Giuseppe Antonio Capuzzi (also ''Capucci''; 1 August 1755 – 28 March 1818) was an Italian

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 and

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 Defi ...

. He studied in

Venice, Italy Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

under the direction of A. Nazari (

) and F. G. Bertoni (

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

). Beginning in 1780, he was concertmaster with the orchestra at the Teatro di S. Samuele and eventually became the orchestral director at the Teatro di S. Benedetto. After his tenure at the Teatro di S. Samuele in 1805, he became orchestral director and a professor in the conservatory at S. Maria Maggiore in

Bergamo, Italy Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Com ...

. Although popular in his day, most of his music is now forgotten. The most commonly performed piece today is his concerto for

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

. The

concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typi ...

was found in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, and was dedicated to Kavalier Marcantonio Montenigo, who is assumed to have performed on that instrument. An arrangement of the second (andante) and third (rondo)

movements Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

of the concerto is also performed on

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

euphonium The euphonium is a medium-sized, 3 or 4-valve, often compensating, conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument that derives its name from the Ancient Greek word ''euphōnos'', meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced" ( ''eu'' means "well" ...

, and

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

. In addition Philip Catelinet arranged all three movements of the concerto for concert band and symphony orchestra. He performed it several times during his tenure at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. His students also performed this piece. The parts may be obtained from Barry Catelinet. Several of Capuzzi's

string quintet A string quintet is a musical composition for five string players. As an extension to the string quartet (two violins, a viola, and a cello), a string quintet includes a fifth string instrument, usually a second viola (a so-called "viola quintet" ...

s are also performed by chamber groups. He was also a prolific composer of

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

s that took place between acts of

plays Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

and

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

s. The most famous ballet was La villageoise, performed in London in 1796. His other known works include 5 operas, 11 ballets, 4 violin concertos, 18 string quartets, and other chamber music.

References

Citations

# Randel, D. M. (2003). "Capuzzi apucci Giuseppe Antonio (1 Aug. 1755, Breno - 28 Mar. 1818, Bergamo) Violinist and composer".
The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music
' - via Credo Reference

Sources

External links

from Cinnabar Records * 1755 births 1818 deaths Italian violinists Male violinists Italian composers Italian male composers Italian ballet composers {{Italy-composer-stub