Content area
Full Text
Gary Seighman
p.18
Agostino Steffani was regarded as one of the most respected individuals in Europe during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. He was born in 1654 in the town of Castelfranco near Venice, though he regarded the more culturally gifted city of Padua as his true place of upbringing. Steffani displayed an extraordinarily diverse set of talents: he was not only a composer and performer, but also a scholar, clergyman, and diplomat. His artistic influence fostered the developing musical awareness of the Baroque era, while his diplomatic contributions shaped the boundaries of imperial power throughout Europe. Steffani is often overlooked among the great masters of the Baroque era; however, he deserves considerable recognition for his musical contributions and his direct influence on later composers who would continue to bring the Baroque style to its zenith.
Considered his greatest masterwork, Stabat Mater (1727) was the composer's last composition before his death in 1728. This work demonstrates an ingenious awareness of musical gesture, emotional portrayal, and overall structure. Numerous examples of madrigalistic and atmospheric word-painting, combined with the creative use of varied compositional forms, provide the discerning listener with a thoroughly interesting and poignant depiction of this powerful text. In the first half of the twentieth century, the piece enjoyed a brief resurrection when Charles Kennedy Scott was commissioned to restore an original copy of the work found in the British Museum to be used for a 1936 London concert series. With regard to this restoration process, much of the accompaniment in the original copy was indicated only by figured bass, which the editor had to realize. 1 Additionally, the editor maintained the composer's key signature of one flat in the vocal lines but indicated the most approximate tonality of each movement in the key signature of the orchestral reduction. 2
The Shaping of Steffani's Dramatic LanguageAs a result of his outstanding singing voice, advanced musical aptitude, and apparently high overall intelligence, Steffani was admitted, at a very young age, as a chorister to San Marco in Venice. 3 By age ten, he was singing opera roles throughout the city. In addition, Steffani would encounter the second hand influence of Carissimi and Schütz as...