Elisabetta de Gambarini

Elisabetta de Gambarini, 1748

Elisabetta de Gambarini , also Elizabeth Gambarini, Elisabetta de Gambarini, Elisabetta Gambarini and Elisabetta Gamberini (born September 7, 1730 in Marylebone , Middlesex ; † February 9, 1765 in Westminster , London ), was an English composer , mezzo-soprano , organist , harpsichordist , Pianist , conductor and painter. Gambarini's music is assigned to the late baroque and classical periods . She gained fame as a musician as she composed, played and sang for a variety of instruments. Gambarini was the first female composer in the Kingdom of Great Britain to publish a collection of works for keyboard instruments.

Life

Elisabetta de Gambarini was the third of four children of Charles Gambarini († 1754), an Italian nobleman from Lucca who was an advisor to the Landgrave of Kassel . Her mother Joanna (Giovanni Paula) Stradiotti († 1774) came from Dalmatia . Her siblings died in childhood.

On March 20, 1764, Elisabetta married Etienne Chazal in the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields , about whom nothing further is known. She gave a concert under her new name Chazal in March and passed away a year later at her home in Castle Court, Strand. She was buried on February 14th in St James's Church in Westminster.

According to her mother's estate, she had a daughter named Giovanna Georgiana Chazal, about whom nothing is known either. It is possible, but not certain, that Gambarini died during or after childbirth.

Musical creation

Little is known about her musical training; she may have been a student of Francesco Geminiani . In the 18th century, women in Great Britain took part in musical life. Gambarini began her career as a singer in Georg Friedrich Handel's Occasional Oratorio (1746–1747).

She sang the Israelite woman in the world premiere of Judas Maccabaeus a in 1747 and appeared in Joseph and his Brethren (German: Joseph and his brothers ) in 1747 . Her name is also recorded on the score of Handel's Samson and Messiah , the dates of the performances are unknown.

In 1748 she gave her own benefit concert and sang and played her own compositions on the organ. She also published her first two music volumes. She was the first British female composer to publish a collection of works for keyboard instruments. 1748 was published as her Opus 1 The Six Sets of Lessons for the Harpsichord ("Six Etüdensammlungen für Harpsichord "), which she dedicated to the Viscountess Howe of Ireland.

Her music was noticed by many, including famous musicians such as George Frideric Handel and Francesco Geminiani. Also in 1748 she published Lessons for the Harpsichord Intermix'd with Italian and English Songs ("Etudes for harpsichord combined with Italian and English songs"), dedicated to the Prince of Wales . 1750 was followed by the release of XII English & Italian songs for a German flute and Thorough Bass ... Opera III ( "Twelve English and Italian songs for flute and basso continuo "), mainly composed for woodwinds and the Duke of Marlborough dedicated.

Throughout her career, Gamberini has performed at the Haymarket Theater and the Great Concert Hall on Dean Street in Soho, London . Later she gave various benefit concerts in which she appeared as a singer, harpsichordist, organist and with her own compositions. During one of her benefit concerts, she performed Francesco's Geminiani's The Inchanted Forest , which is why some think she is one of his students.

Compositions

Six Sets of Lessons for the Harpsichord (Op. 1), 1748 (Six collections of studies for the harpsichord)

Lessons for the Harpsichord Intermix'd with Italian and English Songs (Op. 2), 1748 (Etudes for the harpsichord mixed with Italian and English songs)

XII English & Italian Songs, for a German flute and Thorough Bass ... Opera III (12 English and Italian songs for traverso and thoroughbass ... Opus 3)

War March ("war march")

Victory ("victory") for voice and organ

Forest Scene ("Waldszene") for horn and timpani .

Tho Mars, Still Friends to France

The Friendly Wish (" The Friendly Wish ")

Forgive Ye Fair

Honor, Riches, Marriage-Blessing ("Honor, Wealth, Blessing") from The Tempest (Shakespeare)

Overture for horns

Overtures

Organ concerts

Solos for piano and violin

Ode for choir

Recordings

18th Century Women Composers - Music for Solo Harpsichord. Vol. 1. Barbara Harbach, harpsichord. Gasparo Records GSCD-272 (1995).
Anthony Noble: Elizabeth Gambarini: Complete Works for Harpsichord. Herald Records HAVPCD 244 (2000)

