George Pinto
Encyclopedia
George Pinto was an English
composer
and keyboard
virtuoso
.
, Lambeth
on February 11, 1786 as George Sanders. Accounts of Pinto's life and character are tenuous. There seems to be no surviving correspondence, nor did he have any descendants preserving a family tradition. His father, Samuel Sanders (or Saunders) died young, and it was from his mother, Julia Sanders (née Pinto) that he took not only his surname but also his musical upbringing. He had no siblings, (certainly none that lived past infancy), and received lavish affection from his mother and step-grandmother, the English singer Charlotte Brent
(1735-1802). His mother's father, Thomas Pinto (1714-c.1780) was a well-known London violinist who had fled to England for political reasons and was the son of a civil servant to the King of Naples
. His first wife was the daughter of a German pastor, and the grandmother of George, but it was his second wife, Charlotte Brent, who saw George through his childhood.
, Oxford
, Cambridge
, Bath, Edinburgh
and twice travelled to Paris
. Indeed, his usual concert appearances were as soloist for a violin concerto, sometimes written by Salomon, Kreutzer, Giovanni Mane Giornovichi or even himself.
Piano was, from the outset, Pinto's second instrument, but although his concert appearances were mainly as a violinist, he admitted himself that the piano was his favoured instrument. In January 1803 at Phillip Corri's Edinburgh concerts, Pinto took the place of an injured Corri as soloist for piano concertos, at this time still only 17 years old. One of Pinto's fellow students was none other than John Field
, with whom he gave a concert in 1800 and became good friends with, even dedicating a sonata to his 'friend John Field' with whom he shared a love of J. S. Bach
.
Pinto’s contribution to the piano repertory did not go unnoticed; indeed Salomon later suggested that had he lived longer, Pinto could have gone on to become an English Mozart. His works fall into two categories; earlier and later compositions, which are stylistically quite different. In the earlier works especially, Pinto’s inventiveness and outside-of-the-box thinking leads to some musical developments which are well ahead of their time. Many features set him apart from his contemporaries, not just figurative and harmonic daring, but also in his manipulation of larger structural issues, which is quite an achievement for a teenager. This structural freedom is perhaps most clear in his Fantasia and Sonata in C minor, in which a bewildering sequence of short sections and longer movements follows: Adagio-Allegro-Adagio-Fugue-Largo-Allegro. The ending to the Sonata is in C major, an unfortunate ending added by Samuel Wesley
in one of his worse moments, but nevertheless, the form of the work is without any obvious precedent, certainly not in the sonatas of Haydn, Mozart or Clementi
.
Pinto also wrote for the violin as well as over 20 songs, some of which have been lost, but appear as advertisements in other scores. For the violin, he wrote four sonatas as well as a violin duet (a kind of duel in the Viotti vein) and a violin concerto, of which there is unfortunately no sign. With it goes evidence of how Pinto might have written for orchestra. Three duets for two violins, published in 1805 as his opus 5, are in the British Library
in November 1805. He died in Chelsea, London
. Sainsbury's Dictionary of Musicians of 1827 states inaccurately that "this extraordinary genius became a martyr to dissipation about the year 1808", while Carl Pohl (1819-1887), writing in the Grove Dictionary, (1st edition 1879) wrote: "In 1805 his health, never strong suddenly broke down, having been undermined by excesses". Salomon wrote at his death If he had lived and been able to resist the allurements of society, England would have had the honour of producing a second Mozart'.
, Dussek and Field. At the age of 21, he had already written almost 200 pages of manuscript, and, but for an early death, could surely have continued to write some of the most pioneering piano and violin music to come out of England.
label.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and keyboard
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
virtuoso
Virtuoso
A virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability in the fine arts, at singing or playing a musical instrument. The plural form is either virtuosi or the Anglicisation, virtuosos, and the feminine form sometimes used is virtuosa...
.
Family
He was baptized at St. Mary'sMuseum of Garden History
The Garden Museum, formerly known as the Museum of Garden History, is based in the deconsecrated parish church of St Mary-at-Lambeth adjacent to Lambeth Palace on the south bank of the River Thames in London, located on Lambeth Road...
, Lambeth
Lambeth
Lambeth is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated southeast of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...
on February 11, 1786 as George Sanders. Accounts of Pinto's life and character are tenuous. There seems to be no surviving correspondence, nor did he have any descendants preserving a family tradition. His father, Samuel Sanders (or Saunders) died young, and it was from his mother, Julia Sanders (née Pinto) that he took not only his surname but also his musical upbringing. He had no siblings, (certainly none that lived past infancy), and received lavish affection from his mother and step-grandmother, the English singer Charlotte Brent
Charlotte Brent
Charlotte Brent was a child prodigy and celebrated soprano singer of the 18th century.She was the daughter of Charles Brent , a Handelian counter-tenor, and fencing-master . She was a pupil and mistress of Thomas Arne and later the wife of the violinist Thomas Pinto...
(1735-1802). His mother's father, Thomas Pinto (1714-c.1780) was a well-known London violinist who had fled to England for political reasons and was the son of a civil servant to the King of Naples
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
. His first wife was the daughter of a German pastor, and the grandmother of George, but it was his second wife, Charlotte Brent, who saw George through his childhood.
