Fernando De Luca (born 1961 in

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 ...

) is an Italian

harpsichordist A harpsichordist is a person who plays the harpsichord. Harpsichordists may play as soloists, as accompanists, as chamber musicians, or as members of an orchestra, or some combination of these roles. Solo harpsichordists may play unaccompanied son ...

, teacher 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 harpsichord with Paola Bernardi. He is known to some people for his efforts to perform and record, for the first time, the

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 concertos. Handel received his training i ...

's Complete Harpsichord Compositions and Johann Christoph Graupner. He is also the first to have transcribed and recorded a number of orchestral pieces to the harpsichord, including the ''Sixty Complete Ouvertures'' from the Handel's

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 and

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

s. A large number of his performances is freely available on an increasing number of specialized Ancient Music web sites. He approached the study of counterpoint and the art of improvisation with Mons.

Domenico Bartolucci Domenico Bartolucci (7 May 1917 – 11 November 2013) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was the former director of the Sistine Chapel Choir and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and was recognized in the field of music b ...

, who was Maestro di Cappella for the

Sistine Chapel Choir The Sistine Chapel Choir, as it is generally called in English, or officially the Coro della Cappella Musicale Pontificia Sistina in Italian, is the Pope's personal choir. It performs at papal functions in the Sistine Chapel and in any other churc ...

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

. De Luca is a member of

Vox Saeculorum ''Vox Sæculorum'' is an international society of contemporary composers writing in the Baroque style established in 2006. Vox Sæculorum was the primary focus of a feature-length article on period baroque composition written by Grant Colburn and pu ...

, a society of composers working in early historical styles, whose founded by

Grant Colburn Grant Colburn (born in Wisconsin in 1966) is an American composer, pianist and harpsichordist. He studied harpsichord with Igor Kipnis and composition with Irwin Sonenfield. He is the author of six published collections of neo-baroque and neo-rena ...

Roman Turovsky Roman Turovsky-Savchuk (Ukrainian: Роман Туровський-Савчук) is an American artist-painter, photographer and videoinstallation artist, as well as a lutenist-composer,

et al. De Luca is also a member of the period instruments orchestra Accademia Barocca di Santa Cecilia as keyboard soloist and

basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...

player.

Discography

* Among his several recordings available online, there are two recent editions released as physical discs: in 2017 (Nicolas Siret, 2CD) and in 2018 the ''Bergamo Manuscript'' (CD), with newly discovered music probably composed by

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...

and

William Babell William Babell (or Babel) (c. 1690 - 23 September 1723) was an English musician, composer and prolific arranger of vocal music for harpsichord. Life He received his musical training from his father, Charles Babel, a bassoonist in the Drury Lane ...

.
''Christophe Moyreau : Complete Harpsichord Music'', Brilliant classics, april 2022, 7 CD

Bibliography

*''Pieces de clavecin: en deux volumes: monumento armonico in 12 suites'' / Johann Mattheson; a cura di Fernando De Luca. - Roma: Bardi, 1997 (stampa 1999). - XXI, 50 p; 34 cm. (Associazione clavicembalistica bolognese ; 14). ((Ripr. facs. dell'ed.: London, printed for I. D. Fletcher and Sold at most musik shops, 1714. * ''12 Sonate a Cembalo solo'', 1997 * L'Arcadia in Gianicolo - "Sonata allegorico pastorale a più parti per Cembalo solo per l'arte la pratica e il diletto nel sonar il cembalo", 1997

References

An Important Rediscovery, Preludes and Toccatas from the 'Bergamo manuscript'

Fernando De Luca (harpsichord) 1961 births Living people Italian composers Italian male composers Italian harpsichordists Historicist composers Composers for harpsichord Vox Saeculorum {{italy-composer-stub

Discography

Bibliography

See also

References