Giulio Caccini was one of the most important and influential
composers, a truly innovative thinker, during the transition between the late
Renaissance and early Baroque periods. His efforts in creating a vocal style in
which the words were clearly intelligible and their meaning amplified by a
melody accompanied only with simple chords and dissonances became the
foundation of the operatic recitative. In addition, he was an influential
writer and his sole opera Euridice,
though not the first to be composed, was certainly the first to appear out of
Florence in printed form.
Little is known of Caccini's early life. He was born around
1545, the son of a carpenter, likely in Rome. His early musical studies took
place in Rome, where he studied the lute, viol, and harp, as well as gained a
reputation as a capable singer. Indeed, his talents as a singer captivated
Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and in time he was singing at the
Medici court and continuing his musical studies in Florence. Despite his
talents as a musician, it would be sometime before Caccini achieved an elevated
rank among the great patrons of the arts in the Medici court.
In Florence, Caccini also became a part of the Florentine
Camerata , a movement of humanists, writers, musicians and scholars that met at
the home of Count Giovanni de' Bardi to discuss and shape the trends of art,
predominantly music and drama. They professed a singular goal of resurrecting
the glory of ancient Greek drama. However, with any examples of notated music
from the ancient Grecian period lost to the obscurity of the centuries, the
group's experiments resulted in the development of monody—an expressive vocal
melody sung against simple, chordal accompaniments—which in turn developed into
a key element of opera, the recitative, or stile
recitativo. Caccini's efforts toward this style were immensely influential
and his collection of monodies, Le nuove
musiche, published in 1602, essentially codified the style and form, as
well as containing the earliest explanation of the new system of figured bass.
Caccini's reputation grew over the succeeding decades as
both a performer and composer. A trip to Rome in 1592 saw his new monodies
warming received, though it would not be until after the turn of the decade
before the new style broke the stronghold of polyphonic music in the city of
Palestrina. In 1600, he was elevated to music director at the Medici court. His
only opera, Euridice, appeared in
1602. Though it was preceded by Peri's opera on the same subject, Caccini, a
man purportedly vindictive and of intense jealousy, rushed his opera to the
printer to at least take for himself the title of first published opera. At its
premiere on December 5, 1602, Euridice was
a success and is nonetheless among the earliest examples of the operatic form.
After 1605, Caccini was far less active as a composer, though he remained still
at the Medici court. It is believed he died on December 7, 1618 and was buried
three days later.
Giulio Caccini
Biography
Giulio Caccini was one of the most important and influential composers, a truly innovative thinker, during the transition between the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. His efforts in creating a vocal style in which the words were clearly intelligible and their meaning amplified by a melody accompanied only with simple chords and dissonances became the foundation of the operatic recitative. In addition, he was an influential writer and his sole opera Euridice, though not the first to be composed, was certainly the first to appear out of Florence in printed form.
Little is known of Caccini's early life. He was born around 1545, the son of a carpenter, likely in Rome. His early musical studies took place in Rome, where he studied the lute, viol, and harp, as well as gained a reputation as a capable singer. Indeed, his talents as a singer captivated Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and in time he was singing at the Medici court and continuing his musical studies in Florence. Despite his talents as a musician, it would be sometime before Caccini achieved an elevated rank among the great patrons of the arts in the Medici court.
In Florence, Caccini also became a part of the Florentine Camerata , a movement of humanists, writers, musicians and scholars that met at the home of Count Giovanni de' Bardi to discuss and shape the trends of art, predominantly music and drama. They professed a singular goal of resurrecting the glory of ancient Greek drama. However, with any examples of notated music from the ancient Grecian period lost to the obscurity of the centuries, the group's experiments resulted in the development of monody—an expressive vocal melody sung against simple, chordal accompaniments—which in turn developed into a key element of opera, the recitative, or stile recitativo. Caccini's efforts toward this style were immensely influential and his collection of monodies, Le nuove musiche, published in 1602, essentially codified the style and form, as well as containing the earliest explanation of the new system of figured bass.
Caccini's reputation grew over the succeeding decades as both a performer and composer. A trip to Rome in 1592 saw his new monodies warming received, though it would not be until after the turn of the decade before the new style broke the stronghold of polyphonic music in the city of Palestrina. In 1600, he was elevated to music director at the Medici court. His only opera, Euridice, appeared in 1602. Though it was preceded by Peri's opera on the same subject, Caccini, a man purportedly vindictive and of intense jealousy, rushed his opera to the printer to at least take for himself the title of first published opera. At its premiere on December 5, 1602, Euridice was a success and is nonetheless among the earliest examples of the operatic form. After 1605, Caccini was far less active as a composer, though he remained still at the Medici court. It is believed he died on December 7, 1618 and was buried three days later.