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Year 1690 (MDCXC) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Wednesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar.

Events[link]

January–June[link]

• January 6 – Joseph, son of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, becomes King of the Romans.
• January 7 – The first recorded full peal is rung, at St Sepulchre-without-Newgate in the City of London, marking a new era in change ringing.
• January 14 – The clarinet is invented in Nuremberg, Germany.
• February 3 – The colony of Massachusetts issues the first paper money in America.
• May 20 – England passes the Act of Grace, forgiving followers of James II.
• June – William III lands in Ireland to confront James II.
• June 8 – Siddi general Yadi Sakat, razes the Mazagon Fort in Mumbai.

July–December[link]

• July 10 – Anglo-Dutch navy defeated by the French in the Battle of Beachy Head (also known as the Battle of Bévéziers), giving rise to fears of a Jacobite invasion of England.
• July 12 – Battle of the Boyne, north of Dublin. James VII & II is defeated and sails back to France. The rebellion in Ireland continues for a further year until the Orange army gains control.
• July 26 – French landing party raids and burns Teignmouth in Devon. However, with the loss of James VII & II's position in Ireland, any plans for a real invasion are soon shelved and Teignmouth is the last-ever French attack on England.
• September 25 – The only issue of Publick Occurrences is published in Boston, Massachusetts, before being suppressed by the colonial authorities.
• October 6–12 October – Massachusetts Puritans led by Sir William Phips besiege the city of Quebec. The siege ends in failure.
• December – Earliest recorded sighting of the planet Uranus, by John Flamsteed, who mistakenly catalogues it as the star 34 Tauri.
• December 29 – An earthquake hits Anconer in the Papal States, Italy.

Date unknown[link]

• Arsenije III Carnojevic, Patriarch of Serbia, leads the first of the two Great Serbian Migrations into the Habsburg Empire, following Ottoman atrocities in Kosovo.
• Belgrade recaptured by Ottoman Turks from the Austrians.
• Earliest type of piston steam engine patented by French physicist Denis Papin. It is used for pumping water but is not efficient.
• Arcangelo Corelli publishes the Concerti Grossi.
• Giovanni Domenico Cassini observes differential rotation within Jupiter's atmosphere.
• The Hearth Tax is abolished in Scotland, one year after its abolition in England and Wales.
• An Anglo-Moghul treaty allows the British East India Company to establish a fort and trading settlement on the Hooghly River, which becomes Calcutta.
• Possible year of the disappearance of the island Buise in St. Peter's Flood.

Births[link]

• January 22 – Nicolas Lancret, French painter (d. 1743)
• January 31 – Thomas Carter, Irish politician (d. 1763)
• February 1 – Francesco Maria Veracini, Italian composer (d. 1768)
• February 3 – Richard Rawlinson, English minister and antiquarian (d. 1755)
• March 18 – Christian Goldbach, Prussian mathematician (d. 1764)
• April 22 – John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, English statesman (d. 1763)
• September 12 – Peter Dens, Belgian Catholic theologian (d. 1775)
• October 29 – Martin Folkes, English antiquarian (d. 1754)
• November 24 – Charles Theodore Pachelbel, German composer (d. 1750)
• November 29 – Christian Augustus of Anhalt-Zerbst, father of Catherine II of Russia (d. 1747)
• December 1 – Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, Lord Chancellor of England (d. 1764)
• December 22 – Meidingu Pamheiba, King of Manipur (d. 1751)

Deaths[link]

• January 3 – Hillel ben Naphtali Zevi, Lithuanian rabbi (b. 1615)
• February 7 – William Morice, English royalist statesman (b. c. 1628)
• February 22 – Charles Le Brun, French artist (b. 1619)
• April 18 – Charles V, Duke of Lorraine, general of the Holy Roman Empire (b. 1643)
• April 25 – David Teniers the Younger, Flemish artist (b. 1610)
• May 21 – John Eliot, English Puritan missionary (b. 1604)
• May 27 – Giovanni Legrenzi, Italian composer (b. 1626)
• July 1 – George Walker, Irish soldier and Anglican priest (b. 1645)
• September 2 – Philipp Wilhelm, Elector Palatine (b. 1615)
• October 3 – Robert Barclay, Scottish writer (b. c. 1648)
• November 17 – Charles de Sainte-Maure, duc de Montausier, French soldier (b. 1610)

References[link]

Giovanni Legrenzi (baptized August 12, 1626 – May 27, 1690) was an Italian composer of opera, vocal and instrumental music, and organist, of the Baroque era. He was one of the most prominent composers in Venice in the late 17th century, and extremely influential on the development of late Baroque idioms across northern Italy.

Life[link]

Legrenzi was born at Clusone, near Bergamo, then part of the Republic of Venice. His father, Giovanni Maria Legrenzi, was a professional violinist and, to some extent, a composer. We know Legrenzi had two brothers and two sisters, though one of the brothers, Marco, apparently a talented musician who performed with his father and brother in the 1660s, is not mentioned in Legrenzi’s will: it is presumed that he died young. His remaining brother and sisters are both mentioned in his will. Legrenzi was probably taught largely at home, and his performance skills developed at the local church, and it can also be assumed there was music-making in the house.

Legrenzi received his first appointment in Bergamo, as Organist at Santa Maria Maggiore, a magnificent church with a celebrated musical history. Following ordination as a priest in 1651, he was appointed as a resident chaplain at the church, though he continued to be actively involved in the music, and was given the title of First Organist in 1653, at about the time Maurizio Cazzati was appointed maestro di cappella. Legrenzi’s first publication, music for Mass and Vespers, appeared in 1654. His appointment as organist was not reconfirmed at the end of the year owing to his apparent involvement in a minor gambling scandal, though he was reinstated by mid February 1655.

Legrenzi resigned from his position at Bergamo towards the end of 1655, and in 1656 became maestro di cappella at the Academy of the Holy Spirit in Ferrara. The Academy was not a learned society, but a fraternity of laymen which presented predominantly liturgical services with music. It had a small but very good musical establishment with an impressive tradition, and effectively addressed the needs of the whole aristocratic community of Ferrara, with whom Legrenzi cemented relationships that, like those he had already established in Bergamo, would serve him well throughout his life. The position at the Academy of the Holy Spirit would have left Legrenzi with ample time for other pursuits. By the early 1660s he had already published eight volumes, and had broken in to the elite world of opera, gaining his first performances in Venice in 1664.

