Antonio Rosetti by Heinrich Eduard von Wintter

Francesco Antonio Rosetti (c. 1750 – 30 June 1792) was a

classical era Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the interwoven civilization ...

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 ...

and

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

player, and was a contemporary of

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

and

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

. There is considerable confusion regarding his name. The occasional mention of a supposed, but non-existent, "Antonio Rosetti born 1744 in Milan", is due to an error by Ernst Ludwig Gerber in a later edition of his ''Tonkünstler-Lexikon'' having mistaken Rosetti for an Italian in the first edition of his own Lexikon, and therefore including Rosetti twice - once as an Italian, once as a German-Czech. Many sources claim that he was born Franz Anton Rösler, and changed his name to an Italianate form by 1773, but according to a 1792 article by Heinrich Phillip Bossler, who knew Rosetti personally, he was named Rosetti from his birth.

Life and career

Rosetti was born about 1750 in

Litoměřice Litoměřice (; ) is a town in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument reservation. The town is the seat of the Roman C ...

, a town in Northern

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

. He is believed to have received early musical training from the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

in Prague. In 1773 Rosetti left his native country and found employment in the Hofkapelle of Prince Kraft Ernst of Oettingen-Wallerstein whom he served for sixteen years, becoming

Kapellmeister ( , , ), 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 ...

in 1785. While there, he orchestrated two piano concerti by Anna von Schaden. In July 1789 Rosetti left Wallerstein to accept the post of Kapellmeister to the Duke Friedrich Franz I of

Mecklenburg-Schwerin The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin () was a duchy in northern Germany created in 1701, when Frederick William, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Frederick William and Adolphus Frederick II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Adolphus Frederick II divided ...

in Ludwigslust where he died in service of the duke on 30 June 1792 at the age of 42 years. In 1777, he married Rosina Neher, with whom he had three daughters. In late 1781 he was granted leave to spend 5 months in Paris. Many of the finest ensembles in the city performed his works. Rosetti arranged for his music to be published, including a set of six symphonies published in 1782. He returned to his post, assured of recognition as an accomplished composer. Rosetti wrote over 400 compositions, primarily instrumental music including many symphonies and

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 ...

s which were widely published. Rosetti also composed a significant number of vocal and choral works, particularly in the last few years of his life. Among these are German oratorios including ''Der sterbende Jesu'' and ''Jesus in Gethsemane'' (1790) and a German ''Hallelujah''. The English music historian Charles Burney included Rosetti among the most popular composers of the period in his work ''A General History of Music''.Burney, Charles. ''A General History of Music from the Earliest Ages to the Present Period'' (1789). 4 vols. London: Payne and Sons, 1776-89, iv.591. Rosetti is perhaps best known today for his horn concertos, which Mozart scholar H. C. Robbins Landon suggests (in ''The Mozart Companion'') may have been a model for Mozart's four horn concertos. Rosetti is also known for writing a Requiem (1776) which was performed at a memorial for Mozart in December 1791. Attributing some music to Rosetti is difficult because several other composers with similar names worked at the same time, including Franciscus Xaverius Antonius Rössler.

Works list

Available recordings are listed.

Symphonies

Wind ensembles

Concertos

Chamber music

Note: The recordings of D19 through D24 above are arrangements for harp.

Piano

Vocal works

Choral works

Liturgical works

References

*H.C. Robbins Landon, "The Concertos: (2) Their Musical Origin and Development," in H.C. Robbins Landon and Donald Mitchell, eds., ''The Mozart Companion'', NY: Norton, 1956, p. 277. *Sterling E. Murray: The Music of Antonio Rosetti. A Thematic Catalog ca. 1750 - 1792. Warren, Mich.: Harmonie Park Press, 1996. *Sterling E. Murray. "Antonio Rosetti", ''

Grove Music Online ''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 ...

'', ed. L. Macy (accessed February 5, 2006)
grovemusic.com
(subscription access) *Sterling E. Murray. The Career of an Eighteenth-Century Kapellmeister: The Life and Music of Antonio Rosetti. University of Rochester Press, 2014.

External links

at Mozartforum.com

at Bach-Cantatas.com

at Robert Ostermeyer Musikedition

Including complete list of works, at Klassika.info * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosetti, Antonio 1750s births 1792 deaths 18th-century classical composers 18th-century male musicians 18th-century musicians from Bohemia Classical-period composers from Bohemia Czech male classical composers Oratorio composers Composers for piano String quartet composers People from Litoměřice 18th-century composers from the Holy Roman Empire