Carissimi, Giacomo (EN)

Carissimi Giacomo, baptised 18 April 1605 Marino (Lazio), †12 January 1674 Rome, Italian composer. It is not known where he received his education. From 1623 or earlier, he served as a singer at the cathedral in Tivoli, and from 1625 to 1627 as its organist. At the turn of 1627/28, he took up the position of music director at the cathedral in Assisi at the request of G. Nardini, the local Vicar Apostolic. In December 1629, he was appointed music prefect of the Jesuit Collegium Germanicum-Ungaricum (Collegio Germanico e Hungarico) and maestro di cappella of the Church of S Apollinare affiliated with that Collegium; his duties included teaching music, conducting the chapel choir, and providing the repertoire for the churches of S Apollinare and S. Saba. In 1637, Carissimi was ordained a priest and received a benefice in Ravenna. He served continuously at the Collegium Germanicum for 44 years (until his death), even though, as his fame grew, he was offered other positions, such as the post of maître de chapelle at the court in Brussels.

In 17th-century Rome, Carissimi was one of the leading composers. He played a particularly important role by contributing to the repertoire of the renowned Archconfraternity of the Most Holy Crucifix (Archconfraternita del SS Crocefisso), for which he provided compositions to be performed on one of the five Fridays of Lent. These were works that are today referred to as oratorios. He was associated with this archconfraternity, which brought together the Roman aristocracy, from around 1639. We have no precise data on whether this repertoire was provided regularly each year or whether it was also performed at the Collegium Germanicum. Carissimi also composed strictly dramatic works, none of which have survived. We know only the text of the allegorical dramatic scene L’amorose passioni di Fileno for three interlocutors, three choruses, and a ballet ensemble, written in 1647 for Bologna, as well as the title of the work Il sacrificio d’Isacco, a sacred opera with the intermezzo Giuditta, staged in 1655 in Rome in honor of Queen Christina of Sweden. In 1656, the Queen Christina appointed Carissimi as the conductor of her “[maestro di cappella del] concerto di camera” (it is unknown how long he held this position). Carissimi’s fame attracted many students who studied or perfected the art of composition under him; among the most notable were G.P. Colonna, M.A. Charpentier, Ch. Bernhard, and J.C. Kerll.

Carissimi was a highly prolific composer. During his lifetime, however, only a few of his collections were published; some of his works had been appearing in anthologies by various authors since 1642. An incomparably larger number remained in manuscript form, known throughout Europe at the time – especially thanks to Carissimi’s students. The repertoire written for S Apollinare was so highly regarded that a special papal breve prohibited any interference with the composer’s legacy, which was kept at the Collegium Germanicum until the suppression of the order (1773); later, the entire collection got scattered across various libraries. Today, however, the vast majority of Carissimi’s works are preserved in copies, and establishing their authorship often poses serious difficulties.

Carissimi’s work in the fields of the oratorio latinum and the cantata is of fundamental importance. While in the case of type of output it is often only the attribution that proves difficult, in the case of the oratorio the most serious problem lies in defining the form of the Latin oratorio itself – that is, in its very classification. As a result, different authors studying Carissimi’s oeuvre cite varying numbers of his oratorios; thus, R. Haas (Die Musik des Barocks) lists 12, M. Bukofzer (Music in the Baroque Era) and H. Riemann (Handbuch der Musikgeschichte) – 16, L. Bianchi – 35, F. Ghisi (MGG) – 8 oratorios and 8 histories, and G. Massenkeil initially –  first18 (Rizzoli-Ricordi), then 14 extant works and 5 lost (NGD). Carissimi’s work dates to the early days of this form, when, first of all, the term “oratorio” was not yet associated with a strictly defined genre designation and often referred to any sacred music intended for performance in a place designated for religious gatherings (that is, an oratorio) – and secondly, the names given to the works (motetto, dialogo, historia, or oratorio) could refer to either the same musical genre or to three different ones. It is significant that the term oratorio does not appear in the manuscripts of Carissimi’s works, with the exception of some later copies (e.g., French ones).

