Agostino Steffani

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Agostino Steffani;
Oil painting 89 × 69 cm by Gerhard Kappers , around 1714

Agostino Steffani (born July 25, 1654 in Castelfranco Veneto , Veneto , † February 12, 1728 in Frankfurt am Main ) was an Italian composer, diplomat and Catholic titular bishop .

Life

Munich

Steffani spent his childhood with his relatives in Padua , where he attended high school. He was sponsored there by the Bavarian Elector Ferdinand Maria and accompanied the Elector couple to Munich in 1667 . He lived there for 21 years. In Munich he received organ lessons from Johann Caspar von Kerll .

In 1672 Steffani traveled to Rome for two years for further musical training with Ercole Bernabei . He also began studying Catholic theology . In 1674 he published his first musical work, the Psalmodia vespertina . More vocal works followed; Steffani went on study trips to France and Northern Italy, during which he might also have diplomatic assignments to fulfill. In Paris he performed on the harpsichord in front of Louis XIV .

The assumption of office of the Wittelsbach Elector Max Emanuel in 1680 marked a turning point in the life of Steffani, who was ordained a priest in the same year after completing his theology studies.

Autograph of a chamber duet

In 1681 he was appointed chamber music director. Steffani wrote the music at the Munich court for operas, ballets, carnival jokes and tournaments. Steffani carried out secret diplomatic missions that were often related to the marriage projects of his electoral lord. In 1681 Steffani's first opera Marco Aurelio , in which Lully's influence can be seen, was performed. The libretto was written by his brother Ventura Terzago . This started a successful collaboration between these brothers that lasted for years. In 1686 Steffani was appointed Munich court conductor .

In May 1688, Steffani was honorably dismissed by Elector Max Emanuel, followed by Giuseppe Antonio Bernabei as Munich court conductor .

Hanover and Düsseldorf

Agostino Steffani

After a short stay in Italy, he became opera conductor at the court of Duke Ernst August of Hanover at the end of June . There he composed Enrico Leone for the upcoming inauguration of the new theater in the Leineschloss (1689) and brought out new operas almost every year until 1696. In 1696 Steffani moved to Brussels , where he came into contact with Lully's operatic works . He was mainly active as a partner. In 1702 Steffani assessed certain developments in his diplomatic activities as a defeat and concentrated again on musical creativity.

In the same year he was called to Düsseldorf by Elector Johann Wilhelm , where he was appointed spiritual council president and soon gained recognition as an advisor. A year later he became a secret councilor and President of the Electorate of the Palatinate, and led political negotiations in several cities. 1703 and 1704 he acted as rector and curator at the University of Heidelberg . In September 1706 he was appointed titular bishop of Pegae / Spiga in partibus infidelium .

Epitaph in the Frankfurt Cathedral

Late years

In 1708 he was sent to Rome to mediate in the dispute between the emperor and the pope. In the following year he advanced to the position of Apostolic Vicar of the newly circumscribed Vicariate for Upper and Lower Saxony . He traveled to Germany again with the project to re-catholicize some German royal houses. After the death of some of his noble benefactors, Steffani got increasingly into financial difficulties. Agostino Steffani died of a stroke in Frankfurt in 1728 when he wanted to sell some art objects he had brought from Italy. He was buried in the so-called Kaiserdom St. Bartholomäus , in reality the collegiate church of this title; A marble epitaph there commemorates him, donated by the Catholics of Hanover out of gratitude, as he had taken care of the construction of their then only church, St. Clemens .

Musical creation

Steffani integrated elements of French as well as German music into Italian musical art. In addition to operas, Steffani published chamber duets in particular, which enjoyed popularity well into the 18th century. This is evidenced by the large number of copies of his works as well as the honorable mention by musicians and poets.

In 2012 Cecilia Bartoli published a CD with works by Steffani and at the same time Donna Leon published a detective novel based on Steffani's life.

Agostino Steffani project

The Hanoverian music professor Lajos Rovatkay conceived the Forum Agostino Steffani in 2014 . He sees it as a "continuing cultural project" in Hanover, which is set up as an event that takes place every September. As a prelude, the Forum Agostino Steffani held a two-day symposium in Herrenhausen Palace in September 2014 under the motto Agostino Steffani: European composer and Hanoverian diplomat of the Leibniz period , which dealt with his musical oeuvre as well as his political work.

