Gian Francesco de Majo (24 March 1732 – 17 November 1770) 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 ...

. He is best known for his more than 20

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. He also composed a considerable amount of sacred works, including

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 ...

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 ...

s, and

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

es.The Harvard biographical dictionary of music By Don Michael Randel
/ref>

Life and career

Born in

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 ...

, Majo was the son of composer

Giuseppe de Majo Giuseppe de Majo (di Maio; 5 December 169718 November 1771) was an Italian composer and organist. He was the father of the composer Gian Francesco de Majo. His compositional output consists of 10 operas, an oratorio, a concerto for 2 violins, and ...

. He began his musical education with his father and then studied with his uncle

Gennaro Manna Gennaro Manna (12 December 1715 - 28 December 1779) was an Italian composer based in Naples. He was a member of the Neapolitan School. His compositional output includes 13 operas and more than 150 sacred works, including several oratorios. Lif ...

and his great uncle

Francesco Feo Francesco Feo (1691 – 28 January 1761) was an Italian composer, known chiefly for his operas. He was born and died in Naples, where most of his operas were premièred. Life Feo studied music at the '' Conservatorio di Santa Maria della Pietà' ...

. At the age of 13 he became the

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 ...

at the royal chapel in Naples and at 15 began helping his father with his duties there as

maestro di cappella (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

. In 1758 he was made second organist at the royal chapel. On 7 February 1759 his first

, ''Ricimero, re dei goti'', premiered in Parma. This was soon followed by a series of successful operas mounted in Naples. In 1761 and 1763 Majo traveled to Northern Italy, where he presented several of his compositions and studied for a short period with

Giovanni Battista Martini Giovanni Battista or Giambattista Martini, O.F.M. Conv. (24 April 1706 – 3 August 1784), also known as Padre Martini, was an Italian Conventual Franciscan friar, who was a leading musician, composer, and music historian of the period ...

. After a short time in Naples, he went to the court in Vienna, where he was commissioned to write the opera ''Alcide negli orti esperidi'' for the coronation of

Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 unt ...

. He then spent some time in Mannheim and Madrid before returning to Italy in 1765. Majo continued to work as an organist at the royal chapel in Naples, ultimately succeeding his father as maestro di cappella in 1767. Having contracted

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

in 1760, Majo ultimately succumbed to the disease and died of it ten years later.

Works

*''Ricimero, re dei goti'' (1759) Parma *''Cajo Fabrizio'' (1760) Naples *''Astrea placata'' (1760) Naples *''Almeria'' (1761) Livorno *''Artaserse'' (1762) Venice *''

Catone in Utica ''Catone in Utica'' (; ) is an opera libretto by Metastasio, that was originally written for Leonardo Vinci's 1727 opera. Following Vinci's success, Metastasio's text was used by numerous composers of the baroque and classical eras for thei ...

'' (1762) Turin *''Demofoonte'' (1763) Rome *''Alcide negli orti esperidi'' (1764) Vienna *'' Ifigenia in Tauride (Majo)'' (1764) Mannheim *''Montezuma'' (1765) Turin *''La costanza fortunata (La constancia dichosa)'' (1765) Madrid *'' Alessandro (nell'Indie)'' (1765) Mannheim *''Antigono'' (1767) Venice *''Antigona'' (1768) Rome *''Ipermestra'' (1768) Naples *''Adriano in Siria'' (1769) Rome *''Didone abbandonata'' (1770) Venice *''Eumene'' (1st act) (1771) Naples

References

External links

* 1732 births 1770 deaths 18th-century Italian male musicians Italian Classical-period composers Neapolitan school composers 18th-century Italian composers Italian male classical composers Italian opera composers Male opera composers {{Italy-composer-stub