Antonio Caldara. The Cantatas Revisited.

An Obscure Venetian Composer Placed in Perspective

Author(s): Brian W. Pritchard
Source: The Musical Times, Vol. 133, No. 1796 (Oct., 1992), pp. 510-513
Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1002709
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 0
Discovering Early Music
0
ANTONIO
CALDARA
THE CANTATAS
REVISITE
Brian W. Pritchard puts a Venetian composer
ame one secular vocal composition by the Venetian-born
Antonio Caldara(1670 - 1736). A likely answer will be
'Come raggio di sol', the most popular of four chestnuts (all of
doubtful authenticity)that since late last centuryhave perpetuated
his name in anthologies of arie antiche. Such an unreliable sam-
ple is a travesty of our inheritanceof more than 300 cantatas, as
well as madrigals and hundredsof vocal canons - an inheritance
left mostly unexplored and unheard.*'1Quite recently, however,
several recordingsdevoted to Caldara'schambervocal music have
appeared(see review p. 528)*2- early swallows heralding a sum-
mer of revivals?
Although cantatas come from nearly every stage of Caldara's
composing career, two periods account for most of his work in
this genre. There is the astonishing outpouring of his Roman
years, and the slower and rather irregularproduction of his two
decades in Vienna. In 1709 Caldara was appointed maestro di
cappella to the Marquis Francesco Maria Ruspoli and during the
next seven years wrote nearly 200 cantatas(the majorityeither for
voice and continuo or voice and strings, but also a quantity for
two or three voices and instruments) for the brilliant academies
held in his patron's Palazzo Bonelli in Rome, and at his country
residence in nearby Vignanello. This concentratedeffort is attrib-
utable, at least in part, to the papal ban on opera; the secular can-
tata became the most appropriate substitute. When Caldara
moved to Vienna in mid 1716 as Vizekapellmeister to the
Hapsburg court, his more varied and onerous round of duties
broughthis cantatawriting to a temporaryhalt. But as those early
demands gradually were satisfied, he turned again to the cantata
with his productionreaching a second peak in the years immedi-
ately priorto his death.
Most of Caldara's cantatas are independent compositions,
unconnected in any way with their immediate companions, and
requisitioned according to the demands of the moment - a forth-
coming academy in Rome, a private chamber entertainmentor a
more formal occasion at court in Vienna. Nonetheless we can
identify a numberof 'sets', some unified by their literarytheme or
by subject matter, others by the voice employed or by librettist.3
The first appears in 1711: 12 cantatas for soprano and strings
based on texts paired as statement and response ('L'amor perfet-
to', 'Risposta all'amor perfetto'; 'L'amor costante', 'Risposta
all'amor costante' etc). One other collection of 12, this time for
510 The Miusical
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in perspective
voice and continuo, written in 1714 comprises settings of verses
by the CardinalCarlo Colonna, anotherinfluential Roman patron
of the arts. Much later come two sets of cantatas for bass voice;
the 24 written in 1730, and the 12 written slightly later in which
unity of subject matter (each poem recalls a hero of the ancient
world) reinforces the unity of voice.
Few of Caldara's librettists can be identified. For the Roman
cantatas we can add a smattering of texts from the Cardinals
Pietro Ottoboni and Benedetto Pamphilj to those by Colonna.
Ruspoli's own contributions may have been quite significant.
Still other texts could have come from the Arcadian circle in
Rome to which these princes of the cloth belonged, and others
again from numerous poems in general circulation. Giovanni
Battista Catena is the one named Viennese versifier. The court
poets Pietro Pariati and Claudio Pasquini may well have been
involved, but not Pietro Metastasio. The texts themselves,
whether of Roman or Viennese origin, dwell on the well-worn
theme of unrequited love and are peopled by the ubiquitous
Phyllis, Clori, Irene and Daliso who inevitably are forsaken or in
despair, disdained or disdaining, or cruel, calculating or bent on
revenge. Occasionally these pasteboard characters and their
stereotyped affections are replaced by personages of real sub-
stance with emotions of genuine intensity - the thwartedand furi-
ous Medea (La Medea, 1714), the grief-strickenDarius (II Dario,
1730).
We are scarcely more knowledgeable about the earliest per-
formers of Caldara's cantatas. Ruspoli's principal singers and
instrumentalists are readily identified; the soprano Margarita
Durastanti, first engaged in 1707, returned several times while
Caldara was maestro; the alto Caterina Petrolli whom Caldara
married in May 1711, was employed from 1709. But whether
these women (or those subsequently engaged) or Ruspoli's cas-
trati premieredthe soprano and alto cantatas (there are no Roman
cantatas for tenor or bass) has yet to be determined.*3Did Pietro
Castruccilead the violins in the instrumentallyaccompanied can-
tatas; did Caldaradirect from the harpsichordor did he play the
cello, an instrumenton which he already had an established repu-
tation? Performers of the Viennese cantatas likewise remain
largely unknown. The 'Sig: Gaetano' named in the autograph
manuscriptof the lengthy Tempo distruggitor (1732) was the alto
castratoGaetano Orsini, first engaged at court in 1711. But such
Times October1992
helpful annotations are rare, leaving performer/cantataassocia-
tions open to conjecture. The two sets of bass cantatas, for
instance, sur-
vive in copies Ex.1
