Born in Eisenach, Oct 9, 1727
Died in Schwerin, June 14, 17891
Era: Baroque
Born in Maidstone, 1592
Died in Kimberley, Norfolk, Oct 27, 1678
- Jenkins was a lutenist, a player of the lyra viol, and a composer of consort music.
- Jenkins worked for many wealthy English patrons as a performer and a teacher and was also connected with the royal court after the Restoration.2
- Fun Fact: the lyra viol is a small bass viol sometimes known as the viola bastarda
“He was a person of much easier temper than any of his faculty, he was neither conceited nor morose, but much a gentleman, and had a very good sort of wit, which served him in his address and conversation, wherein he did not please less than his compositions.”
Roger North, on Jenkins. English writer, biographer, and amateur musician Roger North was of Jenkins’ music students. (The Autobiography of the Hon. Roger North, 79.)
Born in Exeter (probably), 1621–3
Died in London, shortly before Aug 10, 1677
- Matthew Locke was the leading composer of Restoration England. He was employed by the royal court under Charles II (Composer to the King’s “Private Music”) as well as several other aristocratic establishments in England.
- Locke was trained in the Exeter Cathedral choir, where he studied with Edward Gibbons (brother of Orlando Gibbons) and became a prominent organist.
- Locke also wrote extensively for the London theater. His works include incidental music for The Tempest (1675), a masque on he story of Orpheus and Euridice, and a score for a semi-sung work called Psyche, which helped pave the way for semi-operas by later English Baroque composers, notably Henry Purcell.
- At Locke’s death, Purcell took over his position as composer for the royal ensemble, the 24 Violins. Purcell was friends with the older composer, and wrote a musical elegy for him, “On the Death of his Worthy Friend Mr. MATTHEW LOCKE’, What hope for us remains now he is gone? (Z472).3
Born in Florence, Nov 28, 1632
Died in Paris, March 22, 1687
- He was born Giovanni Battista Lulli in Florence, where he studied violin with a Franciscan friar. In 1646 he moved to Paris to tutor Louis XIV’s cousin Anne-Marie-Louise d’Orléans in Italian. He then studied both music and dance in France.
- In 1653 Lully entered the service of Louis XIV, appointed compositeur de la musique instrumentale. He was “discovered” when he appeared as a dancer in the Ballet Royal de la Nuit, an extravagant 13-hour ballet which starred Louis XIV as Apollo, the Sun King.4
- Fun fact: Lully was both a dancer and composer for the court of Louis XIV, and he was particularly favored for his talent at comic roles.
- Lully spent the rest of his career working for the royal court. When Louis XIV ascended the throne in 1661, Lully became a naturalized French citizen.
- Lully composed ballets, operas, and sacred music for the French court, as well as composing and producing operas for the public.
- The magnificence of the court at Versailles led to artistic imitation all over Europe: Lully’s use of the French overture, or ouverture, led to a particularly popular trend in Baroque music meant to illustrate power or royalty (for example, the overture to Handel’s Messiah is a French overture). 5
- Lully collaborated multiple times with Molière, including their comic ballet Le bourgeois gentilhomme(1670). The two were such a great team that they were known as the “deux Baptiste” (Molière’s birth name was Jean-Baptiste Poquelin).
- Fun (Weird? Sad?) Fact: Lully died in 1687 from a gangrenous foot wound. He had bashed his own foot three months earlier while conducting a performance of his Te Deum. Lully conducted by tapping a tall walking-stick type rod on the floor in time to the music.
Born in Paris, baptized May 31, 1656
Died in Paris, Aug 15, 1728
- Marais studied the viol at the choir school of the church of St. Germain-l’Auxerrois. Subsequently he studied with famous bass viol virtuoso Sainte-Colombe, and reportedly surpassed the skills of his teacher in 6 months.
- Marais played viol in the prestigious Opéra orchestra under the direction of Lully, who also taught him composition.
- Marais composed operas and instrumental music, and eventually became conductor of the Opéra orchestra. 7
Marais played the viol “Like an angel”
Marais’ contemporaries thought so, according to his Grove’s article
Born in Venice, Aug 24, 1673
Died in Venice, June 19, 1747
- Alessandro Marcello was more a dilettante than composer. He came from a noble Venetian family and pursued many fields of study during his lifetime, including music, painting, poetry, and law.
