The younger brother of Alessandro Marcello, Benedetto Marcello was a more prolific composer, writing stage works, church music, and secular vocal and instrumental music. In his book Il teatro alla moda, published about 1720, Marcello gives a satirical account of contemporary operatic practice.

Instrumental Music

Benedetto Marcello’s compositions include a set of 12 concertos for strings, as well as sets of sonatas for one and two cellos.

Vocal Music

Benedetto Marcello wrote a large quantity of vocal music, sacred and secular. The last includes nearly 350 cantatas. His Lamento dei castrati combines a traditional lament with a predicament of which he takes a cynical view.