Antonio Bioni and His Compositions Preserved in Kroměříž Archive

This study deals with Italian composer Antonio Bioni (c. 1698–?) and his compositions de­ posited in the Kroměříž music collection. Along with a summary of current research, it also offers new findings about his life and work. Bioni belongs to important propagators of Italian musical culture to regions beyond the Alps in the first half of the 18th century. In his life and work we can see how music centres in the first half of the 18th century – Prague, Wrocław, Jaroměřice nad Rokytnou and Vienna – were interconnected. One part of the study presents analysis of Bioni’s cantata Innocente è il mio martire, stored in Kroměříž, which probes Bioni’s compositional style.

have recently published important works include Michał Bristiger and Reinhard Strohm (a newly discovered opera Andromaca from 1730), 9 Hanna Schodterer (the serenata La pace fra la virtù e la bellezza from 1739) 10 and Rashid-Sascha Pegah, who discovered hitherto unknown Bioni cantatas in the State Library of German Ansbach. 11

Bioni's life and career
Antonio Bioni was born in Venice probably in 1698. 12 Here he studied composition with Giovanni Porta. 13 Altogether he had apparently written three operas in Italy before he left for the area beyond the Alps: Climene (1721, Chioggia), Mitridate (1722, Ferrara) and Cajo Mario (1722, Ferrara). It is wrongly assumed that his following opera is Udine which was premiered in Venice. 14 In fact it was the opera Climene which had its subsequent premiere in 1722 in Udine; in the preserved text Bioni is named with the attribute "di Venezia" which might have caused the mistake. 15 Before starting his career as a composer, he performed in operas as a singer. 16 An important turning point in Bioni's life is the year 1724, when he came to Bohemia. He was given a contract as an opera composer by impresario, librettist and singer 51,Nr. 2, Another study which deals with Italian opera in Czech lands and mentions Bioni is SPÁČILOVÁ, Jana. Sarriho opera Didone v Brně (1734) a její rekonstrukce pro novodobé provedení (2014). Opus musicum, 2014, vol. 46, Nr. 1, pp. 18-31. 9 BRISTIGER, Michał -STROHM, Reinhard. "Libertà, marito e trono fur miei beni...": Die wiederentdeckte Andromaca von Antonio Bioni (Breslau 1730). In Opera Subjects and European Relationships [= Italian Opera in Central Europe, 1618-1780. Dubowy, Norbert -Herr, Corinna -Żórawska -Witkowska, Alina (eds.), Berlin: BWV, 2007, pp. 73-109. Antonio Denzio, who was supposed to put together an opera company in Venice for impresario Antonio Maria Peruzzi in Prague. In March 1724 Peruzzi was granted permission from the local vice-regency to perform Italian opera in Manhardt's house in the Old Town of Prague. 17 Thus, in 1724, Denzio and Peruzzi made a contract to form an opera company for Prague. 18 However, following Peruzzi's agreement with Count Franz Anton Sporck in June 1724, Denzio brought the opera company first to Kuks and only in autumn 1724 to Prague. 19 In both places the opera Orlando furioso, composed to Grazio Braccioli's libretto, was performed. The main role was sung by Antonio Denzio. However, the authorship of the opera is unclear. Besides Antonio Bioni the composer might also have been Antonio Vivaldi, who wrote this opera in 1714 and kept in touch with Denzio. 20 The authorship of this opera has been lately analysed by Michał Bristiger and Reinhard Strohm, who attribute the authorship to Bioni who, however, used part of the arias from Vivaldi's and Ristori's version. 21 Czech musicologist Stanislav Bohadlo, on the other hand, believes that Bioni is the only author. He bases his belief on a remark by household poet Gottfried Benjamin Hancke, who translated the Italian libretto of the opera Orlando furioso into German for its performance in Kuks. In his letter to Sporck's Hofmeister, Tobias Antonin Seeman, Hancke criticizes music for the opera and attributes the authorship to Bioni. 