Works

In Grove Music Online and Corago the following works are as follows:

Operas

  • Marco Aurelio, “dramma per musica” in three acts; Libretto: Ventura Terzago; Carnival 1681, Munich, Court Theater
  • Audacia e rispetto, "torneo"; Libretto: Ventura Terzago; Carnival 1685, Munich, Court Theater; lost
  • Solone, “dramma per musica” in three acts; Libretto: Ventura Terzago; January 1685, Munich, Court Theater; lost
  • Servio Tullio, “dramma per musica” in three acts; Libretto: Ventura Terzago; January 1686, Munich, Court Theater
  • Alarico il Baltha, cioè L'audace re de Goti, “dramma per musica” in three acts; Libretto: Luigi Orlandi; January 18, 1687, Munich, Court Theater
  • Niobe, regina di Tebe , “dramma per musica” in three acts; Libretto: Luigi Orlandi; Carnival 1688, Munich, Court Theater
  • Enrico Leone , “dramma” in three acts; Libretto: Ortensio Mauro ; January 30, 1689, Hanover, Court Theater; u. a. with the soprano Vittoria Tarquini , the tenor Antonio Borosini and the castrato "Nicolini" (probably Nicola Paris or Remolini).
    1696 as Hertzog Henrich the Lion in Hamburg;
    1699 in Braunschweig;
    1701 as Mechtilde in Stuttgart;
    Revised by Georg Caspar Schürmann on February 2, 1716 in Braunschweig
  • La lotta d'Hercole con Acheloo, “divertimento drammatico” in one act; Libretto: Ortensio Mauro; Summer 1689, Hanover, Castle
  • La superbia d'Alessandro, “dramma” in three acts; Libretto: Ortensio Mauro; February 1690, Hanover, theater;
    revised in February 1691 as Il zelo di Leonato in Hanover;
    1695 as the haughty Alexander in Hamburg;
    1699 in Braunschweig;
    1700 in Stuttgart
  • Orlando generoso, “dramma per musica” in three acts; Libretto: Ortensio Mauro; 1691, Hanover, theater;
    on February 24, 1695 as Der Großmüthige Roland in the Theater am Gänsemarkt Hamburg;
    1720 again in Hamburg
  • Le rivali concordi, “dramma” in three acts; Libretto: Ortensio Mauro; February 1692, Hanover, theater;
    1698 as Die Vereinigte Mit-Buhler or Die Siegende Atalanta in the Theater am Gänsemarkt Hamburg
  • Il Turno, “dramma” in three acts; Libretto: Ortensio Mauro; 1693-1697;
    revised in 1709 as Amor vien dal destino in Düsseldorf
  • La libertà contenta, “dramma” in three acts; Libretto: Ortensio Mauro; February 3, 1693, Hanover, theater;
    1697 as Alcibiades, amused in his freedom, in the Theater am Gänsemarkt Hamburg;
    around 1700 in Braunschweig
  • Baccanali [“divertimento”] in one act; Libretto: Ortensio Mauro; February 1695, Hanover, Picciolo Teatro Elettorale;
    revised by Georg Caspar Schürmann as Doppia festa d'Imeneo on September 12, 1718 in Salzthal (Braunschweig);
    on May 15, 1719 as La festa di Minerva in Wolfenbüttel
  • I trionfi del fato, “dramma” in three acts; Libretto: Ortensio Mauro; February 1695, Hanover, Castle;
    1699 as Das Maechtige Geschick with Lavinia and Dido in Hamburg;
    Revised by Georg Caspar Schürmann in 1716 as Enea in Italia in Braunschweig
  • The winning Alcides, “Singe-Spiel” (without mentioning the composer); Libretto: Ortensio Mauro; 1696, Hamburg, Theater am Gänsemarkt
  • Briseide, "dramma per musica" (attributed to Steffani; possibly by Pietro Torri ); Libretto: Francesco Passarini; Carnival 1696, Hanover, corte elettorale
  • Arminio, “tragedia per musica” in five acts ( pasticcio from music from his older operas; authorship of the compilation uncertain); Libretto: Stefano Pallavicini ; Carnival 1707, Düsseldorf
  • Tassilone , “tragedia per musica” in five acts; Libretto: Stefano Pallavicini; January 17, 1709, Düsseldorf, Corte Elettorale Palatina

