Robert Valentine (c. 1671 – 26 May 1747), also known as Roberto Valentini and Roberto Valentino, was an English composer, recorder player,

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 a ...

and

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist, who moved to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and became a naturalised Italian. He is noted for his large number of compositions for the recorder.

Biography

Born c. 1671, he was baptized in Leicester on 16 January 1674.Lasocki (1999), p. 11 He was the son of Thomas Follentine or Follintine, who lived in Leicester from c. 1670 and worked as a town musician there accompanied by his elder sons Thomas and Henry. The family became a prominent one in the musical life of Leicester; descendants included John Valentine, who was the grandson of Robert's eldest brother Thomas, and John Valentine's daughter Ann Valentine.Drage. Robert Valentine seems to have spent little if any of his adult life in England before moving to Italy, where he became known by the Italian versions of his name. He settled in Rome and took a Roman wife, marrying Giulia Bellatti in September 1701 in the parish of

Sant'Andrea delle Fratte Sant'Andrea delle Fratte ("Saint Andrew of the Thickets") is a 17th-century basilica church in Rome, Italy, dedicated to St. Andrew. The Cardinal Priest of the ''Titulus S. Andreae Apostoli de Hortis'' is Ennio Antonelli. History The current chu ...

. They had nine children, although only three of these survived their parents. He died in the same Roman parish on 26 May 1747, only 12 days after the death of his wife, and not back in England at some other date, as was formerly thought.

Works

Valentine is particularly known for his large output of compositions for the recorder, as well as for his reputation as a highly skilled player of that instrument. He also played the oboe and violin. His compositions were instrumental. They include a number of collections of

sonata Sonata (; Italian: , pl. ''sonate''; from Latin and Italian: ''sonare'' rchaic Italian; replaced in the modern language by ''suonare'' "to sound"), in music, literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cant ...

s and

trio sonata The trio sonata is a genre, typically consisting of several movements, with two melody instruments and basso continuo. Originating in the early 17th century, the trio sonata was a favorite chamber ensemble combination in the Baroque era. Basic s ...

s, as well as some examples of

concerto grosso The concerto grosso (; Italian for ''big concert(o)'', plural ''concerti grossi'' ) is a form of baroque music in which the musical material is passed between a small group of soloists (the '' concertino'') and full orchestra (the '' ripieno'', '' ...

. His initial style closely followed that of

Arcangelo Corelli Arcangelo Corelli (, also , , ; 17 February 1653 – 8 January 1713) was an Italian composer and violinist of the Baroque era. His music was key in the development of the modern genres of sonata and concerto, in establishing the preeminence o ...

, but he gradually progressed towards the Galante style, as evidenced by his later collections of sonatas published in Northern Europe. His works were popular in the amateur market for flute and recorder music, which flourished in England in the early 18th century, a time when the recorder was also fashionable in concert performance there. Valentine's prominence was recorded by John Hawkins in 1776 in his ''General History of the Science and Practice of Music'':

References

Sources

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External links

* 1671 births 1747 deaths English classical composers Italian male classical composers Italian Baroque composers British recorder players 17th-century English composers English male composers 18th-century English musicians 18th-century Italian male musicians People from Leicester Musicians from Rome Musicians from Leicestershire 18th-century Italian composers 18th-century British composers 17th-century male musicians 18th-century English composers {{UK-composer-stub

Biography

Works

See also

References

Sources

External links