Quirino Gasparini (24 October 1721 – 26 September 1778) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

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 ...

, born in

Gandino Gandino (Bergamasque: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about northeast of Bergamo. Gandino borders the following municipalities: Casnigo, Caz ...

, near

Bergamo Bergamo ( , ; ) is a city in the Alps, alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from the alpine lakes Lake Como, Como and Lake Iseo, Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Lake Garda, Garda and Lake ...

, Italy. He studied for the priesthood, but largely devoted his life to music, becoming ''maestro de capello'' at

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

's cathedral. His compositions are mainly of church music, including a Stabat Mater which is still performed occasionally. He also wrote several operas, including a 1767 setting of Vittorio Amadeo Cigna-Santi's libretto ''Mitridate, re di Ponto'', which three years later was set by the 14-year-old

Wolfgang Amadeus 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 ...

for the 1770

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

carnival. One of Gasparini's arias, preferred by the tenor singer over Mozart's version of it, was sung at the Milan performance and is still included in modern publications of the opera's score. According to some accounts, Gasparini tried to subvert the Milan ''prima donna''

Antonia Bernasconi Antonia Bernasconi (1741–1803) was a German operatic soprano, originally from the Holy Roman Empire. She appeared in opera houses in Vienna, Milan, Venice, Naples and London. Life Bernasconi was born in Stuttgart in 1741; her father, named Wagel ...

, attempting to persuade her to sing his settings of her arias rather than Mozart's. His ruse was, however, unsuccessful.Gutman, p. 285 He died in Turin in 1778.

References

Sources

* * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gasparini, Quirino 1721 births 1778 deaths Pupils of Giovanni Battista Martini Italian opera composers Italian male opera composers 18th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests 18th-century Italian classical composers 18th-century Italian male musicians Italian male classical composers