Gabriele Leone (born
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
c. 1735 – 1790) was an Italian musician and composer who lived in Paris during the middle and later part of the 18th century.
A
virtuoso
A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'' or , "virtuous", Late Latin ''virtuosus'', Latin ''virtus'', "virtue", "excellence" or "skill") is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as ...
on the
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 ...
and
mandolin
A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...
, he wrote an early mandolin
method
Method ( grc, μέθοδος, methodos) literally means a pursuit of knowledge, investigation, mode of prosecuting such inquiry, or system. In recent centuries it more often means a prescribed process for completing a task. It may refer to:
*Scien ...
, ''Analytical method for mastering the violin or the mandolin'' in 1768 and composed for both instruments.
[ He was an early teacher of the duo method, an advanced technique which would reappear in the 20th century, taught by Giuseppe Pettine in the United States.]
In the 1700s, the mandolin spread across Europe for the first time, through performances by masters of the instrument.[ Leone was one of those early masters who spread the mandolin in Europe, giving concerts and teaching.][ He spent time in London (1762–1763) as director of the London Opera before returning to Paris where he performed at 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 ...
from 1760 to 1766. One of his students was Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (Louis Philippe Joseph; 13 April 17476 November 1793), was a major French noble who supported the French Revolution.
Louis Philippe II was born at the Château de Saint-Cloud to Louis Philippe I, Duke of Char ...
, the father of King Louis Philippe I
Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France.
As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary War ...
(the last French king).[
]
Works
He referred to himself on the covers of his works as Mr Leone de Naple (Monsieur Leone of Naples).[
]
His mandolin method was meant to help students of the violin switch to the mandolin, "from bow to feather" without the need for a teacher, using sheet music marked with "conventional signs" to guide learners. Feathers were used as plectrums in that era, as they had been when playing the mandore
Mandore is a suburb Historical town located 9 km north of Jodhpur city, in the Indian state of Rajasthan.
History
Mandore is an ancient town, and was the seat of the Pratiharas of Mandavyapura, who ruled the region in the 6th century CE ...
. The method contained 26 dancing tunes, 6 minuets, 2 duos, a sonata and some airs.[
]
Books
*1768, Paris, ''Méthode raisonnée pour passer du Violon à la Mandoline'' (''Analytical method for mastering the violin or the mandolin'')[
]
Music
*1767, Paris, ''6 Sonates pour mandoline et basse continue, Livre 1 opus 1 '' (6 Sonatas for mandolin and basso continuo, Book 1 opus 1)[
*1770, Paris and Lyon, ''Six sonates de mandoline et basse marquées des signes suivant la nouvelle méthode opus 2'' (Six sonatas of mandolin and bass marked with signs according to the new method opus 2)][
*1772, Paris, ''Duo pour deux violons qui peuvent se jouer sur la mandoline et sur le par-dessus e viole' (6 Duets for two violins that can be played on the mandolin and descant ]iol
Cherchell (Arabic: شرشال) is a town on Algeria's Mediterranean coast, west of Algiers. It is the seat of Cherchell District in Tipaza Province. Under the names Iol and Caesarea, it was formerly a Roman colony and the capital of the kin ...
[
]
Recordings
*2015 ''Leone: Six sonates pour la mandoline et basse, Livre I'', played by Maria Lucia Barros, Florentino Calvo, Ana Yepes
References
External links
''6 Violin or Mandolin Duets sheet music''
''Analytical method for mastering the violin or the mandolin'' in French
Discussion of English transcription of Leone's method.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leone, Gabriele
Italian Baroque composers
Italian violinists
Italian classical mandolinists
18th-century Italian composers
18th-century Italian male musicians
1730s births
1790 deaths