Evaristo Felice Dall'Abaco (1675-1742)
- Concerto (III) à più istrumenti, Opera Quinta (c.1722)
Performers: Convivium Musicum München
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Italian composer. He was born into a family of high social standing, his
father being a jurist. As a boy he learnt the violin and the cello,
possibly under Torelli until the latter's removal to Bologna in 1685. In
1696 Dall'Abaco went to Modena, where his services as a musician were
much in demand despite his not being attached to the court orchestra.
His noted penchant for the French style may date from his Modena days,
since the director of the orchestra, Ambreville, was French. After 19
September 1701 no further trace of Dall'Abaco exists in Modena, and the
next mention of him is early in 1704 as a cellist in the Bavarian court,
where one of his colleagues was J.C. Pez. The defeat of the reigning
elector, Maximilian II Emmanuel, in the War of the Spanish Succession
forced him to flee to the Netherlands, where he brought a large retinue
including many of his own musicians. Setting up court in Brussels,
Maximilian continued to patronize the arts extravagantly, but further
French reverses caused him to withdraw to Mons in 1706. The capitulation
of Mons following the battle of Malplaquet in 1709 sent the elector
back to France, and a relatively impoverished court was established in
Compiègne by grace of Louis XIV. Throughout these unsettled times
Dall'Abaco remained at the elector's side. He had married Marie Clémence
Bultinck in the Netherlands, and their son Joseph-Marie-Clément was
born in 1709 or 1710. Dall'Abaco must have deepened his acquaintance
with the French style after prolonged residence in the Low Countries and
France, though it was only after Maximilian's eventual triumphant
return to Munich in April 1715 that specifically French traits began to
creep into his published music. Dall'Abaco's loyalty and competence were
rewarded by his appointment as Konzertmeister in the reconstituted
court orchestra and his elevation to the rank of electoral councillor in
1717, a fact proudly advertised on the title-page of his fifth
publication, a set of concertos for various combinations. He also
participated as a soloist in ‘academies’, the precursors of the musical
soirées of the 19th century, some of which were held at his own house.
Dall'Abaco remained in the service of the Bavarian court after
Maximilian's death in 1726 and the accession of the new elector, his son
Karl Albrecht. Though a music lover like his father, the new elector
favoured a more up-to-date style of music than his Konzertmeister would,
or could, supply, with the result that Dall'Abaco's musical activities
became increasingly relegated to the background. A second set of
concertos, published by Le Cène in 1735 as Dall'Abaco's op.6, is the
sole proof of his continued creative work during this final phase. He
seems to have retired on a pension in 1740.
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