Nisha Rathode (Editor)

Francesco Geminiani

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Name
  
Francesco Geminiani

Role
  
Violinist


Died
  
September 17, 1762, Dublin, Republic of Ireland

Books
  
The Art of Playing on the Violin. [Facsimile of 1751 Edition].

Compositions
  
Concerto Grosso no 1 in D major (After Corelli Violin Sonata in D major - op 5 no 1), Concerto Grosso no 1 in D major (After Corelli Violin Sonata in D major - op 5 no 1), Concerto Grosso no 8 in E minor (After Corelli Violin Sonata in E minor - op 5 no 8), Concerto Grosso no 8 in E minor (After Corelli Violin Sonata in E minor - op 5 no 8), Cello Sonata in B-flat major - op 5 no 4: II Allegro moderato, Cello Sonata in B-flat major - op 5 no 4: II Allegro moderato, Concerto Grosso in A major - op 2 no 6: II Allegro - Grave, Concerto Grosso in A major - op 2 no 6: II Allegro - Grave, Sonata in C major - op 4 no 3: IV Allegro, Sonata in C major - op 4 no 3: IV Allegro, Concerto Grosso no 6 in A major (After Corelli Violin Sonata in A major - op 5 no 6), Concerto Grosso no 6 in A major (After Corelli Violin Sonata in A major - op 5 no 6), Sonata in D major - op 4 no 1: IV Allegro assai, Sonata in D major - op 4 no 1: IV Allegro assai, Concerto grosso in C minor - Op 2 No 1: II Allegro, Concerto grosso in C minor - Op 2 No 1: II Allegro, Concerto grosso in D major - op 3 no 1: I Adagio, Concerto grosso in D major - op 3 no 1: I Adagio, Sonata in A major - op 4 no 7: III Moderato, Sonata in A major - op 4 no 7: III Moderato, Concerto Grosso in D minor - op 2 no 3: I Presto, Concerto Grosso in D minor - op 2 no 3: I Presto, Concerto Grosso in C minor - op 2 no 2: IV Allegro, Concerto Grosso in C minor - op 2 no 2: IV Allegro, Concerto grosso in D minor - op 2 no 5: III Andante, Concerto grosso in D minor - op 2 no 5: III Andante, Concerto Grosso no 3 in C major (After Corelli Violin Sonata in C major - op 5 no 3), Concerto Grosso no 3 in C major (After Corelli Violin Sonata in C major - op 5 no 3), Sonata in A major - op 4 no 12: I Adagio - Presto - Adagio - Presto, Sonata in A major - op 4 no 12: I Adagio - Presto - Adagio - Presto, Sonata in A major - op 4 no 7: I Andante, Sonata in A major - op 4 no 7: I Andante, Cello Sonata in A minor - op 5 no 6: III Grave, Cello Sonata in A minor - op 5 no 6: III Grave, Concerto Grosso in G minor - op 3 no 2 (1755): II Allegro Assai, Concerto Grosso in G minor - op 3 no 2 (1755): II Allegro Assai, Concerto Grosso in E minor - op 3 no 6 (1755): III Andante, Concerto Grosso in E minor - op 3 no 6 (1755): III Andante, Concerto Grosso in E minor - op 3 no 6 (1755): II Allegro assai, Concerto Grosso in E minor - op 3 no 6 (1755): II Allegro assai, Concerto Grosso in D major - op 2 no 4: II Allegro, Concerto Grosso in D major - op 2 no 4: II Allegro, Concerto Grosso in C minor - op 2 no 2: II Allegro, Concerto Grosso in C minor - op 2 no 2: II Allegro, Concerto Grosso in C minor - op 2 no 2: I Adagio, Concerto Grosso in C minor - op 2 no 2: I Adagio, Concerto Grosso in E minor - op 3 no 3 (1755): II Allegro moderato / Adagio, Concerto Grosso in E minor - op 3 no 3 (1755): II Allegro moderato / Adagio, Concerto Grosso in D major - op 2 no 4: III Andante, Concerto Grosso in D major - op 2 no 4: III Andante, Sonata in A major - op 4 no 7: IV Allegro, Sonata in A major - op 4 no 7: IV Allegro, Concerto grosso in E minor - op 3 no 3: III Adagio, Concerto grosso in E minor - op 3 no 3: III Adagio, Sonata in A major - op 4 no 12: II Presto - Adagio, Sonata in A major - op 4 no 12: II Presto - Adagio, Concerto Grosso in G minor - op 3 no 2: I Largo e staccato, Concerto Grosso in G minor - op 3 no 2: I Largo e staccato, Concerto Grosso in E minor - op 3 no 6 (1755): I Andante, Concerto Grosso in E minor - op 3 no 6 (1755): I Andante, Concerto Grosso in D major - op 2 no 4: IV Allegro, Concerto Grosso in D major - op 2 no 4: IV Allegro, Cello Sonata in F major - op 5 no 5: IV Allegro, Cello Sonata in F major - op 5 no 5: IV Allegro, Concerto Grosso in D minor - op 3 no 4: IV Vivace, Concerto Grosso in D minor - op 3 no 4: IV Vivace, Concerto grosso in C-moll - Op 2 No 1: III Grave - andante - prestissimo - andante, Concerto grosso in C-moll - Op 2 No 1: III Grave - andante - prestissimo - andante, Concerto Grosso no 4 in F major (After Corelli Violin Sonata in F major - op 5 no 4), Concerto Grosso no 4 in F major (After Corelli Violin Sonata in F major - op 5 no 4), Concerto Grosso no 2 in B-flat major (After Corelli Violin Sonata in B-flat major - op 5 no 2), Concerto Grosso no 2 in B-flat major (After Corelli Violin Sonata in B-flat major - op 5 no 2), Sonata in D major - op 4 no 6: III Andante, Sonata in D major - op 4 no 6: III Andante, Concerto Grosso in D minor - op 3 no 4: I Largo e staccato, Concerto Grosso in D minor - op 3 no 4: I Largo e staccato, Cello Sonata in B-flat major - op 5 no 4: I Andante, Cello Sonata in B-flat major - op 5 no 4: I Andante, Concerto Grosso in D minor - op 3 no 4: III Largo, Concerto Grosso in D minor - op 3 no 4: III Largo, Sonata in A major - op 4 no 10: III Allegro, Sonata in A major - op 4 no 10: III Allegro, Concerto Grosso in A major - op 2 no 6: I Andante, Concerto Grosso in A major - op 2 no 6: I Andante, Concerto Grosso in A major - op 2 no 6: III Allegro, Concerto Grosso in A major - op 2 no 6: III Allegro, Concerto Grosso in D minor - op 2 no 3: II Adagio, Concerto Grosso in D minor - op 2 no 3: II Adagio, Concerto grosso in D major - op 7 no 1: II L'arte della fuga, Concerto grosso in D major - op 7 no 1: II L'arte della fuga, Concerto Grosso no 11 in E major (After Corelli Violin Sonata in E major - op 5 no 11), Concerto Grosso no 11 in E major (After Corelli Violin Sonata in E major - op 5 no 11), Concerto Grosso in G minor - op 3 no 2 (1755): IV Allegro, Concerto Grosso in G minor - op 3 no 2 (1755): IV Allegro, Concerto Grosso in E minor - op 3 no 6 (1755): VI Allegro, Concerto Grosso in E minor - op 3 no 6 (1755): VI Allegro, Concerto grosso in C minor - Op 2 No 1: IV Allegro cantabile, Concerto grosso in C minor - Op 2 No 1: IV Allegro cantabile, Cello Sonata in A major - op 5 no 1: II Allegro, Cello Sonata in A major - op 5 no 1: II Allegro, Concerto grosso in E minor - op 3 no 3: I Adagio e staccato, Concerto grosso in E minor - op 3 no 3: I Adagio e staccato

