Collegium Musicum: Yale University

This volume presents the complete extant works of Atto Melani (1626–1741), a seventeenth-century singer, composer, diplomat, and spy. All fifteen pieces are chamber cantatas, predominantly for soprano and basso continuo (composed ca. 1655–65). They are certainly the product of a fascinating life: Atto regularly crisscrossed Europe, captivating his many patrons—including Mattias de' Medici, Cardinal Jules Mazarin, Emperor Ferdinand III, Duke Carlo II of Mantua, and Pope Clement IX—as much with his castrato voice as his political acumen. Not surprisingly, perhaps, Atto's cantatas parallel the diversity of his lifestyle, ranging from short strophic songs to vast composite structures, virtual recitative soliloquies to successions of ariosi, amorous laments to satirical assaults on love. Although rooted in the style of Luigi Rossi's circle, the works frequently evince a surprising inventiveness, surely aimed at dazzling Atto's patrons. Indeed, his corpus of works offers an impressive and beautiful snapshot of the Italian cantata just after midcentury.

Music Sample

Contents

Abbreviations and Sigla
Acknowledgments
Introduction
    The Life of Atto Melani
    Atto Melani and the Cantata
    The Poetry
    Musical Style
    Attribution Issues
    Observations on Performance
    Notes
Texts and Translations
Plates

Complete Cantatas
      1. A più sventure ancora
      2. Fileno, idolo mio
      3. Filli, per cui mi moro
      4. Il tacer non fa per me
      5. Io voglio esser infelice
      6. La più dolente, e misera, che viva
      7. M’abbandona la sorte
      8. Occhi miei belli
      8. O quanto si dolea
    10. Ove, tra sponde d’oro
    11a. Scrivete, occhi dolenti (C minor, for soprano)
    11b. Scrivete, ochi dolenti (A minor, for bass)
    12. S’io sapessi dipingere
    13. Sola tra le sue pene
    14. Tra sponde di smeraldo
    15. Anima, che di foco

Critical Report
    Editorial Methods
    Sources and Critical Notes
    Notes