Jacopo Melani
Overview
 
Jacopo Melani was an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 composer
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...

 and violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

ist of the Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

 era. He was born and died in Pistoia
Pistoia
Pistoia is a city and comune in the Tuscany region of Italy, the capital of a province of the same name, located about 30 km west and north of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno.-History:...

, and was the brother of composer Alessandro Melani
Alessandro Melani
Alessandro Melani was an Italian composer and the brother of composer Jacopo Melani, and castrato singer Atto Melani. Along with Bernardo Pasquini and Alessandro Scarlatti, he was one of the leading composers active in Rome during the 17th century...

 and singer Atto Melani
Atto Melani
Atto Melani was a famous Italian castrato opera singer, also employed as a diplomat and a spy.-Life:...

.
  • 1655-6: Intermedi (with La donna più costante), Florence
    Florence
    Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

    , Cocomero
  • 1657: Il potestà di Colognole (La Tancia) (libretto G. A. Moniglia), dramma civile rusticale, Florence, Teatro della Pergola
    Teatro della Pergola
    The Teatro della Pergola is a historic opera house in Florence, Italy. It is located in the centre of the city on the Via della Pergola, from which the theatre takes its name...

  • 1657: Scipione in Cartagine (libretto Moniglia?), dramma musicale, Florence, Cocomero
  • 1658: Il pazzo per forza (libretto G.
Quotations

I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong.

"I, Too, Sing America," in the magazine Survey Graphic (March 1925); reprinted in Selected Poems (1959)

They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed — I, too, am America.

"I, Too, Sing America," in the magazine Survey Graphic (March 1925); reprinted in Selected Poems (1959)

The night is beautiful,So are the faces of my people.

"My People," in the magazine Poems in Crisis (October 1923); reprinted in The Weary Blues (1926)

I've known rivers: I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins. My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

"The Negro Speaks of Rivers," from The Weary Blues (1926)

I've known rivers: Ancient, dusky rivers. My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

"The Negro Speaks of Rivers," from The Weary Blues (1926)

The stars went out and so did the moon.The singer stopped playing and went to bedWhile the Weary Blues echoed through his head.He slept like a rock or a man that's dead.

"The Weary Blues," from The Weary Blues (1926)

Way Down South in Dixie(Break the heart of me)They hung my black young loverTo a cross roads tree.

"Song for a Dark Girl" (l. 1-4), from Fine Clothes to the Jew (1927)

Love is a naked shadowOn a gnarled and naked tree.

Song for a Dark Girl (l. 11-12), from Fine Clothes to the Jew (1927)

While over Alabama earthThese words are gently spoken:Serve — and hate will die unborn.Love — and chains are broken.

"Alabama Earth (at Booker Washington's grave)," from the anthology Golden Slippers: An Anthology of Negro Poetry for Young Readers (1941), ed. Arna Bontemps

Hold fast to dreamsFor if dreams dieLife is a broken-winged birdThat cannot fly.

"Dreams," from the anthology Golden Slippers: An Anthology of Negro Poetry for Young Readers, ed. Arna Bontemps (1941)

 
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