Giuseppe Bonno (29 January 1711 – 15 April 1788) Michael Lorenz gives his first name as "Joseph" because Emperor

Joseph I Joseph I or Josef I may refer to: *Joseph I of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch in 1266–1275 and 1282–1283 *Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (1678–1711) *Joseph I (Chaldean Patriarch) (reigned 1681–1696) *Joseph I of Portugal (1750–1777) ...

was his godfather; Lorenz also asserts that Bonno was born on 30 January
Haydn Singing at Vivaldi's Exequies: An Ineradicable Myth
9 June 2014 was an Austrian

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 ...

of Italian origin. (His name is sometimes given as Josef or Josephus Johannes Baptizta Bon.) The son of a

footman A footman is a male domestic worker employed mainly to wait at table or attend a coach or carriage. Etymology Originally in the 14th century a footman denoted a soldier or any pedestrian, later it indicated a foot servant. A running footman deli ...

from Brescia who served at the Austrian court, he was born in

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

and studied music with Johann Georg Reinhardt, imperial court organist, later ''

Kapellmeister (, 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 ...

'' of St Stephen's. A gifted pupil, he was then sent to

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 ...

in 1726 where he studied church music under

Francesco Durante Francesco Durante (31 March 1684 – 30 September 1755) was a Neapolitan composer. Biography He was born at Frattamaggiore, in the Kingdom of Naples, and at an early age he entered the '' Conservatorio dei poveri di Gesù Cristo'', in Naples, ...

and opera under

Leonardo Leo Leonardo Leo (5 August 1694 – 31 October 1744), more correctly Leonardo Ortensio Salvatore de Leo, was a Baroque composer. Biography Leo was born in San Vito degli Schiavoni (currently known as San Vito dei Normanni, province of Brindisi) in ...

. He moved back to Vienna in 1736, becoming a court composer there, and working as ''Kapellmeister'' to the Prince of

Saxe-Hildburghausen Saxe-Hildburghausen () was an Ernestine duchy in the southern side of the present State of Thuringia in Germany. It existed from 1680 to 1826 but its name and borders are currently used by the District of Hildburghausen. History After the Duk ...

in the 1750s and 1760s. In 1774, Bonno was made Imperial court conductor to

Joseph II 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 ...

, following the death of Florian Leopold Gassman. He died in Vienna. While Bonno's music is rarely heard today, he was a prominent figure in the Viennese musical life of his time and his works were often performed. He worked with two main librettists:

Giovanni Claudio Pasquini Giovanni Claudio Pasquini (1695 – 1763) was an Italian poet and librettist. Born in Siena, he served at the court of Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna, first as the Italian teacher to Maria Theresa and her younger sister Maria Anna, and ...

and

Metastasio Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of ''opera seria'' libretti. Early life Me ...

. The latter was Bonno's contemporary in Vienna, and the composer wrote the first music for Metastasio's ''Il natale di Giove'' (also set by

Hasse Hasse is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname: * Clara H. Hasse (1880–1926), American botanist * Helmut Hasse (1898–1979), German mathematician * Henry Hasse (1913–1977), US writer of science fiction ...

), ''Il vero omaggio'', ''Il re pastore'' (later set by Hasse 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 ...

), ''L'eroe cinese'' (also set by Hasse), ''L'isola disabitata'' (also set by

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 ''L'Atenaide ovvero Gli affetti più generosi''. Most of his output was for vocal forces, including stage works,

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 ...

s, masses and other sacred pieces. He is a silent supporting character in the play ''

Amadeus Amadeus may refer to: *Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), prolific and influential composer of classical music *Amadeus (name), a given name and people with the name * ''Amadeus'' (play), 1979 stage play by Peter Shaffer * ''Amadeus'' (film), ...

'' written by

Peter Shaffer Sir Peter Levin Shaffer (; 15 May 1926 – 6 June 2016) was an English playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. He wrote numerous award-winning plays, of which several were adapted into films. Early life Shaffer was born to a Jewish family in L ...

. He is played by

Patrick Hines Mainer Patrick Hines (March 17, 1930 in Burkeville, Texas – August 12, 1985 in Manhattan, New York) was an American actor who was probably best known for his portrayal of Kapellmeister Giuseppe Bonno in the 1984 film ''Amadeus''. He also appea ...

in the film version ''

''.

Works

Operas

Oratorios

* ''Eleazaro'' (1739) * ''San Paolo in Athene'' (1740) * ''Isacco figura del redentore'' (1759) – see ' for Metastasio's libretto and settings by other composers * ''Il Giuseppe riconosciuto'' (1774) – see ' for Metastasio's libretto and settings by other composers

Notes

Sources

Operaglass List of Opera Composers
* Angermüller, Rudolph (1992), 'Bonno, Giuseppe' in ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...

'', ed.

Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was publ ...

(London)

Works

Operas

Oratorios

Notes

Sources

Further reading