- While his compositional output was relatively small, his scores were (and continue to be) highly respected.
- As a composer, Marcello used the pseudonym “Eterio Stinfalico.” His best-known work is his Oboe Concerto in d minor.8
“He is a distinguished student of mathematics. He composes verses in Latin and Italian . . . has a knowledge of many languages . . . is most ingenious in working with mathematical instruments and globes, and even in drawing and painting. He plays many instruments and knows a good deal about music, which has enabled him to send to press twelve cantatas . . . He dresses impeccably and is incomparably kind.”
Eleanor Selfridge-Field, Venetian Instrumental Music (source)
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Died (probably) in Madrid after 1733.9
- Martín y Coll was a Spanish composer and organist, and a Franciscan monk.
- Martín y Coll wrote treatises about liturgical music and compiled a multivolume collection of the organ music by composers from Spain and elsewhere, entitled Flores de música.10
Born in Tiefenort, nr Eisenach, Feb 10, 1696
Died in Karlsruhe, Jan 12, 1765
- Molter was employed as a court musician by the Margrave Carl Wilhelm of Baden-Durlach, who paid for Molter to study in Italy.
- After the Margrave’s death, he served in a succession of court positions, composing in nearly every contemporary genre.
- Fun fact: as a child Molter attended the same school (Gymnasium) where J.S. Bach had been a student.11
Full name: Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville
Born in Narbonne, baptized Dec 25, 1711
Died in Belleville, Oct 8, 1772
- Mondonville was a composer, violinist and conductor.
- He was a contemporary of Rameau, and the two of them were the pre-eminent French composers of 18th century.12
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MONTEVERDI, Claudio
Born in Cremona, May 15, 1567
Died in Venice, Nov 29, 1643
Born in Avignon, France, April 11, 1682
Died in Charenton, Dec. 22, 1738
- Mouret worked in court and opera positions throughout his life. For 20 years he was the composer-director of Comédie-Italienne in Paris.
- Mouret was a director of esteemed concert Paris concert series Concert Spirituel, 13 in which instrumental and sacred music was performed during Lent when theatres were closed.14
Born c. 1690
Died in Paris, Nov 26, 1762
- Naudot was a flute virtuoso, composer and teacher active in late Baroque France. Most of his works are for flute or similar wind instruments.
- Fun Fact: Naudot composed a good deal of fun or frivolous music, including his op.10, 6 babioles (which can be translated as “trifles” or “toys”)
- Fun fact: Naudot also composed virtuosic sonatas and concertos for the hurdy-gurdy and the musette.15
Born in Nuremberg, baptized Sept 1, 1653
Died in Nuremberg, buried March 9, 1706
- Pachelbel was an organist and a composer of choral, organ and chamber music.
- Fun fact: Pachelbel was friends with J.S. Bach’s father Ambrosius Bach. He was godfather to Bach’s sister Johanna Judith Bach and taught music to Bach’s elder brother Johann Christoph, who later taught Johann Sebastian.
“A perfect and rare virtuoso.”
Kapellmeister Daniel Eberlin, on Pachelbel. Pachelbel had worked under Eberlin as an organist. This quote comes from a 1740 letter of recommendation that Eberlin wrote for Pachelbel. 16
- Pezel was a town bandsman or Ratsmusiker (Council Musician). The Ratsmusiken were employed by German town councils and performed for civic functions.
- Pezel held the title of Stadtpfeifer (City Piper), which was the top title available in his craft.
- The town bands in which Pezel played consisted of both string and brass instruments. Pezel was orignally hired as a string player, and he likely played the trumpet as well.17
Born in (probably) Paris, c. 1652
Died in Dreux, Aug 11, 1730
Name somestime spelled Filidor
- Philidor was a member of a French family of musicians who worked for the royal family.
- André-Danican Philidor l’aîné [the eldest] (aka le père) was a woodwind player and percussionist, music librarian and composer who served the French court, starting under the directorship of Lully.
- Philidor l’aîné undertook a massive project to preserve the music in the royal collection, from the reign of Louis XIV all the way back to Henri IV (who ruled France from 1589-1610). He copied and hence preserved huge numbers of historic French works.18
Born in Norwich, 1623
Died in London, between Dec 24, 1686 and Feb 7, 1687
- John Playford was an English bookseller, music publisher.
