Giuseppe Sammartini (1695-1750)
- Concerto (in Fa maggiore) a più istromenti & la flauta, IGS 25
Performers: Sophie Larivière (flute); Ensemble Caprice
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Italian composer. He was the son of French oboist Alexis Saint-Martin
and older brother of the better-known composer Giovanni Battista
Sammartini. Young Giuseppe's first instruction likely came from his
father, and by 1711 the two brothers were performing together in an
orchestra. Giuseppe's first surviving compositions date to the
mid-1710s. Around the time of that publication, Giuseppe and Giovanni
became members of a Milan orchestra and by 1720 they had joined that
city's Regio Ducal Theater orchestra. In 1729, Giuseppe departed Italy
for Brussels, where he remained briefly before traveling to London, the
city he would settle in for the remainder of his career. He was already
recognized in England as a promising composer, owing to the publication
there of his 12 Trio Sonatas in 1727. But it was his musicianship on the
oboe that made him a celebrity in the English capital. In the 1730s
Sammartini played in Handel's orchestra and performed in many
productions of Handel's operas, including that of Arminio, which
features difficult obbligato writing for the oboe in the Act II aria,
"Quella fiamme." In 1736 Sammartini was appointed music teacher in the
household of Prince Frederick of Wales. His duties included instructing
the Prince's wife Augusta and her children in music, and undoubtedly
involved many private chamber music performances before the Prince and
his retinue. Sammartini held this post until his death. This final
decade-and-a-half was apparently a very happy time for him: many of his
works date to this period, some carrying dedications to the Prince (12
Sonatas, Op. 1; 1736) and to Augusta (12 Trios, Op. 3; 1743). Sammartini
died at the household of the Prince during the week of November 17,
1750.
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