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Edith Hanselman, organist and music director of
Strathroy United Church, performs Benedetto
Marcello's "Heaven's Declare" as the postlude to
conclude the Agsust 17, 2008 Sunday service.
Benedetto Marcello (July 31 or August 1, 1686 --
July 24, 1739) was an Italian composer, writer,
advocate, magistrate, and teacher.
Born in Venice, Benedetto Marcello was a member of
a noble family and his compositions are frequently
referred to as Patrizio Veneto. Although he was a
music student of Lotti and Francesco Gasparini,
his father wanted Benedetto to devote himself to
law.
Indeed, Benedetto combined a life in law and
public service with one in music. In 1711 he was
appointed member of the Council of Forty (in
Venice's central government), and in 1730 he went
to Pola as Provveditore (district governor).
Due to his health having been "impaired by the
climate" of Istria, Marcello retired after eight
years to Brescia in the capacity of Camerlengo and
there he died.
Benedetto Marcello was the brother of Alessandro
Marcello (1669 -1747), also a composer of some
note.
The composer Joachim Raff wrote an opera entitled
Benedetto Marcello, based loosely on the life of
Marcello.
Benedetto Marcello composed a diversity of music
including considerable church music, oratorios,
hundreds of solo cantatas, duets, sonatas,
concertos and sinfonias. Marcello was a younger
contemporary of Antonio Vivaldi in Venice and his
instrumental music enjoys a Vivaldian flavor.
As a composer, Marcello was best known in his
lifetime and is now still best remembered for his
Estro poetico-armonico (Venice, 1724-1727), a
musical setting for voices, figured bass (a
continuo notation), and occasional soloist
instruments of the first fifty Psalms, as
paraphrased in Italian by his friend G.
Giustiniani. They were much admired by Charles
Avison, who with John Garth brought out an edition
with English words (London, 1757).
The library of the Brussels Conservatoire
possesses some interesting volumes of
chamber-cantatas composed by Marcello for his
mistress. Although Benedetto Marcello wrote an
opera called La Fede riconosciuta and produced it
in Vicenza in 1702, he had little sympathy with
this form of composition, as evidenced in his
writings (see below).
Benedetto Marcello's music is "characterized by
imagination and a fine technique and includes both
counterpoint and progressive, galant features"
(Grove, 1994).
Tags : Strathroy United Church Benedetto Marcello Heavens Declare Edith Hanselman |
