STEFFANI, AGOSTINO. - Musician, b. at Castelfranco Veneto on 25 July 1654, d. at Frankfurt am Main on 12 Feb. 1728.
At the age of 14 he was a chamber and court musician in Munich. In 1674 he printed his first work: Psalmodia vespertina, for 8 voices, and on 1 March 1675 he was appointed court organist. A priest around 1680, on 5 Jan. 1681 he was assigned the parish benefice of Lepsing near Nördlingen (Bavaria). In 1688 he had a dozen operas performed with great success at the Court of Hanover, which were translated into German and also performed in other cities of Germany. Steffani furthermore carried on important diplomatic activity at Hanover and Düsseldorf; on 13 Sept. 1706 he was appointed titular bishop of Spiga, and in 1709 apostolic vicar of upper and lower Saxony for the preservation of Catholicism in the country, as also in Hanover and Braunschweig. Among his last religious works are the Stabat Mater and a motet for 5 voices and organ, Qui diligit Mariam, which he sent to London, where the "Academy of ancient music" had wanted him as its president. Mention should be made of the polemical pamphlet on music theory Quanta certezza abbia dai suoi principi la musica... (Amsterdam 1700).
Bibliography6 worksF. M. Ruhart, Gesch. der Oper am Hofe zu München Frisinga 1865; G. Fischer, Musik in Hannover, 2nd ed., Hannover 1902; A. Untersteiner, A. S
BIBL.: F. M. Ruhart, Gesch. der Oper am Hofe zu München Frisinga 1865; G. Fischer, Musik in Hannover, 2nd ed., Hannover 1902; A. Untersteiner, A. S., in Riv. mus. ital., 19 (1907), pp. 509-34; P. Hiltebrandt, Preussen und die Römische Kurie, I, Berlin 1910; R. de Rensis, A. S., in Musica d'oggi, 3 (1921), p. 36 f.; T. W. Werner, A. S.'s Operntheater in Hannover, in Arch. für Musikwissenschaft, 3 (1938), p. 1 f.
Cervelli, Luisa. “Steffani, agostino.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. XI, col. 1314. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1953. https://azioneromana.com/article/steffani-agostino.
MLA
Cervelli, Luisa. “Steffani, agostino.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. XI, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1953, col. 1314. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/steffani-agostino.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec11_steffani_agostino,
author = {Cervelli, Luisa},
title = {Steffani, agostino},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {XI},
pages = {1314},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1953},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/steffani-agostino}
}
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