Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni
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Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni (
Rieti Rieti (; , Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina region. T ...
, 18 March 1657 –
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, 1 February 1743) was an Italian organist and composer. He became one of the leading musicians in Rome during the late Baroque era, the first half of the 18th century.


Life

Taken to Rome as an infant, he began vocal study with Pompeo Natali at the age of five and sang in the choir of
San Giovanni dei Fiorentini The Basilica of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini ("Saint John of the Florentines") is a minor basilica and a titular church in the Ponte (rione of Rome), Ponte ''Rioni of Rome, rione'' of Rome, Italy. Dedicated to St. John the Baptist, the protector ...
from age eight. At Santi Apostoli he sang and studied counterpoint with Francesco Foggia, where his early compositions were performed. By age sixteen he was ''maestro di cappella'' at Santa Maria Maggiore,
Monterotondo Monterotondo is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, central Italy. History According to some historians, Monterotondo is the heir of the ancient Sabine town of Eretum, although the modern settlement appeared in the 10th-11th c ...
, a historic church near Rome. In 1673 as ''maestro'' for the cathedral at
Assisi Assisi (, also ; ; from ; Central Italian: ''Ascesi'') is a town and comune of Italy in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio. It is generally regarded as the birthplace of the Latin poet Prope ...
he began intensive study of the works of
Palestrina Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; , ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Prenestina. It is built upon ...
, and in 1676 moved to the cathedral at Rieti. In 1677 he returned to Rome for a lifelong appointment as ''maestro di cappella'' at the Basilica of
San Marco San Marco is one of the six sestiere (Venice), sestieri of Venice, lying in the heart of the city as the main place of Venice. San Marco also includes the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. Although the district includes Piazza San Marco, Saint Mar ...
. In addition he held a series of prestigious positions as ''maestro'' for Basilica dei Santi Apostoli, Rome (from 1686), at St. John Lateran (from 1708, where Palestrina had served from 1555 to 1560), and for the Cappella Giulia at St. Peter’s (from 1719, immediately following
Domenico Scarlatti Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti (26 October 1685 – 23 July 1757) was an Italian composer. He is classified primarily as a Baroque music, Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the development of the Classical peri ...
), and ''maestro di cappella'' at the Collegium Germanicum in Rome. For the chapter of
San Lorenzo in Damaso The Minor Basilica of St. Lawrence in Damaso (Basilica Minore di San Lorenzo in Damaso) or simply San Lorenzo in Damaso is a parish and titular church in central Rome, Italy that is dedicated to St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr. It is incorporate ...
, he produced major performances over thirty-five years for the music-loving Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, whose extensive circle of artists included
Arcangelo Corelli Arcangelo Corelli (, also , ; ; 17 February 1653 – 8 January 1713) was an List of Italian composers, Italian composer and violinist of the middle Baroque music, Baroque era. His music was key in the development of the modern genres of Sonata a ...
,
George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...
, both Alessandro and
Domenico Scarlatti Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti (26 October 1685 – 23 July 1757) was an Italian composer. He is classified primarily as a Baroque music, Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the development of the Classical peri ...
,
Bernardo Pasquini Bernardo Pasquini (7 December 1637 – 21 November 1710) was an Italian composer of operas, oratorios, cantatas and keyboard music. A renowned virtuoso keyboard player, he was one of the most important Italian composers for harpsichord between Gir ...
, and Filippo Amadei.


Works

His contributions to liturgical music in Rome were profound as composer, organist, ''maestro di capella'', writer on music theory and history, and as ''esaminatori dei maestri'' for the Academy of St. Cecilia. He was extremely prolific, with some 325 masses, 800 Psalm settings and 235 motets among the 3500 compositions listed by his pupil and biographer, Girolamo Chiti. He prepared a complete year of music for St. Peter’s, with settings for the masses and offices of every Sunday and holy day. Pitoni’s early works are brilliant examples of his genius in the Roman
contrapuntal In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous Part (music), musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and Pitch contour, melodic contour. The term ...
style of Palestrina. In later years he moved toward more
homophonic Homophony and Homophonic are from the Greek language, Greek ὁμόφωνος (''homóphōnos''), literally 'same sounding,' from ὁμός (''homós''), "same" and φωνή (''phōnē''), "sound". It may refer to: *Homophones − words with the s ...
textures with
polychoral An antiphon (Greek ἀντίφωνον, ἀντί "opposite" and φωνή "voice") is a short chant in Christian ritual, sung as a refrain. The texts of antiphons are usually taken from the Psalms or Scripture, but may also be freely composed. T ...
elements. His use of ''stile concertato'' also included solo sections and concertante instrumental parts. It is said that his immense facility allowed him to compose the parts of a 16-voice mass separately, without use of a score. To modern ears and eyes these compositions may seem dull and even repetitious. However, given typical performance practices in the early 18th century – vocal ornamentation ("
divisions Division may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication * Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting of 10,000 t ...
"), instrumental participation,
antiphon An antiphon ( Greek ἀντίφωνον, ἀντί "opposite" and φωνή "voice") is a short chant in Christian ritual, sung as a refrain. The texts of antiphons are usually taken from the Psalms or Scripture, but may also be freely compo ...
al location for polychoral elements,
just intonation In music, just intonation or pure intonation is a musical tuning, tuning system in which the space between notes' frequency, frequencies (called interval (music), intervals) is a natural number, whole number ratio, ratio. Intervals spaced in thi ...
, and varied vocal colors – even the homophonic works must have made a strong impression in the highly reverberative church interiors of Rome. At the end of his life he was preparing a mass for twelve choirs, left incomplete at his death. He was buried in the Pitoni family vault in the Basilica of San Marco, where he had served for some 66 years. His best known work is the '' Dixit Dominus'' a 16 in 4 choirs.Magnificat. Vita e opere di Francesco Durante (prima edizione) Sosio Capasso - Giuseppe Ottavio Pittoni, nato a Rieti nel 1657, fu polifonista famoso e maestro della cappella Vaticana; mise in partitura le opere del Palestrina; suo capolavoro è il Dixit a 16 voci in 4 cori. Si spense a Roma nel 1743.


Music theory

''Guida armonica … libro primo'' (Rome, c1690); ed. F. Luisi (Bologna, 1989) ''Notitia de contrapuntisti e de compositori di musica'' (c1725); ed. C. Ruini (Florence, 1988) ''Regole di contrappunto'' (Mss Rome, Conservatorio di Musica S Cecilia) ''Aggiunte alle Regole di contrappunto di Giulio Belli'' (Mss Bologna, Civico Museo Bibliografico Musicale)


Works, editions and recordings

Several volumes of his unpublished autograph compositions are in the library of the Cappella Giulia, Rome, and the Bibliotheca Santini at
Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...
. *''Cantate Domino'' *''Laudate Dominum'' *''Dixit Dominus'' Tölzer Knabenchor Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden


References


Sources

* * *
Oxford Music Online


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pitoni, Giuseppe Ottavio Italian Baroque composers 1657 births 1743 deaths Italian male classical composers Italian Roman Catholics People from Rieti 17th-century Italian composers 18th-century Italian composers 18th-century Italian male musicians 17th-century Italian male musicians