Sacred vocal works

  • Psalmodia vespertina, for eight voices (thirteen Vespers palms, one Magnificat ); 1674, Rome
  • Sacer Ianus quadrifrons, for three voices and basso continuo (twelve motets), Munich 1685
  • Sperate in deodorant, for five voices and organ; 1674
  • Triduanas a Domino, for eight voices; November 20, 1673
  • Beatus vir, for three voices, two violins and basso continuo
  • Laudate Dominum, for eight voices; December 30, 1673
  • Laudate pueri, for nine voices; November 1673
  • Beatus vir, for eight voices and basso continuo; September 16, 1676
  • Non plus mi ligate, for soprano, two violins and basso continuo
  • Qui diligit Mariam [Filium / Christum], for two sopranos, alto, tenor, bass and basso continuo; around July 7, 1727
  • Stabat mater, for six voices, strings and basso continuo; around January 11, 1728

Other vocal works

  • many chamber duets and cantatas for two voices and basso continuo
  • six jokes
  • Occhi miei, lo miraste, solo cantata, edited by Alfred Einstein (1918–1919)
  • Al rigor d'un bel sembiante, madrigal for soprano, alto, tenor and basso continuo
  • Gettano i re dal soglio, madrigal for two sopranos, alto, tenor, bass and basso continuo
  • Serenata for the wedding of the Countess von Preysing, Munich 1682, lost

Instrumental works

  • Les overtures, chacconnes et les autres airs à joüer; Amsterdam, around 1705, lost
  • Sonate da camera for two violins, viola and basso continuo; Amsterdam, around 1705

Theoretical works

  • Quanta certezza habbia da suoi principii la musica; Amsterdam, 1695;
    Revised German version as a musical send letter, 1699–1700;
    expanded as a missive, February 1760

literature

  • Friedrich Chrysander : Capellmeister in Hanover. The predecessor Agostino Steffani. , in this: GF Handel . Volume 2, Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1858, digitized from zeno.org
  • Robert Eitner :  Steffani, Agostino . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 35, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1893, pp. 549-553.
  • Michael F. Feldkamp : The estate of the composer, diplomat and Bishop Agostino Steffani (1654–1728) in the archive of the Propaganda Fide. In: Sources and research from Italian archives and libraries 72 (1992), pp. 230–313 ( online )
  • Michael F. Feldkamp : Composer, statesman and bishop: The Apostolic Vicar of the North Agostino Steffani (1654-1738) , in: Ders .: Reichskirche und political Catholicism. Essays on church history and church legal history of modern times (= Propylaea of ​​the Christian Occident, Volume 3), Patrimonium-Verlag, Aachen 2019, pp. 81–95 ISBN 978-3-86417-120-8 .
  • Claudia Kaufold: A musician as a diplomat. Abbé Agostino Steffani in Hanover services (1688-1703), at the same time dissertation in 1994 at the University of Göttingen, in the series publications of the Institute for Historical State Research, University of Goettingen , Vol 36, Bielefeld. Publishers of Regional History, 1997, ISBN 3-89534- 195-9
  • Colin Timms: Polymath of the Baroque: Agostino Steffani and His Music. Oxford / New York: Oxford University Press 2003 ISBN 978-0-19-515473-3
  • Sabine Wehking :  Steffani, Agostino. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 10, Bautz, Herzberg 1995, ISBN 3-88309-062-X , Sp. 1263-1265.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
  • Friedrich Blume (founder), Ludwig Finscher (ed.): The music in the past and present. General encyclopedia of music [media combination], 26 volumes in two parts, here vol. 12, Kassel; Basel; London; New York; Prague: Bärenreiter / Stuttgart; Weimar: Metzler, column 1206-1215
  • Wolfgang Ruf in connection with Annette van Dyck-Hemming (Ed.): Riemann Musiklexikon , 12th completely revised edition in 3 volumes, Volume 2, Mainz 1961, p. 721ff.
    • as well as supplementary volume 2. p. 701
  • German Biographical Encyclopedia , Vol. 9, pp. 463f.
  • Wulf Konold (Ges.-Hrsg.), Klaus-Jürgen Etzold (co-author.): The Lower Saxony State Orchestra Hanover 1636–1986 , ed. from the Lower Saxony State Theater Hannover GmbH, Hanover: Schlütersche Verlagsgesellschaft, 1986, ISBN 3-87706-041-2 , p. 174
  • Lajos Rovatkay: Opening opera for the Great Palace Theater. In: Sabine Hammer (ed.), Dieter Brosius (co-author): Opera in Hanover. 300 years of change in a city's music theater , ed. from the Niedersächsische Sparkassenstiftung , Hanover: Schlütersche Verlagsanstalt, 1990, ISBN 3-87706-298-9 , pp. 24-28
  • Hugo Thielen : STEFFANI, Agostino. In: Dirk Böttcher , Klaus Mlynek, Waldemar R. Röhrbein, Hugo Thielen: Hannoversches Biographisches Lexikon . From the beginning to the present. Schlütersche, Hannover 2002, ISBN 3-87706-706-9 , p. 346.
  • Hugo Thielen: Steffani, Agostino. In: Klaus Mlynek, Waldemar R. Röhrbein (eds.) U. a .: City Lexicon Hanover . From the beginning to the present. Schlütersche, Hannover 2009, ISBN 978-3-89993-662-9 , p. 600f.
  • Claudia Kaufold, Nicole K. Strohmann, Colin Timms: Agostino Steffani: European composer, Hanoverian diplomat and Bishop of the Leibniz period , Göttingen 2017, ISBN 978-3-8471-0709-5 / 3-8471-0709-7
  • Waltraut Anna Kautz-Lach (Ed.): Agostino Steffani. Musician, politician and prince of the church. Writings by Gerhard Croll . Vienna: Hollitzer, 2018, ISBN 978-3-99012-491-8
  • Waltraut Anna Lach: The one-act opera La Lotta d'Hercole con Acheloo and Baccanali by Agostino Steffani. Vienna: Hollitzer, 2019, ISBN 978-3-99012-599-1

