Marini, Biagio (EN)

Marini Biagio, *3 February 1594 in Brescia, †17 November 1663 in Venice; Italian composer and virtuoso violinist. He probably studied in Brescia with G.B. Fontana. His father, Feliciano Marini, was a theorbo player and performed at the Polish royal court in the 1580s. In 1615, Marini was appointed as a violinist at St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, then led by C. Monteverdi. From 1618 to 1620, he was the bandmaster at the Church of St. Eufemia and at the Accademia degli Erranti in Brescia. From 30 January 1621, he played in the orchestra of the Farnese court in Parma, from 1623 he was a violinist and, in the years 1624–44, the bandmaster of Prince Wolfgang Wilhelm von Wittelsbach’s orchestra in Neuburg. While serving Prince Wittelsbach, he visited Brussels (1624), Milan (1631–32), Bergamo (1632), Padua (1634), Brescia (1634, 1641) and Düsseldorf (1640–41, 1644–45), and maintained regular contact with Venice, where most of his works were published. In 1649, he returned to Italy to take up the position of maestro di cappella at S. Maria della Scala in Milan. In 1652–54, he directed the Accademia della Morte in Ferrara, from 31 August 1655, to 4 November 1656, he was the bandmaster at the cathedral in Vicenza, and in 1660, he was maestro di camera to Bishop Cornaro in Padua. He spent the last years of his life in Venice.

Marini was one of the most outstanding composers of early Baroque instrumental music. Alongside S. Rossi, D. Castello, G.B. Fontana, and G.B. Buonamanti, he played a key role in the formation of independent instrumental music. His work is clearly developmental in nature, with only his later collections containing pieces of high artistic value. Marini’s instrumental oeuvre consists of 145 works (sonatas, canzonas, sinfonias, variations, capriccios, and dance compositions) published across three collections devoted exclusively to instrumental music and four collections combining vocal and instrumental works. In Op. 1, the differences between sonata, canzona, and sinfonia are still unclear, but in subsequent collections, Marini clearly distinguishes between these genres. The term canzona refers to 4–6-voice pieces in the style of G. Gabrieli’s canzona, with its multi-section recapitulative form, metrical and textural contrasts, dactylic figures, and even polychoral technique. Marini’s sonatas can be divided into three types: a) canzona-sonata – for 2 to 4 voices with basso continuo, featuring a multi-sectional arch form, an imitative exposition, and a predominance of short canzona-like motifs; b) variation sonata – for three voices with basso continuo, based on harmonic patterns or song material; c) proper sonata – for 1 to 2 voices with basso continuo, of an improvisatory character, in a recomposed form, with a slow introduction highlighting the solo instrumental parts. Marini transformed the early sonata form from a multi-sectional structure into a three-part, ABA or ABC layout, emphasized by strong cadential pauses and in Op. 22, marked with prima, seconda, and terza parte designations. In this way, he paved the way for the emergence of the later sonata da chiesa form. The sinfonias from Opp. 1 and 2 are essentially sonatas, whereas the works from Opp. 8 and 22 take on the typical two-part form for this genre: ||:A:||:B:||, featuring simple, symmetrical phrasing, a homophonic texture, and dance elements. Particular attention should be given to the instances of linking dances into suites. In Opp. 1–3, dances appeared in separate genre groups (brandi, correnti, galliards, sarabandes); in Op. 8, in pairs of balletto–corrente, while in Opp. 16 and 22, fully realized suites appear, with the following sequence: entrata – balletto – galliard – corrente – ritirata – corrente – ritirata – corrente – ritirata – brando/(allemanda) – final ritirata. These complexes, however, lack the tonal unity characteristic of a suite. 

Marini contributed significantly to the development of violin playing technique, introducing, especially in solo sonatas and capriccios, playing in extended third position within the G–e3 scale, rapid string crossing, double stops, extended legatos, vibrato, and playing in multiple tones; he was the first to introduce the technique of scordatura to Italian violin playing. 

