Pasquale Cafaro: the musical connecting link

Life

His training took place at a fertile cultural crossroads where Arcadia, Rococo, and Enlightenment intersected, while his maturity saw him operating in the heart of the eighteenth-century debate, between the elegance of the Rococo style and the critical and reforming spirit of the Enlightenment.

Pasquale Cafaro, also known as Caffaro or Caffarelli, was a prominent composer in the 18th-century Neapolitan musical panorama. Born in San Pietro in Galatina, he undertook musical studies in Naples, where he was admitted in December 1735 to the Conservatory of the Pietà dei Turchini. There he had the opportunity to train with masters of great prestige such as Nicola Fago and, in particular, Leonardo Leo, who became his second master. His life and career took place entirely in Naples, where he established himself as a composer of oratorios, operas, cantatas, and sacred music.

His academic and court career was equally brilliant. In July 1759, he succeeded Girolamo Abos as the second master of the conservatory where he had studied, holding the position until 1785. Among his students, Giacomo Tritto stood out. In 1768, he was appointed supernumerary master of the royal chapel and music teacher to Queen Maria Carolina. His rise continued until, in 1771, he became the primary master of the royal chapel after the death of Giuseppe de Majo, also assuming the important role of music master of the royal chamber. These prestigious positions prompted him to focus his production almost exclusively on sacred music, abandoning operatic activity.

In the tradition of the Neapolitan school, Pasquale Cafaro is considered a musical bridge uniting the generation of great masters like Leonardo Leo and Francesco Durante to the subsequent one of Domenico Cimarosa and Giovanni Paisiello. His music, although linked to the genre of opera seria, showed a marked affinity with the lively style of opera buffa. He died in Naples in 1787 and was buried in the chapel of Santa Cecilia, next to Leonardo Leo and other musicians of the Real Cappella Palatina, an honor that testifies to his great musical importance.

Works

Pasquale Cafaro dedicated himself primarily to the composition of opera seria, although his style featured influences from the opera buffa of the time. Among his most important works are Ipermestra (1751), on a libretto by Pietro Metastasio, performed at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples with the participation of Gaetano Majorano, known as Caffarelli. This was followed by La disfatta di Dario (1756) and L'incendio di Troia (1757), both on librettos by Duke Morbilli di Sant'Angelo, and also staged at the Teatro San Carlo.

Other celebrated productions include Arianna e Teseo (1766), with a libretto by Pietro Pariati, performed at the Teatro San Carlo with Caterina Gabrielli and Giuseppe Aprile, and Creso, ultimo rè della Lidia (1768) in Turin. In 1769, he composed L'Olimpiade, on a libretto by Metastasio, and in 1770, Antigono, also by Metastasio, performed at the San Carlo with Giuseppe Aprile. Beyond operas, his secular vocal production includes five cantatas for the King of Naples' birthday and four others for the translocation of the blood of San Gennaro. Among his oratorios, Il figliuol prodigo ravveduto (1745), La Betulia liberata (1746), and Isacco figura del redentore (1763) are remembered, all on librettos by Pietro Metastasio.

His sacred music is very extensive and includes several masses, such as a Kyrie e Gloria for 2 choirs (1760), a Messa breve for 4 voices (1769), and a Requiem for 4 voices. He also wrote numerous motets, such as the three pastoral motets for 2 choirs (1747, 1753, 1756) and the Stabat Mater for 4 voices, strings, and basso continuo, from 1784.