22 According to Jana Spáčilová, the authorship of at least part of the music is unquestionable and from her point of view the proof is the Brno libretto to Orlando furioso, which is -similarly to other librettos from that time -identical with the Prague libretto, and because the authorship of this one is assigned Vivaldi -"apart from several arias" which were written by Bioni. 23 The opera Orlando furioso was perhaps a pasticcio on which both composers collaborated. 24 Even despite a not entirely clearly proved authorship it is obvious that this opera was very successful, and after its performance at Kuks and in Prague was also played in Wrocław (1725Wrocław ( , 1734 18 For more about this contract see BOHADLO,op. cit.,s. 134. Original version of the contract see FREE-MAN, 1992, op. cit., pp. 281-284. 19 BOHADLO, 2011 Vivaldi's opera Orlando furioso from 1714 is an adaptation of a one-year older work by Giovanni Alberto Ristori. For more see SPÁČILOVÁ, Jana. Antonio Vivaldi a italská opera v Brně: Orlando furioso a Tullo Ostilio (1735). Opus musicum, 2008, vol. 40, Nr. 4, pp. 22-27, here pp. 25-26. 21 BRISTIGER -STROHM, op. cit., p. 76. 22 BOHADLO, 2011. Compare also FREEMAN, Daniel E. Orlando furioso in the Bohemian Lands: Was Vivaldi's Music really used? Informazioni e studi vivaldiani, 14, 1993vivaldiani, 14, , pp. 51-73. 23 SPÁČILOVÁ, 2008 In regard to the opera Orlando furioso's authorship it is necessary to point out that recently a manuscript has been discovered and Michael Talbot assigned it as an overture from opera Orlando furioso and as an author he indicated Bioni. The overture will be a subject of further research. The overture is stated by RISM: Bioni, Antonio. Orlando furioso (Excerpts). [online]. [cit. 2017-09-10]. Available at: https://opac.rism.info/ search?id=800273643, https://opac.rism.info/search?id=703000484. (summer 1726) 25 , in Brussels (1727) 26 , in Brno (1735) 27 and in Graz (1737) 28 . Bioni's presence at these performances has not been documented so far. 29 An Italian opera company under impresario Peruzzi's leadership operated in Prague till 1725. Sporck's theatre opened on 23 October 1724 with the above mentioned opera Orlando furioso, which due to its great success was repeated during the Advent. 30 At the end of 1724 the Carnival season opened with the opera L'innocenza giustificata with music by Bioni and other composers. 31 However, due to conflicts between Peruzzi and Denzio, in 1725 Peruzzi together with other unsatisfied members of his troupe left for Wrocław and here he founded a new opera company. According to Bohadlo, Count Sporck himself suggested establishing the Italian opera in Wrocław, largely because of Silesian aristocrats' and merchants' frequent visits to opera performances at Kuks. 32 The company settled down in the Ballhouse on Breitestrasse and operated there till its end in 1734. 33 Bioni came to Wrocław no later than 1726 and worked there as a music teacher, cembalist, Kapellmeister and composer. 34 Before his arrival in Wrocław, his stay in Venice has been documented: there he met Antonio Vivaldi. 35 He also probably resided in Prague in November 1725 when his opera Armida abbandonata was performed.
In 1731 Bioni was named court composer to the Prince-Bishop of Breslau (Wrocław) and Archbishop-Elector of Mainz Franz Ludwig von Neuburg. 36 In the same year he also became an impresario in the Wrocław opera company and he led it till 1734, when it 27 SPÁČILOVÁ, 2008, op. cit., pp. 25-26. 28 BOHADLO, 2011 In literature there is also a note about the opera Orlando furioso being performed in Baden-Baden. The authors probably base this idea on Fétis (FÉTIS,op. cit.,p. 421) who states that Bioni composed Orlando furioso already in 1723 and in 1724, before its performance in Prague, it had been played in Baden-Baden. However, in the original version Fétis mentions "Bade" which can mean that he was referring to Kuks, a spa city.