Career
George Pinto was an exceptionally gifted child, who began studying violin at a very early age, and started taking lessons, aged 8, with Johann Salomon, who had moved to London in the early 1780s, and had been pivotal in bringing Haydn to the London music scene, so his interest in Pinto carries much weight. In 1786, aged just 10, Salomon organised for Pinto to play a violin concerto at Signora Salvini's benefit concert. Following this, he made frequent appearances in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, Bath, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
and twice travelled to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Indeed, his usual concert appearances were as soloist for a violin concerto, sometimes written by Salomon, Kreutzer, Giovanni Mane Giornovichi or even himself.
Piano was, from the outset, Pinto's second instrument, but although his concert appearances were mainly as a violinist, he admitted himself that the piano was his favoured instrument. In January 1803 at Phillip Corri's Edinburgh concerts, Pinto took the place of an injured Corri as soloist for piano concertos, at this time still only 17 years old. One of Pinto's fellow students was none other than John Field
John Field (composer)
John Field was an Irish pianist, composer, and teacher. He was born in Dublin into a musical family, and received his early education there. The Fields soon moved to London, where Field studied under Muzio Clementi...
, with whom he gave a concert in 1800 and became good friends with, even dedicating a sonata to his 'friend John Field' with whom he shared a love of J. S. Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
.
Pinto’s contribution to the piano repertory did not go unnoticed; indeed Salomon later suggested that had he lived longer, Pinto could have gone on to become an English Mozart. His works fall into two categories; earlier and later compositions, which are stylistically quite different. In the earlier works especially, Pinto’s inventiveness and outside-of-the-box thinking leads to some musical developments which are well ahead of their time. Many features set him apart from his contemporaries, not just figurative and harmonic daring, but also in his manipulation of larger structural issues, which is quite an achievement for a teenager. This structural freedom is perhaps most clear in his Fantasia and Sonata in C minor, in which a bewildering sequence of short sections and longer movements follows: Adagio-Allegro-Adagio-Fugue-Largo-Allegro. The ending to the Sonata is in C major, an unfortunate ending added by Samuel Wesley
Samuel Wesley
Samuel Wesley was an English organist and composer in the late Georgian period. Wesley was a contemporary of Mozart and was called by some "the English Mozart."-Personal life:...
in one of his worse moments, but nevertheless, the form of the work is without any obvious precedent, certainly not in the sonatas of Haydn, Mozart or Clementi
Clementi
Clementi can refer to:People*Aldo Clementi , Italian composer*Anna Clementi, singer *Cecil Clementi , a British colonial administrator and the Governor of Hong Kong from 1925 to 1930...
.
Pinto also wrote for the violin as well as over 20 songs, some of which have been lost, but appear as advertisements in other scores. For the violin, he wrote four sonatas as well as a violin duet (a kind of duel in the Viotti vein) and a violin concerto, of which there is unfortunately no sign. With it goes evidence of how Pinto might have written for orchestra. Three duets for two violins, published in 1805 as his opus 5, are in the British Library
Early Death
Pinto's health seems to have started to deteriorate around 1805. He gave his last public appearance in London (at Mademoiselle Merelle's Concert in Willis's Rooms in June) in 1804, and in 1805 he had to withdraw from a benefit concert in Edinburgh. Some evidence suggests that he may have caught tuberculosis whilst in Edinburgh, but in any case he reportedly gave only one of a scheduled series of concerts at OxfordOxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
in November 1805. He died in Chelsea, London
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
. Sainsbury's Dictionary of Musicians of 1827 states inaccurately that "this extraordinary genius became a martyr to dissipation about the year 1808", while Carl Pohl (1819-1887), writing in the Grove Dictionary, (1st edition 1879) wrote: "In 1805 his health, never strong suddenly broke down, having been undermined by excesses". Salomon wrote at his death If he had lived and been able to resist the allurements of society, England would have had the honour of producing a second Mozart'.
Evaluation
Whatever the causes of death, it is clear from his surviving works that George Pinto was not only a child prodigy, but an individual and inventive composer who is comparable at times to ClementiMuzio Clementi
Muzio Clementi was a celebrated composer, pianist, pedagogue, conductor, music publisher, editor, and piano manufacturer. Born in Italy, he spent most of his life in England. He is best known for his piano sonatas, and his collection of piano studies, Gradus ad Parnassum...
, Dussek and Field. At the age of 21, he had already written almost 200 pages of manuscript, and, but for an early death, could surely have continued to write some of the most pioneering piano and violin music to come out of England.
Discography
Pinto's piano sonatas have been recorded on CD by Thomas Wakefield, Ian Hobson, Riko Fukuda, Miceal O'Rourke and others, while some of his vocal works have been recorded on the HyperionHyperion Records
Hyperion Records is an independent British classical record label.-History:The company was named after Hyperion, one of the Titans of Greek mythology. It was founded by George Edward Perry, widely known as "Ted", in 1980. Early LP releases included rarely recorded 20th century British music by...
label.