Benedetto Marcello

Born in Venice in 1696; died at Brescia in July, 1739. Marcello’s life was a strange mixture of the political and the artistic. In 1730 he became Proveditore of Pola, but his health failed here and he assumed the duties of Camerlengo at Brescia. He furnished the libretto of Ruggieri’s “Arato in Sparta”. The library at San Marco in Venice possesses the manuscript copy of his well known “Teoria Musicale” and in the Royal Library of Dresden are original copies of “Il Timoteo” and “La Cassandra”. The Royal Library at Brussels has preserved the manuscript copy of “II Trionfo della Musica nel celebrarsi la morte di Maria Vergine”. His great “Paraphrase of the Psalms” is his best work though his a settings of the Salve Regina, the Miserere, and the Lamentations of Jeremias contain features of deep interest to the student of the history of music. The “Paraphrase” appeared in instalments, the first publication being in 1724. His collaborator was the poet Giustiniani.