Biography
An Italian vocalist and composer launched his career in Rome before relocating to Bologna and then Venice. His initial opera reached the stage in Padua during 1636, after which he joined the Viennese court. Appointed assistant Kapellmeister in 1649, he advanced to Kapellmeister by 1669. While anchoring Italian dramatic music in Vienna, he staged four operas of his own. Beyond more than six hundred sacred compositions, he produced numerous secular vocal works that embraced both strophic songs and through-composed pieces. Most of these pieces displayed a characteristically sonorous quality, and many carried the designation “cantata.” He relied on ostinatos in the bass, descending tetrachords, and free invention; the secular output, scored for one, two, or three voices, underscored his melodic priorities. Among his operas stand “Ermiona” from 1636 and “I trionfo d’Amore” from 1648; further works encompass more than fifty masses, five instrumental sonatas in F, and well over seventy motets.