Lodovico Giustini
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Lodovico Giustini (12 December 1685 – 7 February 1743) was an Italian composer and keyboard player of the late
Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
and early Classical eras. He was the first known composer ever to write music for the
piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
.


Life

Giustini was born in
Pistoia Pistoia (; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of a province of the same name, located about north-west of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a typic ...
, of a family of musicians which can be traced back to the early 17th century; coincidentally he was born in the same year as
Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...
, Scarlatti, and
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 ...
. Giustini's father was
organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...
at the Congregazione dello Spirito Santo, a
Jesuit 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 ...
-affiliated group, and an uncle, Domenico Giustini, was also a composer of sacred music. In 1725, on his father's death, Giustini became organist at the Congregazione dello Spirito Santo, and acquired a reputation there as a composer of sacred music: mostly
cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...
s and
oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...
s. In 1728 he collaborated with
Giovanni Carlo Maria Clari Giovanni Carlo Maria Clari (27 September 1677 – 16 May 1754) was an Italian musical composer and ''kapellmeister, maestro di cappella'' (chapel-master) at Pistoia. He was born at Pisa. He gained his initial grounding in musical education from ...
on a set of Lamentations which were performed that year. In 1734 he was hired as organist at S Maria dell'Umiltà, the Cathedral of Pistoia, a position he held for the rest of his life. In addition to playing the organ at both religious institutions, he performed on the
harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...
at numerous locations, often in his own oratorios.


Works and influence

Giustini's main fame rests on his work ''12 Sonate da cimbalo di piano e forte detto volgarmente di martelletti, Op.1'', published in
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
in 1732, which is the earliest music in any genre written specifically for the piano. They are dedicated to Dom António de Bragança, the younger brother of King João V of Portugal (the Portuguese court was one of the few places where the early piano was frequently played). These pieces, which are sonate da chiesa, with alternating fast and slow sections (four or five movements per sonata), predate all other music specifically written for the piano by about 30 years. Giustini used all the expressive capabilities of the instrument, such as wide dynamic contrast: expressive possibilities which were not available on other keyboard instruments of the time.
Harmonically In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...
the pieces are transitional between late Baroque and early Classical period practice, and include innovations such as
augmented sixth chord In music theory, an augmented sixth chord contains the interval (music), interval of an augmented sixth, usually above its bass note, bass tone. This chord (music), chord has its origins in the Renaissance music, Renaissance, was further develop ...
s and modulations to remote keys. James Parakilas points out that it is quite surprising that these works should have been published at all. At the time of composition, there existed only a very small number of pianos, owned mainly by royalty. He conjectures that publication of the work was meant as an honor to Giustini; it "represents a gesture of magnificent presentation to a royal musician, rather than an act of commercial promotion." While many performances of his large-scale sacred works are documented, all of that music is lost, with the exception of fragments such as scattered
aria In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...
s. Giustini's fame rests on his publication of his set of piano pieces, although they seem to have attracted little interest at the time.


References and further reading

*Edward Higginbottom, "Lodovico Giustini", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. *Jean Grundy Fanelli: "Lodovico Giustini", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed November 14, 2005)
(subscription access)
(Note: the articles in the two editions of Grove are by different authors, and each contains unique material) *James Parakilas, ''Piano Roles: 300 Years of Life with the Piano''. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999. . *Lodovico Giustini, The 12 Sonatas for piano, ed. Dominique Ferran, 3 vol. Paris-San Diego, Drake Mabry Publishing, 2003. * Freeman, Daniel E. "Lodovico Giustini and the Emergence of the Keyboard Sonata in Italy." ''Anuario musical'' 58 (2003):111-30.


External links

*
Lodovico Giustini: short biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giustini, Lodovico Italian male classical composers Italian Baroque composers Italian Classical-period composers 1685 births 1743 deaths 18th-century Italian composers 18th-century Italian male musicians