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Marco Uccellini

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Marco Uccellini (Forlimpopoli, Forlì 1603 or 1610 - 10 December 1680) was an Italian Baroque violinist and composer. His output of mainly secular music for solo violin is considered to have been important in the rise of independent instrumental classical music, and in the development of violin technique.

Life

Uccellini's life, like many composers of the 17th century, is not well documented; However, enough information exists to create a rough biography. He was born into a reasonably affluent noble family in Forlimpopoli, Forlì, who had owned land in the area since the early 14th century. Many members of the family held ecclesiastical posts locally, including Uccellini's father Pietro Maria, and it is likely that Marco too went to study at the seminary in Assisi sometime in the early 1630's. Evidence from his will suggests that Uccellini began his formal musical education there, possibly under another notable early violinist-composer, Giovanni Battista Buonamente, who was then serving as maestro di cappella at the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi.[1]

He became musical director (Capo degl’instrumentisti) of the Este court in Modena from 1641 to 1662, and was the musical director (maestro di cappella) of the Modena cathedral from 1647 to 1665. Afterwards he served as maestro di cappella at the Farnese court in Parma until his death. At the Farnese court, he composed operas and ballets, but none of this music survives; thus, he is mainly known today for his instrumental music.

Uccellini was one of a line of distinguished Italian violinist-composers in the first half of the 17th century. His sonatas for violin and continuo contributed to the development of an idiomatic style of writing for the violin (including virtuosic runs, leaps, and forays into high positions), expanding the instrument's technical capabilities and expressive range. Like other 17th-century Italian sonatas, Uccellini's consist of short contrasting sections (frequently dances) that flow one into another. Uccellini's innovations influenced a generation of Austro-German violinist-composers including Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, Heinrich Ignaz Biber, and Johann Jakob Walther.

Works

Uccellini mainly composed instrumental music, of which seven collections were published. Some examples are:

File:Uccellini opus 7 frontispiece.pdf
First edition frontispiece of Uccellini's Opus 7. The illustration, rare for instrumental works of this period, is by painter Francesco Stringa.
  • Sonate, sinfonie et correnti, Op. 2 (1639)
  • Sonate, arie et correnti, Op. 3 (Venice, 1642)
  • Sonate, correnti et arie, Op. 4
  • Sonate, over canzoni, Op. 5 (1649)[2]
  • Salmi a 1, a 3, 4, et a 5 concertati parte con istromenti e parte senza con Letanie della Beata Vergine Concertate a 5 con istromenti, Op. 6 (Venice, 1654)
  • Ozio regio, Op. 7 (Venice, 1660 and Antwerp, 1668)
  • Sinfonie Boscarecie, Op. 8, a collection of 37 small pieces for violin and basso continuo joined ad libitum by a second and third violins. The first edition of the sheet music was printed in Venice in 1660 but a version reprinted in Antwerp in 1669 was used in the freely available version Sinfonie Boscarecie
  • Sinfonici concerti brevi e facili, Op. 9

He also composed one opera, Gli eventi di Filandro ad Edessa, which premiered in Parma in 1675.[3]


Contributions as violinist

Uccellini contributed to the left-hand technique by introducing the sixth position. His publication Sonate over canzoni (1649) is reckoned as the first publication devoted solely to music for solo violin and continuo.

Further reading

  • Marco Uccellini: Atti del Convegno "Marco Uccellini… e la sua musica" editors Maria Caraci Vela and Marina Toffetti, Lucca 1999. Record of conference in Forlimpopoli, 1996. The first study devoted to this composer. Bibliography

(on-line contents)

References

  1. ^ Pajerski, Fred M. Marco Uccellini (1610-1680) and His Music. Diss. New York U, 1979. Ann Arbor: U Microfilms International, 1979. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses [ProQuest]. Web. 20 June 2017.
  2. ^ "Stradivarius - The leading italian classical music label". www.stradivarius.it. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  3. ^ Opera Glass

Selected discography

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