We know little of certainty about Legrenzi’s activities between approximately 1665 and 1670, a situation considerably exacerbated by the destruction of local records for the period during World War II. He ended his association with the Academy of the Holy Spirit at some point, and does not appear to have had a permanent position of any sort for several years, though it is unlikely that he was in financial difficulty. He had land at Clusone and the proceeds from his publications, several of which had already gone into second editions, as well as performance fees. He also published his largest volume, the huge collection for double choir, during this period.

Legrenzi seems to have been well settled in Venice by 1670. He took a position as a music teacher at Santa Maria dei Derelitti (commonly called the Ospedaletto), remaining until 1676, and was busy with further publications, musical commissions, especially oratorios, occasional performances, and more.

In 1676 he was a finalist for appointment as maestro at San Marco in succession to Cavalli, losing by a single vote to Natale Monferrato. Later in the year he became maestro di coro of the Ospedale dei Mendicanti, where he remained until 1682 when he succeeded Antonio Sartorio as vice-maestro at San Marco. He was by this time (along with Carlo Pallavicino) the leading opera composer of his day, with ten commissions in the five years to 1685.

Legrenzi succeeded Monferrato as maestro di cappella at San Marco in April 1685. He was by this time probably in failing health, and the last few years of his life were clouded by sickness. He took little part in the services at San Marco from the later part of 1687, where performances were increasingly in the hands of his vice-maestro, Gian Domenico Partenio. Legrenzi’s death on 27 May 1690 from the "mal di petra" (a colic-related illness, probably kindey-stones) was accompanied by excruciating pain.

Legrenzi’s legacy lived on for some years after his death. His great-nephew Giovanni Varischino inherited his music and books, and produced three posthumous publications.

Music[link]

Legrenzi was active in most of the genres current in northern Italy in the late 17th century, including sacred vocal music, opera, oratorio, and varieties of instrumental music. Though best known as a composer of instrumental sonatas, he was predominantly a composer of liturgical music with a distinctly dramatic character. The bulk of his instrumental music may also be included in this category, since it would have been used primarily as a substitute for liturgical items at Mass or Vespers. His operas were immensely popular (and extravagantly presented) in their day, though like his oratorios, few have survived. His later dance music was certainly connected with the operatic repertoire, though the function of an early collection (Op. 4, which is musicologically famous for its inclusion of six pieces designated sonate da camera) is less clear.

Published works[link]

• Concerti Musicali per uso di Chiesa. Op. 1 (Venice, Alessandro Vincenti, 1654)
• Sonata a due, e tre. Op. 2 (Venice, Francesco Magni, 1655)
• Harmonia d'affetti Devoti a due, tre, e quatro, voci. Op. 3 (Venice, Alessandro Vincenti, 1655)
• Sonate dà Chiesa, e dà Camera, Correnti, Balletti, Alemane, Sarabande a tre, doi violini, e violone. Libro Secondo. Op. 4 (Venice, Francesco Magni, 1656)
• Salmi a cinque, tre voci, e due violini. Op. 5 (Venice, Francesco Magni, 1657)
• Sentimenti Devoti Espressi con le musica di due, e tre voci. Libro Secondo. Op. 6 (Venice, Francesco Magni detto Gardano, 1660). A second edition was published in Antwerp in 1665.
• Compiete con le Lettanie & Antifone Della B.V. a 5. voci. Op. 7 (Venice, Francesco Magni detto Gardano, 1662)
• Sonate a due, tre, cinque, a sei stromenti. Libro 3. Op. 8 (Venice, Francesco Magni, 1663)
• Sacri e Festivi Concerti. Messa e Salmi a due chori con stromenti a beneplacito. Op. 9 (Venice, Francesco Magni Gardano, 1667)
• Acclamationi Divote a voce sola. Libro Primo. Op. 10 (Bologna, Giacomo Monti, 1670)
• La Cetra. Libro Quarto di Sonate a due tre e quattro stromenti. Op. 10 (Venice, Francesco Magni Gardano, 1673, reprinted 1682)
• Cantate, e Canzonette a voce sola. Op. 12 (Bologna, Giacomo Monti, 1676)
• Idee Armoniche Estese per due e tre voci. Op. 13 (Venice, Francesco Magni detto Gardano, 1678)
• Echi di Riverenza di Cantate, e Canzoni. Libro Secondo. Op. 14 (Bologna, Giacomo Monti, 1678)
• Sacri Musicali Concerti a due, e tre voci. Libro Terzo. Op. 15 (Venice, Gioseppe Salla, 1689)
• Balletti e Correnti a cinque stromenti, con il basso continuo per il cembalo. Libro Quinto Postumo. Op. 16 (Venice, Giuseppe Sala, 1691)
• Motetti Sacri a voce sola con tre strumenti. Op. 17 (Venice, Gioseppe Sala, 1692)

Note: Two collections were published as opus 10, Acclamationi Divote (1670) and La Cetra (1673). In the copy of Acclamationi Divote at the Civico museo bibliografico musicale in Bologna, the numeral ‘i’ has been added to the opus number in red ink, indicating an awareness that there are two books published as opus 10. References throughout this article refer to works from this volume as Op. 11.

Unpublished works[link]

A number of works survive in manuscript copies only. Most can be ascribed confidently to Legrenzi, though there are a few of less certain attribution. Among the most important of these works are:

• The Messa a cinque voci con stromenti, found at Oxford.
• The unaccompanied Missa quinque vocibus found at Loreto. This Mass, dated 1689 and surviving in a magnificently bound volume, may have been presented as a votive offering.
• The Messa a 16 for four choirs and organ continuo held in the Vatican Library.
• The Prosa pro mortuis, a complete setting for double choir and instruments of the sequence "Dies irae" from the Requiem Mass.
• A unique setting for double choir and instruments of Matins for Christmas Day, including the Invitatory, Psalms and Te Deum; and concluding with the Introit for the First Mass of Christmas.
• Intret in conspectu, a motet for 6 voices, known from a single source copied out by Handel, who drew on Legrenzi’s motet in the chorus 'To thy dark servant' in the oratorio Samson.
• Credidi propter quod locutus sum, a psalm setting for solo alto, strings and continuo, which appears likely to be a unique example of Legrenzi's own hand, as there is evidence that it is an autograph.
• Laudate pueri, a psalm setting for five voices, strings and continuo and, unusually, a trumpet.
• Spirate aure serenae, a motet for solo soprano, strings and continuo which provides for a theorboe to double or replace the violone.

