Intro
Alessandro Stradella was one of the most talented composers of the seventeenth century. Today he is primarily known for his vocal works – cantatas, oratorios, operas – but equally exceptional are his instrumental compositions, especially those for two and three instruments. Like many of his colleagues before the advent of copyright law, Stradella did not deal with the often unscrupulous music publishers and entrusted the circulation of his works to manuscript copies only. Upon his premature death, about 300 exemplars ended up scattered across more than 50 libraries and collections. The most famous of all Stradella compositions, the song Pietà, Signore, was not amongst those pieces, for the simple reason that it is not by Stradella!
Born in Nepi, a small town fifty kilometres north-west of Rome, Stradella was an offspring of the lesser nobility. His social rank enabled him to establish professional connections with some influential families in central and northern Italy, and thus foster his musical career.
However, Stradella had a special talent for getting into trouble, too. Some of his acquaintances described him as ‘air head’ and ‘a fool for love’. In Rome he secured a considerable fee to arrange the marriage of an ugly, old woman to the nephew of the powerful Cardinal Cibo, the Pope’s Secretary of State.
The churchman took the offence personally and the musician had to leave the city overnight, never to return. Having found a shelter in Venice, Stradella started an affair with a pupil of his, Agnese van Uffele, who unfortunately was also the mistress of one of his patrons, Alvise Contarini.
Stradella fled to Turin with Agnese, but Contarini’s henchmen found him and gave him a lesson. Leaving behind Agnese, Stradella resettled in Genoa under the protection of the local aristocracy. Yet, while teaching music to ladies, ‘in order to touch too high, he touched low’ – to use the musical language of a contemporary document. One night, on his way back home, he was stabbed to death.