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, organist, choirmaster and teacher. He counted

Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period (music), classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the ...

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 Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

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 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 Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the works of the Roman architect V ...

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 Giuseppe is the Italian form of the given name Joseph, from Latin Iōsēphus from Ancient Greek Ἰωσήφ (Iōsḗph), from Hebrew יוסף. It is the most common name in Italy and is unique (97%) to it. The feminine form of the name is Giuse ...

, a composer with a similarly prolific output though not equal renown or influence who ended up in the service of

Frederick, Prince of Wales Frederick, Prince of Wales, (Frederick Louis, ; 31 January 170731 March 1751), was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen Caroline. Frederick was the fath ...

Life

Giovanni Battista Sammartini was born to French emigrant and oboist Alexis Saint-Martin and Girolama de Federici in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, 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 Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

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 (, 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 ...

'' 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,

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 Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

.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 The trio sonata is a genre, typically consisting of several movements, with two melody instruments and basso continuo. Originating in the early 17th century, the trio sonata was a favorite chamber ensemble combination in the Baroque era. Basic str ...

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 ''Sturm und Drang'' (, ; usually translated as "storm and stress") was a proto- Romantic movement in German literature and music that occurred between the late 1760s and early 1780s. Within the movement, individual subjectivity and, in particul ...

'' 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

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, about 70 symphonies, ten

concertos 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 ...

, 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 In musicology, the opus number is the "work number" that is assigned to a musical composition, or to a set of compositions, to indicate the chronological order of the composer's production. Opus numbers are used to distinguish among compositio ...

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 Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...

Paisiello Giovanni Paisiello (or Paesiello; 9 May 1740 – 5 June 1816) was an Italian composer of the Classical era, and was the most popular opera composer of the late 1700s. His operatic style influenced Mozart and Rossini. Life Paisiello was born i ...

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 The Teatro Regio Ducale (Italian, "Royal Ducal Theatre") was the opera house in Milan from 26 December 1717 until 25 February 1776, when it was burned down following a carnival gala. Many famous composers and their operas are associated with it, i ...

), 'drama' in three acts **''L'Agrippina, moglie di Tiberio'' (January 1743,

, Milan),

dramma per musica Dramma per musica (Italian, literally: ''drama for music'', plural: ''drammi per musica'') is a libretto. The term was used by dramatists in Italy and elsewhere between the mid-17th and mid-19th centuries. In modern times the same meaning of ''dra ...

in three acts, *Arias and vocal ensemble pieces (11) *Cantatas (8) *Oratorio (1) **''La gara dei geni'' (28 May 1747,

, 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