Salamone Rossi
Encyclopedia
Salamone Rossi or Salomone Rossi (Salamon, Schlomo; de' Rossi) (c. 1570 – 1630) was an Italian
Jewish violin
ist and composer. He was a transitional figure between the late Italian Renaissance
period and early Baroque
.
, acquired a reputation as a talented violinist. He was then hired (in 1587) as a court musician in Mantua
, where records of his activities as a violinist survive.
Rossi served at the court of Mantua from 1587 to 1628 where he entertained the ducal family and their highly esteemed guests. The composers Rossi, Monteverdi
, Gastoldi
, Wert
and Viadana
provided fashionable music for banquets, wedding feasts, theatre productions and chapel services amongst others.
Salamone Rossi probably died either in the invasion of Austria
n troops, who defeated the Gonzagas and destroyed the Jewish ghetto in Mantua
, or in the subsequent plague which ravaged the area.
Rossi's sister, Madama Europa
, was an opera singer, and possibly the first Jewish woman to be professionally engaged in that area. She is reported to have premiered Lamento d'Arianna of Claudio Monteverdi - in whose orchestra Rossi played violin - for the Duke of Gonzaga. She also disappeared after the end of the Gonzaga court and subsequent sack of the ghetto.
s, short, dance-like compositions for a trio of voices with lighthearted, amorous lyrics. Rossi also flourished in his composition of more serious madrigal
s, combining the poetry of the greatest poets of the day (e.g. Guarini
, Marino, Rinaldi
, and Celiano
) with his melodies. In 1600, in the first two of his five madrigal
books, Rossi published the earliest continuo madrigals, an innovation which partially defined the beginning of the Baroque era in music; these particular compositions included tablature
for chitarrone.
Rossi published 150 secular works in Italian, including:
Canzonette a 3, Libro primo
Madrigali a 5, Libro primo
song, in which one melody dominates over secondary accompanying parts. His trio sonatas
, among the first in the literature, provided for the development of an idiomatic and virtuoso violin
technique. They stand mid-way between the homogeneous textures of the instrumental canzona
of the late Renaissance and the trio sonata of the mature Baroque.
Works published, and preserved today include:
. The biblical Song of Solomon
does not appear within The Songs of Solomon, hence the name is probably a pun on Rossi's first name (Rikko 1969). Rossi set many Biblical Hebrew texts to music in their original Hebrew language, which makes him unique among Baroque composers. His vocal music resembles that of Claudio Monteverdi and Luigi Rossi, but its lyrics are in Hebrew.
on collections
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...
Jewish 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 and composer. He was a transitional figure between the late Italian Renaissance
Renaissance music
Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given that its defining characteristics were adopted only gradually; musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.Literally meaning...
period and early Baroque
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
.
Life
As a young man, Rossi, who was JewishJudaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, acquired a reputation as a talented violinist. He was then hired (in 1587) as a court musician in Mantua
Mantua
Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...
, where records of his activities as a violinist survive.
Rossi served at the court of Mantua from 1587 to 1628 where he entertained the ducal family and their highly esteemed guests. The composers Rossi, Monteverdi
Claudio Monteverdi
Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, gambist, and singer.Monteverdi's work, often regarded as revolutionary, marked the transition from the Renaissance style of music to that of the Baroque period. He developed two individual styles of composition – the...
, Gastoldi
Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi
Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi , was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. He is known for his 1591 publication of balletti for five voices.-Career:Gastoldi was born at Caravaggio, Lombardy...
, Wert
Giaches de Wert
Giaches de Wert was a Franco-Flemish composer of the late Renaissance, active in Italy. Intimately connected with the progressive musical center of Ferrara, he was one of the leaders in developing the style of the late Renaissance madrigal...
and Viadana
Lodovico Grossi da Viadana
Lodovico Grossi da Viadana was an Italian composer, teacher, and Franciscan friar of the Order of Minor Observants...
provided fashionable music for banquets, wedding feasts, theatre productions and chapel services amongst others.
