Un portal on escoltar i gaudir de l'art musical dels segles XVI, XVII, XVIII i XIX. Compartir la bellesa de la música és l'objectiu d'aquest espai i fer-ho donant a conèixer obres de compositors molt o poc coneguts és el mètode.
Italian violinist and composer. Born in the center of the Italian violin
makers at Cremona, he received his earliest training on the violin from
his father and, subsequently, from Giacomo Civeri and Carlo Ricci. An
invitation from Antonio Caldara, who had met him while passing through
Casalmaggiore, took him to Vienna, where he became a well-known virtuoso
and teacher without, however, obtaining an official position in the
service of the imperial court. In 1736, however, he returned to
Casalmaggiore on the death of his mentor, remaining there as a performer
and teacher. He died in a carriage accident on the way to Mantua. His
works are mostly in the style of Antonio Vivaldi, including the 12
violin concertos and the 18 trio sonatas (six of which were published in
1727). His set of six symphonies published in 1729, however, reflect
the styles and structures of Milanese works by Antonio Brioschi and
Giovanni Battista Sammartini.
German composer. He began organ studies with local organist Johann
Philipp Pitzler, with whom he traveled. In 1710 he met Johann David
Heinichen in Weissenfels, who at the time was working as a lawyer. With
Heinichen, he took lessons in general bass and also began studying
composition. When Heinichen went to Italy, Förster moved to Merseburg
where he continued his studies with the Kapellmeister and court organist
Georg Friedrich Kaufmann. Later, in 1717 he was employed as a chamber
musician in the Sachsen-Merseburg Hofkapelle where he played second
violin to Johann Gottlieb Graun, whom he later superseded as
Konzertmeister. In 1723, Förster traveled to Prague with his employer
for the coronation of Charles VII of Bohemia. In Prague, he made the
acquaintance of the Viennese court musicians Fux, Caldara, Conti and
Piani and also took part in a performance of Fux's Constanza e Fortezza
and performed in a concert as a harpsichord soloist and violinist for a
Dutch ambassador. He continued to serve at his post in Merseburg until
the Hofkapelle was dissolved in 1738 following the death of the Duke
Moritz Wilhelm. At the birthday of Frederick Anton, Prince of
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt he played as a soloist under the leadership of
Kapellmeister Johann Graf. Still without a fixed position, he applied
for the position of vice-kapellmeister in Rudolstadt which he received
on 3 May 1743 without a fixed salary. He died there two years later in
1745. Throughout his life, Förster maintained numerous contacts with
other musicians. Most notably, he is known to have subscribed to two of
Telemann's publications of the 1730s; Tafelmusik and the Paris quartets.
It was Telemann who published Förster's Sei Duetti, Op. 1 in Paris in
1737. Förster was proficient in the Italian style of composition, which
he learned from Heinichen and from his subsequent trips to Leipzig and
Dresden (1719), and then Prague (1723). This is evident in his wealth of
orchestral and chamber music, much of which was probably composed for
performance at the Merseburg court. During his time in Merseburg he was
also required to compose Italian cantatas, and purportedly also learned
Italian for this purpose. Although there are several Italian cantatas
listed in Breitkopf's thematic catalogue, few, if any, of these pieces
have survived.
Brazilian singer, composer, and conductor. In 1752, he joined the
Brotherhood of São José dos Homens Pardos, where he served as a tenor
until the end of his life, and also as a 'regente'
(conductor/choirmaster) starting in 1792. He assumed the same post at
the Church of Nossa Senhora das Mercês de Baixo from 1776 to 1782. He
was also an organist and worked for the Senado da Câmara of Vila Rica,
often performing as a tenor using the falsetto tradition of the time,
following the Spanish and Portuguese style, rather than the Italian
castrato tradition. As a composer, a significant portion of his musical
output has been lost. Among the extant works, a Salve Regina, mass
settings, a Ladainha (1789), the Ofício para os Funerais do Rei D. Pedro
III, and the Oratório ao Menino Deus Para a Noite de Natal.
Italian composer, flautist, and violinist. Little is known about his
early life or training, although he may have received education at one
of the Neapolitan conservatories. He first appears as a composer of
opera buffa in 1738, when his 'Lo secretista' was premiered successfully
in Naples. His opera 'La tavernola abentorosa' was censured in 1741 due
to its satirical portrayal of monastic life, even though it was
apparently written for a monastic audience. During this period he
attained a reputation as an excellent contrapuntist and chamber
musician. His main instrument was the violin, but he probably also
played the flute, due to the focus of his music on that instrument. In
addition to three operas, he wrote 25 duets for two flutes, concertos
for one and two flutes, a mandolin concerto, and a double concerto for
flute and violin. His style typifies the lyrical Neapolitan opera, with
clear tunes and stable formal structures (mostly ritornello or binary).
German-born Norwegian organist, composer and polymath. Born in a port
city on the eastern Baltic (today in Lithuania), he was trained in music
by his father, Heinrich Berlin, before finishing his studies in
Copenhagen with Andreas Berg. In 1737 he was appointed as city musician
in Trondheim, and three years later became organist at the cathedral as
well. His duties included playing at all the services as well as
assisting the cantor’s rehearsals of hymns and choral music at the Latin
school. In 1751 he assumed responsibility for the organist post at Vor
Frue church and would often engage his sons as deputies. He also found
time to continue the theoretical and pedagogical research that he had
embarked on in Copenhagen. Besides his work in music as a theorist,
composer, and instrument builder, he was also in charge of the city
waterworks and fire brigades, as well as writing treatises on astronomy
and meteorology. As a composer, his works include three symphonies and
nine concertos (six for harpsichord, and others for violin and bass
viol), as well as two cantatas and a host of smaller dance and
occasional works for the keyboard. His musical style tends toward the
North German Empfindsamkeit. His theoretical works include 'Musikalske
Elementer (1744), the first music text in Norwegian, and 'Anleitung zur
Tonometrie' (1767), an early work exploring the physics of the art form.
His son Johan Henrich Berlin (1741-1807) was also organist and
composer, mainly active in Trondheim.
