Sinfonia
Alessandro Stradella (April 3, 1639 - February 25, 1682) was an Italian com… Read Full Bio ↴Alessandro Stradella (April 3, 1639 - February 25, 1682) was an Italian composer of the middle Baroque. He was born in Rome, and was murdered in Genoa.
Not much is known about his early life, but he was from an aristocratic family, educated at Bologna, and was already making a name for himself as a composer at the age of 20, being commissioned by Queen Christina of Sweden. In 1667 he moved to Rome where he composed copiously, mostly sacred music, and began to live a dissolute life. With a friend he attempted to embezzle money from the Roman Catholic Church, but was found out: he fled the city, only returning much later when he thought it was safe. Unfortunately his numerous incautious affairs with women began to make him enemies among the powerful men of the city, and he had to leave Rome for good.
In 1677 he went to Venice, where he was hired by a powerful nobleman as the music tutor to his mistress. As might be expected, Stradella was shortly involved with her, and had to flee when their liaison was found out; but this time the nobleman hired a gang of thugs to follow him and kill him, which they narrowly failed to do. Stradella went next to Genoa, where he wrote operas and cantatas; unfortunately he was again involved in an affair with a poorly-chosen woman, and this time a hired killer caught up with him at the Piazza Banchi and stabbed him to death.
Stradella was an extremely influential composer at the time, though his fame was eclipsed in the next century by Corelli, Vivaldi and others. Probably his greatest significance is in originating the concerto grosso: while Corelli in his Op. 6 was the first to publish works under this title, Stradella clearly uses the format earlier in one of his Sonate di viole. Since the two knew each other, a direct influence is likely.
Stradella wrote at least six operas, as well as numerous cantatas and oratorios. He also wrote 27 separate instrumental pieces, most for strings and basso continuo, and typically in the sonata da chiesa format.
His colorful life and bloody death clearly made a good story for an opera of its own. Three separate composers made operas out of his life, the most famous being Friedrich von Flotow with his Alessandro Stradella (Hamburg, 1844).
Not much is known about his early life, but he was from an aristocratic family, educated at Bologna, and was already making a name for himself as a composer at the age of 20, being commissioned by Queen Christina of Sweden. In 1667 he moved to Rome where he composed copiously, mostly sacred music, and began to live a dissolute life. With a friend he attempted to embezzle money from the Roman Catholic Church, but was found out: he fled the city, only returning much later when he thought it was safe. Unfortunately his numerous incautious affairs with women began to make him enemies among the powerful men of the city, and he had to leave Rome for good.
In 1677 he went to Venice, where he was hired by a powerful nobleman as the music tutor to his mistress. As might be expected, Stradella was shortly involved with her, and had to flee when their liaison was found out; but this time the nobleman hired a gang of thugs to follow him and kill him, which they narrowly failed to do. Stradella went next to Genoa, where he wrote operas and cantatas; unfortunately he was again involved in an affair with a poorly-chosen woman, and this time a hired killer caught up with him at the Piazza Banchi and stabbed him to death.
Stradella was an extremely influential composer at the time, though his fame was eclipsed in the next century by Corelli, Vivaldi and others. Probably his greatest significance is in originating the concerto grosso: while Corelli in his Op. 6 was the first to publish works under this title, Stradella clearly uses the format earlier in one of his Sonate di viole. Since the two knew each other, a direct influence is likely.
Stradella wrote at least six operas, as well as numerous cantatas and oratorios. He also wrote 27 separate instrumental pieces, most for strings and basso continuo, and typically in the sonata da chiesa format.
His colorful life and bloody death clearly made a good story for an opera of its own. Three separate composers made operas out of his life, the most famous being Friedrich von Flotow with his Alessandro Stradella (Hamburg, 1844).
