Francesco Geminiani

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Francesco Geminiani

Francesco Xaverio Geminiani (baptized December 5, 1687 in Lucca , † September 17, 1762 in Dublin ) was an Italian composer and violinist .

Life

Francesco Geminiani was the fourth child of Giuliano Antonio Geminiani and Angela Geminiani. The date of birth is not recorded, but the custom of baptizing the child after the birthday's saint suggests December 3rd. December 3rd is the name day of Saint Francis Xavier (Italian: Francesco Saverio ).

He received his first music lessons from his father. He may have learned to play the violin from Carlo Ambrogio Lonati (or Lunati) and later in Rome he had at least close contacts with Arcangelo Corelli , and he had composition lessons from Alessandro Scarlatti, among others .

From December 1706 to March 1707 he held the position of principal violinist at the Teatro dei Fiorentini in Naples . After this position he took over the position of his father in the Cappella Palatina in Lucca until 1709 . There are no further indications for the period up to his trip to London .

In 1714 he traveled to London, teaching and composing under the patronage of the 3rd Duke of Essex. Successful concert tours to Ireland in the 1730s cemented his reputation as a virtuoso. According to the English music historian Charles Burney , the publication of the Concerti grossi op. 3 in 1733 consolidated Geminiani's name: "You put him at the head of all masters living at the time." Burney's word was related to Geminiani's "musical culinary art".

With Georg Friedrich Handel he performed his violin concertos at the royal court in London. After a stay in Paris (1732) he decided to settle in Dublin . His professional activities fluctuated between the failed attempt to publish a music magazine, the virtuosity, the writing of music theoretical works and trading in paintings by important Italian painters as well as his own. From 1759 he was concertmaster with Charles Coote , who later became the 5th Earl of Bellomont in Dublin.

In addition to his patron Charles Coote, his students included Charles Avison , Robert Bremner (around 1713–1789), Henry Carey , Michael Christian Festing , Matthew Dubourg , John Worgan (1724–1790) and the soprano Cecilia Young (1711–1789) .

Geminiani was buried in the courtyard of the Irish Parliament two days after his death. His remains were later transferred to Lucca, where they were buried in the Church of San Francesco .

Works

Geminiani's contemporaries always praised his "harmonious craftsmanship". The music historian Hawkins described his modulatory system as groundbreaking, as Geminiani completely disregarded the regular rules (see figured bass ) of the transition from one key to the other. A good example of harmonic modulation capability makes the 1st set "Adagio e staccato - Allegro" op in 6 Concerti Grossi 3 # 3, in the.. Chromatic guided chords merge.

  • op. 1: 12 sonatas for violin (s) and B. c. (London, 1716)
  • op. 2: 6 Concerti grossi (London, 1732)
  • op. 3: 6 Concerti grossi (London, 1733)
  • op. 4: 6 Concerti grossi (London, 1739)
  • op. 4 / II: 6 sonatas for violin and B. c.
  • op.5: 12 Concerti grossi based on Arcangelo Corelli's Violin Sonatas op.5 (London, 1726/27)
  • op. 5 / II: 6 sonatas for violoncello and B. c. (Paris, 1746)
  • op. 6: 6 Concerti (London, 1741/42, lost)
  • op. 7: 6 Concerti grossi (1746)
  • op.8: Rules for playing in a true Taste (London, ca.1748)
  • Op. 9: The Art of Playing on the Violin ("The Art of Playing the Violin "), a first didactic publication of this kind (London 1751)
  • op.10: Guida Armonica o Dizionario Armonico (approx. 1752, expanded in 1756)
  • op.11: The Art of Accompaniment on the Harpsichord, Organ, etc. (1756)

Without opus number:

  • La Foresta Incantata
  • 26 violin concerts
  • 24 trio sonatas for 2 violins and B. c.
  • Some solo sonatas
  • Sonatas for violin and B. c.
  • Pieces de Clavecin (1743)
  • Second Collection of Pieces for the Harpsichord (1762)
  • Art of Playing on the Guitar or Cittra (1760)

Edits

  • B. Tonazzi: Francesco Geminiani, Sei sonata per chitarra o violino, violoncello e harpsichord. Edizioni Suvini Zerboni, Milan.

Web links

literature

  • Enrico Careri: A controversial musician. The violinist, composer and theorist Francesco Geminiani (1687–1762). 2 volumes. Liverpool 1990 (Liverpool, University, dissertation).
  • Enrico Careri: Francesco Geminiani (1687–1762). Clarendon Press, Oxford 1993, ISBN 0-19-816300-2 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Careri 1993, p. 2.
personal data
SURNAME Geminiani, Francesco
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Geminiani, Francesco Xaverio (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian violinist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH baptized December 5, 1687
PLACE OF BIRTH Lucca
DATE OF DEATH September 17, 1762
Place of death Dublin