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Giovanni Bononcini (or Buononcini) (18 July 1670 – 9 July 1747) (sometimes cited also as Giovanni Battista Bononcini) was an Italian
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...
,
cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D ...
, singer and teacher, one of a family of string players and composers.


Biography


Early years

Bononcini was born in
Modena, Italy Modena (, , ; egl, label= Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. A town, and seat of ...
, the oldest of three sons. His father, Giovanni Maria Bononcini (1642–1678), was a
violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...
ist and a composer, and his younger brother, Antonio Maria Bononcini, was also a composer. An orphan from the age of 8, Giovanni Battista studied in the music school of
Giovanni Paolo Colonna Giovanni Paolo Colonna (16 June 1637 – 28 November 1695) was an Italian composer, teacher, organist and organ builder. In addition to being chapel-master and organist of San Petronio Basilica in Bologna, he served prominent members of the co ...
at
San Petronio Basilica The Basilica of San Petronio is a minor basilica and church of the Archdiocese of Bologna located in Bologna, Emilia Romagna, northern Italy. It dominates Piazza Maggiore. The basilica is dedicated to the patron saint of the city, Saint Petroniu ...
in
Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different na ...
(perhaps in 1680 or 1681). In 1685, at the age of 15, he published three collections of instrumental works (in two of which he gave his age as 13). On 30 May 1686, he was accepted as a member of the prestigious
Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna The Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna ("philharmonic academy of Bologna"; sometimes known in English as the Bologna Academy of Music) is a music education institution in Bologna, Italy. The Accademia de' Filarmonici was founded as an associ ...
. His services were already much in demand: he worked at San Petronio as a string player and singer, published further collections of instrumental pieces, and produced two oratorios for performance in Bologna and Modena. From 1687 to 1691 he served as ''maestro di cappella'' at the church of
San Giovanni in Monte San Giovanni in Monte is a 15th-century Roman Catholic church in Bologna, Italy. History The current church can be traced back to a round church from the 5th century known as the Monte Oliveto, traditionally said to be founded by Saint Petronius i ...
in Bologna, for which he composed a set of masses for double choir which were published in 1688 as his op.7. In 1690 he composed a further oratorio for Modena. He also spent some time in
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...
in 1689 and 1690. In 1691 he dedicated a set of vocal duets (op. 8) to
Emperor Leopold I Leopold I (Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Franz Felician; hu, I. Lipót; 9 June 1640 – 5 May 1705) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, by his first wife, Maria An ...
and played in the orchestra of the
Cardinal Legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholi ...
of Bologna,
Benedetto Pamphili Benedetto Pamphili (often with the final ''long i'' orthography, Pamphilj) (25 April 1653 – 22 March 1730) was an Italian cardinal, patron of the arts and librettist for many composers. Life Pamphili was born in Rome on 25 April 1653 in ...
.


Rome

In the same year, he moved to
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
, where he entered the service of
Filippo II Colonna Filippo II Colonna (7 April 1663 – 8 November 1714) was an Italian nobleman of prominent Colonna family. He was the 9th Duke and Prince of Paliano. Biography Born in Rome, Filippo was the son of Don Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna, hereditary Grand ...
, a powerful patron of the arts, for whom Bononcini, along with Colonna's librettist,
Silvio Stampiglia Silvio Stampiglia (14 March 1664 – 27 January 1725) was an Italian poet, librettist, and founder member of the Accademia dell'Arcadia under the pen name of Palemone Licurio. Numerous Italian composer set his libretti to music, particularly Carlo ...
, produced six serenatas, an oratorio and at three (possibly five) operas between 1692 and 1696, including the highly successful ''
Xerse ''Il Xerse'' ( in its 1660 French version ''Xerxès'') is an opera by Francesco Cavalli (specifically, a ''dramma per musica'') about Xerxes I. The libretto was written by Nicolò Minato, and was later set by both Giovanni Bononcini (1694, '' ...
'' (1694). Another successful opera, ''Il trionfo di Camilla'' was produced in
Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...
(in 1696 or 1697) following the appointment of Colonna's brother-in-law, Luigi della Cerda, as Spain's local
viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...
. Between 1695 and 1696, Bononcini was made a member of two of Rome's most exclusive artistic circles, the musical
Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia ( en, National Academy of St Cecilia) is one of the oldest musical institutions in the world, founded by the papal bull ''Ratione congruit'', issued by Sixtus V in 1585, which invoked two saints pro ...
and the literary
Accademia degli Arcadi The Accademia degli Arcadi or Accademia dell'Arcadia, "Academy of Arcadia" or "Academy of the Arcadians", was an Italian literary academy founded in Rome in 1690. The full Italian official name was Pontificia Accademia degli Arcadi. History F ...
(in which he was one of seven musicians proposed as founding members of a "chorus" or performance arm). Around this time, the eclectic musician and poet Giuseppe Valentini wrote a sonnet in praise of Bononcini's teaching abilities.


