Girolamo Salieri

Girolamo Giuseppe Bartolomeo Salieri (born June 14, 1794 in Legnago , † March 3, 1864 in Padua ) was an Italian clarinet virtuoso and composer .

Life

Salieri was a nephew of the Viennese court conductor Antonio Salieri and studied with his uncle in Vienna before he went to the theater of Trieste as a clarinetist in 1815 . At the local conservatory he also worked as a professor for clarinet and basset horn . A series of concerts with him between 1831 and 1838 are documented. The necrology from the Gazzetta di Venezia of March 17, 1864 shows that Girolamo Salieri moved to Padua in 1841 and took over the position of first clarinetist at the theater there and in the Cappella di S. Antonio. The Padua-based Società filarmonica di S. Cecilia - later renamed Istituto filarmonico-drammatico - also appointed Salieri as a lecturer at its institute. In 1857 he was made an honorary member by the board of the institute. Girolamo Salieri died in Padua on March 3, 1864 after a brief illness.

Girolamo Salieri composed - as it appears from the few surviving works - without exception for his instrument. In addition to some chamber music pieces, various paraphrases and variations on melodies from operas by Gioacchino Rossini , Vincenzo Bellini and Giovanni Pacini , in which he shows all the stops of his clarinet skills, have been preserved. They not only offer the soloist the opportunity to shine with virtuoso runs and jumps, but also expressively illuminate the many facets of the different clarinet registers. In 1833 the Allgemeine Musikische Zeitung ruled on his playing: "[...] he treats the clarinet as well as the undeservedly increasingly rare bassetorn with great care and delicacy, so that he can compete with the most celebrated virtuosos on this instrument."

literature

• Rudolph Angermüller : Antonio Salieri. Documents of his life taking into account music, literature, fine arts, architecture, religion, philosophy, education, history, science, technology, economy and daily life of his time. 3 volumes. Bock, Bad Honnef, 2000, ISBN 3-87066-495-9 .
• Gaetano Sorgato: Memorie funebri antiche e recenti. Prosperini, Padua, 1863-66, pp. 103f.