Sebastian Cambert (ca. 1620 - 23 May 1677) was a Brunanter baroque composer from the 17th century, noted as a virtuous bandor musician and writer of operas.
Biography[]
Born into a wealthy family, Cambert was baptized in Donderstad in April 1620. He directed music at the Oude Kerk in the late 1640s, but traveled to Naples and Rome (present-day Italy) for further music education.
By 1653, Cambert returned to Donderstad and began working on his own compositions. He became the musician for the Baron Sneijder and his family in Brunantstad and lived well-off. He played both sacred and secular music and wrote several operas in the 1660s. His operas were based on Greek tragedies, but also on stories from the noted playwright Carel Hulst. For this, Cambert is sometimes considered to be the father of Brunanter opera.
Cambert and Sneijder had an argument around 1670, after which the composer was left near-penniless and spent nearly a year in prison near Koningstad as he was unable to pay his debts.
Cambert was able to somewhat revive his career after prison, but he would never find success again. He died in 1677 of the plague and was buried in Donderstad. He would later influence Johannes Cornelius Mulders.
Legacy[]
Cambert's music was the quintessential Brunanter baroque music (the banduriana), influenced by Spanish folias and Brunanter medieval music including the jitanès. His place in Renaissance music is indispensable, and critics and historians cite Cambert as the most important Brunanter composer from the 17th century.
His most famous piece of music is "Concert in D Minor For Strings, Op. 3", which was notably recorded by Eric Camber for his 1971 album Concerten voor Bandor.
The Sebastian Cambert College in Koningstad is named after him.