Agostino Steffani (July 25, 1653-February 12, 1728), an Italian ecclesiastic, diplomat and composer, was born at Castelfranco. July 25 is the 206th day (207th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 159 days remaining. ... Events February 2 - New Amsterdam (later renamed New York City) is incorporated. ... February 12 is the 43rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events Astronomical aberration discovered by the astronomer James Bradley Swedish academy of sciences founded at Uppsala Births January 9 - Thomas Warton, English poet (d. ... This article is about the Christian buildings of worship. ... This page is about negotiations; for the board game, see Diplomacy (game). ... A composer is a person who writes music. ...

At a very early age he was admitted as a chorister at San Marco, Venice. In 1667 the beauty of his voice attracted the attention of Count Tattenbach, by whom he was taken to Munich, where his education was completed at the expense of Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria, who appointed him Churfurstlicher Kammer- und Hofmusikus and granted him a liberal salary. After receiving instruction from Johann Kaspar Kerll, in whose charge he lived, he was sent in 1673 to study in Rome, where Ercole Bernabei was his master, and among other works he composed six motets, the original manuscripts of which are now in the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge. On his return to Munich in 1674 he published his first work, Psalmodia vespertina, a part of which was reprinted in Martini's Saggio di contrappunto in 1674. In 1675 he was appointed court organist. The date when he was ordained priest, with the title of Abbate of Lepsing, is not precisely known. His ecclesiastical status did not prevent him from turning his attention to the stage, for which, at different periods of his life, he composed work which undoubtedly exercised a potent influence upon the dramatic music of the period. Of his first opera, Marco Aurelio, written for the carnival and produced at Munich in 1681, the only copy known to exist is a manuscript score preserved in the royal library at Buckingham Palace. It was followed by Solone in 1685, by Audacia e rispetto, Prerogative d'amore and Servio Tullio in 1686, by Alarico in 1687, and by Niobe in 1688; but of these works no trace can now be discovered. Notwithstanding the favor shown to him by the Elector Maximilian Emanuel, he accepted in 1688 the appointment of Kapellmeister at the court of Hanover, where he speedily improved an acquaintance dating from 1681 with Ernst Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg (afterwards Elector of Hanover), winning also a pleasant footing with the Elector's daughter Sophia Charlotte (afterwards Electress of Brandenburg and Queen of Prussia), the philosopher Leibniz, the Abbate Ortensio Mauro, and many men of letters and intelligence, and where, in 1710, he showed great kindness to Handel, who was then just entering upon his glorious career. He inaugurated a long series of triumphs in Hanover by composing, for the opening of the new opera house in 1689, an opera called Enrico il Leone, which was produced with extraordinary splendour and achieved an immense reputation. For the same theatre be composed La Lolta d'Ercole con Achilleo in 1689, La Superbia d'Alessandro in 1690, Orlando generoso in 1691, Le Rivali concordi in 1692, La Liberia contenta in 1693, I Trionfi del Job and I Baccanali in 1695, and Briseide in 1696. The libretto of Briseide is by Palmieri. Those of most, if not all the others are by the Abbate Mauro. The scores are preserved at Buckingham Palace, where, in company with five volumes of songs and three of duets, they form part of the collection brought to England by the Elector of Hanover in 1714. But it was not only as a musician that Steffani distinguished himself in his new home. The elevation of Ernst Augustus to the electorate in 1692 led to difficulties, for the arrangement of which it was necessary that an ambassador should visit the various German courts, armed with a considerable amount of diplomatic power. The accomplished abbate was sent on this delicate mission in 1696, with the title of envoy extraordinary, and he fulfilled his difficult task so well that Pope Innocent XI, in recognition of certain privileges he had secured for the Hanoverian Catholics, consecrated him bishop of Spiga in the Spanish West Indies. A choir or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. ... San Marco is one of the six sestieri of Venice, lying in the heart of the city. ... Location within Italy Venice (Italian: Venezia), the city of canals, is the capital of the region of Veneto and of the province of Venice, 45°26′ N 12°19′ E, population 271,663 (census estimate 2004-01-01). ... // Events January 20 - Poland cedes Kyiv, Smolensk, and eastern Ukraine to Russia in the Treaty of Andrusovo that put a final end to the Deluge, and Poland lost its status as a Central European power. ... Munich: Frauenkirche and Town Hall steeple Munich (German: München (pronounced listen) is the state capital of the German state of Bavaria. ... Ferdinand Maria, elector of Bavaria (October 31, 1636 - May 26, 1679) was a Wittelsbach ruler of Bavaria and an elector (Kurfürst) of the Holy Roman Empire from 1651 to 1679. ... An elector can be: In the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation, the collegiate of seven Electors (eight since 1648) (Kurfürsten) consisted of those lay or clerical princes who had the right to vote in the election of the king or Holy Roman Emperor; see prince-elector. ... The Free State of Bavaria (German: Bayern or Freistaat Bayern), with an area of 70,553 km² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ... Johann Kaspar Kerll (1627 - 1693) was a German Baroque composer. ... Events The English Test Act was passed. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Left-Wing Democrats) Area  - City Proper  1290 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,546,807 almost 4,000,000 1... The main entrance to the Fitzwilliam Museum, facing Trumpington Sreet. ... The city of Cambridge is an old English university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire. ... Events February 19 - England and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of Westminster. ... See: Martini cocktail - a popular cocktail. ... Events January 5 - The Battle of Turckeim August 10 - Building of the Royal Greenwich Observatory began November 11 - Guru Gobind Singh becomes the Tenth Guru of the Sikhs. ... Events March 4 - Charles II of England grants a land charter to William Penn for the area that will later become Pennsylvania. ... Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Memorial. ... Events February 6 - James Stuart, Duke of York becomes King James II of England and Ireland and King James VII of Scotland. ... Events The League of Augsburg is founded. ... Events March 19 - The men under explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle murder him while searching for the mouth of the Mississippi River. ... // Events A high-powered conspiracy of notables, the Immortal Seven, invite William and Mary to depose James II of England. ... // Events A high-powered conspiracy of notables, the Immortal Seven, invite William and Mary to depose James II of England. ... A Kapellmeister is nowadays the director or conductor of an orchestra or choir. ... Map of Germany showing Hanover Hanover (German: Hannover [haˈnoːfɐ]), on the river Leine, is the capital of the state of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), Germany. ... Brunswick-Lüneburg was an historical state within the Holy Roman Empire. ... Surrounding but excluding the national capital Berlin, Brandenburg is one of Germanys sixteen Bundesländer (federal states). ... The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Prussia, 1701-1918 The word Prussia (German: Preußen, Polish: Prusy, Lithuanian: PrÅ«sai, Latin: Borussia) has had various (often contradictory) meanings: The land of the Baltic Prussians (in what is now parts of southern Lithuania, the Kaliningrad exclave of Russia and... Gottfried Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (July 1, 1646 in Leipzig - November 14, 1716 in Hannover) was a German philosopher, scientist, mathematician, diplomat, librarian, and lawyer of Sorb descent. ... // Events April 10 - The worlds first copyright legislation became effective, Britains Statute of Anne Ongoing events Great Northern War (1700-1721) War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713) Births January 4 - Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Italian composer (d. ... HANDEL was the code-name for the UKs National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. ... Events Louis XIV of France passed the Code Noir, allowing the full use of slaves in the French colonies. ... Events Giovanni Domenico Cassini observes differential rotation within Jupiters atmosphere. ... Events March 5 - French troops under Marshal Louis-Francois de Boufflers besiege the Spanish-held town of Mons March 29 - Siege of Mons ends to the city’s surrender October 3 - Treaty of Limerick which guaranteed civil rights to catholics was signed. ... Events February 13 - Massacre of Glencoe March 1 - The Salem witch trials begin in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony with the charging of three women with witchcraft. ... Events January 11 - Eruption of Mt. ... Events January 27 - Change of emperor of the Ottoman Empire from Ahmed II to Mustafa II (1695-1703) July 17 - The Bank of Scotland is founded by an Act of Parliament of the old Scottish Parliament. ... The year 1696 had the earliest equinoxes and solstices for 400 years in the Gregorian calendar, because this year is a leap year and the Gregorian calendar would have behaved like the Julian calendar since March 1500 had it have been in use that long. ... Palmieri means: Persons Charlie Palmieri Eddie Palmieri This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population - Total (mid-2004) - Density Ranked 1st UK 50. ... // Events August 1 - George, elector of Hanover becomes King George I of Great Britain. ... Events February 13 - Massacre of Glencoe March 1 - The Salem witch trials begin in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony with the charging of three women with witchcraft. ... The year 1696 had the earliest equinoxes and solstices for 400 years in the Gregorian calendar, because this year is a leap year and the Gregorian calendar would have behaved like the Julian calendar since March 1500 had it have been in use that long. ... Traditional diplomacy Until the early 19th Century, each European nation had its own system of diplomatic rank. ... The Blessed Innocent XI, né Benedetto Odescalchi (May 16, 1611 – August 12, 1689) was pope from 1676 to 1689. ...

