Therese Jansen Bartolozzi (ca. 1770 – 1843) was an eminent pianist whose career flourished in London around the end of the 18th century. She was the dedicatee of piano works by a number of famous composers.

Early years

Therese Jansen is believed to have been born in Aachen in Germany some time around 1770. Her father was a successful dancing master, who moved to London with his family. The family business of teaching dance to well-off customers was quite successful and was continued for some time by Therese and her younger brother Louis Jansen (1774–1840). According to an anonymous biography of Jansen's daughter (see below), the business made over 2000 pounds per year. Both Therese and Louis studied with the famous pianist

Muzio Clementi Muzio Filippo Vincenzo Francesco Saverio Clementi (23 January 1752 – 10 March 1832) was an Italian composer, virtuoso pianist, pedagogue, conductor, music publisher, editor, and piano manufacturer, who was mostly active in England. Encourag ...

. Therese particularly excelled, and by her young adulthood, she had become an outstanding performer. By 1791 she probably had a strong reputation, as

Johann Peter Salomon Johann Peter Salomon (20 February 1745 aptized– 28 November 1815) was a German violinist, composer, conductor and musical impresario. Although he was an accomplished violinist, he is best known for bringing Joseph Haydn to London and for c ...

gave her and her family free tickets to the first series of the famous concerts which Joseph Haydn gave in London under his auspices.

Career

Not long after, works were being dedicated to her by composers: Clementi, Haydn, and J. L. Dussek (see below). She was listed by a contemporary encyclopedist as one of Clementi's three most distinguished pupils, along with John Field and

Johann Baptist Cramer Johann (sometimes John) Baptist Cramer (24 February 1771 – 16 April 1858) was an English pianist, composer and music publisher of German origin. He was the son of Wilhelm Cramer, a famous London violinist and conductor, one of a numerous family ...

. Little evidence survives to document her career as a performer. Salwey mentions a performance of a Haydn sonata before the

Anacreontic Society The Anacreontic Society was a popular gentlemen's club of amateur musicians in London founded in the mid-18th century. These barristers, doctors, and other professional men named their club after the Greek court poet Anacreon, who lived in the 6th ...

prior to 1791 and two other performances in 1806. It is possible that Jansen's fame developed primarily from performances in private homes. Therese Jansen was married on 16 May 1795 to Gaetano Bartolozzi (1757–1821), a son of the noted artist and engraver

Francesco Bartolozzi __NOTOC__ Francesco Bartolozzi (21 September 1727, in Florence – 7 March 1815, in Lisbon) was an Italian engraver, whose most productive period was spent in London. He is noted for popularizing the "crayon" method of engraving. Early life B ...

. One of the witnesses at the ceremony was their friend Haydn. Gaetano Bartolozzi was primarily an art dealer who also branched out into the sale of other goods as well; his work often took him to

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

. Bartolozzi was successful in his business and had purchased an estate about fifty miles from Venice. Like Therese, he was musical and was a fine violinist and violist. Following two miscarriages, Therese gave birth to a daughter Elizabetta Lucia, who grew up to be a famous actress and theatre manager, performing under her married name of

Lucia Elizabeth Vestris Lucia Elizabeth Vestris (''née'' Elizabetta Lucia Bartolozzi; 3 March 1797 – 8 August 1856) was an English actress and a contralto opera singer, appearing in works by, among others, Mozart and Rossini. While popular in her time, she was mor ...

, or Madame Vestris. Therese and Gaetano also had a second daughter Josephine. In 1798, Bartolozzi closed up his art business, auctioning off his stock at Christie's, and the family left for Europe: first Paris, then Vienna, and finally Venice. While in Vienna, they probably renewed their acquaintance with Haydn; they were among the subscribers to the first edition of '' The Creation'', which Haydn published himself in 1800. Arriving in Venice, the Bartolozzis found that their property had been looted by French forces during the recent invasion of the area. Needing to start over financially, they returned to London, where Bartolozzi began giving lessons in drawing. He died in 1821. Therese Bartolozzi separated from her husband there. She supported herself and her two daughters by teaching piano. Therese Jansen Bartolozzi died in London in 1843.

Works dedicated to Therese Jansen

: 3 piano sonatas Opus 33 (1794) Robbins Landon (1976, 417) * J.L. Dussek: **3 sonatas for violin and piano Op. 13 (1793) **Piano sonata Op. 43 (1800) * Joseph Haydn: ** 3 piano trios Hob. XV: 27–9 **3 piano sonatas, Hob. XVI: 50, Hob. XVI: 51 and Hob. XVI:52 *Louis Jansen: Piano sonata Op. 6 (1802)

Notes

References

*de Val, Dorothy (2009) "Jansen, Therese," in David Wyn Jones, ''Oxford Composer Companions: Haydn'', Oxford: Oxford University Press. *Fisher, Stephen C. (2010) "Jansen anson, Jansson; Bartolozzi Therese", in ''The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', online edition, Oxford University Press. *Robbins Landon, H. C. (1976) ''Haydn in England: 1791–1795'', Bloomington: Indiana University Press. *Salwey, Nicholas (2004) "Women pianists in eighteenth century London", In Susan Wollenberg and Simon McVeigh, ''Concert life in eighteenth-century Britain''. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. , pp. 273–290. *Strunk, Oliver (1934) "Notes on a Haydn autograph", ''Musical Quarterly'' 20: 192–205. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jansen, Therese 1770 births 1843 deaths German classical pianists German women pianists English classical pianists Joseph Haydn Bartolozzi, Therese Jansen 18th-century German musicians Women classical pianists Bartolozzi family