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Andrea Adolfati (1721 or 1722, Venice – 28 October 1760, Padua) was an Italian
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 ...
who is particularly remembered for his output in the
opera seria ''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called ''dramma per musica'' or ''melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to abou ...
genre. His works are generally conventional and stylistically similar to the operas of his teacher
Baldassare Galuppi Baldassare Galuppi (18 October 17063 January 1785) was a Venetian composer, born on the island of Burano in the Venetian Republic. He belonged to a generation of composers, including Johann Adolph Hasse, Giovanni Battista Sammartini, and C.&nbs ...
. Although his music largely followed the fashion of his time, he did compose two tunes with unusual
time signature A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates th ...
s for his day: an air in
meter The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...
and another in meter. Adolfati studied music composition in Venice with composer Galuppi. After completing his studies he became the
maestro di cappella ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...
at the
Santa Maria della Salute Santa Maria della Salute (; ), commonly known simply as La Salute (), is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica located at the Punta della Dogana in the Dorsoduro sestiere of the city of Venice, Italy. It stands on the narrow finger of Pun ...
, a position he held until 1745. He then worked in the same capacity at the court in Modena, where his divertimento da camera ''La pace fra la virtù e la bellezza'' premiered in 1746. Around the same time he composed some songs and arias for
Johann Adolph Hasse Johann Adolph Hasse (baptised 25 March 1699 – 16 December 1783) was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a co ...
's ''Lo starnuto di Ercole'', which was given at the Teatro San Girolamo (a small theatre located in the
Palazzo Labia Palazzo Labia is a baroque palace in Venice, Italy. Built in the 17th–18th century, it is one of the last great Palazzo, palazzi of Venice. Little known outside of Italy, it is most notable for the remarkable frescoed ballroom painted 1746� ...
) in 1745 and during
Carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...
1746. In 1748 Adolfati became maestro di cappella at the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata del Vastato in Genoa. On 30 May 1760 he became maestro di cappella of the
Padua Cathedral Padua Cathedral, or Basilica Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption (), is a Catholic Church, Catholic church and Basilicas in the Catholic Church, minor basilica located on the east end of Piazza Duomo, Padua, Piazza Duomo, adjacent to the b ...
, succeeding Giacomo Rampini, who had died three days earlier, in that post. He remained there for only a short period, as he also died just five months later.


Operas

*''Artaserse'' (opera seria, libretto by
Metastasio Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of ''opera seria'' libretti. Early life Met ...
, 1741, Verona; in collaboration with Pietro Chiarini) *''La pace fra la virtù e la bellezza'' (divertimento da camera, libretto by Liborati, Metastasio, 1746, Modena) *''Didone abbandonata'' (dramma, libretto by Metastasio, 1747, Venice) *''Il corsaro punito'' (dramma giocoso, 1750, Pavia) *''Arianna'' (dramma, libretto by
Pietro Pariati Pietro Pariati (Reggio Emilia, 27 March 1665- Vienna, 14 October 1733) was an Italian poet and librettist. From 1714-1729 he was Metastasio's predecessor at the Vienna court of Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor. Biography Born in Reggio Emilia, wa ...
, 1750, Genoa) *''La gloria e il piacere'' (introduction to music on the ball, 1751, Genoa) *''
Adriano in Siria ''Adriano in Siria'' (''Hadrian in Syria'') is a libretto by Italian poet Metastasio first performed, with music by Antonio Caldara, in Vienna in 1732, and turned into an opera by more than 60 other composers during the next century. Metastasio ...
'' (dramma, libretto by Metastasio, 1751, Genoa) *''Il giuoco dei matti'' (commedia per musica, 1751, Genoa) *''Ifigenia'' (dramma per musica, 1751, Genoa) *''Ipermestra'' (dramma, libretto by Metastasio, 1752, Modena) *''Vologeso'' (dramma, basato su ''Lucio Vero'' by
Apostolo Zeno Apostolo Zeno (11 December 1668 – 11 November 1750) was a Venetian poet, librettist, journalist, and man of letters. Early life Apostolo Zeno was born in Venice to a Kingdom of Candia#Establishment_of_Venetian_rule, colonial branch of the ...
, 1752, Genoa) *''La clemenza di Tito'' (dramma, libretto by Metastasio, 1753, Vienna) *''Sesostri re d'Egitto'' (dramma, libretto by Apostolo Zeno, 1755, Genoa)


Other works

*''Miserere'' for 4 voices and instruments *''Nisi Dominus'' for 1 voice, basso continuo *''Laudate'' for 4 voices *''In exitu'' for 5 voices and instruments *''Domine ne in furore'' for 4 voices and instruments *6 cantatas for soprano and instruments *''Già la notte s'avvicina'' (text by Metastasio) *''Filen, crudo Fileno'' *''Perdono amata Nice'' (text by Metastasio) *''Ingratissimo Tirsi'' *''No, non turbarti, o Nice'' (text by Metastasio) *Cantata for 2 *Various arias *6 sonatas for 2 violins, 2 flutes, 2 horns, bassoon, and contrabassoon *Sinfonia in F major *Overture in D major


Sources

*R. Giazotto, ''La musica a Genova nella vita pubblica e privata dal XIII al XVIII secolo'' (Genoa, 1951) *B. Brunelli, ''Pietro Metastasio: Tutte le opere'', (Milan, 1951–1954) *
Karl Gustav Fellerer Karl Gustav Fellerer (7 July 1902 – 7 January 1984) was a German musicologist. His works include more than 600 scientific publications on catholic church music, Italian music from 1600 to the beginning of the 20th century, and music history of t ...
, "Thematische Verzeichnisse der fürstbischöflichen Freisingischen Hofmusik von 1796",
Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...
for
Otto Erich Deutsch Otto Erich Deutsch (5 September 1883 – 23 November 1967) was an Austrian musicologist. He is known for compiling the first comprehensive catalogue of Franz Schubert's compositions, first published in 1951 in English, with a revised edition pu ...
, pp. 296–302 (Kassel, 1963) *S. Pintacuda, ''Genova, Biblioteca dell'Istituto musicale "Nicolò Paganini": catalogo'' (Milan, 1966) *A. Zaggia, "La fiera delle bagatelle: il teatro musicale per marionette di San Girolamo (Venice, 1746–1748)", ''Rassegna veneta di studi musicali'', vols. II–III, pp. 133–171 (1986–1987) *S. Mamy, ''La musique à Venise et l'imaginaire français des Lumières'', pp. 30–31, 175 (Paris, 1996) *S. Hansell, C. Steffan, "Andrea Adolfati" in ''
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...
'' *A. Adolfati, ''Sei cantate a voce sola con stromenti'', prima edizione moderna a cura di Davide Mingozzi (Armelin musica, 2014)


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adolfati, Andrea 1720s births 1760 deaths Italian opera composers Italian male opera composers 18th-century Italian composers 18th-century Italian male musicians Musicians from the Republic of Venice