Francesco Geminiani

Francesco Geminiani (December 5, 1687 – September 17, 1762) was an Italian violinist, composer, and music theorist.

Biography

Geminiani was born at Lucca.

He received lessons in music from Alessandro Scarlatti, and studied the violin under Carlo Ambrogio Lonati in Milan and afterwards under Arcangelo Corelli. From 1711, he led the opera orchestra at Naples, as Leader of the Opera Orchestra and concertmaster, which gave him many opportunities for contact with Alessandro Scarlatti. In 1714, with the reputation of a virtuoso violinist, he arrived in London, where he was taken under the special protection of William Capel, 3rd Earl of Essex, who remained a consistent patron. In 1715 he played his violin concerti with Handel at the keyboard, for the court of George I.

Geminiani made a living by teaching and writing music, and tried to keep pace with his passion for collecting by dealing in art, not always successfully.

After visiting Paris and residing there for some time, he returned to England in 1755. In 1761, on one of his sojourns in Dublin, a servant robbed him of a musical manuscript on which he had bestowed much time and labour. His vexation at this loss is said to have hastened his death.

He appears to have been a first-rate violinist. His Italian pupils reportedly called him "Il Furibondo," the Madman, because of his expressive rhythms. He is best known for three sets of "concerti grossi", his Opus 2 (1732), Opus 3 (1733) and Opus 7 (1746), (there are 42 concerti in all) which introduce the viola as a member of the "concertino" group of soloists, making them essentially concerti for string quartet. These works are deeply contrapuntal to please a London audience still in love with Corelli, compared to the "galant" work that was fashionable on the Continent at the time of their composition. Geminiani also reworked a group of trio sonatas from his teacher Corelli into "concerti grossi".

His "Art of Playing the Violin" published in London (1751) is the best-known summation of the 18th century Italian method of violin playing, and is an invaluable source for study of late Baroque performance practice, giving detailed information on vibrato, trills, and other violin techniques. His "Guida harmonica" (c.1752, with an addendum in 1756) is one of the most unusual harmony treatises of the late Baroque, serving as a sort of encyclopedia of basso continuo patterns and realizations. There are 2236 patterns in all, and at the end of each pattern is a page number reference for a potential next pattern; thus a student composer studying the book would have an idea of all the subsequent possibilities available after any given short bass line.

Geminiani published a number of solos for the violin, three sets of violin concerti, twelve violin trios, The "Art of Accompaniment on the Harpsichord, Organ, etc." (1754), "Lessons for the Harpsichord", "Art of Playing the Guitar" (1760) and some other works.

External links

* [http://www.baroquemusic.org/bqxgem.html Vita of Francesco Geminiani]
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"This entry incorporates corrected and expanded material originally from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica."