1630-39

<1620-1629 … 1640-1649>

* = approximate date

1630

Feb 26

• William Brade (c. 69) dies in Hamburg

Mar

• Thomas Bateson (c.60) dies in Dublin

May 25

• Géry de Ghersem (c. 55) dies in Tournai

Jun 8

• Alessandro Striggio (ii) (c.57) dies in Venice of the plague

Jun 12

• Giovanni Francesco Anerio (c. 62) buried in Graz

Jun 29

• John Mundy (c.75) dies in Windsor

Jun

• *Alessandro Grandi (c. 44) dies in Bergamo of the plague

Jul

• Mantua, having undergone a six month siege and an outbreak of plague, is brutally sacked by Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II’s troops. As well as considerable loss of life, eight Monteverdi operas are also destroyed

Sep 20

• Claudio Saracini (44) dies (some sources claim he lived on as late as 1649)

Nov 19

• Johann Schein (44) buried in Leipzig
• Heinrich Schütz’s Das ist je gewisslich wahr [this is certainly true for each] for 6 voices premiered at the funeral of Johann Schein in Leipzig

Dec 17

• Gabriel Bataille (c.55) dies in Paris

unk

• *Lambert Chaumont born (Liège) Flemish composer, organist. Died 1712
• *Marcus Meibomius born (Tönningen, Germany) German musicologist, historian, antiquarian. Wrote a groundbreaking study on Ancient Greek music, Antiquae musicae auctores septem. Died c.1711
• *Carlo Pallavicino born (Salo, Italy) Italian composer of 20 operas, all premiered in Venice between 1666 & 1686, teacher, concert master. Died 1688
• Antonio Sartorio born (Venice) Italian opera composer, choirmaster. Died 1680
• Dario Castello (c. 40) dies in Venice of the plague (some sources suggest he lived on until the 1650s)
• Richard Dering (c. 50) dies in London
• *Giovanni Paolo Maggini (c.50) dies in Florence of the plague
• *Giulio Cesare Monteverdi (57) dies in Salo of the plague
• *Johann Nauwach (c.45) dies
• *Salamone Rossi (c. 60) dies in Mantua either during the Austrian invasion and subsequent pogroms, or of the plague that followed
• *Gregorio Allegri’s Miserere composed

publications

• Adriano Banchieri’s song collection Trattenimenti da villa published in Venice
• Girolamo Frescobaldi’s Primo libro d’arie musicali per cantarsi for 1 to 3 voices, theorbo and harpsichord & Secondo libro d’arie musicali per cantarsi for 1 to 3 voices, theorbo and harpsichord published in Florence
• Johannes Kapsberger’s Libro V de villanelle for 1 to 4 voices and guitar published in Rome
• Martin Peerson’s Motets or Grave Chamber Musicke published in London

Gregorio Allegri (1582-1652)

1631

Jan 3

• Michelagnolo Galilei (55) dies in Munich

Jan 9

• Ben Jonson’s masque Love’s Triumph Through Callipolis premiered in London, with sets by Inigo Jones and music by Nicholas Lanier

Mar 24

• Philipp Dulichius (68) dies in Szczecin

Apr 12

• Tarquinio Merula appointed maestro di cappella of S Maria Maggiore, Bergamo

Jun 26

• Vincenzo Albrici born (Rome) Italian composer, singer, organist. Died 1696

Sep 7

• Clemens Thieme born (Dresden) German composer. Died 1668

Oct 3

• Sebastian Anton Scherer born (Ulm) German composer, organist. Organist at Ulm cathedral from 1671. Died 1712

Oct 30

• Pierre Beauchamp born (Paris) French choreographer, dancer, composer. Louis XIV’s dancing master. Choreographed many of Lully’s ballets for the French court. Died 1705

Nov 21

• Claudio Monteverdi’s Mass of Thanksgiving premiered at St Mark’s, Venice to commemorate the end of the devastating plague outbreak of 1630/31 that left a third of the citizens dead

unk

• *Thomas Baltzar born (Lübeck) German violinist, composer. Court musician to Charles II of England from 1661. Died 1663
• *Nicolas Lebègue born (Laon, France) French composer, organist, harpsichordist. Died 1702
• Christoph Demantius’s St John Passion composed

publications

• Melchior Franck’s Dulces mundani exilii deliciae & Psalmodia sacra published in Nuremberg
• Samuel Scheidt’s Newe geistliche Concerten … prima pars published in Halle

Inigo Jones 1573-1652

1632

Feb 18

• Giovanni Battista Vitali born (Bologna) Italian composer, violone player, choirmaster. Wrote mainly dance music. Died 1692

Feb 25

• Stefano Landi’s opera Sant’Alessio premiered in Rome at the opening of the Barberini family’s new 3000 capacity opera house the Teatro delle Quattro Fontane. Lib. Giulio Rospigliosi, later Pope Clement IX

Mar 15

• Moritz von Hessen (59) dies in Eschwege, Germany

Apr 2

• Georg Caspar Wecker baptised (Nuremberg) German composer, organist, teacher (pupils included Johann Pachelbel). Died 1695

Nov 11

• Georg Engelmann (c.57) buried in Leipzig

Nov 28

• Jean-Baptiste Lully born (Florence) Franco-Italian composer of 13 operas, 36 ballets and 14 comédies-ballets, violinist, dancer, conductor. Spent 35 years in service at the French court. Died 1687

Dec 29

• Tarquinio Merula dismissed from his post as maestro di cappella of S Maria Maggiore, Bergamo for ‘indecency manifested towards several of his pupils’

unk

• *Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers born (Paris?) French organist, composer, music theorist (approx date). Died 1714
• Ambrosius Metzger (c. 59) dies
• Claudio Monteverdi ordained as a priest

publications

• Johannes Kapsberger’s Li fiori, Libro VI de villanelle for 1 to 4 voices and guitar published in Rome
• Claudio Monteverdi’s Scherzi musicali cioè arie published in Venice
• Walter Porter’s Madrigales and Ayres of two, three, foure and five Voyces published in London

Claudio Monteverdi – Scherzi musicali (Glossa)

1633

Jan 30

• Michelangelo Rossi’s opera Erminia sul Giordano [Erminia and the Jordan] premiered in Rome. Lib. Giulio Rospigliosi

Mar 27

• Peeter Cornet (c.58) dies in Brussels

Apr 1

• Luigi Rossi appointed organist at S Luigi dei Francesi, Rome, a position he holds until his death in 1653

Aug 12

• Jacopo Peri (71) dies in Florence

Apr 21

• Scipione Dentice (73) dies in Naples

May 21

• Joseph Chabanceau de La Barre born (Paris) French composer. Brother of Anne Chabanceau de La Barre (1628–88). Died 1678

Sep 6

• Sebastian Knüpfer born (Aš, Czech Republic) German composer, cantor, organist, bass singer. Died 1676

Oct 24

• Jean Titelouze (c. 70) dies in Rouen

Oct 29

• Alessandro Orologio (c.83) dies in Vienna

unk

• Jean-Nicolas Geoffroy born (Perpignan?) French harpsichordist, organist, composer. Author of the largest collection of harpsichord music of 17th-century France. Died 1694
• Pavel Josef Vejvanovský born (Hukvaldy, Czech Rep) Czech composer, trumpeter, choirmaster, music editor. Died 1693

publications

• Benedetto Ferrari’s Musiche varie for solo voice and accompaniment published in Venice
• Tarquinio Merula’s Madrigali et altre musiche concertate libro secondo published in Venice
• Giovanni Felice Sances’s Cantade (2 volumes) published in Venice
• Erasmus Widmann’s Helden-Gesäng published in Rothenburg

Benedetto Ferrari 1603-81

1634

Jan 7

• Adam Krieger born (Driesen, Germany) German composer, organist. Founder of the Collegium Musicum in Leipzig. Died 1666

Jan 17

• Antonio Draghi born (Rimini, Italy) Italian opera composer, choirmaster. Worked at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna from 1668. Died 1700

Feb 3

• William Lawes & James Shirley’s masque The Triumph of Peace performed in London

Mar 26

• Giovanni Domenico Freschi born (Bassano del Grappa, Italy) Italian composer, priest. Maestro di cappella at Vicenza cathedral for 53 years from 1656. Wrote 16 operas. Died 1710

May 1

• Girolamo Frescobaldi returns to Rome and resumes his post as organist of the Cappella Giulia, S Pietro basilica, Rome after more than 5 years away

Sep 29

• Henry Lawes & John Milton’s masque Comus performed in Ludlow

Oct 6

• George Kirbye (c. 69) dies in Bury St Edmunds

Oct 8

• Heinrich Schütz’s comic opera Aquilo…, lib.Johannes Lauremberg, premiered in Copenhagen

Oct 12

• Heinrich Schütz’s comic opera King Phineus, lib.Johannes Lauremberg, premiered in Copenhagen

Oct 13

• Heinrich Schütz’s O der grossen Wundertaten [O the great miracles] premiered at a wedding in Copenhagen

Oct 31

• Erasmus Widmann (62) dies in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany

Nov 15

• Johann Staden (53) dies in Nuremberg

Dec 8

• Andreas Hammerschmidt elected organist at the Petrikirche, Freiberg

unk

• Clamor Heinrich Abel born (Hünnefeld, Germany) German composer, violinist, organist. Published three books of chamber music between 1674 and 1677. Father of Christian Ferdinand Abel (1672-1761). Died 1696
• Adriano Banchieri (c. 65) dies in Bologna
• *Robert Johnson (c. 54) dies in London
• *Simone Molinaro (c.64) dies
• *William White (c. 63) dies

publications

• Girolamo Frescobaldi’s instrumental collection Canzoni da sonare (28 pieces) published in Venice
• Giovanni Rigatti’s Primo parto de motetti published in Venice
• Samuel Scheidt’s Geistlicher Concerten … ander Theil published in Halle

An illustration by Arthur Rackham taken from a 1921 edition of John Milton’s poem Comus

1635

May 1

• Daniel Danielis born (Liège) Belgian composer. Died 1696

Jun 3

• Philippe Quinault born (Paris) French dramatist, poet, librettist for 14 of Jean-Baptiste Lully stage works. Died 1688

Jun 14

• Christian Erbach (c. 67) dies in Augsburg

Oct 10

• Johann Ulrich Steigleder (42) dies in Stuttgart of the plague

unk

• *Jacek Różycki born (Łęczyca, Poland) Polish composer. Kappelmeister in Warsaw to four successive monarchs. Died c.1704
• Manuel Rodrigues Coelho (c.80) dies in Lisbon
• Johannes Bach appointed organist at the Prederikirche, Erfurt until his death in 1673

publications

• Giovanni Battista Abbatessa’s collection of guitar pieces Cespuglio di varii fiori published in Orvieto
• Giovanni Battista Doni’s work on ancient Greek music Compendio del trattato de’ generi e de’ modi della musica published in Rome
• Girolamo Frescobaldi’s collection of organ works Fiori musicali published in Venice
• Samuel Scheidt’s Liebliche Krafft-Blümlein aus des Heyligen Geistes Lustgarten abgebrochen & Geistlicher Concerten … dritter Theil published in Halle

The title page of the first edition of Frescobaldi’s Fiori musicali

1636

Feb 4

• Heinrich Schütz’s Nacket bin ich vom Mutterleibe kommen (published as part of op.7) premiered at a funeral in Gera, Germany
  

Feb 23 

• Henry & William Lawes & Wiliam Davenant’s masque Triumphs of the Prince d’Amour performed in London

Apr 11

• Giovanni Felice Sances’s opera Ermiona premiered in Padua (lost)

Apr 29

• Esaias Reusner born (Lwówek Śląski, Poland) German composer, lutenist, teacher, court musician. Died 1679

Jul 2

• Daniel Speer born (Wroclaw) German composer, writer, novelist. Died 1707

Sep 6

• Joan Cererols joins the Benedictine Order at the Monastery of Montserrat, Spain

Nov 3

• Henry Lawes elected Gentleman of the Chapel Royal

Dec 30

• Claudio Monteverdi’s ballo Volgendo il ciel per l’immortal sentiero Movete al mio bel suon premiered in Vienna. Lib. O. Rinuccini

unk

• Stefano Bernardi (c. 50) dies in Verona
• Samuel Scheidt loses all four of his children during an outbreak of plague in Halle

publications

• Giovanni Battista Buonamente’s Il sesto libro di sonate et canzoni published in Venice
• Melchior Franck’s Paradisus musicus published in two volumes in Coburg & Nuremberg
• Andreas Hammerschmidt’s collection of works for viols Erster Fleiss allerhand neuer Paduanen, Galliarden, Balletten, Mascharaden, françoischen Arien, Courenten und Sarabanden published in Freiberg
• Marin Mersenne’s Traité de l’harmonie universelle published including Charles Racquet’s organ piece Fantaisie
• Giovanni Rigatti’s Musiche concertate cioe madrigali published in Venice
• Giovanni Felice Sances’s Il quarto libro delle cantate, et arie published in Venice
• Heinrich Schütz’s Musicalische Exequien op.7 published in Dresden & Erster Theil kleiner geistlichen Concerten op.8 published in Leipzig
• Jiří Třanovský’s hymn collection Cithara Sanctorum (Lyre of the Saints) published in Levoča, Slovakia

Melchoir Franck – Paradisus musicus (Thorofon)

1637

Jan 1

• Johann Jakob Froberger appointed as organist at the imperial chapel, Vienna, a post he holds for less than a year
  

Feb 11

• Friedrich Nicolaus Brauns born (Schleswig) German composer, Kappelmeister. Died 1718

Feb 12

• Virgilio Mazzocchi’s opera L’Egisto [the Aegisthus] premiered in Rome. Lib. G. Rospigliosi

May 23

• Marco Marazzoli joins the papal choir in Rome

May 29

• Jiří Třanovský (45) dies in Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia

Jun 5

• The Teatro San Cassiano, the first public opera house, opens in Venice with a performance of Benedetto Ferrari & Francesco Manelli’s Andromeda

Jun 16

• Giovanni Paolo Colonna born (Bologna) Italian composer, choirmaster, organist. Died 1695

Jul 10

• Antonio Cesti enters the Franciscan monastery of S Francesco at Arezzo
  

Jul

• Thomas Ken born (Berkhamstead) English cleric, hymnwriter, Bishop of Bath and Wells 1684-91. Died 1711
• Adrian Batten (46) dies in London

Aug 16

• Ben Jonson (65) dies in London

Oct 30

• Johann Jakob Froberger leaves his position as organist at the court of Ferdinand III in Vienna

Dec 7

• Bernardo Pasquini born (Massa e Cozzile, Italy) Italian composer, organist. Composed operas and sacred music. Died 1710

unk

• Filippo Acciaiuoli born (Rome) Italian librettist, composer, theatre manager, creator of theatre set machinery, puppeteer. Died 1700
• Dieterich Buxtehude born (Helsingborg, Sweden) German-Danish composer, organist. Only two collections published in his lifetime, both of trio sonatas, but better known for his organ works. Died 1707
• Giovanni Grancino born (Milan) Italian luthier, particularly noted for his cellos. Died 1709

publications

• Giovanni Battista Buonamente’s Il settimo libro di sonate et sinfonie published in Venice
• Benedetto Ferrari’s Musiche varie, libro secondo for solo voice and accompaniment published in Venice
• Stefano Landi’s Il quinto libro d’arie musicali for solo voice and accompaniment published in Venice
• Tarquinio Merula’s instrumental collection Canzoni overo sonate concertate per chiesa e camera published in Venice
• Johann Vierdanck’s Erster Theil Newer Pavanen, Gagliarden, Balletten und Correnten published in Greifswald

Title page of the first publication of Benedetto Ferrari’s opera Andromeda

1638

Jan 16

• Filippo Bonanni born (Rome) Italian polymath, scientist, librarian. Wrote Gabinetto Armonico (1723), a collecttion of engraved illustrations of musical instruments. Died 1725

Jan 21

• Ignazio Donati (c. 67) dies in Milan

Feb 6

• Nicholas Lanier & Wiliam Davenant’s masque Luminalia performed in London

Feb 7

• Virgilio Mazzocchi’s proto-oratorio San Bonifazio premiered in Rome, lib. G. Rospigliosi

Apr 11

• Diogo Dias Melgás born (Cuba, Portugal) Portuguese composer, priest. Mestre de capela of Évora cathedral from 1670. Died 1700

May 27

• Nicolas Formé (71) dies in Paris

Jul 15

• Giovanni Buonaventura Viviani born (Florence) Italian composer, violinist, music director. Wrote mainly operas and cantatas. Died 1693

Aug 28

• Richard Knight succeeds John Taverner as Gresham Professor of Music in London, a post he holds until 1650

Sep

• John Wilbye (64) dies in Colchester, Essex

Oct 19

• Elway Bevin (c.84) buried in Bristol

Nov 20

• Heinrich Schütz’s ballet Orpheus und Eurydike premiered in Dresden. Lib. August Buchner. Now lost.

unk

• *Settimia Caccini (c.47) dies
• *Alessandro Piccinini (c.71) dies in Bologna
• Francis Pilkington (c.73) dies in Chester
• John Ward (c. 67) dies in Ilford, Essex
• Albertus Bryne succeeds John Tomkins as organist of St Paul’s, London
• Ennemond Gaultier’s Le tombeau de Mezangeau composed, credited as the earliest example of tombeau

publications

• Agostino Agazzari’s treatise on religious music La Musica Ecclesiastica published in Siena
• Michael East’s The Seventh Set of Bookes, wherein are Duos for Two Base Viols … also Fancies of 3 Parts for Two Treble Viols and a Bass Viol published in London
• Caspar Kittel’s Arien and Cantaten published in Dresden, marking the first use of the term cantata in Germany
• Stefano Landi’s Il sesto libro d’arie musicali for solo voice and accompaniment published in Venice
• Tarquinio Merula’s Curtio precipitato et altri capricii, libro secondo published in Venice
• Claudio Monteverdi’s Madrigali guerrieri…libro ottavo published in Venice, including the ballet Ballo delle ingrate
• Giovanni Felice Sances’s Motetti for solo voice and accompaniment & Motetti for 1 to 4 voices and accompaniment published in Venice
• Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck’s motet collection Melos fausto quondam thalamo published in Gdansk

Claudio Monteverdi – Ballo delle ingrate (Naxos)

1639

Jan 23

• Francesco Cavalli appointed as second organist at St Mark’s, Venice

Jan 24

• Francesco Cavalli’s opera Le nozze di Teti e di Peleo premiered in Venice. Lib. O. Persiani

Feb 4

• Alessandro Melani born (Pistoia, Italy) Italian composer, choirmaster. Held posts in Ferrara, Pistoia and Rome. Brother of Atto Melani (1626-1714) and Jacopo Melani (1623-76). Died 1703

Feb 12

• Juan García de Salazar born (Tuesta, Spain) Spanish composer, choirmaster. Died 1710

Feb 27

• Marco Marazzoli and Virgilio Mazzocchi’s opera Chi soffre speri premiered in Rome. Lib. Giulio Rospigliosi

Feb

• Benedetto Ferrari’s opera L’Armida premiered in Venice. Lib. Ferrari

Apr 3

• Alessandro Stradella born (Rome) Italian composer. Subject of Friedrich von Flotow’s 1844 opera Alessandro Stradella and F Marion Crawford’s 1909 novel Stradella. Murdered 1682

Jun 1

• Melchior Franck (c. 60) dies in Coburg, Germany

Oct 9

• Caspar Kittel (c. 36) dies in Dresden

Oct 28

• Stefano Landi (52) dies in Rome

Nov 18

• Andreas Hammerschmidt appointed organist at the Johanniskirche, Zittau, a post he holds until his death in 1675

Dec 5

• Johann Christoph Pezel born (Glatz, Poland) German violinist, trumpeter, composer. Died 1694

publications

• Francesco Corbetta’s guitar book Scherzi Armonici published in Bologna
• Andreas Hammerschmidt’s Musicalischer Andacht, erster Theil, das ist, Geistliche Concerten & collection of works for viols Ander Theil neuer Paduanen, Canzonen, Galliarden, Balletten, Mascharaden published in Freiberg
• Johann Erasmus Kindermann’s Cantiones published in Nuremberg
• Duarte Lobo’s Liber Missarum II published in Antwerp
• Filipe de Magalhães’s Cantica Beatissima Virgines published in Lisbon
• Tarquinio Merula’s Concerto … messi, salmi … concertati published in Venice
• Alessandro Piccinini’s book of lute music Intavolatura di huto, nel quale si contengano toccata published posthumously in Bologna
• Heinrich Schütz’s Anderer Theil kleiner geistlichen Concerten op.9 published in Dresden

Francesco Cavalli – Arias and Duets (Naxos)