Giovanni Battista Noferi

Giovanni Battista Noferi (* around 1730 probably in Italy; † February 26, 1782 in London ) was an Italian violinist and composer who worked in England.

Live and act

Giovanni Battista Noferi published his eight violin sonatas op. 1 in London in 1757, after which he settled in Cambridge , where in 1760 his six sonatas op. 2 were published. In the foreword to this collection of works he named the dedicatee, the violinist Felice Giardini, as his friend and teacher.

From 1762 he lived in London again and took part in the city's concert life, as a soloist, orchestral musician and conductor. Between 1770 and 1780 he organized numerous benefit concerts in which musicians such as James Cervetto (1747–1837), Johann Christian Bach , Carl Friedrich Abel , Muzio Clementi and Wilhelm Cramer (1746–1799) took part.

He also played guitar on stage at the King's Theater . From 1777 he composed several ballet music for the King's Theater , which was advertised in contemporary advertisements. Noferi's music is in the gallant style of the time around 1770.

Works (selection)

• Eight Solo's for violin and a thoroug bass op. 1, London, 1757
• Six Solos for violin and a thoroug bass op.2 , Cambridge, 1760
• Six Solos for guitar and harpsichord op. 3, London, 1765
• Six Sonatas or Duetts for 2 violins op.4 , 1762
• Sei duetti for 2 flutes op.5 , 1763
• Six Sonatas for 2 violins and a thoroug bass op.7, London 1765
• Sei trii for 2 violins and bass, op.9 , London, 1766
• Six Sonatas for 2 violins and harpsichord op.10 , London, 1769
• Six Sonatas or Lessons for guitar op.12 , London, 1775
• Six Duettos , 3 for 2 violin and 3 for violin and violoncello op.14 , London, 1777
• Six Trios , 3 for violin and tenor (viola) and 3 for violin and violoncello op.15, London, 1777
• The Opera Dances for 1778
• The Opera Dances for 1779
• The Opera Dances for 1780
• The Celebrated Dances Performed by the Messrs. Vestris Etc. at the King's Theater London, 1781

Web links

• Sheet music and audio files by Giovanni Battista Noferi in the International Music Score Library Project
• Materials by and about Giovanni Battista Noferi at Europeana

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Life data according to Rochus von Liliencron:  Cramer, Jean Baptiste . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, pp. 551-555.
2. ↑ So on February 24, 1778, when a new Grand Ballet Espagnol, called La Serenade Interrompue With a Pas de Deux du Masque, by Mons. Simonet and Madmoiselle Baccelli, accompanied and de Guittare by Signor Noferi. According to: Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser , February 23, 1778. (GDN Z2000384533, BBCN.) He also accompanied the singer Signora Bernasconi at an Italian canzonetta . See Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser , April 13, 1780. (GDN Z2000392180, BBCN). See: Jürgen Kloss: The "Guittar" in Britain 1753–1800. The annals of the theater also report Noferi playing his inimitable Spanish guitar on the stage in the 1770s . See: Christopher Page: Being a Guitarist in the Time of Byron and Shelley. Gresham College , November 20, 2014.
3. ↑ Guido Olivieri:  Noferi, Giovanni Battista. In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI).
4. ↑ In it Devonshire Minuet. First performed on March 22, 1781. ( Compare : Moira Goff: Devonshire minuets. British Library website , February 12, 2014, accessed December 26, 2014.)