CALDARA, ANTONIO

Baroque vocal composer; b. Venice, c. 1670; d. Vienna, Dec. 28, 1736. His early life is obscure, but it has been established that he was a pupil of legrenzi. By 1690 he was composing operas to metastasio librettos

and oratorios to texts by Apostolo Zeno. After travels in Spain and Italy he settled in Vienna in 1716 as assistant chapelmaster to J. J. fux under Charles VI, retaining this post until his death. Although during his early period he was esteemed as a cellist and string composer, he is known primarily for his vocal writing, particularly his mangificent 16-part Crucifixus, and has been favorably compared to Lotti in this sphere. In his works, which include many Masses, cantatas, and other sacred compositions, he unites the lyrical Italian cantilena with impeccable contrapuntal technique and utilizes indigenous elements that produce a valid and individual expression of the Austrian baroque. His canonic writing as exemplified in the Missa in contrapunto canonico … was said to be especially admired by Fux.

Bibliography: a. caldara, Kirchenwerke, ed. e. mandy czewski, Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich 26 ; Kammermusik für Gesang Kantaten, Madrigale, Kanons, ed. e. mandyczewski (ibid. 75). b. paumgartner, Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, ed. f. blume 10 v. (Kassel-Basel 1949–) 2:645–650. r. eitner, Quellen-Lexikon der Musiker und Musikgelehrten 10 v. (Templin 1898–). c. gray, "Antonio Caldera," Musical Times 70(1929) 212–214. k. g. fellerer, The History of Catholic Church Music, tr. f. a. brunner (Baltimore 1961). m. f. bukofzer, Music in the Baroque Era (New York 1947). p. m. young, The Choral Tradition (New York 1962). r. freeman, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. s. sadie (New York 1980) 3:613–616. g. krombach, "Modelle der offertoriumskompositonen bei Antonio Caldara, Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, und Joseph Preindl," Kirchenmusikalisches Jahrbuch 71 (1988) 127–136. b. w. pritchard, ed., Antonio Caldara: Essays on His Life and Times (Aldershot 1987). d. m. randel, ed., The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music (Cambridge, Massachusetts 1996). n. slonimsky, ed. Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (New York 1992). e. r. walter, The Masses of Antonio Caldara (Ph.D. diss. Catholic University of America, 1973).

[m. cordovana]