Sinfonia
Alessandro Stradella Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'Sinfonia' by these artists:
3 - Allegro Estamos despertando y el corazón sangrando Mi corazón palpit…
Anjos do Hanngar Onde você está Que os olhos não vêem O corpo que queima É…
Cancamusa Hoy tu amor es mi mayor fortuna Ahora que pienso, es…
Christopher von Uckermann Entrégate Con todo tu ser Podemos el destino juntos componer…
Cutugno Toto Luce del giorno, giura di farlo Leva di torno questa citta'…
G.F.Händel Um batuque africano me chamou A pintura fez da tela, seu…
Interno 17 Oggi sono uscito a comprarmi un vestito Ho provato ad indos…
J. E. Gardiner The Monteverdi Choir The English Baroque Soloists exibições 26.846 Sinfonia Da Mata Orlando Dias Tenho a viol…
Joyce Zanardi A mesma voz que originou o mundo Na palavra ela ressoa…
Mägo de Oz Cuentan los viejos escritos Que hace mucho, mucho tiempo El …
maldita Terra industrial Com plataformas de mármore Dizem que lá tem…
No-Joy Sobe e desce, desce e sobe Sobe a todo vapor…
Royz 瞳を閉じて漂うの 波にのせた歌はシンフォニア 遠回りして帰ってみたり 星を見上げたり らしくないなって苦笑い 私なのに…
Toto Cutugno Luce del giorno, giura di farlo Leva di torno questa citta'…
TROISANGES 神様が見つめてる 南の空にある 十字架に 君は何を祈った? 許しては許されて 愛だと感じては 調律を繰り返す心で今、叫…
Tsidkenu No le Damos Importancia A lo que pasa hoy en día El…
We have lyrics for these tracks by Alessandro Stradella:
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
More Genres
No Artists Found
More Artists
Load All
No Albums Found
More Albums
Load All
No Tracks Found
Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Search results not found
Song not found
calefonxcalectric
The vocal music of Stradella (operas, oratorios, serenades, prologues and intermezzi, madrigals, and more than three-hundred cantatas) constitutes the bulk of his work. If this music exercized an influence on Handel, then Stradella's instrumental music was a point of departure for Corelli. The instrumental music consists of twenty-six works: sonatas and sinfonias for solo violin and bass, two for violin, violoncello, and bass, nine for two violins and bass, and three for larger ensembles. All these works testify to his great and intensely expressive talent. Along with his use of broad melodic lines of bel canto and an astonishing mastery of technical means (ostinato, fugue, and frequently, passionate harmonies) his great merit lies in the fact that he was one of the originators of the concerto grosso. We know that the principal characteristic of the concerto grosso is the dialogue between two instrumental groups of unequal size. According to recent research, particularly that of Jander, it seems that the separation of the orchestra into two groups ( concertino and concerto grosso, or as Corelli later called them, concertino — the solo group — and ripieni) had taken place around 1660 at Rome, during the presentation of oratorios, the role of the concertino being to accompany the arias. Thanks to Stradella, this usage became integrated into instrumental music. Stradella’s concertino consists of two violins and bass, his concerto grosso of an ensemble of four voices, usually violin, two violas, and bass.
The Sinfonia (A minor) and the Symphonia a 2 violini e basso (F major) demonstrate Stradella’s skill in using two violin sections which cross over each other. In the present recording, the large Sinfonia in A minor is performed by the orchestra, while the intimate Symphonia in F major is performed by soloists, since the number of instruments originally used would vary with the available means. The sinfonias of Stradella are typically in four movements: a concertante first movement, a slow second movement, a fugue for the third movement, and a final movement in triple time, often a gigue. The Sinfonia in A minor is typical for Stradella’s compositional style. The passionate first movement contains fiery sixteenth-note passages and an incessant progression in the bass; the second movement is in a sustained bel canto style, with appoggiaturas, suspensions, and persistent hemiolas; and finally, there is a fugue full of great temperament. The opening of the Symphonia in F major is equally characteristic; a short introductory phrase is repeated a second time a fifth lower, preceding, so to speak, the first movement proper. The very capricious fourth movement with its sixteenth-note syncopations could only have been composed by a truly original artist.
