Luigi Tomasini (or Alois Luigi Tomasini; 22 June 1741 – 25 April 1808) was an Italian violinist and composer. He was leader of Prince Esterházy's court orchestra, which was directed by

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

Life

Tomasini was born in

Pesaro Pesaro () is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Marche, capital of the Province of Pesaro e Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the Marche, ...

, Italy, in 1741. Discovered by

Paul II Anton, Prince Esterházy hu, II. Pál Antal , title = Prince Esterházy of Galántha , image = Paul II. Anton Książę Esterházy.jpg , caption = , reign = 6 June 1721 – 18 March 1762 , reign-type = Period , coronation = ...

, who was interested in music, he was engaged in 1757 as a servant; he was given musical training, and became a violinist in the prince's orchestra at his court in

Eisenstadt Eisenstadt (; hu, Kismarton; hr, Željezni grad; ; sl, Železno, Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ''Eisnstod'') is a city in Austria, the state capital of Burgenland. It had a recorded population on 29 April 2021 of 15,074. In the Habsburg ...

.Luigi Tomasini
David Mason Greene, ''Greene's Biographical Encyclopedia of Composers'', 1985. Nikolaus Esterhazy

became the director of the prince's orchestra in 1761, and Tomasini became

konzertmeister The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

. The orchestra continued under the prince's successor, his brother Nikolaus I, from 1762. Haydn wrote violin concerti for Tomasini.Alois Luigi Tomasini
Larousse, accessed 12 February 2016. Nikolaus died in 1790 and was succeeded by his son, Prince

Anton Anton may refer to: People *Anton (given name), including a list of people with the given name *Anton (surname) Places *Anton Municipality, Bulgaria **Anton, Sofia Province, a village *Antón District, Panama **Antón, a town and capital of th ...

, who was less interested in music. Tomasini received a pension and was given a chance to tour. Nikolaus II succeeded his father Anton in 1794 and revived the orchestra; in 1802 Tomasini became director of chamber music for Nikolaus II.Tomasini, Alois Luigi
Don Michael Randel, ''The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music'', 1996. Tomasini married Josepha Vogl, and they had twelve children; four of them became court musicians at Esterházy.

Works

Tomasini composed about 30 string quartets, a few symphonies and violin concerti, violin sonatas and violin duos, and many

baryton The baryton is a bowed string instrument similar to the viol, but distinguished by an extra set of sympathetic but also pluckable strings. It was in regular use in Europe until the end of the 18th century. Design The baryton can be viewed as a ...

trios (written for Prince Nikolaus I, a baryton player).

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomasini, Luigi 1741 births 1808 deaths People from Pesaro Italian classical violinists Male classical violinists Italian classical composers Esterházy family Joseph Haydn 18th-century philanthropists