Antonio Besozzi (1714–1781) was an Italian

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 and pres ...

and composer and also member of an extensive family of musicians from the eighteenth-century Naples. He composed several concertos for oboe and a few

quintet A quintet is a group containing five members. It is commonly associated with musical groups, such as a string quintet, or a group of five singers, but can be applied to any situation where five similar or related objects are considered a single ...

s, which he called "sonatas", for two oboes, two horns and a bassoon. Besozzi was born in

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...

, the son of oboist Giuseppe Besozzi and brother of Girolamo Besozzi. He was from 8 October 1727 to 1731 a member of the Ducal ''Guardia Irlandese,'' a hautboy band created in 1702 by

Antonio Farnese, Duke of Parma Antonio Farnese (29 November 1679 – 20 January 1731) was the eighth and final Farnese Duke of Parma and Piacenza. He married, in 1727, Enrichetta d'Este of Modena with the intention of begetting an heir. The marriage, however, was childle ...

. From 1734 he was active in Naples until the birth of his son Carlo Besozzi in 1738, when he left for Dresden to join the orchestra of the Royal Chapel and become its first oboist in 1739.Antonio, considered one of the most famous oboists of his time, had a salary of 800 Thalers by 2 October 1739, and from 1745 of 1200 Thalers a month. In 1754 he was joined by his son and in early 1757 they travelled to England, where they were known as the ''Signori Besozzi.'' In December of that same year they moved to Paris, where they played the

Concert Spirituel The Concert Spirituel ( en, Spiritual Concert) was one of the first public concert series in existence. The concerts began in Paris in 1725 and ended in 1790. Later, concerts or series of concerts of the same name occurred in Paris, Vienna, Londo ...

. In the years 1758-59 he was in the service of the court of Stuttgart, under the direction of Niccolò Jommelli, after which they returned to Dresden until he resigned in 1774. His son continued to play until 1792 though. In May 1778 he played in Salzburg with his son, having been held in high esteem by Leopold Mozart. He then returned to Dresden and after then to Turin, where he settled until his death in 1781.

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;Attribution *''This article is based on the translation of the corresponding article of the Italian Wikipedia. A list of contributors can be found there at the''

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

''section.'' 1714 births 1781 deaths Male oboists Italian oboists 18th-century Italian composers 18th-century composers 18th-century Italian musicians 18th-century Italian male musicians Italian male composers Musicians from Parma {{Italy-composer-stub