Giovanni Battista Bassani (ca. 1650 – 1 October 1716) was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 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...

, violinist, and organist.

Battista was born in Padua

Padua

Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...

. It is thought that he studied in Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

 under Daniele Castrovillari and in Ferrara

Ferrara

Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...

 under Giovanni Legrenzi

Giovanni Legrenzi

Giovanni Legrenzi was an Italian composer of opera, vocal and instrumental music, and organist, of the Baroque era...

. Charles Burney

Charles Burney

Charles Burney FRS was an English music historian and father of authors Frances Burney and Sarah Burney.-Life and career:...

 and John Hawkins

John Hawkins (author)

Sir John Hawkins was an English author and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson and Horace Walpole. He was part of Johnson's various clubs but later left The Literary Club after a disagreement with some of Johnson's other friends. His friendship with Johnson continued and he was made one of the executors...

 claimed he taught Arcangelo Corelli

Arcangelo Corelli

Arcangelo Corelli was an Italian violinist and composer of Baroque music.-Biography:Corelli was born at Fusignano, in the current-day province of Ravenna, although at the time it was in the province of Ferrara. Little is known about his early life...

, but there is no solid evidence for this assertion. He was an organist at the Accademia della Morte in Ferrara from 1667, but had probably left by 1675. He published his first music in 1677; the title page calls him maestro of music at the Confraternità della Morte in Finale Emilia

Finale Emilia

Finale Emilia is a comune in the Province of Modena in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 35 km north of Bologna and about 35 km northeast of Modena...

, not far from Modena

Modena

Modena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....

. He was maestro di cappella at Duke Alessandro II della Mirandola's court at 1680, and was elected principe at the Accademica Filarmonica in Bologna

Bologna

Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...

. He became maestro di cappella at the Accademia della Morte in Ferrara

Ferrara

Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...

 in 1683, and then maestro di cappella at Ferrara Cathedral

Ferrara Cathedral

Ferrara Cathedral is a basilica in Ferrara, Northern Italy, the largest religious edifice in the city...

 in 1686. For his contributions to the musical life of Ferrara, he was often called "Bassani of Ferrara". He wrote 76 liturgically

Liturgy

Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...

 ordered services for use at Ferrara Cathedral between 1710 and 1712. He became director of music at S Maria Maggiore in Bergamo

Bergamo

Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...

 in 1712, and also taught at the Congregazione di Carità in the same city until his death.

Bassani was a celebrated violinist in his own time, and his fame was compounded by Burney's praise for him. His trio sonatas are his best-known and most often performed pieces in modern times. He wrote 13 oratorio

Oratorio

An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...

s, but only four survive, and all 13 of his opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

s have been lost aside from a few aria

Aria

An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...

s from Gli amori alla moda.

Works

Operas

• L'amorosa preda di Paride, 1683
• Falarido tiranno d'Agrigento, 1685
• L'Alarico Rè de' Goti 1685
• Vitige [Rè de'Vandali], 1686
• Agrippina in Baia, 1687
• Gli amori alla moda, 1688, 10 arias survive
• Il trionfo di Venere in Ida, 1688
• La Ginerva, infanta di Scozia, 1690
• Le vicende di Cocceio Nerva, 1691
• Gl'amori tra gl'odii, o sia Il Ramiro in Norvegia, 1693
• Roderico, Ferrara, 1696
• L'Alarico, 1709
• Armida al campo, Ferrara, 1711

Oratorios

• L'Esaltazione di S Croce, 1675
• L'Epulone, 1675
• La tromba della divina misericordia, 1676
• L'amore ingeniero, 1678
• Il mistico Roveto, 1681
• La morte delusa, 1686
• Il Davide punito overo La pestilente strage d'Israele, 1686; performed as Nella luna eclissata dal Cristiano valore, 1687, and as La Pietà trionfante della morte, 1692 and 1697
• Il Giona (Ambrosini), 1689
• Mosè risorto dalle acque, 1694
• Il conte di Bacheville, 1696
• Susanna, 1697
• Gl'impegni del divino amore nel transito della Beata Caterina Vegri detta di Bologna, 1703
• Il trionfo della Fede, 1704

Vocal works

• 8 masses
• at least 20 motets
• various sacred solo vocal works and choral works
• 76 services, most with four solo voices, chorus, and basso continuo
• ~16 trio sonatas

External links