30 BOHADLO, 2007, op. cit., p. 135. 31 It was a pasticcio in which Bioni composed 11 out of 28 music pieces and also some recitatives; the other music was composed by Fioré, Vivaldi, Capelli, Porta and Gasparini op. cit.,p. 76 closed for financial reasons. 37 In Wrocław Bioni composed 24 out of his 42 operas; these were performed in Wrocław between 1725 and 1734. 38 During his activities in Wrocław Bioni kept up contacts not only with Prague but also with Vienna. In 1727 at the Kärtnertortheater, Bioni's opera Endimione, written for Wrocław, was performed. 39 In 1729 Bioni might have been present in Vienna as well, namely for the premiere of his opera I cacciatori feriti d'amore, which was also performed in the Kärntnertortheater. 40 Bioni's stays in Prague are then documented in 1727 41 , 1730 42 and in summer or autumn of 1734, when Bioni unsuccessfully tried to obtain permission to perform operas. 43 Likely, however not documented, is his presence for the introduction of his operas in Sporck's theatre in Prague -Il ritorno del figlio con l'abito più approvato (pasticcio, carnival 1730) 44 and Adone (pastorale per musica, carnival 1731).
After the break-up of the opera company, in the period of 1734-1738, there are no clear records about Bioni. It is only known that by 1738 he kept a flat in Wrocław, 45 presumably in case he succeeded in re-establishing the opera company. It is possible that he also traveled to Jaroměřice nad Rokytnou, the seat of the Italian opera lover Count Johann Adam Questenberg. In 1737 the opera Issipile was performed here and its music was most likely composed by Bioni. 46 If this was true, then it is possible that Bioni was at the premiere in Jaroměřice in person. However, there is no definite evidence. There are just some notes in the correspondence of Count Questenberg with Jaroměřice administrators about studying Issipile, from which we find out that in autumn 1737 this opera was being prepared together with Merope by Riccardo Broschi, and that their performances are believed to have been attended by an Abbe from Venice who would probably have been able to grasp the sense of music. 47 The opera Issipile was written by Bioni for Wrocław, where it was first introduced in autumn 1732. It is a dramma per musica to Pietro Metastasio's libretto. Furthermore, Issipile is Bioni's only completely preserved opera. The unique score 37 For the reasons for the end of opera in Wrocław see BORCHERDT,op.,cit.,p. 40 originally from the possession of Count Questenberg is deposited in Vienna. 48 A libretto was preserved only from the Wrocław performance in 1732 and is deposited in Milan. 49 Thanks to Helfert we also know that apart from Issipile Count Questenberg owned copies of Bioni's operas Engelberta and Griselda, which according to Mattheson was a pasticcio. 50 Between 1738 and 1739 Bioni resided in Vienna. 51 In 1738, his opera Girita was performed at the Kärntnertortheater. Dates of its performances are known due to letters of Georg Adam Hoffmann, Count Questenberg's household steward. 52 Bioni perhaps might have aspired to a position at the imperial court. This is indicated by the fact that in the Department of Music of the Austrian National Library in Vienna there is a score of Bioni's serenata La pace fra la virtù e la bellezza from 1739. 53 It is a serenata à 5 voci con stromenti, in which Bioni is reported to be both the composer and also a singer. 54 In other parts there were amateur women singers from important aristocrat families, as is apparent from the score's dedication. 55 It is interesting that in October 1738 in Vienna a serenata with the same title by Italian composer Luca Antonio Predieri was performed; Predieri came from Italy to Vienna in 1737 and in 1739 he attained a position of Vice-Kapellmeister at the imperial court. Both compositions were written to the eponymous libretto by Pietro Metastasio, and both were dedicated to archduchess Maria Theresia. 56 Thus at the same time two composers set the same libretto to music for the same occasion. Maybe it was a sort of competition for the position of Vice-Kapellmeister, which was finally given not to Bioni but to Predieri. Vienna is also the last place of Bioni's activities about which we have some information. Thanks to Rashid-Sasha Pegah we know that in 1741 Bioni was still in Vienna. In his study, which deals with a newly discovered collection of six Bioni cantatas, Pegah cites entries from the diary of Duke Anton Ulrich von Sachsen-Meiningen-Coburg. 57 The Duke refers to Bioni