In 1698 he was sent as ambassador to Brussels, and after the death of Ernst Augustus in the same year he entered the service of the Elector Palatine, Johann Wilhelm, at Düsseldorf, where he held the offices of privy councillor and protonotary of the Holy See. Invested with these high honours, Steffani could scarcely continue to produce dramatic compositions in public without grievous breach of etiquette. But his genius was too importunate to submit to repression; and in 1709 be ingeniously avoided the difficulty by producing two new operas: Enea at Hanover and Tassilone at Dusseldorf in the name of his secretary and amanuensis Gregorio Piva, whose signature is attached to the scores preserved at Buckingham Palace. Another score, that of Arminio in the same collection, dated Dusseldorf, 1707, and evidently the work of Steffani, bears no composers name. Events January 4 - Palace of Whitehall in London is destroyed by fire. ... Emblem of the Brussels-Capital Region Flag of The City of Brussels Brussels (Dutch: Brussel, French: Bruxelles, German: Brüssel) is the capital of Belgium and is considered by many to be the headquarters of the European Union, as two of its four main institutions have their headquarters in the... Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. ... This article concerns the British Sovereigns Privy Council. ... The prothonotary is the chief court clerk in certain courts of law in certain Anglo-American jurisdictions, including Pennsylvania and Prince Edward Island. ... // Events January 12 - Two-month freezing period begins in France - The coast of the Atlantic and Seine River freeze, crops fail and at least 24. ... Events January 1 - John V is crowned King of Portugal March 26 - The Act of Union becomes law, making the separate Kingdoms of England and Scotland into one country, the Kingdom of Great Britain. ...