The texts of Carissimi’s oratorios are predominantly paraphrases of the Old Testament, less frequently of the New Testament; sometimes they are even compilations drawn from both Testaments, and, most rarely, they include non-biblical texts. All texts are anonymous; it is believed that they were written either by Carissimi himself or by one of the Roman Jesuits. They are written in prose, with only a few passages in verse. All of Carissimi’s oratorios (with the possible exception of Jephte) are one-act works. The cast of these works consists of a group of solo vocal parts and (not always) a chorus and an ensemble of instruments performing the basso continuo part. Carissimi sometimes also introduces three instrumental parts; the two higher voices written in treble clef are sometimes labelled as “violini,” but generally these instruments are not specified.

Solo parts play a central role in Carissimi’s oratorios. They are characterized by a distinctive, typically Roman style of melody. This style derives from the melodic tradition of the church concerto, pioneered at the dawn of the 17th century by L. Grossi da Viadana and continued and developed by Roman composers such as G.F. Anerio, A. Agazzari, P. Quagliati, and others. It is a highly free melodic flow controlled by the intonation of speech and, above all, by the type of emotion conveyed in the text. The composer does not, however, treat this interdependence in a formulaic manner, as evidenced, for example, by the repetition of verbal passages with different musical arrangements and the repetition of musical passages with different words. Passages that resemble a declamatory recitative can be identified within the progression of the work, as well as lyrical sections in the style of an arioso – these are the most common; there are also sections resembling short arias.  Even though there is no strict rule that the part of a single character in an oratorio – or even a single extended passage – must adhere to one of the above types of melodics, there is a clear tendency to assign the narrator’s part (historicus) a melody similar to the first type. As in dramma per musica, the melodic lines in the narrator’s part are characterised by frequent repetitions, a syllabic treatment of the text, and relatively static basso continuo part; however, due to the prosaic text, the vocal part is much freer, not burdened by such frequent cadential formulas, shaped more by emotion than by intonation. Characteristic of Carissimi’s melodic style is the frequent movement across the notes of a broken chord and, as a rule (with only a few exceptions), a consonant relationship between the vocal part and the basso continuo part.

The second type of melodic structure, of an arioso nature, is characterised by a more developed melodic line, incorporating progressions and intervalli falsi, always used to emphasise emotion; the basso continuo part is livelier, and for expressive purposes, often unprepared dissonances are introduced, usually precisely figured in the bass. This type of melody is generally assigned to the parts of the protagonists. Lamentations are characteristic here, such as Jephthah’s lament Heu heu mihi, the lament of his daughter Plorate, plorate colles, Jonah’s prayer Iustus es Domine or Ezekiel’s prayer Obsecro Domine. In these passages, there is a tendency to divide the music into smaller sections using instrumental ritornelli, ensemble or choral interludes.

The development of aria-style melodies is characterised primarily by the use of a lively rhythm (frequently dance-like), which appears in both the vocal part and the basso continuo. These are passages of some dozen bars, structured as a single section form, a binary (AB) form, or a ternary (ABB1) form. In the latter, section B1 constitutes a transposition by a fourth or a fifth, accompanied by ornamentation or an elaboration of the melodic line of section B. The most developed form of the aria is the strophic variation, usually consisting of three or more verses of text based on the same or a similar basso continuo part. Here too, each verse may be organized in binary or ternary form. Individual verses are sometimes separated by an instrumental ritornello and may be sung by different performers. In some structures of this type, each verse is set in a different key (e.g. Sat mensas mille with Dives males). Sometimes individual verses are sung from the first to the third, and then repeated from the third to the first (e.g. Inter epulas canori from the oratorio Baltazar).