Vienna and Berlin

Following the death of Colonna's wife Lorenza in August 1697, Bononcini left Rome for
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
, where he entered the service of
Emperor Leopold I Leopold I (Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Franz Felician; hu, I. Lipót; 9 June 1640 – 5 May 1705) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, by his first wife, Maria An ...
with a large salary and also established himself as the favoured composer of Leopold's heir and successor,
Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the m ...
. In 1702, following the outbreak of the
War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...
, Bononcini moved to the court of Queen Sophia Charlotte in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
, where he became the queen's favourite composer and broadened his public reputation with a production of a new opera, ''Polifemo'' (he also composed ''Cefalo'' there). Although his activities in the next decade are less well documented, he appears to have been in Venice for the production of a new opera during the carnival of 1706. By this time Bononcini had an enviable international reputation: in the words of his fellow composer
Francesco Geminiani 230px Francesco Saverio Geminiani (baptised 5 December 1687 – 17 September 1762) was an Italian violinist, composer, and music theorist. BBC Radio 3 once described him as "now largely forgotten, but in his time considered almost a musical god, ...
, ''Camilla'' had "astonished the musical world by its departure from the dry, flat melody to which their ears had until then been accustomed". By 1710, productions of ''Camilla'' (presumably based on Bononcini's version) had reached
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
as well as many cities across Italy. At some time during this decade on one of his sojourns to Italy, he married Margherita Balletti. She came from a family of actors and ''
commedia dell'arte (; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Charact ...
'' players and was the sister-in-law of
Luigi Riccoboni Luigi Riccoboni (1 April 1676 – 6 December 1753)"Riccoboni, Luigi" Notice ...
.


London

From 1720 to 1732 he was in London, where for a time his popularity rivalled
George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...
's, who had arrived in London in 1712. The Whig party favoured Handel, while the Tories favoured Bononcini. Their competition inspired the
epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mill ...
by John Byrom that made the phrase " Tweedledum and Tweedledee" famous. Handel steadily gained the ascendancy, and Bononcini became a pensioner of the Duchess of Marlborough, who had led his admirers. Bononcini left London after charges of
plagiarism Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and though ...
were proven against him: he had palmed off a madrigal by
Antonio Lotti Antonio Lotti (5 January 1667 – 5 January 1740) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. Biography Lotti was born in Venice, although his father Matteo was '' Kapellmeister'' at Hanover at the time. Oral tradition says that in 1682, Lotti ...
as his own work.


Final years

After leaving London in 1733, Bononcini travelled to France in the company of an adventurer, Count Ughi, who swindled him out of most of his property. In Paris, Bononcini gave concerts of his religious music at the Concert Spirituel and then moved on to Lisbon to become the cello teacher to the Portuguese king. In 1736 he returned to Vienna, where his opera ''Alessandro in Sidone'' and his oratorio ''Ezechia'' were performed in 1737. In dire financial straits by 1742, he petitioned
Maria Theresa of Austria Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position '' suo jure'' (in her own right) ...
for help. In October of that year, she granted him a pension of 50
Florin The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purc ...
s a month in recognition of his past service to the court. Bononcini died on 9 July 1747 in Vienna, impoverished and largely forgotten. After his death, his last major composition, a ''
Te Deum The "Te Deum" (, ; from its incipit, , ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to AD 387 authorship, but with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin Ch ...
'' which he had composed in 1741 for
Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to: * Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407) * Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450 * Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547 * Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...
, was performed in celebration of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.Frajese, Carlo (1970)
"Bononcini, Giovanni"
''
Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani The ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'' ( en, Biographical Dictionary of the Italians) is a biographical dictionary published by the Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, started in 1925 and completed in 2020. It includes about 40,000 biograp ...
'', Vol. 12. Online version retrieved 2 October 2015 .