Steffani did not accompany the elector George to England; but in 1724 the Academy of Antient Musick in London elected him its honorary president for life; and in return for the compliment he sent the association a magnificent Stabat Mater, for six voices and orchestra, and three fine madrigals. The manuscripts of these are still in existence, and the British Museum possesses a very fine Confitebor, for three voices and orchestra, of about the same period. All these compositions are very much in advance of the age in which they were written; and in his operas Steffani shows an appreciation of the demands of the stage very remarkable indeed at a period at which the musical drama was gradually approaching the character of a merely formal concert, with scenery and dresses. But for the manuscripts at Buckingham Palace these operas would be utterly unknown; but Steffani will never cease to be remembered by his beautiful chamber-duets, which, like those of his contemporary Carlo Maria Clari (1669-1745), are chiefly written in the form of cantatas for two voices, accompanied by a figured bass. The British Museum (Add. MSS. 5055 seq.) possesses more than a hundred of these charming compositions, some of which were published at Munich in 1679. Steffani visited Italy for the last time in 1727, in which year Handel, who always gratefully remembered the kindness he had received from him at Hanover, once more met him at the palace of Cardinal Ottoboni in Rome. This was the last time the two composers were destined to meet. Steffani returned soon afterwards to Hanover, and died on February 12, 1728 while engaged in the transaction of some diplomatic business at Frankfurt. Events January 14 - King Philip V of Spain abdicates the throne February 20 - The premiere of Giulio Cesare, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, takes place in London June 23 - Treaty of Constantinople signed. ... Mater dolorosa became an iconic type, as in this 16th-century Spanish version by Luis de Morales (ca 1510 - 1586) Stabat Mater is a Roman Catholic hymn of the 13th century, attributed to Jacopone da Todi, that meditates on the suffering of Mary, mother of Jesus during his crucifixion. ... A madrigal is a setting for 4–6 voices of a secular text, often in Italian. ... The main entrance to the British Museum The British Museum in London is the United Kingdoms - and one of the worlds - largest and most important museums of human history and culture. ... // Events Samuel Pepys stopped writing his diary. ... // Events May 11 - War of Austrian Succession: Battle of Fontenoy - At Fontenoy, French forces defeat an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army including the Black Watch June 4 – Frederick the Great destroys Austrian army at Hohenfriedberg August 19 - Beginning of the 45 Jacobite Rising at Glenfinnan September 12 - Francis I is elected... Figured bass, or thoroughbass, is a kind of integer musical notation used to indicate intervals, chords, and nonchord tones, in relation to a bass note. ... Events January 24 - King Charles II of England disbands Parliament August 7 - The brigantine Le Griffon, which was commissioned by René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, is towed to the southern end of the Niagara River, to become the first ship to sail the upper Great Lakes. ... Events June 11 - George, Prince of Wales becomes King George II of Great Britain. ... Pietro, Cardinal Ottoboni, the Cardinal Ottoboni (1667–February 29, 1740), was a member of the noble Venetian family and the grand-nephew of the Venetian Pope Alexander VIII(1689–1691). ... February 12 is the 43rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events Astronomical aberration discovered by the astronomer James Bradley Swedish academy of sciences founded at Uppsala Births January 9 - Thomas Warton, English poet (d. ...   Frankfurt am Main[?] [ˈfraÅ‹kfÊŠrt] is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany. ...

Steffani stands somewhat apart from contemporary Italian composers (e.g. Alessandro Scarlatti) in his mastery of instrumental forms. His opera overtures, etc., show a remarkable combination of Italian suavity with a logical conciseness of construction which is due to French influence. In vocal music he is often considered inferior to Scarlatti, and none of his famous duets, despite their charm, can compare for seriousness of intention with the Sicilian masters chamber-cantatas. His instrumental music, however, is historically important as a factor in the artistic development of Handel. Alessandro Scarlatti (May 2, 1660 – October 24, 1725) was a Baroque composer especially famous for his operas and chamber cantatas. ... Sicilian (Lu Sicilianu, Lingua Siciliana) is the Romance language spoken in Sicily, Italy. ...

This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain. Supporters contend that the Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) represents the sum of human knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century; indeed, it was advertised as such. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...