Life
Trained in the heart of the Baroque, his long career led him to reach artistic maturity in an era of profound stylistic transition, which saw the emergence of the new rationalist ideals of Arcadia.
Remigio Cesti, born in Arezzo around 1635, was an Italian composer and nephew of the more famous Antonio Cesti. He entered the Dominican order in 1649 and dedicated much of his life to sacred music and ecclesiastical service. From 1663 he was the organist for the Knights of Saint Stephen in Pisa. Subsequently, he held the important role of chapel master in various Italian cities, including Pisa, Volterra, Arezzo, and Faenza. His career developed further starting in 1671, when he assumed ecclesiastical posts in Arezzo and Siena. Cesti passed away in Florence around 1713.
Aneddoto
A life in service of sacred music
In addition to composing his only known opera, Remigio Cesti's life was almost entirely dedicated to liturgical music and the direction of religious choirs, a path that saw him as a protagonist in many Tuscan cathedrals and churches over the course of decades.Works
Among his surviving works, the most well-known is the opera Il principe generoso, which was performed in Vienna in 1665. In addition to this theatrical work, he also composed numerous pieces of sacred music.
Briciole di storia
The Plague that Scourged Naples
When the echo of the Thirty Years' War had finally died out, a new and terrible wave of plague struck Italy in 1656, this time with its epicenter in the South. The disease, likely arriving by sea from Sardinia, fell upon the Kingdom of Naples with unprecedented violence. The capital, one of the largest and most populous metropolises in Europe, was literally brought to its knees. It is estimated that about half of its population died, with peaks of 1,250 deaths per day. The epidemic was so devastating that it brought an end to an entire era of cultural and economic splendor for the city. It was the last major pestilence to strike the peninsula on such a vast scale.
Pubblico dominio (Commons)
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