Giovanni Battista Sammartini (c. 1700 – 15 January 1775) was an Italian

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 ...

, violinist,

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

ist, choirmaster and teacher. He counted Gluck among his students, and was highly regarded by younger composers including

Johann Christian Bach Johann Christian Bach (September 5, 1735 – January 1, 1782) was a German composer of the Classical period (music), Classical era, the eighteenth child of Johann Sebastian Bach, and the youngest of his eleven sons. After living in Italy for ...

. It has also been noted that many stylizations in Joseph Haydn's compositions are similar to those of Sammartini, although Haydn denied any such influence. Sammartini is especially associated with the formation of the concert symphony through both the shift from a brief opera-overture style and the introduction of a new seriousness and use of thematic development that prefigure Haydn and

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

. Some of his works are described as ''

galant The galant style was an 18th-century movement in music, visual arts and literature. In Germany a closely related style was called the '' empfindsamer Stil'' (sensitive style). Another close relative is rococo style. The galant style was drawn in ...

'', a style associated with

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

ideals, while "the prevailing impression left by Sammartini's work...

s that S, or s, is the nineteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ess'' (pronounced ), plural ''esses''. Histor ...

he contributed greatly to the development of a Classical style that achieved its moment of greatest clarity precisely when his long, active life was approaching its end". He is sometimes confused with his elder brother, Giuseppe, a composer with a similarly prolific output though not equal renown or influence who ended up in the service of Frederick, Prince of Wales.

Life

Giovanni Battista Sammartini was born to French emigrant and oboist Alexis Saint-Martin and Girolama de Federici in Milan, in what was Habsburg-ruled

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

during most of his lifetime and is Italy today. He was the seventh of eight children, receiving musical instruction from his father and writing his first music in 1725: a set of vocal works now lost. He acquired the prestigious positions of '' maestro di cappella'' at

Sant'Ambrogio Sant'Ambrogio may refer to the following entities in Italy: * Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio, a church in the Milan * Sant'Ambrogio, Florence, a Roman Catholic church in Florence * Sant'Ambrogio di Torino, a municipality in the Turin * Sant'Ambrogio di ...

and to the Congregazione del Santissimo Entierro in 1728, and held the former until his death.Marley, Marie. ''Giovanni Battista Sammartini: Il Pianto Della Pie Donne''. (A-R Editions: 1990), vii. Sammartini quickly became famous as a church composer and obtained fame abroad. Over the years he joined many churches for work (eight or more by his death"G. B. Sammartini and the Symphony", Churgin, Bathia, ''The Musical Times'', Vol. 116, No. 1583 (Jan. 1975), pp. 26–29. ) and wrote music to be performed at state occasions and in the houses of the nobility. Although he never strayed far from Milan, he came into contact with such notable composers as

J.C. Bach Johann Christian Bach (September 5, 1735 – January 1, 1782) was a German composer of the Classical period (music), Classical era, the eighteenth child of Johann Sebastian Bach, and the youngest of his eleven sons. After living in Italy for ...

Boccherini Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini (, also , ; 19 February 1743 – 28 May 1805) was an Italian composer and cellist of the Classical era whose music retained a courtly and ''galante'' style even while he matured somewhat apart from the major European ...

, and Gluck, the last of whom was his student from 1737 to 1741. Sammartini's death in 1775 was unexpected. Although he was highly regarded in his time, his music was soon forgotten, and it was not rediscovered until 1913, by researchers Fausto Torrefranca,

Georges de Saint-Foix Georges de Saint-Foix (2 March 1874 – 26 May 1954) was a French musicologist, connoisseur of Mozart and specialist of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. He is the son of the Count of Saint-Foix of the same name, the very ...

and Gaetano Cesari. Curiously most of his surviving works have been recovered from editions published ''outside'' Milan.

Innovations

Sammartini is mostly praised for his innovations in the development of the symphony, perhaps more so than the schools of thought in Mannheim and Vienna.Sammartini, Giovanni Battista. The Symphonies of G. B. Sammartini. Ed. Bathia Churgin. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1968. His approach to symphonic composition was unique in that it drew influence from the trio sonata and

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 ...

forms, in contrast to other composers during the time that modeled symphonies after the

Italian overture The Italian overture is a piece of orchestral music which opened several operas, oratorios and other large-scale works in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. An Italian overture typically has a three- movement structure – the outer movements ...

