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ComposerProfessional
Biography
After training as a church musician, Teodoro Riccius initially worked as conductor at the church of Santa Nazaro in his hometown. In the foreword of his first book of madrigals of 1567, he signed as "Maestro di Capella di San Nazaro" in Brescia. This was also demonstrably his first work of his own, a collection of five-part madrigals. He dedicated this to the "Comiti Alfonso Capreolo". In the same year followed a collection of six-part madrigals from his pen.
When Margrave Georg Friedrich took over the care and later the guardianship of Duke Albrecht Friedrich, as his closest relative, he also expanded the occupation of important areas of responsibility in the Prussian lands in his interest. And so in 1575 Teodoro Riccius was called to take over the position of court conductor in Ansbach. As early as 1578, Georg Friedrich I was enfeoffed with the duchy by the Polish King Stephan Báthory, the then liege lord of Prussia. In that year, Riccius followed his employer to Königsberg. From 1581 he was supported in his position as court conductor by the appointment of the later famous musician Johannes Eccard (1553-1611) as sub-conductor. He took over the work with the boys' choir and individual administrative tasks. On July 30, 1585, the duke granted him an appointment for life with an annual salary of 360 guilders, free accommodation and two dresses. When Teodoro Riccius converted to the Protestant faith during this period, his employer was very sympathetic. The motivation for this could come from his second marriage in Königsberg.
On November 11, 1585, Teodoro Riccius married Barbara, the widow of Bartholomeus Schultz, who also lived in Königsberg. The marriage produced two children, the son Hieronymus Christoph Riccius (1593-1627) and a daughter Esther Riccius.
Riccius returned to Ansbach in 1586 together with his wife. This is where his, presumably last, work was created. A total of two books of sacred works have survived from him, as well as sacred chants and masses. Above all, his madrigals and motets, which are now kept in the Royal State Library in Munich, among other places, are extraordinarily beautiful and convey an excellent, solemn atmosphere. Due to the skilful rise and fall of the individual voices to each other, music experts count them as "the most beautiful" that has been achieved during this time. In his early canzones and madrigals, Riccius clearly showed his origins in the Italian musical tradition.
There are several statements about the year of death of Teodoro Riccius, which assume the year of death to be 1600 or 1603, but mostly without concrete documentation or evidence. Ansbach, on the other hand, can be assigned relatively clearly as the place of death.
When Margrave Georg Friedrich took over the care and later the guardianship of Duke Albrecht Friedrich, as his closest relative, he also expanded the occupation of important areas of responsibility in the Prussian lands in his interest. And so in 1575 Teodoro Riccius was called to take over the position of court conductor in Ansbach. As early as 1578, Georg Friedrich I was enfeoffed with the duchy by the Polish King Stephan Báthory, the then liege lord of Prussia. In that year, Riccius followed his employer to Königsberg. From 1581 he was supported in his position as court conductor by the appointment of the later famous musician Johannes Eccard (1553-1611) as sub-conductor. He took over the work with the boys' choir and individual administrative tasks. On July 30, 1585, the duke granted him an appointment for life with an annual salary of 360 guilders, free accommodation and two dresses. When Teodoro Riccius converted to the Protestant faith during this period, his employer was very sympathetic. The motivation for this could come from his second marriage in Königsberg.
On November 11, 1585, Teodoro Riccius married Barbara, the widow of Bartholomeus Schultz, who also lived in Königsberg. The marriage produced two children, the son Hieronymus Christoph Riccius (1593-1627) and a daughter Esther Riccius.
Riccius returned to Ansbach in 1586 together with his wife. This is where his, presumably last, work was created. A total of two books of sacred works have survived from him, as well as sacred chants and masses. Above all, his madrigals and motets, which are now kept in the Royal State Library in Munich, among other places, are extraordinarily beautiful and convey an excellent, solemn atmosphere. Due to the skilful rise and fall of the individual voices to each other, music experts count them as "the most beautiful" that has been achieved during this time. In his early canzones and madrigals, Riccius clearly showed his origins in the Italian musical tradition.
There are several statements about the year of death of Teodoro Riccius, which assume the year of death to be 1600 or 1603, but mostly without concrete documentation or evidence. Ansbach, on the other hand, can be assigned relatively clearly as the place of death.
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