Pietro Antonio Locatelli (1695-1764)
- Concerto grosso 'Il pianto d'Arianna' (1741)
Performers: Enrico Onofri (violin); Il Giardino Armonico
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Italian composer and violinist. His importance lies particularly in his
L'arte del violino: 12 violin concertos, with altogether 24 caprices for
solo violin in the first and last movements of each concerto. This
collection had an immense influence on the development of violin
technique, especially in France, where violin teaching continued to bear
signs of his style of virtuosity until the beginning of the 19th
century. Locatelli must be considered the founding-father of modern
instrumental virtuosity, and he also left a body of work whose idiom,
from his op.2 onwards, reflects aspects of the most advanced style of
his day. His parents were Filippo Locatelli and Lucia Crocchi (or
Trotta). A document in the Locatelli archive indicates that Pietro
Antonio was the first of seven sons. He would have learnt the rudiments
of music in the choir of S Maria Maggiore in Bergamo, possibly under
Ludovico Ferronati or Carlo Antonio Marino, two of the city's leading
musicians. In April 1710 the 14-year-old violinist appeared as a member
of the basilica's instrumental ensemble, and the following January he
acquired the official position of third violin. In the same year, 1711,
the young Locatelli was granted permission to go to Rome. The tradition
that he was one of Corelli's pupils is true only in the broad sense that
he belonged to the Corelli ‘school’. From 1717 to 1723, he played often
at San Lorenzo in Damaso for Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni and for the
Congregazione dei Musici di Santa Cecilia. From 1723 to 1729, Locatelli
seems to have become an itinerant virtuoso whose movements are not well
documented. He may have played at the courts of Mantua in 1725, in
Venice, and was certainly in Munich (June 1727), Berlin (1728),
Frankfurt (1728), arriving in Kassel by December 514/991 of 1728. He
went to Amsterdam by August 1729 at the latest and never left. Locatelli
did not settle in Amsterdam because of its vibrant musical society but
rather to enter the business of publishing his works, perhaps trading
also in rare books and art. He allowed the famous firm of Roger and Le
Cène to handle his orchestral music, but Locatelli published at his own
expense his own chamber music. Evidently, he was successful, for at his
death, he left a considerable store of books and artworks. He held a
regular series of concerts on Wednesdays in his own home, where he
played only for and with a small circle of wealthy admirers. Locatelli
did not like the limelight. Besides L’Arte del Violino, Locatelli
published 12 concerti grossi, 18 sonatas for violin, 12 sonatas for
flute, 10 sonatas for two violins, 6 trio sonatas, 6 concertos for four
violins, and 6 “theatrical introductions.”
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