- Note that, though he appears in MusicMaster and in this site under the heading “composer” (there’s nowhere else to put him) he’s actually a publisher who compiled and preserved anonymous tunes in The English Dancing Master – he didn’t write the music.
- Playford was the foremost London music printer in the late 1700s. He founded a publishing dynasty in which his sons Henry Playford and nephew John Playford II took part.
- Playford had a strong impact on English Baroque music, especially sacred music (a special interest of his). The poet Nahum Tate wrote an elegy at Playford’s death, which Henry Purcell set to music.19
- Pollarolo was an organist and a composer of operas and oratorios.
- Pollarolo spent a significant portion of his career in Venice, where his operas were regularly performed.
- He also held positions at San Marco and other Venetian churches.20
Born in Venice or the Veneto, c. 1675
Died in Munich, June 21, 1755
- Porta was a Venetian opera composer who also worked in Rome and Bavaria.
- Porta worked alongside Vivaldi at the Ospedale della Pietà, the girls’ orphanage with a renowned choir and orchestra made up of the girls who lived there. Porta directed the choir.21
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PRAETORIUS, Michael
Born in Creuzburg an der Werra, nr Eisenach, c. Feb 15, 1571
Died in Wolfenbüttel, Feb 15, 1621
- Praetorius was an organist and a music theorist in addition to a composer. He wrote Syntagma musicum, an encyclopedic three-volume work exploring the music of his time (very valuable for historians and students of early performance practice).
- The three volumes cover:
- History and principles of sacred music
- An overview of the musical instruments of Praetorius’ time, especially the organ
- A dictionary of musical forms with instruction on compositional techniques.
- The three volumes cover:
- Praetorius held many significant church and court appointments during his life, and was considered one of the region’s prominent organists.22
- Praetorius left behind a considerable fortune at his death, and he endowed most of it to create a foundation for the poor.
- Greatest Hit: Praetorius composed the harmonization of Lo, How a Rose E’er-Blooming that appears frequently in carol collections and hymnals.23
Born in London, 1658 or 1659
Died in London, Nov 21, 1695
- In addition to his opera Dido and Aeneas and other dramatic works, Purcell composed extensively for the church and for the keyboard.
- Purcell was trained as a choirboy in the Chapel Royal, under the direction of Pelham Humfrey.
- Purcell composed for the English royal court throughout his life, and also served as organist of Westminster Abbey.24
Born in Oberscheden, Hanover, Jan 30, 1697
Died in Potsdam, July 12, 1773
- In addition to being a respected composer and flutist, Johann Joachim Quantz (pronounded “kvants”) remains an influential figure in Western music due to his treatise, Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversiere zu spielen (Treatise on playing the transverse flute), published in 1752. The comprehensive text offers invaluable information on performance practices of the 18th century.
- Interestingly, only five of its 18 chapters exclusively concern the flute specifically; the majority addresses general issues of interest to instrumentalists.25
- Quantz’s musical foundation came from an apprenticeship starting at age 11 with his uncle, Justus Quantz, a town musician in Merseburg. Quantz learned violin, oboe, trumpet, and clavier, the latter of which inspired his interest in composition and harmony.
- In his late teens (1716), Quantz continued his musical education and began fostering his professional career in Dresden. Not long after, Quantz was appointed as oboist for the Dresden Polish Chapel of Augustus II, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland. Around this time, he became adamant about learning the flute (the instrument he would eventually become most famous for playing).
- In 1728, Quantz accompanied Augustus II to visit the Prussian court of (then Crown Prince) Frederick the Great. Quantz made a big impression on Frederick and soon became the monarch’s flute teacher.
- When Frederick became King of Prussia in 1740, Quantz joined his court officially as royal flute tutor, composer, and flute maker, where he remained for the rest of his life.
- As a composer, Quantz wrote several hundred works, including over 300 flute concertos and over 200 flute sonatas.26
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Biography from Elysium Ensemble primarily based on the composer’s autobiography
Pieces
Born in Dijon, bap. Sept 25, 1683
Died in Paris, Sept 12, 1764
- Rameau was the leading composer in 18th century France.