preparedfor the
court suggest- Largo
ing they were ALTO
performed by a A-4 J .
singer (or Se il mo - rir fos - se
singers) in
imperial ser- B.C. 9 TL
"I
vice. Likely
candidates are
Christoph
Praunand Pietro Paulo Pezzoni, the court's principalbass singers.
A cycle apiece perhaps,but what was the allocation?
The sequence of recitatives and arias in a baroque cantata is
determinedby the particularalternationof blank and rhymedvers-
es in its text. The majorityof Caldara'stexts give rise to cantatas
with either the conventional two pairs of recitative and aria or the
truncated aria-recitative-aria succession. A six-movement
(RARARA) sequence is less common, but in the not inconsider-
able number of cantatas 'a 2 that Caldaracomposed in Rome we
find seven- eight- and nine-movement sequences in which the last
aria, and occasionally also the first, is a duet. The least regular
sequences occur in the earliest cantatas, especially those of op.3.
Here, the fluid schemes of mid-baroque cantatas seem to linger;
the rhyming couplet which concludes a recitative is expanded,
without a break, into a short arioso/aria area to create a hybrid
movement within sequences such as R/AARA, ARAR/A or, as in
Laforiera del giorno (1703), R/AARAR/A.
Not surprisinglythe earliest cantatasalso contain the more indi-
vidualistic aria constructions. A basic da capo (A B A) design is
unmistakable,(although the proportionsare far from the attenuat-
ed lengths of many of the Viennese arias), but within some 'A'
sections mid-point ://: signs reveal innerbinaryconstructions,and
within others an ostinato bass line recalls a favourite device of
through-composedarias. However by the time Caldaraleft Rome
he had long dispensed with such usages and instead was writing
aria after aria with A sections comprising five distinct compo-
nents; opening and closing ritornellos framed a vocal area which
in turnwas divided by a centralinstrumentalinterlude.
In a typical RARA cantatathe first aria is usually in slow tempo
and of shorter duration than the allegro second aria. Caldara
favours two types of finales - one in a rollicking triple metre, the
other in IC (alla breve) with square cut motifs that lend them-
selves to contrapuntalinterplay with the accompaniment. In the
first, the marked influence of the gigue in the earliest cantatas
gives way to the Neapolitan minuet in the later Roman works - a
finale that Caldaracontinued to explore in his Viennese settings.
In his slow tempo arias, the sarabandand siciliano inspire those in
triple metre. The siciliano-based movements in particular, with
their gently unfolding cantilenas (especially those in minor keys
and enhanced by modest chromaticisms) show Caldarato be one
of the superior melodists of his age. Slow movements in simple
metre, on the other hand, look towards the first (slow) movement
of contemporarytrio and solo sonatas. In these Caldaraallows the
October 1992 The Musical
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initial vocal motif to expand sequentially above 'walking' bass
lines [Ex. 1].
FI e1 nJ. *i Il 1. T-
.-
ba - stan - te sa - nar fier do -lor
_III
-'--J--
rTI !r
Cm
As befits music written for professional performers,the vocal
parts of Caldara's cantatas are a singer's delight. Not only do
they lie gratefully for the voice but they also afford the performer
many opportunitiesto revel in affective interpretations,to display
vocal colourings, to flaunt range and agility, and even to astonish
with stamina and fortitude. As we might expect, much of
Caldara's most emotionally intense writing occurs in the slow
tempo arias whose texts dwell on suffering, grief and remorse.
Key words such as piaga, dolore and pianto may be highlighted
with chromaticallyinflected intervals [Ex 2a] but it is the overall
shaping of a
p h r a s e x.2A Larg
enriched by BASS9
|zo
tense har- Pian - ge - ro
monies and
unexpected tonal shifts in the accompaniment, that commands
attention [Ex 2b]. These moments are far removed from the
bravura elements rarely absent from the allegro movements.
Caldaratends to concentratehis virtuosic writing in the melismat-
ic passages, sequentially extended, that round off the vocal areas
in the 'A' section of an aria. Such passages are not necessarily
absent from slower paced arias but they are more deliberately
exploited for virtuoso effect in the allegro numbers. Extended
runs, a wealth of ornamentation, convoluted rhythmic patterns,
even quasi instrumental writing are all part and parcel of the
demandsthe composer places on his singers [Ex 3a - d].
Vocal virtuosityis most extreme in the 12 cantatas(for soprano,
alto and bass soloists) Caldarawrote in the summerof 1729. Yet
the accompanying instrumentallines are, if anything, even more
florid. Solo obbligatoaccompaniments- usually for violin and vio-
loncello (In un antro solingo, 1729) but occasionally for flute and
lute (Miserame, 1734) - distinguishmany of the Viennese cantatas,
setting them apart from the instrumentallyaccompanied Roman
works. In these Caldarakeeps rigidly to a string ensemble of two
violins and a bass and concentrateson creatinga concertedand uni-
fied sound. Indeed, the only intrudersinto this string domain are
the oboes that reinforce the accompanimentsof the cantatas a 2.
Less flamboyant though their parts may have been, the Roman
instrumentalistsdid have moments of glory denied their Viennese
counterparts,for a quantityof the earliercantatasare prefacedby a
three-movementoverture. Their slender dimensions notwithstand-
ing, these introduzioniare yet anotherfacet of an immense reper-
toire thatbegs investigationand deservesperformance.
Times 511
 Ex.2B

