Giuseppe Torelli (22 April 1658 – 8 February 1709) was an Italian violist,

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,

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

, and

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 ...

of the middle

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 ...

era. Torelli is most remembered for contributing to the development of the instrumental

concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typ ...

., especially

concerti grossi The concerto grosso (; Italian for ''big concert(o)'', plural ''concerti grossi'' ) is a form of baroque music in which the musical material is passed between a small group of soloists (the '' concertino'') and full orchestra (the ''ripieno'', '' t ...

and the

solo concerto A solo concerto is a musical form which features a single solo instrument with the melody line, accompanied by an orchestra. Traditionally, there are three movements in a solo concerto, consisting of a fast section, a slow and lyrical section, and t ...

, for strings and continuo, as well as being the most prolific Baroque composer for

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

Life

Torelli was born in

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

. It is not known with whom he studied violin though it has been speculated that he was a pupil of Leonardo Brugnoli or Bartolomeo Laurenti, but it is certain that he studied composition with Giacomo Antonio Perti. On 27 June 1684, at the age of 26, he became a member of the Accademia Filarmonica as ''suonatore di violino''. He was employed as a viola player at the

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 ...

beginning in 1686, where he stayed until 1695. or January 1696. when the orchestra was discontinued because of financial constraints. On 1687

Giuseppe Corsi da Celano Giuseppe Corsi Evangelisti (Vangelisti) (1631/1632 in County of Celano – after 10 March 1691 in Ancona or Modena)Galliano Ciliberti - Giovanni Tribuzio: ''«Un buon virtuoso, agitato dalla fortuna, dalla quale sortì vari accidenti». Giuse ...

played Torelli's music, from Op. 3, in Parma at the

Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata The Shrine of Santa Maria della Steccata is a Greek-cross design Renaissance church in central Parma, Italy. The name derives from the fence (Italian: ''steccato'') in the church. A Nursing Madonna is enshrined within, crowned on 27 May 1601 b ...

. By 1698 he was ''maestro di concerto'' at the court of Georg Friedrich II, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, where he conducted the orchestra for ''Le pazzie d'amore e dell'interesse'', an ''idea drammatica'' composed by the ''maestro di cappella'', and the castrato

Francesco Antonio Pistocchi Francesco Antonio Mamiliano Pistocchi, nicknamed Pistocchino (165913 May 1726), was an Italian singer, composer and librettist.Talbot, Michael''The chamber cantatas of Antonio Vivaldi'' Boydell Press, 2006, p. 52. Pistocchino was born in Paler ...

, before leaving for Vienna in December 1699. He returned to Bologna sometime before February 1701, when he is listed as a violinist in the newly re-formed ''cappella musicale'' at San Petronio, directed by his former composition teacher Perti. He died at age 50 on 8 February 1709 in Bologna, where his manuscripts are conserved in the San Petronio archives. Giuseppe's brother, Felice Torelli, was a Bolognese painter of modest reputation, who went on to be a founding member of the

Accademia Clementina The Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna ("academy of fine arts of Bologna") is a public tertiary academy of fine art in Bologna, in Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy. It has a campus in Cesena. Giorgio Morandi taught engraving at the Accademi ...

. The most notable amongst Giuseppe's many pupils was

Francesco Manfredini Francesco Onofrio Manfredini (22 June 1684 – 6 October 1762) was an Italian Baroque composer, violinist, and church musician. He was born at Pistoia to a trombonist. He studied violin with Giuseppe Torelli in Bologna, then a part of the Papa ...

Selected works

*10 ''Sonate a 3'', with basso continuo, Op. 1 (1686). *12 ''Concerto da camera'', for 2 violins and basso continuo, Op. 2 (1686). *12 ''Sinfonie'', for 2–4 instruments, Op. 3 (1687). *12 ''Concertino per camera'' for violin and cello, Op. 4 (1688). *12 ''Sinfonie a 3 e concerti a 4'', Op. 5 (1692). *12 ''Concerti musicali a quattro'', Op. 6 (1698). *12 ''Concerti grossi con una pastorale per il Santissimo Natale'', Op. 8 (1709). *More than 30 concertos for 1 to 4 trumpets, including a ''Sinfonia à 4'', composed after 1702. and unpublished during his lifetime, which is a concerto for four trumpets, with an orchestra requiring a minimum of four oboes, two bassoons, trombone, timpani, four violins, two violas, four cellos, two double basses, and continuo.

Selected recordings

*Cantata "Lumi dolenti lumi" on ''Agitata''

Delphine Galou Delphine Galou (born 1977) is a French contralto. She was the "Discovery of the Year" of the French Association for the Promotion of Young Artists in 2004. Galou's outstanding vocal technique combined with noble bearing allow her performances of t ...

Accademia Bizantina Ottavio Dantone (born 9 October 1960) is an Italian conductor and keyboardist (primarily harpsichord and fortepiano) particularly noted for his performances of Baroque music. He has been the music director of the Accademia Bizantina in Ravenna sin ...

Ottavio Dantone Ottavio Dantone (born 9 October 1960) is an Italian conductor and keyboardist (primarily harpsichord and fortepiano) particularly noted for his performances of Baroque music. He has been the music director of the Accademia Bizantina in Ravenna si ...

, Alpha. 2017

References

Sources

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External links