Pellegrino Rossi

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The Italian composer Luigi Rossi (ca. 1598-1653) wrote important works in the field of the chamber cantata.

Luigi Rossi was born in Torremaggiore, but records that could document his specific birthdate were destroyed in earthquakes of 1627 and 1638. He studied in Naples with Jean de Macque and was subsequently employed by the Duke of Traetta. Quite early in his career Rossi moved to Rome, and this became his permanent residence. He was first employed in Rome by Marc'Antonio Borghese.

In 1627 Rossi married Costanza de Ponte, a harpist and an outstanding musician in her own right. When the Rossis visited the Florentine court in 1635, Costanza de Ponte was highly acclaimed for her performances.

In 1633 Rossi took on the additional post of organist at the church of S. Luigi dei Francesi. Although he retained this post for the rest of his life, it was secondary to his main interests and activities, for he was essentially a composer of secular music who was suited to court life.

Of Rossi's several aristocratic patrons, the most important was Cardinal Antonio Barberini. The Barberini family was famous for its patronage of the arts, and Cardinal Antonio was the most lavish of all in his support of music. When Rossi entered the service of the cardinal in 1641, he joined a sizable musical establishment of brilliant singers and instrumentalists. Not only chamber music but theatrical music was presented at the Palazzo Barberini. Operas, complete with star singers and splendid productions, had been given there since 1632.

Soon after his appointment to the Barberini establishment, Rossi began work on his first opera, Il palazzo incantato, with a libretto by Giulio Rospigliosi, after Ariosto's Orlando furioso. This was performed several times at the Palazzo Barberini in 1642. Rossi's second and only other opera, Orfeo, with a libretto by Francesco Buti, was performed not in Rome but in Paris in 1647. Rossi went to Paris himself to organize the performances of Orfeo. It was performed six times and had a marked success. Two of the performances were in honor of the Queen of England, a guest of the French court at the time. One of the earliest operas given in France, it was highly influential on the subsequent development of French opera.

Rossi's chamber cantatas also proved to be very popular in French musical circles. Indeed, his success in France was so great that he was called to Paris again in 1648. He died in Rome on Feb. 19, 1653.

Rossi also wrote some Latin motets; probably some Italian oratorios (the authorship of these is uncertain); one harpsichord piece; and about 300 chamber cantatas, with Italian words, which represent his most important contribution. The great majority of the cantatas are composed for solo voice, usually soprano, accompanied by thorough-bass. Many others are written for two voices and thorough-bass. Some are for three or four voices and thorough-bass.

All sizes and varieties of the contemporary cantata appear in Rossi's output: short, simple pieces; long works in sophisticated forms; light airs; sorrowful laments; and pieces containing the most varied musical styles. His cantatas were copied and performed throughout Italy and abroad. They are outstanding examples of the Italian chamber cantata.

Further Reading

Rossi's music is discussed by Manfred F. Bukofzer, Music in the Baroque Era: From Monteverdi to Bach (1947); and by Claude V. Palisca, Baroque Music (1968). A thematic catalog of Rossi's cantatas, with a detailed introduction by Eleanor Caluori, entitled Luigi Rossi, is fascicle 3 of The Wellesley Edition Cantata Index Series (2 vols., 1965). Additional details of Rossi's life appear in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1980); and Nicolas Slonimsky, ed., Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (1992).

Rossi, Pellegrino Luigi Edoardo, Conte (pĕl'lāgrē'nō lwē'jē ādōär'dō kôn'tā rôs'sē), 1787-1848, Italian political leader and jurist. As a supporter of Joachim Murat, Rossi was obliged to flee Italy (1815) when Murat fell. He went first to Geneva, where he became a noted professor of law and an active politician, then to Paris (1833), where he taught at the Collège de France, became a citizen, and was raised to the peerage. Louis Philippe sent him as ambassador to the Holy See, where he favored the election of Pope Pius IX. After the upheaval (1848) in France, Rossi became president of the council in the pope's first constitutional government. A moderate reformer, he was the target of both radicals and reactionaries. He was assassinated by radicals. Rossi wrote treatises on economics.

• Genres: Choral Music, Miscellaneous Music, Opera, Vocal Music

Biography

Luigi Rossi was one of the most important Italian composers of the early Baroque. His appreciation for the emotions of texts led him to devise new means of expression in vocal music, which was the major part of his output. He was one of the first composers whose primary field was secular vocal music.

There is an absence of hard evidence about his origins and early life. He may have been a pupil of Giovanni de Macque and perhaps spent early years at the Neapolitan court. The first firm documentation shows that by 1620 he lived in Rome and, in August of that year, joined the household staff of the Prince of Sulmona, Marc'Antonio Borghese, as a musician. He gained a reputation as one of the finest of keyboard players of his time. The Prince's wife, Camilla Orsini, had her own musical staff, which included a harpist from Rome named Costanza de Ponte. She and Rossi were married on July 3, 1627. Costanza was one of the best harp players of the age; together they made a musical duo that was by all accounts formidable. Camilla Orsini bragged about them and was apparently pleased to allow them to visit some of the leading courts of Italy, such as the Medicis in Florence, where they stayed through half of 1635.

Rossi became the organist at S Luigi dei Francesi, which was the French national church in Rome. He held that position for the rest of his life, but had generous terms that allowed him absences to maintain touring. When he was gone, his brother, Giovan Carlo Rossi, deputed for him. At some point during the 1630s -- certainly not later than 1641 -- he left the employ of the Borghese family and joined the service of the noted Francophile, Cardinal Antonio Barberini, a music-lover and nephew of Pope Urban VIII.

Rossi composed the first opera sponsored by Barberini, Il palazzo incantato (1642). He was invited to Paris in June 1646, staying the summer with the Royal Court in Fontainebleau. He remained in Paris in the autumn, composing a new opera, Orfeo, at the request of prime minister Jules Mazarin. (Rossi's wife died in Rome in November 1646). The opera premiered on March 2, 1647. Mazarin was under attack for extravagance, and the expensive production became a point of contention. Despite political disputes, Rossi's music was universally praised. One other trip to France (1648 - 1651) was unsuccessful due to a revolt against Mazarin. Rossi returned to Rome for good in 1651. There he continued at the height of his fame and respect as one of the greatest composers until his death two years later.

Historical assessment of the evolution of Rossi's style is made difficult by the fact that there are no firm dates for most of his nearly 300 vocal works (over 200 of them in the form of canzonettas). Only if a work is definitely tied to a historical event (such as a lament for a Swedish king who died in battle in 1632) can some approximate date be established for the music.

Rossi's music ranged widely in style. He wrote laments and other music in the older style of dramatic recitative, wordy melodic vocal works we might call patter songs, and songs with rhyming verse lyrics. He could invest his music with remarkable emotional power, such as in his highly popular Gelosia che a poco a poco, a canzonetta portraying a person going mad from jealousy. ~ Joseph Stevenson, Rovi

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