History remembers Arcangelo Corelli as the first virtuoso of the violin, a 17th century Paganini: “I never met with any man that suffered his passions to hurry him away so much whilst he was playing on the violin as the famous Arcangelo Corelli, whose eyes will sometimes turn as red as fire; his countenance will … Continue reading Baroque Music III: Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)
Month: September 2021
More Lully: A Brief Coda
Jean-Baptiste Lully composed one of the most performed songs in history. Nearly everyone in the world has heard it. The duties of a court composer were, shall we say, varied—particularly when dealing with that most mercurial of monarchs, Louis XIV. In 1686, the Sun King developed a perianal abscess. Court physicians attempted to treat the … Continue reading More Lully: A Brief Coda
Baroque Music II: Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687)
Enter the French. With the English School well-established since Dunstable and the German School developing in the wake of Martin Luther, the French School began to reassert its influence in the 17th and 18th centuries. First up, Jean-Baptiste Lully, court composer to the Sun King, Louis XIV. Born to humble origins, Lully would climb to … Continue reading Baroque Music II: Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687)
Late Monteverdi
In opera singers express their emotions directly to each other and indirectly to the audience—the fusing of drama between singer and audience is what powers opera to this day. And this is where it began, in earnest, with Monteverdi’s late opera Poppea, which was premiered to a paying audience in a public theatre. No more … Continue reading Late Monteverdi
More Monteverdi: A Prayer on the 20th Anniversary of 9/11
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, without end. It is a wonderfully cool morning in NYC. Perhaps that’s what triggered it in my mind -- it was that nearly imperceptible hint of fall that did the trick. 9/11. It had been the same 20 years ago: 9/11/01 was just … Continue reading More Monteverdi: A Prayer on the 20th Anniversary of 9/11
A Gertus History of Music 