Antonio Besozzi (1714–1781) was an Italian

oboist An oboist (formerly hautboist) is a musician who plays the oboe or any oboe family instrument, including the oboe d'amore, cor anglais or English horn, bass oboe and piccolo oboe or oboe musette. The following is a list of notable past and pres ...

and composer and also member of an extensive family of musicians from the eighteenth-century Naples. He composed several concertos for oboe and a few

quintet A quintet is a group containing five members. It is commonly associated with musical groups, such as a string quintet, or a group of five singers, but can be applied to any situation where five similar or related objects are considered a single ...

s, which he called "sonatas", for two oboes, two horns and a bassoon. Besozzi was born in

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

, the son of oboist Giuseppe Besozzi and brother of Girolamo Besozzi. He was from 8 October 1727 to 1731 a member of the Ducal ''Guardia Irlandese,'' a hautboy band created in 1702 by

Antonio Farnese, Duke of Parma Antonio Farnese (29 November 1679 – 20 January 1731) was the eighth and final House of Farnese, Farnese List of Dukes of Parma, Duke of Parma and Piacenza. He married, in 1727, Enrichetta d'Este of Duchy of Modena and Reggio, Modena with ...

. From 1734 he was active in Naples until the birth of his son Carlo Besozzi in 1738, when he left for Dresden to join the orchestra of the Royal Chapel and become its first oboist in 1739.Antonio, considered one of the most famous oboists of his time, had a salary of 800

Thaler A thaler or taler ( ; , previously spelled ) is one of the large silver coins minted in the states and territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy during the Early Modern period. A ''thaler'' size silver coin has a diameter o ...

s by 2 October 1739, and from 1745 of 1200 Thalers a month. In 1754 he was joined by his son and in early 1757 they travelled to England, where they were known as the ''Signori Besozzi.'' In December of that same year they moved to Paris, where they played the

Concert Spirituel The Concert Spirituel () was one of the first public concert series in existence. The concerts began in Paris in 1725 and ended in 1790. Later, concerts or series of concerts with the same name occurred in multiple places including Paris, Vienna ...

. In the years 1758–59 he was in the service of the court of Stuttgart, under the direction of

Niccolò Jommelli Niccolò Jommelli (; 10 September 1714 – 25 August 1774) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he was responsible for certain operatic reforms including redu ...

, after which they returned to Dresden until he resigned in 1774. His son continued to play until 1792 though. In May 1778 he played in Salzburg with his son, having been held in high esteem by

Leopold Mozart Johann Georg Leopold Mozart (November 14, 1719 – May 28, 1787) was a German composer, violinist, and music theorist. He is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook ''Versuch einer grün ...

. He then returned to Dresden and after then to Turin, where he settled until his death in 1781.

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References

;Attribution *''This article is based on the translation of the corresponding article of the Italian Wikipedia. A list of contributors can be found there at the''

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

''section.'' 1714 births 1781 deaths Italian male oboists Italian oboists 18th-century Italian composers 18th-century Italian musicians 18th-century Italian male musicians Italian male composers Musicians from Parma Immigrants to the Kingdom of Naples {{Italy-composer-stub