Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the Abate Metastasio
In which are Incorporated, Translations of his Principal Letters

The final volume of Burney's 1796 account of the colourful life of Pietro Metastasio (1698–1782), poet and librettist.

Charles Burney (Author), Pietro Metastasio (Author)

9781108014663, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 31 October 2010

446 pages
21.6 x 14 x 2.5 cm, 0.56 kg

This three-volume biography, first published in 1796, recounts the colourful life of the popular Italian poet and librettist Pietro Trapassi (1698–1782), better known by his pseudonym Metastasio. Charles Burney (1726–1814), a British composer and the author of a celebrated four-volume History of Music published between 1776 and 1789, interweaves his own accounts of the poet's life with Metastasio's original letters translated into English. Metastasio's posthumously published correspondence with his friends and patrons provides the essential thread to understanding his complex life and affairs. The son of a shopkeeper, Metastasio was adopted as a young boy by the director of the Arcadian Academy, Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, who was charmed by the child's extraordinary talent for improvising poetry. Volume 3 covers Metastasio's life and correspondence from 1770 until his death. It includes notes on Metastasio's style as well as separate chronologies of his secular dramas and oratorios.

Section I. Correspondence with Abate Alberti and Abate Fabroni and others
Section II. Correspondence with literary and musical ladies
Section III. Personal information about Metastasio
Section IV. Letters to Farinelli
Appendix.

Subject Areas: Baroque music [c 1600 to c 1750 AVGC3]