Reveling in Rossi, or Classical Music Songs for Kids

My one-year-old, Little M, loves vocal music! He is always very interested in watching videos of people singing.

Songs–even classical music songs–are great for kids because they introduce new words and sounds while reinforcing familiar ones. Songs in other languages, such as our selection for today (which is in Italian), are also great. They introduce the words and sounds of other languages and help babies and kids learn more about the world around them.

Today’s selection is by the classical music composer Luigi Rossi (1597?–1653). You probably don’t know who Rossi is since he’s no longer that famous, but he was a big deal in his day. He wrote two Baroque operas and a ton of other great vocal music to prove it!

One of Rossi’s operas, Orfeo, was based on the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. It was premiered in Paris in 1647 and became an important turning point in the French acceptance of Italian music!

To get you up to speed on Rossi before we dive into his music, here’s a short bio.

Luigi Rossi’s Bio

Born near the end of the 16th century, Luigi Rossi was an Italian Baroque composer who loved to write music for singers. Almost all his works include voices and it is for these pieces that he is remembered today.

He lived in Rome by the 1620s and worked for various wealthy patrons there before landing a position as a church organist. His music became popular in France in the 1640s and he was invited to write an opera, Orfeo, to be premiered in Paris. After a few more trips to Paris, he returned to Rome for good, by that time lauded as one of the very best composers in Italy.

After his death in 1653 he was remembered as an amazing composer and virtuoso for a least another half-century before falling into obscurity. His music was “rediscovered” (thankfully!) in the 20th century.

The Music

My one-year-old son, Little M, helps me pick out music for this blog–only pieces he’s interested in get posted! And so the selection he and I would like to share with you today is Luigi Rossi’s “Dopo lungo penare.”

This is a canzonetta–or a short, lighthearted vocal piece (i.e. song)–in which the singer is having an argument with “Love.” Their argument is about whether or not he will again fall into the clutches and torments of love, or if he’ll escape and be happy. (This is admittedly a rather dark take on love by someone who had unfortunately been hurt before.)

The singer here is a fabulous countertenor. A countertenor is a male singer who sings in the high vocal range normally associated with female singers.

It’s a very playful piece that makes you want to move around to the music!

If you want to know more about any of the instruments you see, check out our Guide to Baroque Instruments. The instruments in this video are called “period instruments” because they were made at the same time period (i.e. hundreds of years ago!) as the music being played, or they are exact copies of instruments from that time period.

Little M and I hope you enjoy this song! Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below!

This performance is by countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński and the ensemble L’Arpeggiata. Go check them out!