Cataldo Amodei

Cataldo (Vito?) Amodei (6 May? c. 1649/50 – 13 July 1693 or c. 1695) was an Italian composer of the mid-Baroque period who spent his career in Naples. His cantatas were important predecessors to the active cantata production of 18th-century Naples,[1] while his oratorios were important contributions to the genre. Amodei held posts at various musical institutions, maestro del coro (choirmaster) at San Paolo Maggiore and the prestigious conservatories: the Conservatorio di Sant'Onofrio a Porta Capuana [it] (1680/81–1688) and Conservatorio Santa Maria di Loreto [it] (1687–1689). His virtuosic 1685 book of cantatas, Cantate, Op. 2, was the first book of cantatas published in Naples.

Life and career

Interior of the basilica of San Paolo Maggiore

Early life

Cataldo Amodei was born in Sciacca, Sicily near Agrigento.[2] His birthdate is traditionally dated to c. 1649[3] or c. 1650.[2] However, musicologist Domenico Antonio D'Alessandro has identified Amodei with a "Cathaldus Vitus" ("Cataldo Vito") born in 6 May 1649 and baptised the same day at St. Mary Magdalene, Sciacca.[4] If D'Alessandro's identification is correct, then Amodei's full name would be Cataldo Vito Amodei, and he would be the last of six children to Gaspare and Antonia, with Antonio de Facio and Francesa Nicolosi as his god parents.[4] Regardless of his background, Amodei studied with the Maestro di Cappela in Sciacca and violinist Don Accursius Giuffrida; Amodei was his most talented pupil.[5] The priest Vincenzo Farnia wrote in his Biografie di uomini illustri nati a Sciacca (1897) that Amodei went to Naples "for the honour that the city is accorded by all the nations as being the mistress of melody" in 1669–70.[5] However, records indicate that Amodei was still in Sciacca at this time; he is first recorded in Naples in 1679, though he may have arrived there at any point between 1670 and 1679.[5]

Professional career

In Naples, Amodei was ordained a priest and presumably completed his musical education—the details of which, extant.[5] By at least 1685—according to the priest Bonaventura Sanfilippo-Galiotto in his Sacrum Xacca Theatrum (1710)—he became maestro di cappella (choirmaster) of both the Theatine church San Paolo Maggiore and the Dominican Collegio di San Tommaso d'Aquino.[6] In particular, Amodei worked for San Paolo until his death, regularly making and performing music;[7][n 1] for their services he wrote at least four ontarios: L'innocenza infetta dal pomo, Il flagello dell'empietà, La Susanna and Il Giosuè vittorioso.[8] He left San Paolo for his 1680/81[n 2] appointment as mmaestro di cappella at the Conservatorio di Sant'Onofrio a Porta Capuana [it],[2] one of four major musical institutions of the city.[9] Amodei received the additional position of maestro di cappella at the Conservatorio Santa Maria di Loreto [it]—another of the four major institutions—on 14 September 1687.[2][9] Early records describe the latter role as "to teach the boys, in the morning, to play and sing". Upon his obtainment of the Loreto post,[7] governors' records declare praise Amodei, translated as declaring him "one of the outstanding personalities of the city",[2] or "one of the leading figures of this town".[7] After his 1688 leave from the Sant'Onofrio, he resigned in 1689 from his post at Santa Maria di Loreto and was succeeded there by Alessandro Scarlatti. Other Governors' documents from the time attribute the latter decision as "because of his many commitments".[2] From records discovered in 2003 by D'Alessandro, Amodei is now thought to have died on 13 July 1693;[7] his traditional death is c. 1695.[2]

Amodei was known to be a colleague of Francesco Provenzale,[10] who is often considered the founder of the Neapolitan School.[11]

Music

"Cataldo Amodei, the most excellent Maestro di Cappella of San Paolo Maggiore of the Order of Regular Clerics in the City of Naples, and of the Collegio di San Tommaso d'Aquino of the Dominican Fathers and of the Royal Conservatory of Sant'Onofrio who wrote an infinite number of compositions"

Bonaventura Sanfilippo-Galiotto, 1710, chapter 27 of Sacrum Xacca Theatrum[6]

Overview

Amodei's compositions are religious in function and include oratorios, motets and cantatas.[2] Almost all of Amodei's works were published in Naples,[1] usually being printed by Novello De Bonis[12] and their "stampator arcivescovile" ("archiepiscopal printer").[10] Novello De Bonis's editions of music by Amodei show them—like Mascardi in Rome—attempting to use a three-systems layout to fit more music on each page.[12]

