The Life and Works of Giovanni Lorenzo Lulier

Abstract

This study surveys the life and works of Giovanni Lorenzo Lulier who occupied a prominent position in the Roman musical life from 1676 to 1704. He was one of the foremost virtuoso cellists of his day and his reputation was undoubtedly enhanced by his long professional association as concertino cellist with Arcangelo Corelli and Matteo Fornari. Lulier was also a prolific composer of vocal music and his works were well received in his lifetime. His extant compositions are valuable documents for the study of cantata da camera, oratorio, serenata, collaborative sacred and secular opera, pastorale, and English pasticcio opera. Chapters I-II of this thesis are biographical. Lulier's ascent to fame as a professional cellist and composer is described, and his datable works are introduced in the context of his working life. Chapters III-IV introduced the secular cantata genre and examine two historically important settings by Lulier; chapters V-IX examine the oratorios for which source material still survives and address questions relating to oratorio performance practices. Chapters X-XI assess Lulier's contribution to the serenata genre and Chapters XII-XIV deal with the varied collaborative works and pasticcios to which Lulier contributed music. These comprise sacred and secular operas (Chapter XII); a pasticcio oratorio (Chapter XII); a Roman pastorale and an English pasticcio opera (Chapter XIV). Chapter XV appraises Lulier's aria style in general and his important contribution to the development of ritornello form in particular. Descriptions of the evolution of libretti, authors of texts when known, the history of other settings and first-hand accounts describing performances supplement these analyses of Lulier's larger works. The contemporary descriptions answer some of the questions relating to the migration of musical scores by Lulier and his peers, both in Italy and abroad, and concerning performance practices of cantatas, serenatas and oratorios. Puppet opera, secular opera in late seventeenth-century Rome, music at Modena under Duke Francesco II d'Este, and the early stages of pasticcio opera in London are also touched upon. There are nine appendices to this study. The first of these is a thematic catalogue of the arias which exist in independent sources and are likely to have derived from larger works. Appendix 2 gives an account (with musical incipits where possible) of Lulier's cantatas, including those for which no music survives. Appendix 3 is a chronological list of datable works by Lulier, and Appendix 4 lists in chronological sequence the collaborative works for which Lulier supplied music, and the names of the composers with whom he joined forces. Appendices 5, 6 and 7 deal with archival material. The first two contain transcriptions of records relating to important Roman performances in which Lulier was involved. The baptismal registers which have already been searched and those which remain to be searched in relation to establishig the year of Lulier's birth are listed in Appendix 7. Appendices 8 and 9 address questions relating to performance practices of oratorios by examining two eye-witness accounts of important productions.