Ensemble passages consist primarily of duets. They serve various functions: they represent a pair of characters (e.g. the two women in Iudicium Salomonis), take on the narrative role of a narrator, or the summarising role of a chorus. Musically, these consist of progressions of parallel imperfect consonances, with an imitative or homorhythmic opening. Duets and groups of soloists are also sometimes incorporated into more elaborate choral passages. The latter occur frequently in Carissimi’s works and serve various functions: they may represent a specific group as a dramatis persona involved in a situation, take on the role of narrator, act as commentators on events, or offer a summarising reflection or a prayer of praise. The number of voices in the chorus varies: from three-part (Job, Duo ex discipulis) to twelve-part (Diluvium universale). The texture of the choral part is essentially chordal, with the rhythm subordinate to the textual content. Only occasionally do we encounter short imitative passages in the choral parts. Carissimi also introduces polychoral technique, often with intense alternation between the choirs. As in the solo passages, the harmonies in the choruses are very simple; diatonicism generally prevails here; chromaticism appears sporadically for expressive purposes.

All the literature on Carissimi emphasises his extensive use of rich means of expression that strongly appeal to listeners. As early as 1650, in Musurgia universalis, A. Kircher noted that Carissimi possessed a special gift for “shaping the minds of his listeners according to whatever emotion he intends.” The rhetorical language of the oratorio texts offered opportunities for the use of musical rhetoric and sound painting. Carissimi did not neglect to employ within his music that conventional code which was so widely valued in the second half of the 17th century. Consequently, Carissimi’s music was highly regarded at the time. This was not, however, solely due to the extensive use of rhetorical means of expression. The melodic line itself, fragments or entire passages of which were often repeated, its rich texture built upon the notes of a broken chord, as well as characteristic motifs recurring in many of Carissimi’s works, such as the melodic line moving in descending and ascending fourths and fifths, the beginning of a phrase with an upward fifth leap, filled with a run of sixteenth notes, etc., and coloratura – which, in its highly elaborate form, usually serves as expressive amplification, and in its less elaborate form acts as an ornament of grazia – all this meant that Carissimi’s music was easily accessible.

Today, emphasis is placed on the importance of Carissimi’s cantata compositions, which at the time appear to have been more common than his rather rare Latin oratorios. Carissimi composed his cantatas between 1640 and 1672, though it is not possible to establish the chronology of these works. Most of the texts of Carissimi’s cantatas are anonymous. We know only 10 poets by name as the authors of certain texts; these include: Domenico Benigni (15 texts), Francesco Balducci, Francesco Buti, Giorgio Giustiniani, Pompeo Colonna and Sebastiano Baldini. In terms of form, the texts vary greatly: from short pieces of a few lines to elaborate dramatic scenes. As for formal structure, Carissimi only generally subordinates the music to the text; there is no strict correlation between the strophic structure and the treatment as an aria, or between free verse and the treatment as a recitative. In terms of music, Carissimi’s cantatas – much like those of his contemporaries – are characterised by a vast diversity of architectonic approaches. G. Rose, the only musicologist to have conducted extensive research on Carissimi’s cantatas, she distinguished four groups within his cantata output: 1. cantatas with a free form (44 works), in which, however, one can discern a free da-capo structure, a free rondo structure and a free strophic structure; 2. cantatas in the form of individual arias (31 works), where one can distinguish strophic arias, rondo arias, da capo, two-section, several-section and da capo rondo arias; 3. cantatas in the form of strophic variations (6 works); 4. cantatas only with arioso melodics (5 works). In all these types, Rose highlights the diversity of musical development and the richness of technical means as a characteristic feature. While solo cantatas are only loosely linked to the verbal text, ensemble cantatas – namely duets and trios – show, in terms of their structure, a strong dependence on the text. The duets often draw on the pastoral dialogo, whilst Rose describes the trios as secular equivalents of Carissimi’s oratorios. A characteristic feature of Carissimi’s cantatas is that each piece begins and ends in the same key. Although, in the course of a piece, the composer switches between other keys throughout the piece and frequently changes mode (the juxtaposition of the same chord with a major and minor third), the initial key nevertheless predominates. The level of development of major-minor tonality is relatively high; however, as Bukofzer suggests, Carissimi is not quite as innovative when it comes to the complexity of his harmonic means. As in the oratorios, dissonances and chromaticism are used for expressive purposes, although the texts of the cantatas provide more frequent opportunities for this. Moreover, the harmonic means are so closely aligned that similar musical and technical solutions are found in both genres to convey similar emotions (e.g. the lament of Jephthah’s daughter in the oratorio Jephte and the cantata Piangete, ohime, piangete).

