Giovanni Lorenzo Somis

Lorenzo Somis

Giovanni Lorenzo Somis (born November 11, 1688 in Turin , † November 29, 1775 there ) was an Italian violinist , composer and painter .

Live and act

Lorenzo Somis was a brother of the violinist and composer Giovanni Battista Somis and, like him, received violin lessons from his father, Francesco Lorenzo Somis (1663–1736). He lived in Bologna for eight years, where he studied violin with Girolamo Nicolò Laurenti and was accepted into the Accademia Filarmonica in 1722 . From 1724 he lived in Turin, except for short trips, where he first had a position in the military band of the King of Sardinia. In 1732 he became second violinist in the Royal Chapel. In 1763 he took over the post of first violinist, which up to this point had been held by his late brother Giovanni Battista. In 1770 he was retired with the same salary. He owned violins by Georg Klotz, Nicola Amati and Girolamo Amati .

In many cases his compositions were confused with those of his older brother, since his handwritten works are only marked with "Somis". While his Op. 1 follows the four-movement form of the Sonata da Chiesa, and from Op. 2 a turn to the three-movement form and the gallant style . Felice Giardini was one of his students .

Giovanni Battista, painted by Lorenzo

Somis was an art collector who also painted himself; his collection included more than 70 paintings. He learned to paint in the workshop of Gian Giuseppe del Sole (1654–1719) in Bologna. Lorenzo Somis made portraits of his brother Giovanni Battista, Antonio Lotti , Giovanni Porta , Giacomo Antonio Perti and the cellist Salvatore Lanzetti, among others .

Works

• Op. 1: 8 sonatas for violin and basso continuo (Rome, 1722)
• Op. 2: 12 sonatas for violin and basso continuo (Paris, 1740)
• Op. 3: 6 trio sonatas (Paris, 1740)
• 6 concertos for violin and orchestra

Web links

Sheet music and audio files by Giovanni Lorenzo Somis in the International Music Score Library Project