Francesco Azopardi (or Azzopardi) (May 5, 1748 – February 1809) was a

Maltese Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Malte ...

composer and music theorist.Spiridion Vincent Buhagiar, ''Francesco Azopardi (1748–1809): A Maltese Classical Composer, Theorist, and Teacher'', Mediterranean Institute, University of Malta, Msida, Malta, 1999, Dissertation

Life and career

Azopardi was born in Notabile. He received his musical training in Malta and during his stay from 1763 to 1774 in Naples at the Conservatory of San Onofrio under Carlo Cotumacci and Joseph Doll. He worked at St. Paul's Cathedral, Mdina, and, from 1789 following the Napoleonic invasion and flight of the

Knights of St. John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

, combined his responsibilities at Mdina with those at

St. John's Co-Cathedral St John's Co-Cathedral ( mt, Kon-Katidral ta' San Ġwann) is a Roman Catholic co-cathedral in Valletta, Malta, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. It was built by the Order of St. John between 1573 and 1578, having been commissioned by Grand Mas ...

in Valletta. One of his successes was a setting of Metastasio's libretto '' La Passione di Gesù Cristo'' he conducted at the Manoel Theatre in Valletta in 1782. He died in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...

. He is known especially through his work ''Il Musico Prattico'', which appeared in French translation by Nicolas-Étienne Framery.

Works

Secular music

*''Malta felice'' (

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

, 1775) *''La magica lanterna'' ( opera buffa, 1791)

Sacred vocal music

*''La passione di Cristo'' ( oratorio,

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

by Pietro Metastasio, 1782, 1802) *Various masses composed between 1768 and 1806 *Various sacred works composed between 1772 and 1796 *Songs, hymns and psalms composed between 1772 and 1807

Instrumental music

*Overture for 2 oboes, 2 violins, 2 horns, bass, and organ (1782) *Sinfonia for 2 oboes, 2 violins, 2 violas, horn and basso continuo (1797) *Sinfonia for oboe obbligato, oboe, 2 violins, 2 horns and basso continuo (1799)

Treatises

*''Il musico prattico'' *''Dissertazione sulla risoluzione della quinta falsa in 6/4 rivolto dell'armonia di 5/3'' *''Dissertazione sulla musica greca''

Selected recordings

* ''Les manuscrits de Malte 3 – Oeuvres de Francesco Azopardi'': Lauda Sion. Assumpta est. Beatus Vir. Confitebor. Dixit Dominus. Maîtrise des Bouches du Rhône, leader Jeannine Prosper, Jeune Ensemble Baroque de Provence, dir. Giuseppe Dellavalle. Studio SM, Paris. 1998.

References

External links

* 1748 births 1809 deaths Maltese classical composers Music theorists People from Mdina People from Rabat, Malta 18th-century Maltese people 18th-century classical composers 18th-century male musicians 18th-century musicians 19th-century Maltese people 19th-century classical composers Male classical composers 19th-century male musicians 19th-century musicians {{Malta-composer-stub