Carissimi composed his sacred music (apart from oratorios) mainly in a concertato style, for a small vocal ensemble (usually for two or three voices). Stylistically, these works do not differ significantly from oratorios. Only in a few compositions does he employ the stile antico or a large ensemble, characteristic of the monumental style of the time.

Literature: F. Chrysander Die Oratorien von Carissimi, “Allgemeine Musikalische” XI, 1876; F.X. Haberl Die “Ars cantandi” von Giacomo Carissimi mit bibliobiographischen Skizzen über Carissimi, “Kirchenmusikalisches Jahrbuch” VIII, 1893; D. Alaleona Studi su la storia dell’oratorio musicale in Italia, Turin 1908, titled Storia dell’oratorio musicale in Italia, 2nd edition 1945; A. Schering Geschichte des Oratoriums, Leipzig 1911, 2nd edition 1966; J. Loschelder Neue Beiträge zu einer Biographie Giacomo Carissimis, AfMf V, 1940; L.P Beveridge Giacomo Carissimi (1605–1674). A Study of his Life and his Music with Latin Texts in the Light of the Institutions which he Served and through the Perspective of Liturgical, Literary and Musical Theory and Practice, dissertation, Harvard Univ. 1944; F. Ghisi The Oratorios of Giacomo Carissimi in Hamburg Staats-Bibliothek, in: conference proceedings, Lüneburg 1950; G. Massenkeil Die Wiederholungsfiguren in den Oratorien Giacomo Carissimis, “Archiv für Musikwissenschaft” XIII, 1956; G. Rose The Cantatas of Giacomo Carissimi, “The Musical Quarterly” XLVIII, 1962; G. Massenkeil Über die Messen Giacomo Carissimis, “Analecta Musicologica” 1963 No. 1; W. Müller-Blattau Untersuchungen zur Kompositionstechnik in den Oratorien Giacomo Carissimis, “Die Musikforschung” XVI, 1963; L. Bianchi Carissimi, Stradella, Scarlatti e l’oratorio musicale, Rome 1969; T.D. Culley Jesuits and Music, vol. 1, Rome 1970; T.D. Culley The Influence of the German College in Rome on Music in German-speaking Countries during the 16th and 17th Centuries, “Analecta Musicologica” 1970 No. 9; G. Rose A Portrait called Carissimi, “Music and Letters” LI, 1970; J.E. Beat Two Problems in Carissimi’s Oratorio “Jephte”, “The Music Review” XXXIV, 1973; L. Bianchi Giacomo Carissimi Nuovi documenti nell’archivio dell Collegio Germanico Ungarico di Roma, “Nuova Rivista Musicale Italiana” VIII, 1974; H.E. Smither Carissimi’s Latin Oratorios. Their Terminology, Functions, and Position in Oratorio History, “Analecta Musicologica” 1976 No. 17; H.E. Smither A History of the Oratorio, vol. 1, Chapel Hill 1977; A.V. Jones The Motets of Carissimi, dissertation University of Oxford, 1979; I. Buff A Thematic Catalog of the Sacred Works of Giacomo Carissimi, «Music Library Association Index and Bibliography» XV, Clifton 1979; A. Jones The Motets of Carissimi, «Studies in British Musicology» V, Ann Arbor (Michigan) 1982; G. Dixon Carissimi, Oxford 1986; W. Witzenmann Prime considerazioni sullo stile da chiesa in Carissimi e Stradella, “Chigiana” XXXIX, 1982, ed. 1988; F. Noske Saints and Sinners. The Latin Musical Dialogue in the Seventeenth Century, New York 1992.