- Rameau is best known for his operas, motets, cantatas, and keyboard music. He was also an important music theorist.27
Born in Paris, bap. April 18, 1666
Died in Paris, Jan 2, 1747
- Rebel was a member of a musical French family who worked in court and opera positions between 1661-1775. His father Jean Rebel was a court singer and dancer, and his sister Anne-Renée Rebel was an opera singer who appeared in works by Lully.
- Jean-Féry Rebel studied violin and composition with Lully, played in the 24 Violons du Roy, then took the post of Chamber Composer to the King.
- He is sometimes known as Jean-Féry Rebel le père because his son François took over most of his professional positions upon his retirement.28
Born in Vienna, baptized April 6, 1708
Died in Vienna, March 11, 1772
- Reutter spent most of his career working for the Habsburg court, as an opera composer and as an imperial Kapellmeister.
- This composer is sometimes referred to as Georg Reutter the Younger because his father, Georg Reutter the Elder (1656-1738) was also an organist, and was in fact the organist at St. Stephen’s Cathedral before Reutter Jr. took the position upon his father’s retirement.
- Fun fact: Reutter was in charge of the choir school at the St. Stephen’s Cathedral (Stephansdom) in Vienna while Joseph and Michael Haydn were students there.29
Flourished 1658–87
Died by 1701
- M. de Sainte-Colombe was a French viol player and composer who flourished during the second half of the 17th century.
- We are not sure when he was born; his approximate death is determined by the appearance of a memorial tribute composition by his former student Marin Marias.
- For a long time historians were unsure what his first name was (hence programming him as M. de Sainte-Colombe). However, his Grove article explains why, judging from contemporary sources such as notary signatures, they think his first name was Jean.
- That memorial piece by Marias is entitled Tombeau de M. Sainte-Colombe, with no first name.
- Sainte-Colombe was lauded in his time for being an excellent teacher and for various bass viol innovations, like adding a seventh string to the instrument and inventing new playing techniques.
- Sainte-Colombe composed over 180 solo pieces for the bass viol and 67 Concerts à deux violes esgales (pieces for two viols of equal range).
- Sainte-Colombe also a son who worked in London, known as “Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe le fils.”3
Article on Sainte-Colombe by Jonathan Dunford, the composer’s Grove entry author
Born in Milan, Jan 6, 1695
Died in London, c. Nov 17–23, 1750
In case you wanted to know, his full name was Giuseppe Francesco Gaspare Melchiorre Baldassare Sammartini.30
- Born in Milan, Sammartini was the son of French oboist Alexis St. Martin and brother of composer Giovanni Battista Sammartini. Both brothers played the oboe.
- Sammartini spent most of his adult career in England, where Handel wrote challenging obbligato oboe parts for him in his operas.
- Sammartini was also the music instructor to the Princess of Wales and her children.
“The finest performer on the hautboy in Europe.”
Giuseppe Sammartini’s obituary
Sammartini’s music was “full of science, originality and fire.”
Music historian Charles Burney 31
Born in Palermo, May 2, 1660
Died in Naples, Oct 22, 1725
- Alessandro Scarlatti is best known as a key founder of the 18th C. Neapolitan school of opera.
- He also composed a large number of oratorios, which were a popular genre in Rome (possibly because the Pope expressed an opposition to opera).
- Alessandro Scarlatti was the father keyboard composer Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) (and nine other children incidentally).32
Born in Naples, Oct 26, 1685
Died in Madrid, July 23, 1757
- Son of Neapolitan composer Alessandro Scarlatti, Domenico Scarlatti was best known as a keyboard virtuoso and a composer of keyboard sonatas.
- In 1705 Alessandro sent his son Domenico to Venice to carve out a musical career for himself away from the family influence. Alessandro wrote about Domenico in a letter dated May 30, 1705, describing him as “an eagle whose wings are grown; he must not remain idle in the nest, and I must not hinder his flight.”
- He spent the early part of his career in Italy under his father’s shadow, and the latter part as a court musician in Portugal and Spain.
- Fun facts: Domenico Scarlatti’s friendship with Handel
- They met in Rome and competed against each other in a harpsichord and organ competition.
- Who won? On organ, the winner was Handel; on harpsichord, it was a draw.
