A. Stradella, a stabbed-to-death composer. "Symphony" No 7

Alessandro Stradella, an outstanding composer of the Italian Baroque of the mid-17th century, is one of the earliest members of the ominous elite of musicians who did not live to be forty years old. In his case, he also added a quota of "sensationalism" to his early death. His career today appears dazzling and avant-garde, and he is considered a leading figure of his generation and one of the most versatile composers of the time. Precursor of the concerto grosso and with more than three hundred works to his credit, including oratorios, cantatas, operas, and a variety of instrumental music, it is surprising that he could have achieved such great success while leading an unholy life, dodging the persecution of deceitful noble husbands and escaping justice through untimely trips to end up stabbed to death in a square in Genoa.

Born in Rome, probably in 1644, into a noble family, by the age of twenty he had already made a name for himself as a composer of works at the request of Queen Christina of Sweden (at the time, serving in Rome). He was later joined by other Roman noblemen for whom Stradella provided motets, preludes, and intermezzi. He never needed music to survive, nor any other trade. However, in 1669 he tried unsuccessfully to defraud the Catholic Church in collusion with a fellow violinist and the abbot of a monastery. He had to leave Rome in haste. But the following year was back, fully dedicated to the composition of sacred music.

Alejandro Stradella (1644 - 1682)

An elusive life
Several setbacks with the Roman Church led him to leave Rome, this time compulsively, in 1677. He decided to settle in Venice, where he was hired as a musical tutor to the mistress of a wealthy nobleman named Contarini. It did not take Stradella long to seduce the mistress and escape with her. The powerful Contarini family put a price on his head. After saving his life from an assault, the composer left Venice and settled in Genoa.

The end
There he enjoyed the regular presentation of his works in the Genoese theaters and seemed to have settled down, in the company of a noble maiden. But a series of scandalous infidelities unleashed the wrath of the Lomellini family, the maiden's cradle. On February 25, 1682, Stradella was stabbed to death in Piazza Banchi by a henchman of the Lomellini family. Despite his singular trajectory, the master's remains rest in a Catholic basilica in Genoa.

Symphony No. 7 in G major
Let us note that Stradella's "symphonies" (and those of the other baroque composers of his time) have little to do with the concept we use today, that is, the one that designates a great work in three or four movements for a large orchestra. In the Baroque period, the word symphony simply designated any type of music that required a variable number of instruments. Responding to the secular ambiguity of musical terms, it could also have been called, simply, sonata, or, better still, "sonata for orchestra".

The piece, just over four minutes long, is written for two violins, cello, and organ or harpsichord (the basso continuo), and is part of the thirty or so instrumental works composed by the author.

The performance is by the Italian Ensemble Giardino di Delizie, formed by four ladies, two of them Italian and two Polish.