There are in addition a few more liturgical pieces, a number of cantatas and the unusual 'serenata' Notte, madri d’horrori.

Operas[link]

• Nino, il giusto (1662)
• Achille in Sciro (1663)
• Zenobia e Radamisto † (1665)
• Tiridate (1668)
• La divisione del mondo † (1675)
• Eteocle e Polinice † (1675)
• Adone in Cipro ‡ (1676)
• Germanico sul Reno † (1676)
• Totila † (1677)
• Antioco il grande ‡ (1681)
• Creso ‡ (1681)
• Pausania (1681)
• Lisimaco riamato da Alessandro ‡ (1682)
• Ottaviano Cesare Agusto (1682)
• I due cesari ‡ (1683)
• Giustino † (1683)
• L'anarchia dell'imperio ‡ (1683)
• Publio Elio Pertinace ‡ (1684)
• Ifianassa e Melampo (1685)

† Surviving scores.
‡ Arias from these operas survive in one or more sources.

Oratorios[link]

• Oratorio del giuditio (1665)
• Oratorio della passione (1671)
• Sedecia † (1671)
• Il creation del mondo (1672)
• Sisara (1672)
• Moisè (1672)
• La vendita del cuor humano † (or Il prezzo del cuor humano) ‡ (1673)
• La morte del cor penitente † (1673)
• San Giovanni Battista (1673)
• Adamo et Eva (1674)
• Gli sponsali d’Ester (1675)
• Decollatione di S. Giovanni (1678)
• Erodiade (lib. Neri) (1687)
• Erodiade (lib. Piccioli) (1687)

† Surviving scores.
‡ Whether or not La vendita del cuor humano is in fact a Legrenzi work or P.A. Ziani's Il cuore humano all'incanto remains to be demonstrated.

References[link]

• Stephen Bonta: The Church Sonatas of Giovanni Legrenzi. Ph.D. Dissertation, Harvard University, 1964.
• Stephen Bonta: "Giovanni Legrenzi", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed June 27, 2005), (subscription access)
• Stephen Bonta: Studies in Italian Sacred and Instrumental Music in the 17th Century. Burlington, Ashgate Publishing Co, 2003. ISBN 0-86078-878-4
• Rudolf Bossard: Giovanni Legrenzi -- Il Giustino: Eine Monograph; Studie. Ph.D. Dissertation, Basel, 1987. Published as Il Giustino; eine mongraphische Studie. Baden-Baden, Koerner, 1988. Collection d'études musicologiques ; 79. ISBN 3-87320-579-3
• Tiziana Brugnoni: Giovanni Legrenzi, Germanico sul Reno: Studio introduttivo ed edizione critica. M.A. Dissertation, Università di Pavia, 1991.
• L. Glenn Cockerham: The chamber sonatas and dances of Giovanni Legrenzi. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Kansas, 1988.
• Julia Davids: Music for Vespers of the B.V.M. by Giovanni Legrenzi: A modern performing edition. D.Mus. Dissertation, Northwestern University, 2006.
• Reinmar Emans: Die einstimmigen Kantaten, Canzonetten und Serenaden Giovanni Legrenzis. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Bonn, 1984
• Piero Fogaccia: Giovanni Legrenzi. Bergamo, Edizioni Orobiche, 1954.
• John Alexander MacDonald: The sacred vocal music of Giovanni Legrenzi. 2 vols. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Michigan, 1964.
• Paola Palermo and Giulia Pecis Cavagna: La cappella musicale di Santa Maria Maggiore a Bergamo dal 1637 al 1810. (Studi Sulla Storia Della Musica in Lombardia, v). Turnhout, Brepols, 2007. ISBN 2-503-51033-7.
• Francesco Passadore and Franco Rossi: La sottigliezza dell’intendimento. Catalogo tematico di Giovanni Legrenzi. Venice: Edizioni Fondazione Levi, 2002. ISBN 88-7552-028-3
• Francesco Passadore and Franco Rossi (eds.): Giovanni Legrenzi e la Cappella ducale di San Marco : atti dei convegni internazionali di studi, Venezia, 24-26 maggio 1990, Clusone, 14-16 settembre 1990. Florence : Olschki, 1994. ISBN 88-222-4164-9
• Gale Richard Price: "II sedecia" A seventeenth-century oratorio by Giovanni Legrenzi. D.M.A. Dissertation, University of Kentucky, 1981
• John H. Roberts (ed.): La lotta d’Hercole con Acheloo / Agostino Steffani. Miscellaneous manuscript sources. Handel sources: materials for the study of Handel's borrowing ; 9. New York: Garland, 1986. ISBN 0-8240-6483-6 ISBN 978-0824064839 (motet Intret in conspectu)
• Eleanor Selfridge-Field: A New Chronology of Venetian Opera and Related Genres, 1660–1760. Palo Alto, Stanford University Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-8047-4437-9
• Eleanor Selfridge-Field: Pallade veneta : writings on music in Venetian society, 1650-1750. Venezia : Fondazione Levi, 1985. ISBN 88-7552-006-2
• Eleanor Selfridge-Field: Venetian Instrumental Music, from Gabrieli to Vivaldi. New York, Dover Publications, Third Rev. Ed. 1994. ISBN 0-486-28151-5 (See also Venetian instrumental ensemble music in the seventeenth century. D.Phil. Dissertation, University of Oxford, 1969.)
• Umberto Scarpetta: Ritratto di un musicista barocco: Giovanni Legrenzi. Ph.D. Dissertation, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 1976.
• Hendrik Schulze: Die Figur des Odysseus in der venezianischen Oper des 17. Jahrhunderts. Ph.D. Dissertation, Heidelberg, 2002. Published as Odysseus in Venedig: Sujetwahl und Rollenkonzeption in der venezianischen Oper des 17. Jahrhunderts. Frankfurt: peter Lang, 2004. ISBN 3-631-50495-0.
• J. David Swale: A thematic catalogue of the music of Giovanni Legrenzi (with an introduction and commentaries). 3 vols. Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Adelaide, 1984.
• Karin Anna Swanson: The secular vocal chamber music of Giovanni Legrenzi: M.Mus. Dissertation, University of Illinois, 1964.