- One of Handel’s early biographers, John Mainwaring, attributed to Handel the following quote about Scarlatti: “besides his great talents as an artist, he had the sweetest temper, and the genteelest behavior.”
- The same biographer recounts this anecdote of Handel and Scarlatti meeting in Venice during a masquerade: [Handel] “was discovered there at a Masquerade, while he was playing on a harpsichord in his visor. Scarlatti happened to be there, and affirmed that it could be no one but the famous Saxon, or the devil.” 33
- They met in Rome and competed against each other in a harpsichord and organ competition.
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SCHEIDT, Samuel
Born in Halle, bap. Nov 3, 1587
Died in Halle, March 24, 1654
- Scheidt, along with his contemporaries Heinrich Schütz and J.H Schein, is considered preeminent among German composers of the early Baroque.
- Scheidt was an excellent organist and an expert on organ construction. Throughout his career he was invited to inspect new organs and supervise organ building projects.34
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SCHEIN, Johann Hermann
Born in Grünhain, near Annaberg [now Annaberg-Bucholz], Jan 20, 1586
Died in Leipzig, Nov 19, 1630
- Schein was a poet as well as a composer.
- Schein was one of J.S. Bach’s predecessors as Cantor of the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig.
- Schein was good friends with his contemporary Heinrich Schütz, who visited Schein on his deathbed and composed a motet at Schein’s request.35
Born in Scheibbs, Lower Austria, c.1620–23
Died in Prague, between 29 Feb and March 20, 1680
- Schmelzer was a violinist and a composer who specialized in instrumental music, particularly sonatas and suites.
- Schmelzer was employed in the Habsburg Imperial court, first as a violinist and eventually as Kapellmeister. He was the first Austrian to be appointed Kapellmeister at the Habsburg court (before him, the Habsburgs had hired Italian Kapellmeisters).36
- The emperor made Schmelzer a member of the nobility in 1673, likely because of his fame and professional achievements. This was a rare achievement for Baroque musicians.37
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SCHÜTZ, Heinrich
Born in Köstritz [now Bad Köstritz], near Gera, baptized Oct 9, 1585
Died in Dresden, Nov 6, 1672
- Schütz is considered the first German composer of international significance.
- Schütz’s music is notable for its combination of Italian musical styles (learned notably from Monteverdi in Venice), Lutheran musical tradition and idiomatic German text setting.38
Born in Pirano, Istria [now Piran, Istra, Slovenia], April 8, 1692
Died in Padua, Feb 26, 1770
- Tartini was a virtuosic self-taught violinist, a teacher of violin, a composer, and a writer on music theory.
- Tartini’s parents intended for him to become a priest, though he focused his studies on law and fencing more than theology. He rebelled soon after his father’s death and got married, and actually had to go into hiding in a monastery in a different town to escape the wrath of his bishop and his family.
- Tartini preferred to compose for his own instrument, the violin, going to far as to refuse Venetian opera companies’ requests to write operas.
- Musicologists have found it nearly impossible to date most of Tartini’s compositions. He purposefully refused to put dates on his manuscripts, and he often returned to them multiple times throughout his life to revise.39
- His letter on violin technique to his student, composer Maddalena Lombardini Sirmen, is a valuable reference on historic violin pedagogy.
Born c1603 or 1610
Died in Forlimpopoli, near Forlì, Sept 11, 1680
- Marco Uccellini studied music in Assisi, possibly under composer, violinist, and choirmaster Giovanni Battista Buonamente.
- At some point before 1639, Uccellini settled in Modena, where he served first as head of instrumental music at the Este court and then as maestro di cappella at the local cathedral in 1647.
- From 1665 until his death, Uccellini served as maestro di cappella at the Farnese court at Parma.
- Unfortunately, none of the music and opera that Uccellini wrote while at the Farnese court has survived. His only surviving manuscripts include seven collections of instrumental music, a collection of psalm settings, and a Marian litany for voices and instruments (the latter two are known as the Salmi concertati).
- Of his surviving scores, Uccellini’s sonatas for solo violin (opp. 4 and 5) are perhaps the most well-known today and represent the highest point of development for the genre at the time.42
Born in Venice, 4 March 1678
Died in Vienna, 27/8 July 174144