Amodei set text by Andrea Perrucci [it] twice; first for the 1686 oratorio La Susanna[13] and later for 1962 serenata La sirena consolata.[14] Musicologist Dinko Fabris noted that both Amodei and Perrucci were Sicilians who moved to Naples.[10]

Cantatas

18th-century Naples was an active site of cantata production, first with composers such as A. Scarlatti, Francesco Mancini and Domenico Sarro.[1] Amodei's cantatas were the most significant predecessor to this.[1] Amodei stands with the younger Provenzale and elder Scarlatti as among the principal composers of cantatas.[3] His book of 1685 cantatas, Cantate Op. 2, is the earliest book of cantatas to be printed in Naples;[1] the next single cantata was Antion del Ricco's Urania armonica. Cantate a voce sola, Op. 1 of 1686[15] and the next book was Pergolesi's Quattro cantate da camera of around 1736.[1] The works full title is Cantate a voce sola, libro primo, opera seconda, di Cataldo Amodei, maestro di cappella di San Paolo Maggiore de' molto reverendi Padri Teatini, del Collegio di San Tomaso d'Aquino de' molto reverendi Padri Domenicani, d del Real Conservatorio di S. Honofrio di Napoli.[10] Unlike earlier Italian cantatas such as the anonymous Squarciato appena havea and L'amante impazzito con altre Cantate, e Serenate a solo, et a due con violini (1679) by Milanese composer Simone Coya [de], Amodei's Cantate are particularly virtuosic and do not conform to the earlier Italian archetype of ironically setting popular tunes to serious subjects.[10] Musicologist Alfred Einstein favorably compared Amodei's cantata "L'interesse" from the Op. 2 to Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. Einstein explained:

"This is, in a way, a distant ancestor of Wagner's Ring. Both embody revolt against capitalism. Amodei's horrible representation of Interest foreshadows the giant Fafner who 'sits in possession:' only instead of Wagner's redemption through love, he invites us piously to raise our eyes to heaven. The music has a distinct expressive value."[16]

Oratorios

Amodei's four oratorios, L'innocenza infetta dal pomo, Il flagello dell'empietà, La Susanna and Il Giosuè vittorioso are important works in the solidifying of form and content for Italian oratorios.[8] Described by musicologists Rosa Cafiero and Marina Marino as "rather homogeneous" ("piuttosto omogeneo)", the works were all written for San Paolo Maggiore and share subject matter and musical form.[17] They are thus exemplary to the Italian oratorio's increasing tendency to have its subject matter, structure, patronage and performance aligned.[17]

During the beginning of the 17th century, the librettist was usually more prominent, with composers more likely to be anonymous.[18] Only one of the oratorios—La Susanna—has a librettist listed (Perrucci), suggesting a switch in the dominance of composers and librettists.[8]

Others

Primo libro de' mottetti (First Book of Motets; 1679), his Op. 1 motets for 2–5 voices, was dedicated to Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor.[2] The motet's 1679 publication was the first published music in Naples since a 1645–1653 series of various first editions and reprints by composers such as Bartolomeo Cappello, Giovanni Salvatore and Francesco Vannarelli.[19]

Works

List of compositions by Cataldo Amodei[2]
Title Year Genre Occasion[8] Notes
Primo libro de' mottetti, op. 1
(First Book of Motets)
1679 Motet
(2–5 voices)
Dedicated to Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
Cantate, libro primo, op. 2[n 3]
(Cantatas, First Book)
1685 Cantata
(1 voice)
L'innocenza infetta dal pomo
(Innocence Infects the Apple)
1685 Oratorio
(2 voices)[8]
For San Paolo Maggiore Based on Original Sin[13]
Il flagello dell'empietà
(The Scourge of Wickedness)
1685 Oratorio
(1 voice)[8]
For San Paolo Maggiore
La Susanna
(The Susanna)
1686 Oratorio For San Paolo Maggiore Based on Susanna and the Elders[13]
Text from Andrea Perrucci [it] e Fardella[13]
Il Giosuè vittorioso
(The Victorious Joshua)
1687[20] Oratorio
(1 voice)[20]
For San Paolo Maggiore
Pentecost[20]
Music lost[n 4]
Libretto survived
Printed by Carlo Porsile[20]
Il trionfo della purità di Maria
(The Triumph of Mary's Purity)
1687/88[n 5] (4 voices)[21] Manuscript at the Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele III[21]
La sirena consolata[n 6]
(The Consoled Siren)
1692 Serenata Lost
Text from Andrea Perrucci [it]

Editions

  • Balsano, Maria Antonella, ed. (1988). Il secondo libro di madrigali cromatici a quattro voci (1552) [The second book of chromatic madrigals for four voices]. Musiche rinascimentali siciliane [Sicilian Renaissance music]. 11. Florence: L.S. Olschki. ISBN 978-88-222-3576-3. OCLC 19641894.