Facsimiles[link]

• Acclamationi divote a voce sola. Bibliotheca musica Bononiensis. Sezione IV 207 : Bologna, Forni 1980.
• Cantatas by Antonio Cesti and Giovanni Legrenzi ; selected and introduced by David Burrows and Stephen Bonta. The Italian cantata in the seventeenth century ; vol.6. New York : Garland, 1986. ISBN 0-8240-8880-8. (Nos.1 - 12 from Opus 14, and three manuscript works.)
• Echi di riverenza : di cantate e canzoni. Archivum musicum. Cantata barocca ; 7. Firenze : Studio per edizioni scelte, 1980. ISBN 978-88-7242-685-2.
• Il Giustino : melodramma in tre atti. Collezione settecentesca Bettarini ; no. 12. Milano : Casa editrice Nazionalmusic, c. 1980.
• La Cetra. Monumenta Lombarda, Libri Antiqui Fototypice Expressi, 2. Bologna, 1970.

King’s Music (now distributed through The Early Music Company^[1]) produces good quality photocopies of the complete collections Sonate a due, tre, cinque, a sei stromenti (Op. 8, 1663), Idee Armoniche Estese (Op. 13, 1678) and Balletti e Correnti (Op. 16, 1691).

Editions[link]

• Alessandro Bares, Pietro Zazzetta (ed.), La Cetra. Musedita, Albese con Cassano, 2000. (The whole of La Cetra, Opus 11(10).)
• Alessandro Bares (ed.), Sonate a due, e tre. Musedita, Albese con Cassano, 2006. (The whole of Opus 2.)
• Alessandro Bares (ed.), Sonate a due, trè, cinque, e sei Stromenti. Musedita, Albese con Cassano, 2004. (The whole of Opus 8.)
• Stephen Bonta (ed.): The instrumental music of Giovanni Legrenzi : sonate a due e tre, opus 2, 1655. Harvard Publications in Music, 14. Harvard University Press, 1984. ISBN 0-674-45620-3.
• Stephen Bonta (ed.): La Cetra : sonate a due, tre e quattro stromenti, libro quattro, opus 10, 1673. Harvard Publications in Music, 17. Harvard University Press, 1992. ISBN 0-674-45621-1.
• Howard Mayer Brown: Italian opera librettos : 1640-1770. Italian opera, 1640-1770 v. 60. New York : Garland, 1979. ISBN 0-8240-2659-4.
• Howard Mayer Brown: Totila. Italian opera, 1640-1770 v. 9. New York : Garland, 1978. ISBN 0-8240-2608-X.
• Julia de Clerck: Prosa pro mortuis (Dies irae), Musicologica neolovaniensia ; musica sacra 1. Louvain-la-Neuve : Institut supérieur d’archéologie et d’histoire de l’art, 1981.
• Stefano Faglia, Franca Saini (ed.): Eteocle e Polinice. Opera in 3 Atti. Venezia 1675. Monza, Accademia Musicale IAMR, 2003. Parma, L'oca del Cairo Edizioni Musicali, 2003.
• Stefano Faglia, Franca Saini (ed.): Giustino. Opera in 3 atti. Venezia 1683. Monza, Accademia Musicale IAMR, 2006. Parma, L'oca del Cairo Edizioni Musicali, 2006.
• Joyce Johnson (ed.): Giovanni Legrenzi 1629-1690 II Sedecia / Bernardo Pasquini 1637-1710 Sant'Agnese. The Italian oratorio, 1650–1800 ; 8. New York, Garland, 1986. ISBN 0-8240-7707-5.
• Jeffrey Kurtzman (ed.): Vesper and Compline Music for Three Principal Voices. Seventeenth-Century Italian Sacred Music ; 13. New York, Garland, 1998. ISBN 0-8153-2360-3. (Confitebor tibi from Opus 1)
• Jeffrey Kurtzman (ed.): Vesper and Compline Music for Four Principal Voices. Seventeenth-Century Italian Sacred Music ; 14. New York: Garland, 1998. ISBN 0-8153-2420-0. (Dixit Dominus from Opus 1)
• Jeffrey Kurtzman (ed.): Vesper and Compline Music for Five Principal Voices, Parts I-II. Seventeenth-Century Italian Sacred Music ; 15-16. New York: Garland, 1999-2000. ISBN 0-8153-2421-9 (I) ISBN 0-8153-2422-7 (II). (Laudate Dominum from Opus 1, in Volume 16)
• Jeffrey Kurtzman (ed.): Vesper and Compline Music for Eight Principal Voices, Part One-Two. Seventeenth-Century Italian Sacred Music ; 18-19. New York: Garland, c.2001-2002. ISBN 0-8153-2424-3 (I) ISBN 0-8153-2425-1 (II). (In exitu Israel from Opus 9, in Volume 19)
• Anne Schnoebelen (ed.): Masses by Maurizio Cazzati, Giovanni Antonio Grossi, Giovanni Legrenzi. Seventeenth-Century Italian Sacred Music; 7. New York : Garland, 1997. ISBN 0-8153-2413-8. (The Mass from Opus 9)
• Albert Seay (ed.): Cantatas and Canzonets for Solo voice, Part I: Music for alto and bass voices ; Part II: Music for soprano or tenor voice. Recent Researches in the music of the Baroque era, 14, 15 : Madison, A-R Editions, 1972. (The whole of Opus 12.)
• Albert Seay (ed.): Sonate da camera : opus 4, for two violins and basso continuo, Musica da camera, 55. Oxford University Press, c.1979. (Nos. 7-30 from Opus 4) ISBN 978-0-19-357620-9.
• Albert Seay (ed.): Sonate da chiesa, opus 4 [and] opus 8 (1656-1663). Le Pupitre, collection de music ancienne publiée sous la direction de François Lesure, 4. Paris : Heugel, 1968. (Nos. 1-6 from Opus 4; Nos. 7-10 from Opus 8)

Prima la musica! produce Urtext performing editions of chamber and sacred music from several of Legrenzi's printed collections.

