Biography
Bartolomeo Cordans (1698–1757) was a Venetian-born priest, organist and composer who spent the most productive part of his career as maestro di cappella of Udine Cathedral. After early Franciscan training and a brief Venetian operatic career that produced Ormisda, La generosità di Tiberio, La Silvia, Romilda and La Rodelinda, he settled in Udine in 1735 and concentrated overwhelmingly on sacred music. More than 300 works were inventoried at his death, and a large autograph corpus still survives in the Udine cathedral archive.
Securely recoverable works include the 1738 Messa da Requiem, the Tre responsori per la Settimana Santa, Quae serpit in fonte, organ music, a violin-and-organ sonata and the late Dodici Messe a cappella et una per gli anniversari. A contemporary portrait from 1753 survives in Udine. Modern recordings include the Coro Polifonico di Ruda’s Messa da Requiem and Jesu Salvator Mundi on the Benedictines of Mary’s Lent at Ephesus.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.