literature

Jane Bowers, Judith Tick: Women Making Music, The Western Art Tradition 1150–1950. University of Illinois Press, Urbana / Chicago 1986
James R. Briscoe: A Biography Dictionary of Actor, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers & Other Stage Personnel in London 1660–1800. Music Library Association, 56, 4 (2000): 1014.
Pamela Youngdahl Dees: An annotated catalog of available intermediate-level keyboard music by women composers born before 1900. DMA dissertation. University of Miami, 1998.
Elisabetta de Gambarini: Six sonatas for harpsichord or piano . Vivace Press, Pullman, WA 1994.
Nina Rattner Gelbart: The King's Midwife. A History of Madame du Coudray. University of California Press, Berkeley / Los Angeles 1998.
Bradford Gowen: New Music for Performance: Six Sonatas for Harpsichord or Piano by Elisabetta De Gambarini; Six Lessons by Elizabeth Harden. Edited by Barbara Harbach. In: Piano & Keyboard, January / February 1996, 51.
Diane P Jezic Women Composers. The Feminist Press at The City University of New York, New York 1988.
Penelope Mathiesen Elisabetta De Gambarini: The Vocal Option. In: Continuo. 16, No. 2, April 2, 1992, pp. 2-5.
Carol Neuls-Bates: Women in Music. Northeastern University Press, Boston 1996.
Anthony F. Noble: A Contextual Study of the Life and Published Keyboard Works of Elisabetta de Gambarini, Together with a Recording, Facsimile of the Music, and Commentary. PhD dissertation. University of Southampton (King Alfred's College Winchester), 2000.
Anthony F. Noble: Gambarini (married name Chazal), Elizabeth (Elisabetta de Gambarini) (1730–1765), composer, keyboard player, and singer. In. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , 2004.
Karin Pendle: Women & Music. 2nd Ed. Indiana University Press, Bloomington 1991, 2001.
Rudolf Rasch: The Thirty-Three Works of Francesco Geminiani, Work Twenty, The Inchanted Forest (1754/1761). In: My Work on the Internet, Vol 8, April 2016.
Charles Smith, Patrick Georges: Similarity indices for 500 classical music composers: Inferences from personal musical influences and 'ecological' measures. In: Empirical Studies of the Arts. 33, 1, 2015, pp. 61-94.
Dean Winton: Gambarini, Elisabetta de. In: Grove Music Online (2001) doi: 10.1093 / gmo / 9781561592630.article.10600

Web links

Sheet music and audio files by Elisabetta de Gambarini in the International Music Score Library Project
Anthony Noble: A Contextual Study of the Life and Published Keyboard Works of Elisabetta de Gambarini, together with a Recording, Facsimile of the Music, and Commentary . Dissertation, University of Southampton 2000 (English).
Minuet, variations, tambourine, Cariglion, Allegro , etc. Op. 2. Barbara Harbach, harpsichord; YouTube

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b Penelope Mathiesen: Elisabetta de Gambarini. The vocal option . In: Continuo. The Magazine of Old Music . No. 16 , 1992.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Anthony F. Noble: Elizabeth Gambarini. In: The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed May 5, 2016 ( doi: 10.1093 / ref: odnb / 61865 ).
↑ Nina Rattner Gelbart: The King's Midwife A History of Madame du Coudray . University of California Press, Berkley / Los Angeles 1998.
↑ Carol Neuls-Bates: Women in Music. An Anthology of Source Readings from the Middle Ages to the Present . Northeastern University Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan 1996, pp. 192 .
↑ Lady Violinists . In: The Musical Times . No. 47 , 1906, pp. 664 .
^ ^A ^b Penelope Mathiesen: Elisabetta De Gambarini. The vocal option . In: Continuo. The Magazine of Old Music . No. 16/2 , 1992, pp. 2-5 .
↑ Rudolph Rasch: The Thirty-Three Works of Francesco Geminiani, Work Twenty, The Inchanted Forest (1754/1761) . In: My Work on the Internet . No. 8 , April 2016, p. 30-32 .
^ Harbach Barbara: Six Sonatas for Harpsichord or Piano By Elisabetta de Gambarini . Barbara Harbach.

personal data
SURNAME	De Gambarini, Elisabetta
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	English composer, mezzo-soprano, organist, harpsichordist, pianist, conductor and painter
DATE OF BIRTH	September 7, 1730
PLACE OF BIRTH	Marylebone , Middlesex
DATE OF DEATH	February 9, 1765
Place of death	Westminster , London

[Mathiesen-1] A ^b Penelope Mathiesen: Elisabetta de Gambarini. The vocal option . In: Continuo. The Magazine of Old Music . No. 16 , 1992.

[ODNB-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Anthony F. Noble: Elizabeth Gambarini. In: The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed May 5, 2016 ( doi: 10.1093 / ref: odnb / 61865 ).

[3] Nina Rattner Gelbart: The King's Midwife A History of Madame du Coudray . University of California Press, Berkley / Los Angeles 1998.

[4] Carol Neuls-Bates: Women in Music. An Anthology of Source Readings from the Middle Ages to the Present . Northeastern University Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan 1996, pp. 192 .

[The_Musical_Times,_Volume_472-5] Lady Violinists . In: The Musical Times . No. 47 , 1906, pp. 664 .

[Continuo-6] A ^b Penelope Mathiesen: Elisabetta De Gambarini. The vocal option . In: Continuo. The Magazine of Old Music . No. 16/2 , 1992, pp. 2-5 .

[Rasch-7] Rudolph Rasch: The Thirty-Three Works of Francesco Geminiani, Work Twenty, The Inchanted Forest (1754/1761) . In: My Work on the Internet . No. 8 , April 2016, p. 30-32 .

[Six_Sonatas_for_Harpsichord_or_Piano_By_Elisabetta_de_Gambarini-8] Harbach Barbara: Six Sonatas for Harpsichord or Piano By Elisabetta de Gambarini . Barbara Harbach.