King’s Music (see "Facsimiles" above) produces facsimile or Urtext performing editions of a number of individual works.

Recordings[link]

Major recordings dedicated to Legrenzi include:

• Acclamationi Divote; Echi di Riverenza. Cappella Mauriziana; dir. Mario Valsecchi. Antes BM-CD 91.1016. [Motets from Acclamationi Divote, Op. 10 (1670): Angelorum ad convivia, Op. 10/1; Durum cor, Op. 10/3; En homo quae pro te, Op. 10/9; Plaudite vocibus, Op. 10/10; Cantatas from Echi di Riverenza, Op. 14 (1678): Catene scioglietimi, Op. 14/1; A pie d’un fonte, Op. 14/3; A battaglia, Op. 14/6.]
• Concerti musicali per uso di Chiesa, Op. 1. Oficina Musicum, Riccardo Favero, Dynamic, CDS 653. [The whole of Op. 1, both Mass and Vespers “of a Confessor” including proper antiphons. Also including two sonatas, La Bevilacqua Op. 8/6 and La Mosta, Op. 8/3.]
• Dies Irae - Sonate a quattro viole - Motetti. Ricercar Consort, dir. Philippe Pierlot. Ricercar RIC 236. 2001. [Prosa pro mortuis. Dies irae; La Cetra, Op. 11/17, Op. 11/18; Motets Angelorum ad convivia Op. 10/1 and Suspiro Domine Op. 10/11]
• Il Cuor umano all’incanto (1673). Ensemble Legrenzi. TACTUS TC 621201, 2003 [The oratorio La vendita del cuor umano] (This recording is also available on Oratorios of the Italian Baroque. Ensemble Legrenzi and Complesso Pro Musica Firenze. Brilliant Classics 93354, 2007. Includes Carissimi’s Oratorio della SS Vergine and Jonas.)
• La Cetra. Ensemble Baroque de Nice, dir. Gilbert Bezzina. Ligia LIG 030110902, (2003) [Op. 2: La Cornara, Op. 2/1, La Spilimberga, Op. 2/2, La Donata, Op. 2/7, La Foscari, Op. 2/8, La Torriana, Op. 2/15; La Cetra: Op. 11/3, 4, 9, 13, 14, 15 and 16.]
• La Morte del Cor Penitente. Cecchetti; Invernizzi; Nmircovich; Sonatori De La Gioiosa Marca. Divox 79504. 1996 [The oratorio La Morte del Cor Penitente]
• La vendita del core : oratorio en duex parties. Roger Blanchard (cond.). Paris, Les Discophiles Français DF 730.057. 1962. [This recording is available for downloading at www.dismarc.org.]
• Missa Opus 1 - Sonate d’église. Ensemble Olivier Opdebeeck Cori Spezzati, dir. Olivier Opdebeek. Pierre Verany PV700033. 2005. (Op. 1: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo; Op. 4 Sonatas La Benaglia Op. 4/3, La Tassa Op. 4/4; Op. 3 motet Adoramus te Op. 3/14.]
• O dilectissime Jesu. Motetti e Sonate. Monika Mauch (sop.), Les Cornets Noirs. ORF CD 355. 2003. [Op. 8 Sonatas: La Pia Op. 8/2, La Rosetta Op. 8/5, La Boiarda Op. 8/8, La Squarzona Op. 8/9, La Cremona Op. 8/10, La Buscha Op. 8/13; La Cetra: Sonata sesta Op. 11/12, Sonata prima Op. 11/13; Op. 17 Motets: O dilectissime Jesu Op. 17/1, O vos delitiarum cultores Op. 17/2, Coronemus non rosis Op. 17/3, Omnes gentes Op. 17/4.]
• Sonate e Balletti per strumenti ad arco. Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca. Rivo Alto CRR9014, 1991. [Op. 8 Sonatas: La Basadona Op. 8/14; La Cremona Op.8/10; La Crispa, Op. 8/16; La Cetra, Op. 11: Sonata quinta, Op. 11/11; Sonata sesta, Op. 11/12; Sonata prima, Op. 11/13, Sonata sesta “o come piace” Op. 11/18; Opus 16 (1691): Balletto terzo, Op. 16/5, Corrente terza, Op. 16/6; Corrente nona, Op. 16/18.]
• Sonate e Motetti. Musica Antiqua Praha; Pavel Klikar. Supraphon 3185-2 931. [Op. 8 Sonatas: La Rossetta Op. 8/5, La Squarzona Op. 8/9, La Cremona Op. 8/10, La Marinona Op. 8/12; La Cetra, Op. 11: Sonata prima Op. 11/1. Harmonia d’Affetti Devoti, Op. 3: Hodie colletantur Op. 3/1; Humili voce Op. 3/6; Motetti Sacri, Op. 17: O dilectissime Jesu Op. 17/1; O vos qui inter Op. 17/2; Non susurrate Op. 17/9; Omnes gentes Op. 17/4.]
• Testamentum. Missa Laurentana quinque vocibus. Oficina Musicum; Riccardo Favero. Dynamic CDS710. [The unpublished Missa quinque vocibus; Opus 2: Sonatas La Spilimberga Op. 2/2, La Querina Op. 2/14; Opus 3: Hodie Collaetantur Op. 3/1; Opus 7: Alma Redemptoris Mater Op. 7/14; Opus 10: Congratulamini Filiae Syon Op. 10/2]
• Trio Sonatas 1655. Parnassi Musici. cpo 777 030-2. 2004. [The whole of Opus 2]
• Venice Before Vivaldi – A Portrait of Giovanni Legrenzi. El Mundo; Richard Savino. Koch International KIC 7446. [Opus 2: Sonatas La Foscari Op. 2/8, La Zabarella Op. 2/10, La Donata Op. 2/7 La Cornara Op.2/1, La Spilimberga Op. 2/2; Opus 4: La Benaglia Op. 4/3 La Forni Op. 4/11; La Cetra Op. 11: Op. 11/2, Op. 11/6, Op. 11/7; Motetti Sacri, Op. 17: O dilectissime Jesu Op. 17/1, O mirandum mysterium Op. 17/7]
• Vesperae, Op. 1. Cori Spezzati, dir. Olivier Opdebeeck. Pierre Verany. [The whole of the Vespers music from Op. 1; Op. 4 Sonatas: La Pezzoli Op. 4/6; Op. 3 Motets: Obstupescite Op. 3/13.]