Salamone Rossi probably died either in the invasion of Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n troops, who defeated the Gonzagas and destroyed the Jewish ghetto in Mantua
Jewish ghettos in Europe
Jewish ghettos in Europe existed because Jews were viewed as foreigners due to their non-Christian beliefs in a Renaissance Christian environment. As a result, Jews were placed under strict regulations throughout many European cities. The character of ghettos varied through times. In some cases,...
, or in the subsequent plague which ravaged the area.
Rossi's sister, Madama Europa
Madama Europa
Madama Europa was the nickname, or perhaps the real name, of Europa Rossi sister of the Jewish violinist and composer Salamone Rossi, who was one of the first opera singers....
, was an opera singer, and possibly the first Jewish woman to be professionally engaged in that area. She is reported to have premiered Lamento d'Arianna of Claudio Monteverdi - in whose orchestra Rossi played violin - for the Duke of Gonzaga. She also disappeared after the end of the Gonzaga court and subsequent sack of the ghetto.
Italian
His first published work (released in 1589) was a collection of 19 canzonetteCanzonetta
In music, a canzonetta was a popular Italian secular vocal composition which originated around 1560...
s, short, dance-like compositions for a trio of voices with lighthearted, amorous lyrics. Rossi also flourished in his composition of more serious madrigal
Madrigal (music)
A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, usually a partsong, of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Traditionally, polyphonic madrigals are unaccompanied; the number of voices varies from two to eight, and most frequently from three to six....
s, combining the poetry of the greatest poets of the day (e.g. Guarini
Giovanni Battista Guarini
Giovanni Battista Guarini was an Italian poet, dramatist, and diplomat.- Life :He was born in Ferrara, and spent his early life both in Padua and Ferrara, entering the service of Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, in 1567...
, Marino, Rinaldi
Cesare Rinaldi
Cesare Rinaldi was one of Bologna's most eminent poets. His verse was set to music as madrigals by Salamone Rossi and the circle of the Gonzaga Court at Mantua. He also wrote verse praising composers, such as Alessandro Striggio.-Works:...
, and Celiano
Angelo Grillo
Livio Celiano was the pen name of Don Angelo Grillo O.S.B. an Italian early baroque poet whose madrigal texts were set by Monteverdi, Orazio Vecchi, Luca Marenzio, Salamone Rossi and others....
) with his melodies. In 1600, in the first two of his five madrigal
Madrigal (music)
A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, usually a partsong, of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Traditionally, polyphonic madrigals are unaccompanied; the number of voices varies from two to eight, and most frequently from three to six....
books, Rossi published the earliest continuo madrigals, an innovation which partially defined the beginning of the Baroque era in music; these particular compositions included tablature
Tablature
Tablature is a form of musical notation indicating instrument fingering rather than musical pitches....
for chitarrone.
Rossi published 150 secular works in Italian, including:
Canzonette a 3, Libro primo
- I bei ligustri, for 3 voices - Boston Early Music Ensemble
- Correte amanti, for 3 voices - Boston Early Music Ensemble
- S'el Leoncorno, for 3 voices - Boston Early Music Ensemble
Madrigali a 5, Libro primo
- Cor Mio, madrigal for 5 voices - Boston Early Music Ensemble
- Dir mi che piu non ardo, madrigal for 5 voices - Boston Early Music Ensemble
Instrumental
In the field of instrumental music Rossi was a bold innovator. He was one of the first composers to apply to instrumental music the principles of monodicMonody
In poetry, the term monody has become specialized to refer to a poem in which one person laments another's death....
song, in which one melody dominates over secondary accompanying parts. His trio sonatas
Violin sonata
A violin sonata is a musical composition for violin, which is nearly always accompanied by a piano or other keyboard instrument, or by figured bass in the Baroque period.-A:*Ella Adayevskaya**Sonata Greca for Violin or Clarinet and Piano...
, among the first in the literature, provided for the development of an idiomatic and virtuoso 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....
technique. They stand mid-way between the homogeneous textures of the instrumental canzona
Canzona
In the 16th century an instrumental chanson; later, a piece for ensemble in several sections or tempos...
of the late Renaissance and the trio sonata of the mature Baroque.
Works published, and preserved today include:
- Il primo libro delle sinfonie e gagliarde a 3-5 voci (1607)
- Il secondo libro delle sinfonie e gagliarde a 3-5 voci (1608)
- Il terzo libro de varie sonate, sinfonie.. (1613)
- Il quarto libro de varie sonate, sinfonie.. (1622)
Hebrew
Rossi also published a collection of Jewish liturgical music, השירים אשר לשלמה (Ha-shirim asher li-Shlomo, The Songs of Solomon) in 1623. This was written in the Baroque tradition and (almost) entirely unconnected to traditional Jewish cantorial music. This was an unprecedented development in synagogal music, as until recently polyphonic music in the synagogue had been forbidden following the destruction of the TempleSecond Temple
The Jewish Second Temple was an important shrine which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem between 516 BCE and 70 CE. It replaced the First Temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE, when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon...
. The biblical Song of Solomon
Song of Solomon
The Song of Songs of Solomon, commonly referred to as Song of Songs or Song of Solomon, is a book of the Hebrew Bible—one of the megillot —found in the last section of the Tanakh, known as the Ketuvim...
does not appear within The Songs of Solomon, hence the name is probably a pun on Rossi's first name (Rikko 1969). Rossi set many Biblical Hebrew texts to music in their original Hebrew language, which makes him unique among Baroque composers. His vocal music resembles that of Claudio Monteverdi and Luigi Rossi, but its lyrics are in Hebrew.
- Adon 'olam (8v) piyyutPiyyutA piyyut or piyut is a Jewish liturgical poem, usually designated to be sung, chanted, or recited during religious services. Piyyutim have been written since Temple times...
-- Boston Camerata, Milnes Vol.I, - 'Al naharot bavel (4v) Ps.137 -- Profeti della Quinta (2009) Milnes Vol.II,
- Barekhu (3v) prayer -- Profeti della Quinta (2009), Boston Camerata, Milnes Vol.I,
- Barukh haba beshem Adonai (6v) Ps.118:26-29 -- Boston Camerata Milnes Vol.II,
- Eftah na sefatai (7v) piyyut -- Milnes Vol.II,
- Eftah shir bisfatai (8v) piyyut -- Boston Camerata, Milnes Vol.II,
- Ein keloheinu (8v) piyyut -- Milnes Vol.I,
- Ele mo'adei Adnonai (3v) Lev.23:4 -- Milnes Vol.II,
- Elohim hashivenu Ps.80:4,8,20 -- Profeti della Quinta (2009), Milnes Vol.I,
- Haleluyah. Ashrei ish yare et Adonai (8v) Ps.112 -- Milnes Vol.I,
- Haleluyah. Haleli nafshi (4v) Ps.146 -- Milnes Vol.I,
- Haleluyah. Ode Adonai (8v) Ps.111 -- Milnes Vol.I,
- Hashkivenu (5v) prayer -- Profeti della Quinta (2009), Milnes Vol.I,
- Keter yitenu lakh (4v) Great kedushaKedushaThe Kedushah is traditionally the third section of all Amidah recitations. In the silent Amidah it is a short prayer, but in the repetition, which requires a minyan, it is considerably lengthier...
-- Profeti della Quinta (2009), Milnes Vol.I, - Lamnatseah 'al hagitit (5v) Ps.8 -- Profeti della Quinta (2009) Milnes Vol.II,
- Lamnatseah 'al hasheminit (3v) Ps.12 -- Milnes Vol.II,
- Lamnatseah binginot mizmor shir (3v or 4v) Ps.67 -- Milnes Vol.I,
- Lemi ehpots (3v) Wedding ode -- Profeti della Quinta (2009), Milnes Vol.II,
- Mizmor le'Asaf. Elohim nitsav (3v) Ps.82 -- Milnes Vol.I,
- Mizmor leDavid. Havu lAdonai (6v) Ps.29 -- Milnes Vol.I,
- Mizmor letoda (5v) Ps.100 -- Milnes Vol.II,
- Mizmor shir leyom hashabat (6v) Ps.92 -- Milnes Vol.I,
- Odekha ki'anitani (6v) Ps.118:21-24 -- Milnes Vol.II,
- Shir hama'alot. Ashrei kol yere Adonai (3v) Ps.128 -- Milnes Vol.II,
- Shir hama'alot. Ashrei kol yere Adonai (5v) Ps.128 -- Milnes Vol.II,
- Shir hama'alot. Ashrei kol yere Adonai (6v) Ps.128 -- Milnes Vol.II,
- Shir hama'alot. Beshuv Adonai (5v) Ps.126 - Milnes Vol.II,
- Shir hama'alot leDavid. Lulei Adonai (6v) Ps.124 Milnes Vol.II,
- Shir hama'alot. Esa'einai (5v) Ps.121 -- Milnes Vol.I,
- Yesusum midbar vetsiya (5v) Isaiah 35:1-2,5-6,10 -- Milnes Vol.II,
- Yigdal Elohim hai (8v) piyyut -- Milnes Vol.I,
- Yitgadal veyitkadesh (3v) Full kaddishKaddishKaddish is a prayer found in the Jewish prayer service. The central theme of the Kaddish is the magnification and sanctification of God's name. In the liturgy different versions of the Kaddish are used functionally as separators between sections of the service...
-- Milnes Vol.I, - Yitgadal veyitkadesh (5v) Full kaddish -- Profeti della Quinta (2009), Milnes Vol.I,
External links
- The Choral Music of Salamone Rossi (longer article)
- The Choral Music of Salamone Rossi (shorter article)
- Jewish Encyclopedia
- Audio: Al Naharot Bavel (By the Rivers of Babylon), Psalm 137, from The Songs of Solomon.
Recordings
- Rossi: (1) Vocal Works, (2) Madrigals, (3) Canti di Salomone. 3CD licensed from Tactus Records Italy to Brilliant Classics, Netherlands. BLC 93359
- Madrigaletti op. XIII - Ensemble L'aura soave. Diego Cantalupi TC.571802 2000
- Primo libro di madrigali a 4 voci - Arie a voce sola dal I Libro dei Madrigali a 5 voci - Ut Musica Poësis Ensemble Director: Stefano Bozolo TC.571803 2001
- Canti di Salomone a 3 parti - Sonata e Salmi di Henry Purcell - Mottetto di André Campra - Ensemble Hypothesis Director: Leopoldo d'Agostino TC.571804 2003
- The Songs of Solomon. Corvina Consort dir. Zoltan Kalmanovits, Hungaroton 2006
- The Songs of Solomon, Volume 1: Music for the Sabbath. Pro Gloria Musicae PGM 108
- The Songs of Solomon, Volume 2: Holiday and festival music Jewish sacred music from 17th-century Italy by Salamone Rossi, New York Baroque; dir. Eric Milnes. Troy, NY; Dorian, 2001
- The Song of Solomon Profeti della Quinta, Ensemble Muscadin, PAN Classics, Switzerland (2009) - libretto with Hebrew texts.
- Salamone Rossi Hebreo Boston Early Music. dir. Prof. Joshua R. Jacobson
- Salomone Rossi - Illumine Our Hearts Sursum Corda. MSR Classics. 2010-02-09
on collections
- Musique judéo-baroque. Boston CamerataBoston CamerataThe Boston Camerata is an early music ensemble based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1954 by Narcissa Williamson, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, as an adjunct to that museum's musical instrument collection....
, dir. Joel CohenJoel CohenJoel Cohen, is an American musician specializing in early music repertoires. Joel graduated Classical High school in Providence, R.I. in 1959. He then graduated from Brown University in 1963. He continued graduate education at Harvard University... - Jewish Baroque Music of Rossi, Lidarti, Caceres. Ensemble Salomone Rossi. Concerto CTO 2009