. His symphonies were driven by rhythm and a clearer form, especially early

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 ...

and rounded binary forms. His works never ceased to be inventive, and sometimes anticipated the direction of classical music such as the '' Sturm und Drang'' style. Czech composer

Josef Mysliveček Josef Mysliveček (9 March 1737 – 4 February 1781) was a Czech composer who contributed to the formation of late eighteenth-century classicism in music. Mysliveček provided his younger friend Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with significant comp ...

considered Sammartini to be "the father of Haydn's style," a popular sentiment that considerably enhanced Sammartini's reputation after his death.

Compositions

Sammartini was a prolific composer, and his compositions include 4 operas, about 70

symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

, ten concertos, and a substantial body of chamber music. As of 2004, approximately 450 known works by Sammartini have been recovered, although a fair amount of his music has been lost, especially sacred and dramatic works. Some of it may have also been lost due to publication under other names, especially that of his brother, Giuseppe. His earliest music was for liturgical use. Sammartini's works are referred to, in publications or recordings, either by the opus number they received in his lifetime, or by the J-C numbers they receive in the Jenkins-Churgin catalog referred to below. Newell Jenkins edited some of Sammartini's works, including a ''Magnificat,'' for the first time (he was also an editor of works by Vivaldi, Paisiello and Boccherini, among others). Sammartini's music is generally divided into three stylistic periods: the early period (1724-1739), which reflects a mixture of

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

and Preclassical forms, the middle period (1740-1758), which suggests Preclassical form, and the late period (1759-1774), that displays Classical influences. Sammartini's middle period is regarded as his most significant and pioneering, during which his compositions in the ''galant'' style of music foreshadow the Classical era to come.

Known works

*Symphonies (78) *Concertos (10 or 11): **For flute **For violin **For cello **For oboe *Concertinos (7) *Marches (4) *Minuets (4) *String quintets (6) *Flute and string quartets (27) *String trios (~177) *Sonatas (over 50): **For flute **For violin **For cello **For keyboard (harpsichord and organ) **For mandolin ("armandolino") (1)Tyler, J., and P. Sparks. 1989, 1992. The Early Mandolin. Clarendon Press, Oxford. *Operas (3) **''Memet'' (1732,

Lodi, Lombardy Lodi ( , ; Ludesan: ) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, northern Italy, primarily on the western bank of the River Adda. It is the capital of the province of Lodi. History Lodi was a Celtic village; in Roman times it was called, in Latin ...

), 'tragedia' in three acts, the first movements of two of Sammartini's earliest known symphonies appear as overtures **''L'ambizione superata dalla virtù'' (26 December 1734, Teatro Regio Ducale, Milan), 'drama' in three acts **''L'Agrippina, moglie di Tiberio'' (January 1743, Teatro Regio Ducale, Milan), dramma per musica in three acts, *Arias and vocal ensemble pieces (11) *Cantatas (8) *Oratorio (1) **''La gara dei geni'' (28 May 1747, Teatro Regio Ducale, Milan), 'componimento drammatico' (of which only one aria survives) *Sacred works (16) **Mass settings **Psalm settings **Litanies **Magnificat **Te Deum

Notes

References

*Cattoretti, Anna, ed., ''Giovanni Battista Sammartini and his musical environment'', Brepols, Turnhout, 2004. . *Churgin, Bathia and Jenkins, Newell. ''Thematic Catalog of the Works of Giovanni Sammartini: Orchestral and Vocal Music''. Cambridge: published for the American Musicological Society by Harvard University Press, 1976. . *Stedman, Preston. The Symphony. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall 1992.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sammartini, Giovanni Battista Italian Baroque composers Italian Classical-period composers Italian opera composers Male opera composers 1700s births 1775 deaths Musicians from Milan Italian male classical composers Italian people of French descent 18th-century Italian composers 18th-century Italian male musicians String quartet composers