Approximately 40 other recordings are available featuring one or more Legrenzi works. By far the most frequently recorded item is Che fiero costume from the opera Eteocle e Polinice (in a 1680 revival, having originally appeared in 1678 in Echi di Riverenza Op. 14), made famous by opera singers including bass Ezio Pinza and tenor Luciano Pavarotti. Sonatas from all of the four volumes in this form are generously represented, with a complete recording of Op. 2 (1655) and most sonatas from the other volumes also available. The sonata for 4 violins from La Cetra, Op. 11/13, and the two unusual sonatas for 4 viola gamba, Op. 11/17 and Op. 11/18, appear on a number of recordings in various transpositions. Most other genres remain under-represented, notably including the surviving operas.

External links[link]

• Free scores by Giovanni Legrenzi in the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA)
• Free scores by Giovanni Legrenzi at the International Music Score Library Project
• Free scores by Giovanni Legrenzi in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)

References[link]

Francesco Maria Veracini.

Francesco Maria Veracini (1 February 1690 – 31 October 1768) was an Italian composer and violinist, perhaps best known for his sets of violin sonatas.

Life[link]

Francesco Maria Veracini led a turbulent life. Born in Florence, the son of a pharmacist and undertaker, he was taught the violin by his uncle, Antonio Veracini, with whom he often appeared in concert. Veracini wrote a concerto grosso for eight instruments which was performed in 1711 at the coronation festivities for the Emperor Charles VI.

There is a legend that, when Giuseppe Tartini heard Veracini playing the violin in 1712, he was so impressed by his bowing technique, and so dissatisfied with his own skill, that he retreated the next day to Ancona "in order to study the use of the bow in more tranquility, and with more convenience than at Venice, as he had a place assigned him in the opera orchestra of that city". (Burney 1789, 3:564–65)

In 1714, Veracini went to London and played instrumental pieces ("symphonies" in contemporary parlance) between the acts of operas at the Queen's Theatre. After a season at the court in Düsseldorf and once again in Venice in 1716, he wrote a set of violin/recorder sonatas dedicated to Prince Friedrich August (who in 1733 would become Augustus III of Poland and Augustus II Elector of Saxony). The Prince was in Venice recruiting musicians on behalf of his father Augustus II the Strong/Augustus I for the Saxon Court in Dresden.

At the Prince's urging, Augustus the Strong employed Veracini to play chamber music at his court, later transferring him to the official Dresden payroll as violinist in August 1717. Veracini was sent to recruit Italian singers for the Dresden opera. In 1721 Veracini wrote another set of violin sonatas dedicated to the Prince (published as his Opus 1).

Unfortunately, there was animosity among the musicians at the court in Dresden. In 1722, Veracini was involved in a quarrel, staged according to one source by the composer and violinist Pisendel, which resulted in Veracini leaping out of an upper-story window.^{[citation needed]} He walked with a limp for the rest of his life.

Back in his native Florence in 1723, Veracini played music in a church and wrote an oratorio. During this time he earned a bad reputation and was said by Charles Burney to have been "usually qualified with the title of Capo pazzo" ["head lunatic"]. (Burney 1789, 3:568)

Back in London in 1733, Veracini appeared in many concerts. There he wrote an opera, Adriano in Siria, considered too long by the music critics.^{[citation needed]} In 1737, he wrote La Clemenza di Tito, on a libretto by Corri based on one by Pietro Metastasio. (The Metastasio libretto was also the basis of the one Mazzola wrote for Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito). In 1738 Veracini wrote his third opera, Partenio, and in 1744 his last opera, Roselinda, based on Shakespeare's play As You Like It, a most unusual choice of material at that time. In that opera Veracini included the well-known Scots ballad tune The Lass of Paties Mill. It was staged in London in 1744, the same year his oratorio (described as an opera in Burney 1789, 4:451) L'errore di Salomone was staged, and its lack of success (Burney, 4:451, scorned the music as "wild, awkward, and unpleasant; manifestly produced by a man unaccustomed to write for the voice", but confessed that "This opera, to my great astonishment when I examined the Music, ran twelve nights", whereas L'errore di Salomone was given only twice) prompted Veracini to leave London a little more than a year later.^{[citation needed]}

After surviving a shipwreck in the English Channel, he again returned to Florence, where he was appointed maestro di capella of the churches of San Pancrazio and San Gaetano, the latter one at which his uncle had worked, focusing on church music. Though he mostly conducted in his later years, he still sometimes appeared as a violinist. He died in Florence.

Compositions[link]

In addition to violin sonatas, operas and oratorios, Veracini also wrote violin concertos, sonatas for recorder and basso continuo, and orchestral suites, called Overtures. The six Overtures were performed for Prince Friedrich August in Venice in 1716, as part of Veracini's ultimately successful attempt to secure a position at the Dresden court. They are all either in F major or B-flat major, except for one in G minor. The last one of these, in B-flat major, is remarkable for concluding with a unison minuet. Veracini also wrote a "lively, highly original theory treatise" (Newman 1972, 184), Il trionfo della pratica musicale, and edited other composers' works, adding "improvements" of his own, such as he did in his Dissertazioni with the Opus 5 Violin Sonatas of Arcangelo Corelli.

