La cantata a Roma negli anni del soggiorno italiano di Händel

This article offers some remarks concerning the Roman musical milieu – with special attention to the Cantata – between 1706 and 1709 ca., and the way it may have influenced the young Handel at the time of his legendary Italian journey. In particular, it examines some specific aspects of the Cantata repertory produced under the patronage of the foremost Roman families – the Ruspoli, the Ottoboni, the Pamphilj – which, at those times, were the leaders of the Eternal City’s cultural life. Among the specificities of the Roman Cantata tradition, some might have impressed Handel: for instance, come formal peculiarity, and the usage of concertante cello. The article takes into account the Cantata output of composers who, like Bernardo Pasquini, Bernardo Gaffi and Filippo Amadei, have not been yet throughly investigated. More specifically it points out the freedom and unpredictability of the formal organization in some cantatas of Bernardo Pasquini, and attempts to find traces of it in some Handel counterparts. For what concerns the concertante cello, it examines some cantatas of Bernardo Gaffi and compares their usage of this instrument with that made by Handel in one of his cantatas.