Movie

The film Mission - Agostino Steffani in Versailles presents Steffani's musical creations in the context of Versailles, accompanied by a description of his life from the perspective of a first-person narrator (singers, among others: Cecilia Bartoli , Philippe Jaroussky ; orchestra: I Barocchisti ; conductor: Diego Fasolis ; Screenplay, director: Olivier Simonnet; producer: Pierre-Olivier Bardet; Idéale Audience and ARTE France, 2012).

Web links

Commons : Agostino Steffani  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Friedrich Chrysander : GF Handel , second volume, 1858, Breitkopf and Härtel, Leipzig.
  2. ↑ Heidelberg University website on Agostino Steffani , accessed on October 12, 2012.
  3. ↑ Donna Leon and Cecilia Bartoli solve baroque crime thriller , Die Welt, September 23, 2012, accessed on September 24, 2012.
  4. ^ Conference report , accessed on May 23, 2015.
  5. ↑ Colin Timms:  Steffani, Agostino. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
  6. ^ Search for operas by Agostino Steffani (search term in the Autore field : "Steffani Agostino") in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  7. ↑ Helen Coffey: "Opera for the House of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Italian singers at the Hannover Court", in: Claudia Kaufold, Nicole K. Strohmann, Colin Timms (HRG.): Agostini Steffani - European composer, Hanoverian diplomat and bishop of the Leibniz-Zeit , Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (V & R-unipress), Göttingen, 2017, p. 107–122, here: p. 117, excerpts online as Google Book (English; accessed on October 21, 2019)
  8. ↑ Matthew Gardner: "Steffani's Italian Opera singers in Hanover, Recruitment and Vocal Style", in: Claudia Kaufold, Nicole K. Strohmann, Colin Timms (HRG.): Agostini Steffani - European composer, Hanoverian diplomat and bishop of Leibniz's time , ..., Göttingen, 2017, pp. 123-138, here: p. 128 (see previous footnote)
  9. ↑ Colin Timms: Polymath of the Baroque: Agostino Steffani and His Music , Oxford University Press, 2003, p. 55, online as Google Book (English; accessed October 21, 2019)
  10. ↑ Cecilia Bartoli, mission in the ARD program of January 2, 2015, accessed on June 5, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Steffani, Agostino
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian composer, diplomat and clergyman
DATE OF BIRTH July 25, 1654
PLACE OF BIRTH Castelfranco Veneto
DATE OF DEATH February 12, 1728
Place of death Frankfurt am Main