Major works[link]

• 12 Sonatas for recorder or violin solo and basso (no opus number, dedicated to Prince Friedrich August, before 1716)
• Opus 1, 12 Sonatas for violin solo and basso (dedicated to Prince Friedrich August, 1721)
• Opus 2, 12 Sonate Accademiche for violin solo and basso (1744)
• Dissertazioni del Sigr. Francesco Veracini sopra l'opera quinta del Corelli [Dissertation by Mr. Francesco Veracini on Corelli's Opus 5] (date of composition uncertain, unpublished until 1961)
• Opus 3, Il trionfo della pratica musicale, osia Il maestro dell’arte scientifica dal quale imparsi non solo il contrapunto ma (quel che più importa) insegna ancore con nuovo e facile metodo l’ordine vero di comporre in musica (music-theory treatise, 1760)

Discography[link]

• The Art of Bel Canto. Richard Tucker, tenor; John Wustman, piano and harpsichord. LP. Columbia ML 6067 Also issued in stereo, MS 6667 [U.S.]: Columbia, 1965. [Includes Veracini: "Meco verrai su quella" (Pastorale) from 'Rosalinda']
• The Art of Joseph Szigeti, vol. 1. Joseph Szigeti, violin; Kurt Ruhrseitz, piano (Recorded 1926–1933). 2 CDs (mono). London, England: Biddulph Recordings, 1989. LAB 005, LAB 006. [Includes Veracini: Largo, from an unidentified sonata.]
• An Arthur Grumiaux Recital. Arthur Grumiaux, violin; Riccardo Castagnone, piano. LP (mono). Epic LC 3414 [United States]: Epic Records, 1957. [Includes Veracini: Sonata in A major, op. 1, no.7.]
• Baroque Masters of Venice, Naples and Tuscany. Soloists of the Società cameristica di Lugano. LP. "A Cycnus recording, Paris." [New York]: Nonesuch Records, 1966. HC 3008. [Includes an unidentified work by Veracini]
• Concerti "per l'orchestra di Dresda". Musica Antiqua Köln; Reinhard Goebel, dir. CD. Archiv Produktion 447 644-2. Hamburg: Deutsche Grammophon, 1993. [Includes Veracini: Ouverture No. 5 in B-flat major.]
• Flute Solos. James J Pellerite, flute; Wallace Hornibrook, piano. Coronet LPS 1505 (LP). Columbus, Ohio: Coronet, [1960s]. [Includes Veracini: Sonata no. 1 (1716).]
• French and Italian Flute Music. Barthold Kuijken, flute; Wieland Kuijken, viola da gamba; Robert Kohnen, harpsichord. 2 CDs. Accent ACC 30009. Heidelberg: Accent, 2007. [Sonatas,; violin, continuo,; op. 1, no. 6, arranged for flute and continuo]
• Furiosi. I Furiosi (Gabrielle McLaughlin, soprano; Aisslinn Nosky, Julia Wedman, violin; Felix Deak, violoncello, viola da gamba); with James Johnstone, harpsichord; Stephanie Martin, organ; Lucas Harris, theorbo and guitar. CD. Dorian DSL-90802. Winchester, VA: Dorian, 2007. [Includes Veracini: Passagallo, first movement from Sonata, op. 2, no. 12 in D minor.]
• Italian Baroque Songs. Dénes Gulyás, tenor; Dániel Benkö, lute, guitar, orpharion; László Czidra, recorder; Tibor Alpár, organ; Budapest Baroque Trio; Bakfark Consort. CD. Hungaroton HCD 31480. [Hungary]: Hungaroton, 1992. [Includes Veracini: Sonata for violin, continuo, op. 1; No. 3.]
• Italian Baroque Violin Concerti. Carroll Glenn, violin; Austrian Tonkuenstler Orchestra, Vienna; Lee Schaenen, conductor. LP. Musical Heritage Society MHS 652 New York: Musical Heritage Society, 1966. [Includes Veracini: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major]
• The Italian Connection: Vivaldi, Corelli, Geminiani, Lonati, Veracini, Matteis. Bell'arte Antiqua (Lucy van Dael, Jacqueline Ross, violins ; William Hunt, viola da gamba; Terence Charlston, harpsichord). CD. London: ASV, 2000. CD GAU 199. [Includes Veracini: Sonata in A, op. 2, no. 9]
• Italian Music for Strings of the Baroque Period. Cambridge Society for Early Music; Erwin Bodky, director; Ruth Posselt, Richard Burgin, violins. LP (mono). Kapp KCL 9024 [Includes Veracini: Sonata op. 1, no. 3.]
• An Italian Sojourn. Trio Settecento. CD. Chicago: Cedille, 2006. [Includes Veracini: Sonata in D minor, op. 2, no. 12.]
• Italian Violin Sonatas. Europa Galante (Fabio Biondi, violin and direction; Maurizio Naddeo, violoncello ; Giangiacomo Pinardi, theorbo, baroque guitar, cittern; Sergio Ciomei, harpsichord, organ, gracivembalo, clavichord). Virgin Veritas 5 45588 2 (CD). [England]: Virgin, 2002. [Includes Veracini: Sonata in G minor, op. 1 no. 1]
• Italienische Blockflötenmusik des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts. Eckhardt Haupt, recorder; Achim Beyer, violin; Christine Schornsheim, harpsichord; Siegfried Pank, tenor viola da gamba. CD. Capriccio 10 234. Königsdorf: Delta Music GmbH, 1988. [Includes Veracini: Sonata no. 6 in A minor (1716)]
• Blockflötenwerke von 10 italienischen Meistern. Frans Brüggen, recorder; Anner Bylsma, violoncello; Gustav Leonhardt, harpsichord and organ. 3LPs. Telefunken Das Alte Werk 6.35073. Hamburg: Telefunken, 1968–74. Reissued on CD as Italian Recorder Sonatas. Teldec 4509-93669-2. Hamburg: Teldec, 1995. [Includes Veracini: Sonata no. 2 (1716) in G major; Sonata no. 6 (1716) in A minor]
• Masters of the Italian Baroque. Steven Staryk, violin. Kenneth Gilbert, harpsichord. LP. Baroque BUS 2874. Baroque Records, [1967]. [Includes Veracini: Sonata in E minor.]
• Maurice André Plays Trumpet Concertos. Maurice André, trumpet; Pierre Pierlot, oboe; Orchestre de chambre Jean-François Paillard, Jean François Paillard, cond. (LP) New York, N.Y.: Musical Heritage Society, 1969. [Includes Veracini: Sonata in E minor for violin and continuo, op. 2, no. 8, arranged as a trumpet concerto by Jean Thilde]
