Cataldo Amodei
Other surviving works include a book of motets dedicated to Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor; a serenata; two pastorales; two psalms; and four oratorios, which were important contributions to their genre.
[2] In 2003, the musicologist Domenico Antonio D'Alessandro identified Amodei with a "Cathaldus Vitus" ("Cataldo Vito"), born in 6 May 1649 and baptized the same day at St. Mary Magdalene, Sciacca.
[4] In March 1680, Amodei succeeded Filippo Coppola as maestro di cappella (choirmaster) of the Theatine church San Paolo Maggiore.
[8] D'Alessandro notes that records indicate Amodei was actively involved in the music of San Paolo Maggiore, while it remains uncertain whether his other ecclesiastical appointments were occasional or regular.
[1][10] This post was to assist the primary maestro di cappella Nicola Acerbo [de], who was finding difficulty in teaching over a hundred students alone.
[9] The February of the following year,[12] he resigned from his post at Santa Maria di Loreto, reportedly "because of his many commitments", and was succeeded there by Alessandro Scarlatti.
[12] Francesco Solimena painted the sacristy of San Paolo Maggiore [it] throughout 1690, during which Amodei prepared music for the Feast of Saint Gaetano there.
[15] The city newspaper reported on this the following day: "Yesterday, to universal mourning, the famous Maestro di Cappella of san Paolo, Sig D. Cataldo Omodei [sic] passed away.
[1] Almost all of Amodei's works were published in Naples,[16] usually being printed by Novello De Bonis[17] and their "stampator arcivescovile" ("archiepiscopal printer").
[13] Unlike earlier Italian cantatas such as the anonymous Squarciato appena havea and L'amante impazzito con altre Cantate, e Serenate a solo, et a due con violini (1679) by Milanese composer Simone Coya [de], Amodei's Cantate are particularly virtuosic and do not conform to the earlier Italian archetype of ironically setting popular tunes to serious subjects.
Amodei's horrible representation of Interest foreshadows the giant Fafner who 'sits in possession:' only instead of Wagner's redemption through love, he invites us piously to raise our eyes to heaven.
[7] Described by musicologists Rosa Cafiero and Marina Marino as "rather homogeneous" ("piuttosto omogeneo)", the works were all written for San Paolo Maggiore and share subject matter and musical form.
[1] The motet's 1679 publication was the first published music in Naples since a 1645–1653 series of various first editions and reprints by composers such as Bartolomeo Cappello, Giovanni Salvatore and Francesco Vannarelli.