_> ~L _
SOP,.(b ~ ? -D
... pa - ce al mio do - lor, tan-ta pa - ce al mio do - lor,

i I II, i I !I i i i --_
B,.y b, J. L J J J _ ZJJU

Ex.3A

... scoc - car,

Ex.3B

SOP$# ~ ..

... ven- det - - -

t
...qui
jin- ot - -o vo ]ta

Ex.3C

BASS9 r (* 7 I ]
...qui in-tor - no vo - la - - -

^y" r ' ?^ ? r
T] tr- .f
_fr

-
... . . . . - tte

fq M
r 7 7 IS1 F
512 The Musical Times October 1992

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Ex.3D

#
BASS- Efrr##
I r 7rr r rIr r F
-omI =ii
sce - ma -te
k-

B.C.
Li I
9 v

I r 7 - _ 1

Notes
1. This approximate tally appears in the work-lists appeanded to
the entries for Caldara in the Dizionario bibliografico degli
Italiani 16, (Roma, 1973) and The New Grove Dictionary of
Music and Musicians 3, (London, 1980). My own research in
preparing a thematic catalogue of Caldara's music indicates that
the figure is a reliable estimate. The eleven cantatas included in
Antonio Caldara: Kammermusik fur Gesang, DTO 75, (1932) is
the most substantial publication to date. The most recent record-
ings include Caldara Cantatas (four cantatas for alto, and two for
soprano and continuo), Ely Recordings, (Wellington, NZ, 1988),
and Medea: cantatas for alto solo (four cantatas and two trio
sonatas), Virgin Classics VC7-91479-2, (1991). 2. Curiously,
Caldara's only published set of cantatas (Op.3 Venice, Sala, 1699)
seems to be a 'set of convenience' - a selection of six cantatasfor
soprano and continuo and six for alto, garneredfrom settings writ-
ten over several years while the composer was still working in his
native Venice. The publication is dedicatedto Giovannade Moura
Moncada Contarini, a member of one of the most influential
Venetianfamilies. Perhaps the ulteriormotive of substantialremu-
neration or even of employment lurks beneath Caldara's obse-
quious phrases. 3. I am not aware of evidence that suggests the
choice of a male or female singer was based on the sex of the char-
acter depicted in a poem. For a discussion of the musicians
employedby Ruspoli see Ursula Kirkendale,Antonio Caldara:sein
Leben und seiner venezianisch-romiscl?,nOratorien(Graz, 1966),
pp.44ff, and 350-55.

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