 voices, 2 violins & continuo (1)
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La forza delle Stelle: Damone's Aria (1)
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La forza delle Stelle: Recitative: soprano (1)
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La forza delle Stelle: Sinfonia (1)
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La Susanna (2)
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La Susanna, oratorio: Aria "Da chi spero aita" (1)
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La Susanna: Ohìme lassa (1)
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Lamentatione per il Mercoledi Santo (1)
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Lamentatione per il Mercoledì Santo, 'Et egressus est' (1)
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Lasciai di Cipro il soglio (1)
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Le gare dell'amor eroico: A Porfiria vecchiarella (1)
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Le luci vezzose volgetemi, o Clori (1)
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Mio cor, che si fa? (1)
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Non fia mai, ah no, ch'io speri (1)
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O vos omnes qui transitis (3)
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Ogni sguardo che tu scocchi (1)
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Parti, fuggi dal mio seno (1)
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Pensier ostinato (1)
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Piangete, occhi dolenti (1)
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Pietà, Signore (3)
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Pietà, Signore (Agnus Dei), aria di chiesa (spurious, by Niedermeyer or Fétis) (4)
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Pria di scior quel dolce nodo (1)
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Pupilette amorose (1)
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Quanto è bella la mia stella (1)
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Ragion sempre addita (2)
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Reggetemi (1)
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S'Amor m'annoda il piede (1)
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San Giovanni Battista (3)
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San Giovanni Battista: Queste lagrime e sospiri (1)
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Santa Pelagia (1)
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Se di gioie m'alletta il sereno (1)
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Sei miei sospiri (All my sufferings) (1)
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Si Apra Al Riso Ogni Labbro, cantata, for 3 voices, 2 violins & continuo (1)
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Si apra al riso ogni labro (2)
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Sinfonia 22 for violin, violone/cello & continuo in D minor, McC 22 (2)
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Sinfonia avante il Barcheggio: Allegro (1)
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Sinfonia avante il Barcheggio: Canzone (1)
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Sinfonia avante il Barcheggio: Corrente (1)
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Sinfonia avante il Barcheggio: Spiritosa e staccato (1)
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Sinfonia in A major (2)
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Sinfonia in D minor (2)
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Sinfonia in F major (3)
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Sinfonia no 17 for 2 Violins and Basso Continuo (1)
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Sinfonia no 2 (2)
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Sinfonia no 22 (1)
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Sinfonia No. 11, for violin & continuo (1)
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Sinfonia No. 18, for 2 violins & continuo (1)
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Sonata à 4 for 2 Violins, 2 Cornetts and Basso Continuo C in D major (1)
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Sonata di Viole for 2 Violins, Lute, Strings and Basso Continuo (1)
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Sonata for Trumpet in D major (4)
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Sonata for violin, cello & lute in D minor, 7. 2-1 (1)
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Speranze smarrite (1)
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Ti lascerò e a poco a poco (1)
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Tirsi un giorno piangea (1)
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Toccata in A minor (1)
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Torna, Amor, dammi il mio bene (1)
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Trio Sonata(s) (1)
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Trionfate, Invitti colli, trio for 3 voices, 2 violins & continuo (1)
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‘Fedeltà!’ sinché spirto in petto avrò (1)
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| More Featured Alessandro Stradella CDs & DVDs: |
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Biography |
by Blair Johnston
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One of the earlier members of that elite caste of composers who lived only into their mid-thirties (one thinks, of course, of Mozart, Schubert and Mendelssohn), Italian Baroque composer Alessandro Stradella is considered one of the most versatile and influential musical figures of the mid-seventeenth century. Born in Rome in 1644, Stradella first appears in the historical record eleven years later when his name is among the singers listed at St. Marcello del Crocifisso Cathedral. In 1658 he became a singer at the court of Queen Christina of Sweden (stationed in Rome), who, by 1663, was sufficiently impressed with Stradella's musical skills to begin commissioning compositions from him (beginning with the motet Chare Jesu suavissime). Soon other Roman notables followed suit, and Stradella produced an assortment of motets, prologues and intermezzi (to be performed between the acts of other composers' operas) throughout the 1660s.
In 1669 Stradella joined the abbot Antonio Sforza and violinist Ambrogio Lonati in an unsuccessful plot to embezzle funds from the Roman Catholic Church. Stradella managed to escape imprisonment but found it advisable to flee Rome until the entire affair had been buried by the Church. By 1670 he was back in the city writing musical prologues and intermezzi for the Tordinona public theater in Rome. After 1675 (a Holy Year during which all public theater productions were forbidden) Stradella redirected his energies to sacred composition (mostly large religious-dramatic oratorios) and instrumental composition.
By 1677 Stradella had once again earned the disfavor of the Roman Church, and was forced to flee the city. Invited to the city of Venice to provide a musical education for the wealthy Alvise Contarini's mistress, Stradella instead charmed and absconded with the mistress, and a price was put on his head by the very powerful Contarini family. After an attempt on his life in October of 1677 Stradella traveled to Genoa, where a number of his operas and sacred oratorios were subsequently performed. A scandalous love affair with a Genoese noblewoman earned Stradella the wrath of the Lomellini family, and in 1681 the composer was killed by a Lomellini agent.
Stradella seems to have had plenty of money (he certainly never relied on musical commissions to survive), and it is very likely that he was born into the aristocracy. His substantial output includes 27 surviving purely instrumental works -- virtually all in sonata da chiesa design, and likely a great influence on the young Arcangelo Corelli, whom we know to have had a familiarity with Stradella's music. Stradella's vocal compositions show a great musical and textual diversity. The opera Il Trespolo tutore, containing as it does an important, humorous bass character, is one of the earliest examples of opera buffa. While his operas all employ a relatively small orchestra (two violins and continuo), Stradella experimented with more sizeable instrumental ensembles in his cantatas and oratorios, many of which feature the kind of concerto grosso string division (i.e. concertino and tutti groups); this would soon become a prominent feature in Italian Baroque composition. |
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