Bioni's work
Bioni became famous primarily as an opera composer. It is known from the sources that he is the author of 35 operatic works. 60 However, only the opera Issipile, the serenata La pace fra la virtù e la bellezza, 23 arias and 1 duet from the opera Andromaca 61 and the overture from the opera Orlando furioso 62 have been preserved. Jana Spáčilová has newly identified four arias deposited in German Schwerin as arias from Bioni's opera Endimione. 63 Apart from operatic works, Bioni is also the author of other compositional genres (duet, mass, cantata). 64 From altogether 23 preserved compositions of various genres (RISM at present files 18), 65 7 are deposited in Czech archives. 66 Three compositions are deposited in Prague (2 sacred arias and an overture D major), 67 and four compositions in Kroměříž.

Bioni's compositions deposited in the music archive of the Archdiocesan Museum in Kroměříž
In the music archive of the Archdiocesan Museum in Kroměříž there are three Bioni cantatas and one aria. The compositions belong to "the original chateau collection" (Původní zámecká sbírka) and in world musicological literature there are no references to them. In Czech musicological literature, they are first mentioned in Pazdírek's music dictionary of 1937, where the entry about Bioni was created by Brno musicologist Gracian Černušák. 68 Apart from the diploma thesis written by the author of this study 69 , the existence of Bioni's Kroměříž compositions have been noticed by Jana Spáčilová. 70 introduced in 1767 in the summer exhibition at Brunswick (Braunschweige Sommermesse) with arias by Bioni, Händel, Vinci, Wagenseil, Hasse and Vivaldi (BRISTIGER -STROHM, op. cit., p. 77).

1)
cantata Se non poss'io (with recitative semplice) 71 2) cantata Innocente è il mio martire (with recitative con stromenti) 72 3) cantata Se non ti moro à lato (with recitative con stromenti) 73 The cantatas show the same hand-writing, they are written on the same paper, and are identical in format, size and ordering of parts. The paper also preserves, apart from one exception, 74 the same watermarks -the character of Justice, a rectangle with letters W M S, a heart with an anchor and letters I, C, T, and a leaping stag with antlers. 75 These cantatas are evidently related by these signs and without doubt share the same provenance and the same date. However, the provenance and the copyist's hand have not been ascertained so far as well as the cantatas' dating. 76 In the case of the cantata Se non ti moro à lato must be noted that the text of the first aria from this cantata is taken from the Metastasio's libretto Adriano in Siria (1732, Vienna, I/15). 77 Entirely different from the above mentioned cantatas is the aria De tanti fidi amanti. 78 It is a da capo aria for tenor, string instruments and basso continuo. This aria has a different hand-writing, as well as watermarks (half-moons and letters A, Z, between which is a shamrock) and colour of the paper. The dating and original provenance are likewise unknown.
In connection with specifying the provenance and dating there appears to be a question as to how the cantatas and the aria came to Kroměříž archive. 79 One hypothesis arises from Bioni's biographical data. As stated above, between 1734 and 1738 there is no reliable information about Bioni. It is possible that the cantatas might have been written for the Bishop of Olomouc, Wolfgang Hannibal von Schrattenbach (died 1738). Since at that time Bioni did not have a permanent position, the bishop might have asked 70 SPÁČILOVÁ, 2015, op., cit., p. 98. 74 It is a filigree with a stag, which in the cantata Se non ti moro à lato also has an ornamented shield with letters P and M.
for a job of a musician in this way. Apart from the deposit of Bioni's compositions in Kroměříž no other relation to this town has been proved, but the possibility of an exceptional status, which Italian artists had at Bishop Schrattenbach's court, is highly likely. 80 Hopefully this question will be answered in the course of further research.

