Talented musician was maestro di cappella at Basilica of Sant’Antonio
The Baroque violinist and composer Giuseppe Tartini, who spent most of
his career living in Padua, composed more than 100 violin concertos and many beautiful
sonatas, including the Trillo del Diavolo (Devil’s Trill), which he once said
had been inspired by a dream.Giuseppe Tartini spent much of
his career living in Padua
Tartini became principal violinist and maestro
di cappella at Padua’s Basilica of Sant’Antonio in 1721 and later founded a
school of violin playing and composition in the city. His greatest pupil was
Gaetano Pugnani who went on to teach the violinist, Giovanni Battista Viotti.
Tartini was born in Pirano, which was in the Republic of Venice, on 8
April 1692. His birthplace was in Venetian territory in the 17th century, but it
is now named Piran and is part of Slovenia.
He went to Padua to study divinity and law but also took violin lessons
and became an expert at fencing. Before he reached the age of 20, he had
secretly married a protégée of the archbishop of Padua, but this led to him
being arrested on charges of abduction, so he disguised himself as a monk and fled the city, taking
refuge in a monastery in Assisi, where he continued to study the violin and
played in the orchestra there.
Later, he was allowed to return to his wife by the archbishop of Padua, who
had heard that Tartini’s violin playing was attracting favourable attention. The
musician then spent most of his life in Padua, apart from a brief period when he
was invited to Prague to play at the coronation of the Emperor and direct the city’s
orchestra.
Also a music theorist, Tartini formulated the principles of musical
ornamentation and harmony. He wrote a treatise on music, Trattato di musica, in
1754, as well as a dissertation on the principles of music harmony, and a treatise
on ornamentation in music. He also composed music for trios and quartets and a
few religious works. The Basilica of Sant'Antonio, where Tartini
was principal violinist and music director
His violin playing was said to be remarkable because of its combination
of technical and poetic qualities, and his bowing technique became a model for
later violinists. His skill was widely recognised and he was invited to go on a
concert tour of Italy in 1740.
Tartini also studied acoustics and contributed to the science with his
discovery of the Tartini tone, which was a third note, heard when two notes are
played steadily and with intensity.
After almost 50 years in Padua, Tartini died in the city in 1770, at the
age of 77.
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