Stradella, Sinfonia in D Minor, No. 22

Alessandro Stradella (1643-1682) gives us one of the more colorful composer biographies. A couple of years ago we said a few words about Gesualdo’s colorful history—the fact that he murdered his wife and her lover. Stradella found himself on the other side of that equation. He was actually set upon twice by hired killers. He survived the first attack, but he apparently learned little from the experience and wasn’t so lucky the second time.

The deed was done in Genoa’s Piazza Banchi. Keep that in mind if international travel resumes and you find yourself there. You might want to cue up this Sinfonia as you relax in a sidewalk cafe with your favorite beverage, but don’t let your guard down entirely.

Stradella wrote primarily operas and oratorios. Professor Carol went into some depth on his oratorio John the Baptist in last year’s Advent Calendar:

Stradella excelled in writing a style of Baroque melody known as coloratura, or fioratura, a term based on the Italian for flourish or flowering. Singers in Stradella’s era brought even more virtuosity to these coloratura lines, increasing the vocal fireworks through masterful improvisation (much as a jazz player might during a solo riff).

In the realm of instrumental music, Stradella is given some credit for formulating the genre of the concerto grosso, which contrasted a small group of instruments against the larger orchestra. Arcangelo Corelli would cement this formula in the next generation (see an earlier Performance Pick), but Corelli clearly followed a structure introduced by Stradella.

Stradella’s instrumental works, including this sonata, tend to follow the form of the Baroque suite. They consist usually of four to six movements with typical dance rhythms, although Stradella did not give them names associated with the dances.

This performance also makes a nice sequel to last weeks discussion of the theorbo.

Image: Piazza Banchi / Maurizio Beatrici (CC BY-SA 4.0)