• Six Italian Sonatas. Michel Piguet, baroque oboe and recorder; Walther Stiftner, baroque bassoon; Martha Gmünder, harpsichord. Musical Heritage Society MHS 1864 (LP). New York: Musical Heritage Society, 1974. [Includes Veracini: Sonata prima in F major for recorder and harpsichord.] Title from container./ "Recorded by Erato."
• Tetrazzini. Luisa Tetrazzini, soprano; with unidentified orchestras. Recorded between 1909 and 1914, digitally re-recorded from the original 78 rpm discs. CD. Wyastone Leys, Monmouth: Nimbus Records, 1990. [Includes Veracini: "Meco sulla verrai" (Pastorale), from Rosalinda.]
• Veracini, Francesco Maria. 5 ouvertures / Ouvertüren / Overtures. Musica Antiqua Köln; Reinhard Goebel, dir. CD. Archiv Produktion 439 937-2. Hamburg: Deutsche Grammophon, 1994. [Ouvertures No. 1 B-flat major; No. 2 in F major; No. 3 in B-flat major; No. 4 in F major; No. 6 in B-flat major.]
• Veracini, Francesco Maria: Complete Overtures and Concertos, vol. 1. Accademia i Filarmonici; Alberto Martini, conductor. CD. Naxos 8.553412. Munich: Naxos, 1995.
• Veracini, Francesco Maria: Complete Overtures and Concertos, vol. 2 Accademia i Filarmonici; Alberto Martini, conductor. CD. Naxos 8.553413. [Hong Kong]: Naxos, 1999. [Concerto a otto stromenti in D major for violin and orchestra; Overture no. 5 in B-flat major; Concerto a cinque in A major for violin, strings, and continuo; Concerto a cinque in D major for violin strings, and continuo; Aria schiavona in B-flat major for orchestra.]
• Veracini, Francesco Maria. The Complete Sonatas, op. 1. Hyman Bress, violin; Jean Schrick, viola da Gamba; Oliver Alain, harpsichord. 3 LPs. Lyrichord and LLST 7141 (set); LLST 7138, LLST 7139, LLST 7140. Lyrichord;. New York: Lyrichord Records, 1965.
• Veracini, Francesco Maria. Nine Sonatas for Violin and Basso Continuo. Piero Toso, violin; Gianni Chiampan, violoncello; Edoardo Farina, harpsichord. 2 LPs. Erato 71197. Reissued on Musical Heritage Society MHS 4293, MHS 4294. Tinton Falls, N.J.: Musical Heritage Society, 1978. [Includes Sonatas in G minor, op. 1, no. 1; A major, op. 1, no. 2; B minor, op. 1, no. 3; E minor, op. 1, no. 6; A major, op. 1, no. 7; B-flat major, op. 1, no. 8; D major, op. 1, no. 10; E major, op. 1, no. 11; F major, op. 1, no. 12.] "Licensed from."
• Veracini, Francesco Maria. Six Sonatas for Flute and Harpsichord. Giorgio Bernabò, flute; Alan Curtis, harpsichord. CD. Dynamic CDS 114. Genoa: Dynamic Srl, 1994. [Sonatas no. 1, 3, 4, 5, 11, and 12 (1716).]
• Veracini, Francesco Maria. Sonatas. John Holloway, violin; Jaap ter Linden, cello; Lars Ulrik Mortensen, harpsichord. CD. ECM New Series Munich: ECM Records, 2003. [Sonata no. 1 from Sonate a violino solo e basso, op. 1; Sonata no. 5 from Sonate a violino, o flauto solo, e basso (1716); Sonata no. 1 from Dissertazioni—sopra l'opera quinta del Corelli, Sonata no. 6 from Sonate accademiche, op. 2]
• Veracini, Francesco Maria. Sonate accademiche. Fabio Biondi, violin; Maurizio Naddeo, violoncello; Rinaldo Alessandrini, harpsichord; Pascal Monteilhet, theorbo. CD. Paris, France: Opus 111, 1995. OPS 30-138. [Includes Veracini: Sonatas op. 2, nos. 7, 8, 9, and 12]
• Veracini, Francesco Maria: Sonate accademiche. The Locatelli Trio (Elizabeth Wallfisch, violin; Richard Tunnicliffe, violoncello; Paul Nicholson, harpsichord & organ). 3 CDs. Hyperion CDA 66871/3. London: Hyperion Records Ltd., 1995. Reissued 2007, Hyperion CDS44241/3.
• The Virtuose Italienische Blockflötenmusik. Michael Schneider, recorder; Michael McCraw, bassoon; Gerhart Darmstadt, cello; Bradford Tracey, harpsichord. CD. FSM Adagio FCD 91 634 Münster: Fono Schallplattengesellschaft mbH, 1990. [Includes Veracini: Sonata no. 4 in B-flat major (1716).]
• The Virtuoso Harmonica. Adalberto Borioli, harmonica; Mirna Miglioranzi-Borioli, harpsichord. LP. Everest SDBR 3172. Los Angeles, Calif.: Everest, 1967. [Includes Veracini: Sonata in F major]
• The Virtuoso Recorder. Frans Brüggen, recorder; Janny van Wering, harpsichord. LP. Decca DL 710049. New York: Decca, 1962. [Includes Veracini: Sonata in G major (1716)]
• The Virtuoso Violinist. David Nadien, violin; Boris Barere, piano. LP. Kapp KCL 9060. [U.S.]: Kapp Records, 1961 [Includes Veracini: Largo, from Sonate accademiche, no. 6.]

References[link]

• Burney, Charles. 1789. A General History of Music, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Period. To Which Is Prefixed, a Dissertation on the Music of the Ancients. Second edition. 4 vols. London: Printed for the author and sold by T. Becket, J. Robson, and G. Robinson.
• Charlton, David. 1996. "Francesco Maria Veracini"
• Hill, John Walter. 1979. The Life and Works of Francesco Maria Veracini. Studies in Musicology 3. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press.
• Hill, John Walter. 2001. "Veracini, Francesco Maria." The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. S. Sadie and J. Tyrrell. London: Macmillan.
• Newman, William S. 1972. The Sonata in the Baroque Era. 3d edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., Inc.
• Torchi, Luigi. 1901. La musica istrumentale in Italia nei secoli XVI, XVII e XVIII, con 272 esempi musicali nel testo. Turin: Fratelli Bocca. Facsimile reprint, Bologna: Forni Editore, 1969.

External links[link]

• Free scores by Francesco Maria Veracini at the International Music Score Library Project
• Veracini, Sonate per violino e basso op. I e op. II