Compositions

His earliest works for the cello are two ''Sinfonie'' included in a manuscript in Montecassino. His other works include a number of
opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...
s, masses, and a funeral anthem for the Duke of Marlborough. One of his operas, ''Xerse'', parodied material in an earlier setting of that opera by
Francesco Cavalli Francesco Cavalli (born Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni; 14 February 1602 – 14 January 1676) was a Venetian composer, organist and singer of the early Baroque period. He succeeded his teacher Claudio Monteverdi as the dominant and leading opera ...
. This included the aria " Ombra mai fu". Bononcini's ''Xerse'' was in turn later adapted by Handel with a third (and best known) version of "Ombra mai fu". His song ''Vado ben spesso cangiando loco'' was used by
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
in his suite for piano '' Années de pèlerinage: Deuxième année: Italie''.


Operas

*''Eraclea'' pasticcio (1692) *''
Xerse ''Il Xerse'' ( in its 1660 French version ''Xerxès'') is an opera by Francesco Cavalli (specifically, a ''dramma per musica'') about Xerxes I. The libretto was written by Nicolò Minato, and was later set by both Giovanni Bononcini (1694, '' ...
'' (1694) *''Tullo Ostillio'' (1694) *''Muzio Scevola'' (1695) *'' Il trionfo di Camilla'' (1696) *''L'amore eroica fra pastori'' (1696) *''La clemenza di Augusto'' (1697) *''La fede pubblica'' (1699) *''Gli affetti più grandi, vinti dal più giusto'' (1701) *''Cefalo'' (1702) *''Polifemo'' (1702) *''Etearco'' (1707) *''Turno Aricino'' (1707) *''Mario fuggitivo'' (1708) *''Abdolomino'' (1709) *''Caio Gracco'' (1710) *''Astarto'' (1720) *''L'odio e l'amore'' (1721) *''Crispo'' (1721) *'' Griselda'' (1722) *''Erminia'' (1723) *''Calphurnia'' (1724) *''Astianatte'' (1727) *''Alessandro in Sidone'' (1737) *''Zenobia'' (1737)


Serenatas

*''La nemica d'Amore'' (1692) *''La nemica d'Amore fatta amante'' (August 10, 1693) recorded on Alpha Classics *''La costanza non gradita nel doppio amore d'Aminta'' (1694) *''La notte festiva'' (1695) *''Amore non vuol diffidenza'' (1695) *''Amor per amore'' (1696) *''L'Euleo festeggiante'' (1699) *''La gara delle quatri stagioni'' festa in musica (1699) *''Il fiore delle Eroine'' Trattenimento in musica (1704) *''Il ritorno di Guilio Cesare'' festa in musica (1704) *''La nuova gara di Giunione e Pallade'' festa in musica (1705) *''Endimione'' favola per musica (1706)


Componimenti

*''Proteo sul Reno'' Poemetto dramattico (1703) *''Il natale di Giunone festeggiato in Samo'' (1708) *''Li sagrifici di Romolo per la salute di Roma'' (1708) *''L'arrivo della gran madre degli dei in Roma'' (1713) :''Adapted from the listing at
Silvio Stampiglia Silvio Stampiglia (14 March 1664 – 27 January 1725) was an Italian poet, librettist, and founder member of the Accademia dell'Arcadia under the pen name of Palemone Licurio. Numerous Italian composer set his libretti to music, particularly Carlo ...
page''


Other works

*''XII Trattenimenti da camera'' op. 1 (1685) *''XII Concerti da camera'' op. 2 (1685) *''Sinfonias'' op. 3-6 *''XII Duetti da camera'' op. 8 (1691) *''XII (Trio) Sonatas for the Chamber'' (1732) *''Divertimenti da camera'' (1722) *''Oratorio San Nicola di Bari'' (Rome 1693) *''Oratorio La Conversione di Maddalena'' (Vienna 1701) *''Oratorio Ezechia '' (Vienna 1737) *''4 Messe brevi'' (1688) *''Te Deum in c minor'' (1741) *''Over 300 cantatas''


References


External links


Musical Manuscripts Collection
at the
Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...
*
Giovanni Battista Bononcini: a short biography
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bononcini, Giovanni Battista 1670 births 1747 deaths 18th-century Italian male musicians 18th-century Italian composers Italian Baroque composers Italian male classical composers Italian opera composers Italian classical cellists Male opera composers Members of the Academy of Ancient Music Members of the Academy of Arcadians Musicians from Modena