Giovanni Battista Guarini
Giovanni Battista Guarini | |
---|---|
Born | 10 December 1538, 1538 Ferrara, Duchy of Ferrara |
Died | 7 October 1612 (aged 73) Venice, Republic of Venice |
Nationality | Italian |
Occupation | Playwright, writer, poet, diplomat |
Works | Il pastor fido |
Movement | Renaissance |
Giovanni Battista Guarini (10 December 1538 – 7 October 1612) was an Italian poet, dramatist, and diplomat.
Life
Guarini was born in
He was the father of the scholar
Work and influence
His most notable work, Il pastor fido, had its first dramatic representation in honor of the nuptials of the Duke of Savoy and Catalina Michaela of Austria in 1585[2] (published in 1590 in Venice; 20th rev. ed., 1602, Venice;[2] Eng. trans. The Faithful Shepherd, 1647). This play, a pastoral tragicomedy about the loves and fates of shepherds and hunters, polished in style, was translated into many languages and became popular during the 17th century. It set the pattern for a code of refinement and gallantry that lasted until the late 18th century.
No poet played a larger role in the flowering of the
In addition to his decisive influence on madrigal composers, he was the single largest influence on opera librettists up until the time of Metastasio in the 18th century. He therefore plays an important role in the history of music.
While Guarini's work may be seen as lacking the deep feeling and sentiment of another poet at the Este court, Torquato Tasso, it was precisely this quality which commended it to musical setting at a time when excessive emotionalism had become unfashionable. An example of a setting of his work would be "O come è gran martire" from Libro Terzo dei Madrigali (1592) by Monteverdi.
Other works are:[2]
- Compendio della poesia tragicomica (1601; published again in the 1602 edition of Pastor fido)
- Il segretario, a dialog on the duties of a secretary, and on matters of logic, rhetoric, etc. (1594)
- La idropica, a prose comedy (written about 1584; published 1613)
- Lettere (1593)
- Trattato della politica libertà (Venice, 1818)
Works
- Delle opere del cavalier Battista Guarini (in Italian). Vol. 1. Verona: per Giovanni Alberto Timermani. 1737.
- Delle opere del cavalier Battista Guarini (in Italian). Vol. 2. Verona: per Giovanni Alberto Timermani. 1737.
- Delle opere del cavalier Battista Guarini (in Italian). Vol. 3. Verona: per Giovanni Alberto Timermani. 1738.
- Delle opere del cavalier Battista Guarini (in Italian). Vol. 4. Verona: per Giovanni Alberto Timermani. 1738.
Notes
- ^ Gibbons, D. (2002). "De Nores, Giasone". The Oxford Companion to Italian Literature. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
- ^ New International Encyclopedia(1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
- ^ Einstein, Vol. II p. 539.
References
- public domain: Symonds, John Addington (1911). "Guarini, Giovanni Battista". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- Einstein, Alfred (1949). The Italian Madrigal. Three volumes. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-09112-9.
External links
- Works by Giovanni Battista Guarini at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Giovanni Battista Guarini at Internet Archive
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Battista Guarini". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- Selmi, Elisabetta (2003). "GUARINI, Battista". ISBN 978-8-81200032-6.
Free scores of works by Giovanni Battista Guarini in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)