Faà di Bruno, Giovanni Matteo [Horatio, Orazio] 83

Fries, Hans.

See Frisius, Johannes.

Frigel [Frigelius], Pehr [Per]

(b Kalmar, 2 Sept 1750; d Stockholm, 24 Nov 1842). Swedish composer. He studied at the Kalmar Gymnasium and at the University of Uppsala (1770–76), and earned a living in government service, holding many posts in succession until he could afford to retire at the age of 50. As a boy in Kalmar he wrote organ and vocal music; in Stockholm he became acquainted with J.G. Naumann and J.M. Kraus, both of whom gave him further instruction in composition. In 1778 he was elected to the Swedish Royal Academy of Music, and in 1780 two of his symphonies were performed; he became secretary of the academy in 1794, a post he held for 47 years. His most productive period as a composer was between 1795 and 1815, during which time he wrote overtures, symphonies, numerous cantatas for the Jakobskyrka and the academy; he also collaborated with Stenborg on the incidental music to Äfventyraren, eller Resan till Månens ö (‘The Adventurers, or The Journey to the Isle of the Moon’, 1791), and Kotzebue’s Eremiten (1798). The oratorio Försonaren på Oljeberget (‘The Redeemer on the Mount of Olives’) to a text by Ödmann, performed at the Royal Opera in 1815 and revised for performance at the Riddarhus in 1820, is considered his finest work. A cantata on a text by J.O. Wallin, his last work, was performed by the academy at the Storkyrka in 1816. His only opera, Zoroaster, was never performed, but some arias for French operas were produced at the Royal Opera. He taught music theory at the Swedish Royal Academy of Music from 1814 to 1830.

Frigel composed in a classical style modelled after Handel, Gluck and Haydn, and he expressed a preference for what he termed ‘orthodox’ music. He maintained an extensive correspondence with many distinguished musicians, including Cherubini, Spontini and Vogler; among his pupils were E.G. Geijer and P.C. Boman. Few of his works were published, apart from some songs issued by Abraham Hirsch. His manuscripts are in the libraries of the Swedish Royal Academy of Music and the University of Uppsala.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

B. von Beskow: Pehr Frigel, Minnesteckning [Pehr Frigel, memoirs] (Stockholm, 1843, 3/1923)

C.F. Hennerberg: ‘Skriftväxling mellan Frigel och Haeffner’ [Correspondence between Frigel and Haeffner], Svensk musiktidning, xxix (1909), 18

E. Sundström: ‘Två brev från Pehr Frigel och B. Crusell’ [Two letters from Pehr Frigel and B. Crusell], STMf, ii (1920), 303–06

C.-G. Stellan Mörner: ‘Ett opublicerat brev från Fr. S. Silverstolpe till Musikaliska Akademiens sekreterare, Per Frigel, år 1806’ [An unpublished letter from Fr. S. Silvertolpe to the secretary of the Royal Academy of Music, Per Frigel, 1806], STMf, xxviii (1946), 128–35

C.-G. Stellan Mörner: Johan Wikmanson und die Brüder Silverstolpe (Stockholm, 1952)

T. Hanson: ‘Lenngrensdikten Källan tonsatt av Pehr Frigel’ [The Lenngren poem The Source set to music by Pehr Frigel], Samlaren, lxxxiii (1962), 256–8

C.-G. Stellan Mörner: ‘Haydniana aus Schweden um 1800’, Haydn-Studien, ii (1969–70), 1–33

G. Larsson: ‘Pehr Frigels tankar år 1796 om Musikaliska Akademien och dess “offentliga informationsinrättning”’ [Frigel’s memorandum of 1796 on the Musical Academy and its ‘public instruction institute’], Svenska musikperspektiv, ed. G. Hilleström (Stockholm, 1971), 42–59 [with Eng. summary]

B. Ahlbeck: Musikutbildning och examination vid Kungl: musikaliska akademien under ‘Pehr Frigel-epoken’, 1796–1842 [Music education and examination at the Royal Academy of Music during the ‘Pehr Frigel Era’, 1796–1842] (licentiate diss., Mitthögskolan, 1994)

KATHLEEN DALE/HANS ÅSTRAND

Frigimelica Roberti, Count Girolamo

(b Padua, 10 Jan 1653; d Modena, 30 Nov 1732). Italian librettist, poet, architect and librarian. From 1691 to 1720 he was a curator of the public library at Padua, where he was a member and principe of the Accademia dei Ricovrati. Family quarrels drove him to spend the rest of his life in Modena. Buildings designed by him were erected or started in Padua, Vicenza, Stra and Modena from 1717 onwards. 11 operas to librettos by him, set by C.F. Pollarolo, Alessandro Scarlatti, Caldara and Luigi Mancia, were performed at the Teatro Grimani a S Giovanni Grisostomo, Venice, 1694–6 and 1704–8. He wrote a further libretto for Padua, which was first performed at the Teatro Obizzi in the spring of 1695. All these librettos are in five acts and treat mythological or historical subjects. Some are called tragedies, some (from 1704) tragicomedies; they often include choruses and ballets. Like those of Morselli, Silvani and Zeno they adhere to the predominantly serious, stylistically elevated manner of libretto writing that paid homage to Aristotle and the French classical dramatists. Seven oratorio texts by Frigimelica Roberti, in two parts or five acts and with music by C.F. Pollarolo and Badia, were performed between 1697 and 1702 in Venice, Vienna and Rome.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ES (B. Brunelli)

M. Zaccaria: ‘L'architetto Girolamo Frigimelica e il suo progetto della biblioteca universitaria’, Bollettino del Museo civico di Padova, xxix–xxx (1939–41), 86–175

K. Leich: Girolamo Frigimelica Robertis Libretti (1694–1708): ein Beitrag insbesondere zur Geschichte des Opernlibrettos in Venedig (Munich, 1972)

R.S. Freeman: Opera without Drama: Currents of Change in Italian Opera, 1675–1725 (Ann Arbor, 1981)

H. Saunders: The Repertoire of a Venetian Opera House (1678–1714): the Teatro Grimani di San Giovanni Grisostomo (diss., Harvard U., 1985)

KARL LEICH