Marianne Martines (1744-1812)
- Concerto (A-Dur) da Cimbalo (c.1771)
Performers: James Kennerley (cembalo); Sonnambula Ensemble
Further info: Marianne Martines (1744-1812)
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Austrian composer of Spanish descent. She was the daughter of a
Neapolitan who had come to Vienna as ‘gentiluomo’ to the papal nuncio.
She spent her childhood under the educational guidance of Metastasio, a
friend of the family who lived in the same house; she was taught
singing, the piano and composition by Porpora and Haydn, who were also
living there, by Giuseppe Bonno and possibly by J.A. Hasse. As a child
she had attracted attention at court with her beautiful voice and her
keyboard playing, and in 1761 a mass by her was performed in the court
church. She acknowledged in 1773, when she became an honorary member of
the Bologna Accademia Filarmonica, that as a composer she took as her
principal models Hasse, Jommelli and Galuppi. Not only did she possess a
thorough understanding of imitation and fugue, but she also knew how to
set words in the Baroque manner. Her predilection for coloratura
passages, leaps over wide intervals and trills indicate that she herself
must have been an excellent singer. In 1772 Burney praised her singing
for all the typical virtues of the Italian school as well as for
‘touching expression’. Burney’s remark that her vocal works were
‘neither common, nor unnaturally new’ applies to her instrumental works
as well. A typical composer of the early Classical period in Vienna, she
wrote in the Italian style. As a harpsichordist she was influenced by
C.P.E. Bach. Sometimes she created a composition of several movements
from a single idea (e.g. the Harpsichord Concerto in G, 1772). Her
frequent development of motifs, decoration techniques and rapid runs
show that she was concerned to impress her public with virtuosity,
suiting the taste of the Viennese salons. After Metastasio’s death in
1782, the Martínez family, as heirs of his large estate (Marianne was
bequeathed 20,000 florins, Metastasio’s harpsichord and his music
library), were able to maintain a substantial household. Many notable
personalities, including Haydn and Mozart, attended her musical soirées
there; Michael Kelly heard her playing one of Mozart’s four-hand sonatas
with the composer and described her as still ‘possessing the gaiety and
vivacity of a girl’. In the 1790s she started a singing school in her
house, which produced several outstanding singers.
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