Marini’s work draws on the traditions of several musical centers. The characteristics of the Brescian canzone school (avoidance of metrical contrasts, formal and thematic conciseness) clash with the Venetian stile moderno, characterized by the emphasis on the solo factor, the juxtaposition and combination of string and wind instruments (two violins and four trombones in Canzona a 6 from Op. 8, solo–tutti in Sonata a 4 from Op. 22) and the use of expressive, agogic and dynamic contrasts (Sonata in ecco from Op. 8). His chamber music shows connections with the Mantuan school – a preference for variations (la monica, romanesca, passacaglia, fuggi dolente core, a voi do vinto il cor) and two-part sinfonias. German influences can be seen in violin technique, particularly evident in Op. 8 (Capriccio con 3 corde a modo di lira, Sonata d’invenzione). Marini’s individuality is mainly evident in his melodic style, in which virtuoso figurations and short canzone motifs are replaced by longer, carefully balanced phrases, full of lyricism and cantilena. 

Marini’s vocal works include madrigals, canzonettas, monodies, motets, psalms, and a vesper cycle. Both his secular and sacred works reveal a very good command of the concertato technique. Marini also freely uses the monodic style (Lettera amorosa from Op. 2), referring to the achievements of G. Caccini, S. Rossi, and B. Ferrari. In Le lagrime d’Erminia, written in a recitative style, Marini abandons the dictates of the Florentine Camerata in favor of heightened expression and greater melodiousness. In terms of the genres, techniques, and means of expression he employed, as well as his rich melodic inventiveness, he seems to follow in the footsteps of Monteverdi, whom he encountered at the beginning of his musical career. Marini’s vocal-instrumental works, which constitute the greater part of his compositional legacy, still await more comprehensive study.

Literature: D.J. Iselin Biagio Marini. Sein Leben und seine Instrumentalwerke, Hildburghausen 1930; F. Fano Biagio Marini: violinista in Italia e all’estero, “Chigiana” XXII, 1965; V. Gibelli La musica strumentale di Biagio Marini, “Quadrivium” XII, 1970; F. Fano Nuovi documenti e appunti su Biagio Marini, celebratory publication for L. Ronga, Milan 1973; T.D. Dunn The Sonatas of Biagio Marini. Structure and Style, “The Music Review” XXXVI, 1975; V. Gibelli Una composizione sacra del periodo milanese di Biagio Marini, in: Studi di onore di G. Vecchi, Modena 1989; P. Allsop The Trio Sonata from Its Origins until Corelli, Oxford 1992; E. Selfridge-Field, Biagio Marini and Brescian Instrumental Music, in: Liuteria e musica strumentale a Brescia tra Cinque e Seicento, II, eds. R. Cafiero, M.T. Rosa Barezzani, Brescia 1992; A. Casari Una composizione sacra di Biagio Marini. Le „Lacrime di Davide”, “Brescia Musica” 1997 no. 55; G. Brunner, Biagio Marini. Die Revolution in der Instrumentalmusik, Bickel 1997; R. Miller Divorce, Dismissal, but No Disgrace: Biagio Marini’s Career Revisited, “Recercare”, 9 (1997); V. Gibelli, La musica strumentale di Biagio Marini, in: La musica a Milano, in Lombardia e oltre, ed. S. Martinotti, Milan 2000; G. Barnett, L’organizzazione tonale nella musica italiana secentesca: le sinfonie e le sonate di Tarquinio Merula, Biagio Marini e Giovanni Legrenzi, in: Barocco padano 1, eds. A. Colzani, A. Luppi, M. Padoan, Como 2002; M. Zoni, Curiose & moderne inventioni. L’opera VIII nella musica strumentale di Biagio Marini, in: Barocco padano 3, eds.  A. Colzani, A. Luppi, M. Padoan, Como 2004; P. Wilk, Sonata na skrzypce solo w siedemnastowiecznych Włoszech, Wrocław 2005; D. Torelli Sopra le tenebre del mio povero inchiostro: Biagio Marini e la musica sacra, in: Barocco padano 4, wyd. A. Colzani, A. Luppi, M. Padoan, Como 2006; A. Bianco, E. Corswarem, P. Vendrix ‘Gilles Hayne, Biagio Marini et le Duc de Neuburg, “Studi musicali”, 36 (2007); M. Bizzarini Nuovi documenti su Biagio Marini, “Brescia Musica”, 120 (2010); R. Cypess Instrumental Music and Conversazione in Early Seicento Venice: Biagio Marini’s “Affetti musicali” (1617), ML, 93/4 (2012); P.A. Rismondo “Il genio natio contaminato da conversationi composte da inevitabile fatalità”: Biagio Marini a Brescia, Neuburg e Padova, “Recercare”, 26 (2014).