The cantata Innocente è il mio martire -musical analysis
For the analysis through which Bioni's compositional style will be demonstrated, we have chosen the cantata Innocente è il mio martire, whose score the author created for her diploma thesis. 81 The cantata is written for soprano, two violins, viola and continuo. It consists of two da capo arias and recitative con stromenti. The aria Innocente è il mio martire is 73 bars long, the recitative contains 26 bars, and the aria Crudo ciel contains 169 bars. The manuscript of the cantata has 19 sheets altogether and consists of three parts -the cover with the composition's title and composer's name and signature, then a particello for vocal and basso continuo, and individual instrumental parts.
The anonymous text of the cantata is in its structure and contents typical for the time of its origin; it was the time when secular cantata creation was very similar to operatic creation, so in fact it follows the same rules. For recitative and aria Italian meter is very important. Recitative is created by non-rhymed verses which have 7 or 11 syllables; in arias all the verses are rhymed according to a certain rhyme structure. To be concrete, in the first aria the structure is A A B A A A C B (number of syllables -8 8 7 8 8 8 6 7). In the text of the cantata there are several grammar and semantic mistakes that would not have been made by a native Italian, therefore the possibility that it is Bioni's autograph can be excluded. The copyist obviously came from the regions beyond the Alps, most probably from the Habsburg monarchy. 82 The vocal part ranges from d 1 to a 2 , which is a common soprano range. From the technical point of view, coloratura passages are considered especially difficult. Concerning ornaments, in several places there are trills and appoggiaturas. To sum it up, the cantata is for technically advanced singers.
Tutto pieno di terrore Spasimato sento il core, It is a two-part da capo aria in which parts A and B are in distinctive disproportion in the number of bars (part A = 60 bars, part B = 13 bars). The aria is composed in D major. According to Johann Mattheson, 83 the key of D major is rather sharp, stubborn and appropriate for noisy, merry, military and encouraging affairs. 84 However, the text of the aria expresses pain and suffering, which is not too much in accordance with the key characteristics. The aria is opened by an instrumental ritornello in D major which introduces basic motives that are repeated during the whole of part A. The most distinctive is a motive of broken descending and ascending five-and six-three chords in sixteenth-note triplets; this is one of the characteristic features of galant style in opera. 85 The main melody of the introductory ritornello is assigned to the first and second violin parts which proceed in unison. Viola and basso continuo play in the same rhythmic values and have an accompanying function. In bar 10 the vocal part begins and is accompanied by the first violin, viola and basso continuo which play repeated pulsating eighth notes (Trommelbass) often used by composers showing their first released works in Napoli. The second violin plays the triplet motive from the ritornello. After the first verse (Innocente è il mio martire) there comes a short instrumental ritornello -again the introductory triplet theme in D major.

Example No. 2 -beginning of the vocal part
In bars 15-18 two remaining verses are heard (Che con pena di morire, L'alma mia viver non sà) with the above mentioned accompaniment. The main melody is assigned to the second violin without basso continuo accompaniment so that the importance of the text can emerge even more (after all my soul cannot live with the deadly pain). The lyrics pena di morire (deadly pain) are harmoniously highlighted by minor keys -e minor and b minor (bars 15-16).
Example No. 3 -setting text "che con pena di morire" to music In bars 19-20 the verse l'alma mia viver non sà (my soul cannot live) is repeated; from the point of view of affect, this can be considered the key verse of the whole aria. To reflect the meaning of these words, the melody is descending and uses syncopation. The vocal part is in unison with the first violin.
Example No. 4 -setting text "l'alma mia viver non sà" to music Then a repetition of the two last verses follows, while the verse l'alma mia viver non sà is repeated again. In bar 25 there is a great intervallic skip (e¹-g² sharp) -exclamatio.
Example No. 5 -exclamatio on the word "mia" The word l'alma (soul) in bars 28-30 is highlighted by ascending coloratura composed of triplets. The ascending direction of the coloratura undoubtedly expresses the meaning of the word "soul" (meaning "to rise above the body").
Example No. 6 -coloratura on the word "l'alma" The first part of piece A is divided from the second part again by the motive from the introductory ritornello in A major. After that the whole text of piece A is sung more or less with the motives from the first part. However, the vocal part is more orna-mental (ornaments, faster values, inserted tones). In bar 36 there is exclamatio on the word martire.
Example No. 7 -exclamatio on the word "martire" In bar 38 there are appoggiaturas which complete the text pena di morire (fatal pain) with elements characteristic for lament, crying, voice trembling etc.

Example No. 8 -appoggiaturas on words "pena di morire"
In the following bars there is a large coloratura passage composed of sixteen triplets and using trills on the word non sà (it cannot manage). The coloratura is accompanied only by basso continuo, which makes it even more distinctive.
Example No. 9 -coloratura on word "non sà" In part B, which is in the relative key of b minor (according to Mattheson, a bizarre, cheerless and melancholic key), 87 the vocal part starts with the accompaniment of the first violin, viola and basso continuo, which move in eighth notes. The second violin plays a moderately changed triplet motive from the previous part. Starting from the words di terrore (bar 63) the accompaniment strikingly changes. This change without doubt relates to the text di terrore, spasimato sento il core, dà timore, da dolore (I can feel my heart tormented with horror; it causes fear, it causes pain). The recitative con stromenti has altogether 26 bars, starting in g minor and staying in minor mode. In bars 1-11 the vocal part is accompanied only by basso continuo and from the 11 th bar the orchestra starts playing. Right in the first and second bars there is an exclamatio on words oh Dei.

