Claudio Merulo facts for kids
Claudio Merulo (born 8 April 1533 – died 4 May 1604) was an Italian composer, publisher, and organist. He lived during the late Renaissance period. He is most famous for his new ideas in keyboard music. He also wrote music for groups of instruments in the Venetian polychoral style. Claudio Merulo was born in Correggio and died in Parma. His birth name was Claudio Merlotti. He later changed his name to Merulo, which means "little blackbird" in Latin. He did this when he became famous in Venetian cultural groups.
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Claudio Merulo's Life Story
Not much is known about Claudio Merulo's early life. He studied in Correggio with Tuttovale Menon. Menon was a famous madrigal writer. He also worked in the Ferrara court. Merulo also studied with Girolamo Diruta, who was an organist. It is thought that Merulo studied with Zarlino at St. Mark's Basilica in Venice. While in Venice, he became good friends with Costanzo Porta. This friendship lasted his whole life.
Becoming a Famous Organist
On 21 October 1556, Merulo became an organist at the Old Cathedral of Brescia (Duomo Vecchio). His skill as an organist must have been very impressive. In 1557, he became an organist at St. Mark's. This was one of the most important jobs for an organist in Italy. He was chosen over many other talented musicians, including Andrea Gabrieli. This was the first big moment in his career. He was considered the best organist in Italy at that time.
It is important to know that St. Mark's had two organs. Two different organists were hired to play them. In 1557, Merulo was given the job for the second, smaller organ. Annibale Padovano was the first organist. After Padovano left Venice in 1566, Merulo became the first organist. Andrea Gabrieli then became the second organist.
Important Events and Later Years
In 1579, Merulo was chosen to represent Venice. This was for the wedding of Franceso de’ Medici and Bianca Cappello. He also wrote celebration music for Henry III of France. Henry III visited Venice in 1574.
In 1584, Merulo suddenly left his job in Venice. The reasons are not clear, and it was surprising. In Venice, he was paid well and had a great reputation. St. Mark's was also a very important place for an organist. However, in December 1584, his name appeared in the payment records of the Farnesia Court in Parma.
In 1587, he became an organist at Parma Cathedral. From 1591, he also played at the Church of Santa Maria della Steccata. While there, he asked for improvements to the organ. These changes were made by Costanzo Antegnati. Antegnati was the last person from a famous family of organ makers. We can guess that Merulo used the Steccata's organ to try out new music. He continued to compose in the style he learned in Venice.
Merulo lived in Parma until he died. During this time, he traveled to Venice and Rome several times. In Rome, he published his famous two-volume Toccate per organo. Merulo died in Parma on 4 May 1604. He was buried in Parma Cathedral, near the tomb of Cipriano de Rore. He left behind a daughter and his wife, Amabilia Banzola.
Claudio Merulo's Music and Influence
Merulo is most famous for his keyboard music. His Toccatas, in particular, were very new for their time. A toccata is a piece that shows off the player's skill. He was the first to put sections of contrapuntal writing next to fast, showy parts. Counterpoint means different melodies are played at the same time. He often put sections that sounded like ricercars into his toccatas or canzonas. A ricercar is like an early form of a fugue.
Keyboard Innovations
Often, his keyboard pieces would start like they were meant to be a copy of vocal polyphony. Polyphony means many voices or parts. But then, he would slowly add decorations and details. These would build up to a very difficult and impressive part. Sometimes, especially in his later music, he developed small musical ideas. These ideas became like a motif that he used throughout the piece. A motif is a short, repeated musical idea. This way of writing music was used a lot in the Baroque era, which came after the Renaissance.
Merulo sometimes ignored the usual "rules" of voice-leading. Voice-leading is how different musical lines move together. This gave his music a strong emotional feeling. This feeling was more common in the late madrigalists' music than in keyboard music of his time. His keyboard music had a huge impact on other composers. His ideas can be seen in the music of Sweelinck and Frescobaldi. Sweelinck was a very important teacher. Because of his influence, much of the skilled keyboard playing in northern Germany, which led to Johann Sebastian Bach, came from Merulo's new ideas.
Vocal Music
Even though his instrumental music is more famous, Merulo also wrote vocal music. He was part of the Venetian School. This means he also wrote motets for two choirs. He wrote these in the style of Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli. He published two books of Madrigali (madrigals) for 5 voices (in 1566 and 1604). He also wrote one book of Madrigali for 4 voices (1579) and one for 3 voices (1580).
The famous book on keyboard playing, Il Transilvano (1593), was written by Girolamo Diruta. It was dedicated to Merulo. This shows that Merulo was one of the most important keyboard players of the Italian Renaissance.
Claudio Merulo's Works
- Ricercari d’Intavolatura d’Organo, Book 1 (1567):
- Ricercar del primo tuono
- Ricercar del secondo tuono
- Ricercar del terzo tuono
- Ricercar del quarto tuono
- Ricercar dell’undecimo tuno
- Ricercar del duodecimo tuono
- Ricercar del settimo tuono
- Ricercar dell’ottavo tuono
- Toccata del terzo tuono from Il Transilvano, part I, by Diruta (1597)
- Toccate d’Intavolatura d’Organo, Book 1 (1598):
- Primo Tuono Toccata prima
- Primo Tuono Toccata seconda
- Secondo Tuono Toccata terza
- Secondo Tuono Toccata quarta
- Secondo Tuono Toccata quinta
- Terzo Tuono Toccata sesta
- Terzo Tuono Toccata settima
- Quarto Tuono Toccata ottava
- Quarto Tuono Toccata nona
- Toccate d’Intavolatura d’Organo, Book 2 (1604):
- Undecimo detto Quinto Tuono Toccata prima
- Undecimo detto Quinto Tuono Toccata seconda
- Duodecimo detto Sesto Tuono Toccata terza
- Duodecimo detto Sesto Tuono Toccata quarta
- Settimo Tuono Toccata quinta
- Settimo Tuono Toccata sesta
- Ottavo Tuono Toccata settima
- Ottavo Tuono Toccata ottava
- Nono Tuono Toccata nona
- Decimo Tuono Toccata decima
- Canzoni d’Intavolatura d’Organo, a quattro voci, fatte alla francese, Book 1 (1592):
- La Bovia
- La Zambeccara
- La Gratiosa
- La Cortese
- La Benvenuta
- La Leonora
- L’Albergata
- La Rolanda
- Petit Jacquet
- Canzoni d'intavolatura d'organo fatte alla francese, Book 2:
- La Ironica
- La Jolette
- La Pazza
- La Palma
- La Pargoletta
- La Rosa
- La Radivila
- La Seula
- La Scarampa
- L'Arconadia
- Petite Camusette
- Canzoni d'intavolatura d'organo fatte alla francese, Book 3:
- Languissans
- Onques amour
- Susanne un jour
- Content
- Madrigali a 5 libro I (1566) e II (1604)
- Madrigali a 4 (1579)
- Madrigali a 3 (1580)
- Mottetti a 5 libro I (1578), II (1578)
- Mottetti a 6 libro I (1583), II (1593) e III (1605, postumo)
- Sacrae Cantiones (1578)
- Mottetti a 4 (1584)
- Sacri Concentus (1594)
- Messe a 5 (1573)
See also
In Spanish: Claudio Merulo para niños
