Alessandro Besozzi

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Alessandro Besozzi (born July 22, 1702 in Parma , † July 26, 1793 in Turin ) was an Italian composer and oboist of the pre-classical period.

Life

Alessandro Besozzi family of musicians came Besozzi . He received lessons from his father Cristoforo Besozzi (1661–1725). From 1714 he was a member of the chapel of the "Guardia Irlandese" with a salary of 44 lire, as did his father and his brothers. In 1728 he was listed as “virtuoso” at the court of Parma in the account books with 100 lire, and he also received the daily needs of bread, wine and firewood.

Together with Paolo Girolamo, he left Parma in March 1731 after the death of the art-loving Duke Antonio Farnese . He then became an oboist (Primo virtuoso di camera) at the court of Savoy in Turin, where his brother Paolo Girolamo Besozzi also found a job as a bassoonist. The two brothers only left Turin for two concert tours, one of which took them to Paris, where they performed together at the Concert spirituel on March 30 and May 29, 1735 .

In Turin, Besozzi received a starting salary of 1,200 lire a year and an additional 200 lire for the apartment. In 1771 the salary was increased to 1450, in 1775 even to 2100 lire, a sum that the Duke and King of Sardinia Charles Emanuel III held in high esteem . clearly shows, as did the appointment on December 18, 1775 as “Direttore generale della musica instrumentale e suonatore di Hautbois”. The German oboist Johann Christian Fischer traveled to Turin to study Besozzi's cantabile playing. At the same time Corelli's pupil Giovanni Battista Somis and his pupil Gaetano Pugnani worked as violinists in the Turin chapel . Besozzi died in Turin in 1793 at the old age of 91.

Charles Burney , who met both of them in Turin, reported in detail about Alessandro and Paolo Girolamo's playing in his diary of a musical journey from 1770: “ ... Your printed compositions give only an imperfect concept of it. So much expression! so much tenderness! such a perfect union and agreement with one another that many passages seem to be heartfelt sighs exhaled through one and the same reed. You are not looking for a brilliant execution, all the notes are full of emphasis. The imitations are accurate; the melody among both instruments are equally distributed, each forte, piano, crescendo, and each appoggiatura is observed with the most careful precision, which all could only be preserved through such a long stay with each other and through united study ... "

Works (selection)

Most of Besozzi's works were printed in Paris, some in London. Only one opus was printed in Italy.

  • Six Sonates en trio pour flûte, alto & B. c. (London, 1747)
  • 12 Sonates pour deux hautbois (composed with his brother Gerolamo)
  • Six pièces pour flûte, hautbois et alto, op.2 (Paris, 1740)
  • Six pièces pour flûte, hautbois ou alto & BC, op.3 (London, 1750)
  • Six sonates pour 2 altos & B. c., Op.4 (London, 1760)
  • Six sonates pour 2 altos ou 2 flûtes & B. c., Op.5 (London, 1764)
  • Six suonate mises au jour per Canavasse
  • Six sonates pour alto solo & B. c.
  • 12 Trio pour 2 flûtes traversières & clavecin
  • Sonata a 2 for hautbois et basse
  • Trii delli Sig.ri Fratelli Besuzzi di Torino for 2 flutes with bass
  • Sonata a tre pour flûte traversière, alto & basse
  • 8 sonatas pour 2 altos & violoncelle
  • Trio pour 2 altos & basse
  • Six Trios pour 2 altos & violoncelle
  • Sonata da camera pour 2 altos & basse
  • Six Sonatas pour 2 altos & basse
  • Canzonette pour soprano with bass
  • Sonata a tre pour 2 altos & bass
  • Trio pour 2 flûtes traversières ou altos & basse
  • Deux Sonata da camera
  • Six Trios pour 2 altos ou hautbois & basse

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Music in the past and present , 2nd edition. Vol. 2, Col. 1508-1509
  2. ↑ ( page no longer available , search in web archives: Besozzi's curriculum vitae )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.di-arezzo.com
  3. ^ Charles Burney: Diary of a musical journey through France and Italy
personal data
SURNAME Besozzi, Alessandro
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian oboist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH July 22, 1702
PLACE OF BIRTH Parma
DATE OF DEATH July 26, 1793
Place of death Turin