Recitative
Example No. 12 -beginning of the recitative, exclamatio on words "oh Dei" Then, in the following bars there are sixth, seventh and octave leaps in the vocal part; some of the sevenths are diminished (e. g. bar 4 -diminished seventh). From bar 11 the violins play in unison a broken sequence of descending chords and inversions in B-flat major. The dramatic climax of the whole recitative comes in bars 14-17 during the words larve, terrori tremo (I am shuddering when seeing horrors and phantoms). Then, in bars 15-17 there are dissonant skips both up and down (saltus duriusculus). In addition, all of this part is intensified by chromatic movement in the first and second violins, putting stress on the word tremo (I am shuddering).
Example No. 13 -dramatic climax on words "larve, terrori tremo", saltus duriusculus, chromatics Between bars 17 and 18 in the vocal part there is an interval of a diminished fourth downward (saltus duriusculus) on the words di Lete, which underlines the meaning of this word (Lete -chthonian river Léthé).
Example No. 14 -saltus duriusculus on words "di Lete" On the word spavento (I dread) there is a descending sixteenth-note coloratura with accompaniment only of basso continuo. In addition, the coloratura ends with a trill indicating trembling, which emphasizes the onomatopoeic potential of the discussed word even more (bars 19-20).

Example No. 15 -coloratura on word "spavento"
Then the orchestra starts playing a variation on the above mentioned motive in B-flat major with chromaticism (bars 21-22).

Example No. 16 -chromaticism in bars 21-22
After that comes a softening, with chords held by individual instruments, and a general sense of conciliation which results from the text -Soccorer non ti posso, e pur penare io deggio (I can't help you and yet I have to suffer). The recitative thus ends apologetically in G major, subdominant to the following D major.
This aria, with 169 bars, is the longest part of the whole cantata. Part A is in strong disproportion with part B. The aria is again in D major. The character is moderate and serene. The beginning of the aria is imitative. Its motive is based on an eighth-note ostinato in a chromatically descending sequence. In bar 4 the first violin plays figurations in dotted rhythm which might remind one of sighs (Seufzer). The general mood of the introductory ritornello corresponds with the text and meaning of the whole aria.
Then comes the verse se tu avrai di lui pietà (I wonder if you feel for him) when the word pietà (compassion) is stressed; on this word the first violin and the vocal part are in unison (bars 68-69).
Example No. 22 -setting the word "pietà" on music The first part of part A is closed with a ritornello which introduces a new triplet motive (bars 70-72) that gradually changes in an ostinato the melody of the introductory ritornello. The second part of part A starts at bar 80 and the previous text is repeated. In bars 87-103 there is again coloratura on the word penando with ostinato accompaniment by the instruments; this coloratura is very extensive (altogether 17 bars). It is composed of several rhythmic and melodic figures that are repeated. At the end of the coloratura there are "sighs" again (bar 102).
Example No. 23 -coloratura on the word "penando" From bar 107 the coloratura is on the word pietà (compassion). In bars 109-111 of the vocal part there is a descending melody (catabasis) with triplets, after which there is a crotchet with an appogiatura.
Part B is again composed in the relative key of b minor (from bar 143). The violin brings in a new motive -broken octaves which are taken over from the first violin by the second violin, lower by one third. In this way they hold a dialogue. The viola and basso continuo markedly join the second violin in eighth-note values and thus they underline the importance of the words acerbe (bitter), pene (torment), dure (hard) and catene (chains), in bars 144, 146, 148, 150. At the beginning of the vocal part there is again a descending melody (catabasis).

Example No. 25 -beginning of part B
In part B the text is sung syllabically and only on the last syllable, stà, there appears an extensive coloratura in which the vocal part is accompanied by the violin, first in thirds (bars 156-160) and then in unison (bars 161-165). The coloratura starts in bar 156 where there is a dissonant skip. In the violin part, in bars 156-159 mournful chromatic steps appear (passus duriusculus).
Example No. 26 -coloratura on the word "stà", passus duriusculus in the violin part Part B finishes with a double repetition of the verse che fuor di me sen stà (the one who is delirious) which is set to music by a motive that uses dotted rhythms (bars 166-168). The violin sounds again in unison with the vocal part, and the closing key of b minor, together with a moderate tempo and more or less tranquil progression, implies a feeling of suffering and pathetic craving for compassion.