Notes

  1. ^ It remains unknown who preceded Amodei and when Amodei obtained his post at San Paolo.[7]
  2. ^ Amodei's appointment at the Conservatorio di Sant'Onofrio a Porta Capuana [it] is traditionally recorded as beginning in 1681. However, D'Alessandro argues this is the result of printing error, and the actual date is 1680, see note 10 in D'Alessandro 2003, p. XLVI
  3. ^ Full title: Cantate a voce sola, libro primo, opera seconda, di Cataldo Amodei, maestro di cappella di San Paolo Maggiore de' molto reverendi Padri Teatini, del Collegio di San Tomaso d'Aquino de' molto reverendi Padri Domenicani, d del Real Conservatorio di S. Honofrio di Napoli[10]
  4. ^ Four librettos survive, now located in the Biblioteca Estense, Modena; the library of the Conservatorio di San Pietro a Majella [it], Naples; the Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele III, Naples; and the Biblioteca Civica of Padua.[2]
  5. ^ Bossa 2001 records 1687 while Cafiero & Marino 1987, p. 487 records 1688
  6. ^ Full title: La sirena consolata, Serenata per la ricuperata salute della Maestà Cattolica di Marianna di Neoburgo portata in musica da Cataldo Amodei[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Timms et al. 2001, "The Italian cantata to 1800: c1725–1800: Naples".
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Bossa 2001.
  3. ^ a b Collisani 1992, "Cataldo Amodei".
  4. ^ a b D'Alessandro 2003, p. XLV.
  5. ^ a b c d D'Alessandro 2003, p. XLVI.
  6. ^ a b D'Alessandro 2003, pp. XLV–XLVI.
  7. ^ a b c d e D'Alessandro 2003, p. XLVII.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Cafiero & Marino 1987, p. 470.
  9. ^ a b Veneziano, Di Benedetto & Fabris 2001, "The Spanish era (1503–1734): The conservatories".
  10. ^ a b c d e f Fabris 2007, p. 200.
  11. ^ Robinson & Monson 2002.
  12. ^ a b Talbot 2009, p. 100.
  13. ^ a b c d Stanford University Libraries.
  14. ^ a b Fabris 2007, p. 43.
  15. ^ Talbot 2009, p. 91.
  16. ^ Calvocoressi 1934, p. 508.
  17. ^ a b Cafiero & Marino 1987, pp. 470–471.
  18. ^ Cafiero & Marino 1987, p. 470–417.
  19. ^ Fabris 2007, pp. 64–65.
  20. ^ a b c d Cafiero & Marino 1987, p. 486.
  21. ^ a b Cafiero & Marino 1987, p. 487.

Sources

Books

Journals and articles

Online

Further reading

  • Confuorto, Domenico (1930). Giornali di Napoli dal MDCLXXIX al MDCIC [Newspapers of Naples from 1779 to 1600] (in Italian). Naples: Lubrano. pp. 2, 213. OCLC 757548.
  • Gialdroni, Teresa M. (1987). "Francesco Provenzale e la cantata a Napoli nella seconda metà del Seicento" [Francesco Provenzale and the cantata in Naples in the second half of the seventeenth century]. In d'Alessandro, Domenico Antonio; Ziino, Agostino (eds.). La musica a Napoli durante il Seicento [Music in Naples during the seventeenth century] (in Italian). Rome: Edizioni Torre d'Orfeo. pp. 125–150. OCLC 466401333.
  • Pagano, Roberto; Bianchi, Lino (1972). Alessandro Scarlatti (in Italian). Turin: ERI. pp. 104–105. OCLC 736193. Includes Rostirolla, Giancarlo. Catalogo generale delle opere a cura di Giancarlo Rostirolla [General catalog of the works by Giancarlo Rostirolla].
Cultural offices
Preceded by
P.A. Zani
Choirmaster of the Conservatorio di Sant'Onofrio a Porta Capuana [it]
1681–1688
Succeeded by
Cristoforo Caresana
Preceded by
Nicola Acerbo [de]
Choirmaster of the Conservatorio Santa Maria di Loreto [it]
14 September 1687 – 1689
Succeeded by
Alessandro Scarlatti

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