In the Sinfonia avanti il Barcheggio, from the year 1681, a supplementary upper voice joins the ensemble of three voices (played by the orchestra), according to the directions of the original manuscript. The upper voice is that of the trumpet, which adds an element of virtuosity and a contrast of sonority. The contemporaneous trumpet sonatas, written around Bologna from 1665, brought, as one knows, an important contribution to the structure of the fully developed instrumental concerto. The two Stradella works for solo trumpet may be counted among the two most valuable of this genre which was at that time so much in vogue. Stradella’s imagination is evident in the Barcheggio Sinfonia; instead of restricting the fugal entrances to A and D as the majority of his contemporaries would have, he took into consideration the fact that the trumpet of that era could play only in a limited number of tonalities, and in the third movement, he begins the themes on almost every feasible degree of the scale: D-A-D-A, G-D-G, E-B, E, G, C-natural (in a piece in D major !)-D-A-D-D-D. A new aspect of the evolution of the concerto grosso constituted the separation of the ensemble into two choirs, as in the Sonata a 4; 1) two violins and bass (violon cello and harpsichord in our recording); 2) two cornetti and bass (baroque trombone and organ). The division into two groups is in harmony with the architecture of a great number of Italian churches of the end of the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries, which consisted of two opposing lofts for organs and instrumental choirs.
In the Sonata a otto Viole con una Tromba, two string orchestras have a dialogue, dominated by the trumpet, the ensemble being supported by a basso continuo. This work and the Sinfonia avanti il Barcheggio are similar in form and in length. This can be explained by the function of the two works; despite the fact that the Sonata a otto viole con una Tromba is an independent work, it also possesses an introductory character. Like most trumpet sonatas of that time, it probably preceded a church service.
The Sinfonia avanti il Damone, a work of Stradella’s maturity, gives evidence of his passionate spirits, especially in its tortuous modulations and the false harmonic relations towards the end of the first movement. The second movement is a substantial fugue, which at the end presents, almost simultaneously, the subject, the counter-subject, and their inversions. This movement offers short episodes for the concertino alone, contrary to the first movement, in which the concertino and the concerto grosso play together.
The Sonata di Viole can be considered the first concerto grosso in the history of music. As in the Sinfonia avanti il Damone, we find here the confrontation of two instrumental groups, concertino and concerto grosso, which became so evident in Torelli’s Opus VIII (printed in 1709) and Corelli’s Opus VI (printed in 1714). With Stradella, as well as Corelli, there is no especial virtuoso handling of the concertino ; with the exception of some brilliant sixteenth-note phrases in the third movement, the concertino presents the same thematic, material as the concerto grosso. The confrontation of two opposing groups at this period served more for acoustical than structural contrast. The conceptions of Stradella, nevertheless, paved the way for his countless successors, as shown by the concerti grossi from Torelli and Corelli to Handel and Geminiani.
Surviving documents — especially lists of payments — concerning musical performances in Rome at the time of Stradella prove with certainty that the figured bass of these works was played not only by the violoncello, string bass, and harpsichord, but by other instruments as well, such as the trombone, organ, lute, and theorbo. Our recording attempts to come as close as possible to duplicating the Roman custom by re-assembling this group of instruments: celli, double-bass, baroque trombone (specifically required in II Barcheggio ), harpsichord, organ, and two lutes ("liuto” being specifically required in the Sonata di Viole).
EDWARD H. TARR (1969)
(Translated from the French by Robert Hess)
Fredy Larrosa
Muchas gracias. No conocía a Stradella: qué música y que vida!
Maria Devan The Girl Next Door
Wonderful! Light hearted and melodious.
Harpsichord Hymns - Tim Remington
Beautiful music! I really enjoyed listening to it. Thanks for putting this together and posting it.
Rastko Pietro Chirco Popović
Bellissima la Sinfonia il Damone al 14:29
Mauro Rocca
@riccardo biffoli Anche a Lei, quando riesco a scovare qualche Sua osservazione musicale la leggo con grandissimo interesse visto le Sue indubbie competenze in materia.
riccardo biffoli
@Mauro Rocca Grazie infinite, e Tanti Auguri di Buon Anno
Mauro Rocca
@riccardo biffoli Acuto e profondo commento, concordo pienamente con la brillante supposizione!
riccardo biffoli
Ha ragione, si tratta forse del brano che più degli altri travalica lo stile barocco. Pefino l'Allegro è tutto punteggiato di tonalità minori. Chissà, forse perché dedicato proprio al Damone di pericleana memoria, che tanta importanza dette alla musica.
Richard Castro Martinez
Fuego!