Similar People
  
Arcangelo Corelli, Chiara Banchini, Antonio Vivaldi, Alessandro Scarlatti, George Frideric Handel

Francesco geminiani 1687 1762 violin sonata ii op 5


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

Contents

Francesco Geminiani Geminiani Francesco Beethoven FM

Francesco geminiani 1687 1762 violin sonata v op 5


Life

Francesco Geminiani wwwclassicalnetmusicimagescomposerggeminian

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 1707 he took the place of his father in the Cappella Palatina of Lucca. 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. After a brief return to Lucca, in 1714, he set off for London in the company of Francesco Barsanti, where he arrived with the reputation of a virtuoso violinist, and soon attracted attention and patrons, including William Capel, 3rd Earl of Essex, who remained a consistent patron. In 1715 Geminiani played his violin concerti for the court of George I, with Handel at the keyboard.

Francesco Geminiani Francesco Geminiani Concerto Grosso in G Minor Op 4 No 6

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. Many of his students went on to have successful careers, such as Charles Avison, Matthew Dubourg, Michael Christian Festing, Bernhard Joachim Hagen and Cecilia Young. See: List of music students by teacher: G to J#Francesco Geminiani.

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.

Works

Geminiani's most well-known compositions are 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 his teacher Corelli's Opp. 1, 3 and 5 into concerti grossi.

Geminiani's significance today is largely due to his 1751 treatise Art of Playing the Violin, published in London, which is the best known summation of the 18th-century Italian method of violin playing and is an invaluable source for the study of late Baroque performance practice. The book is in the form of 24 exercises accompanied by a relatively short but extremely informative section of text, giving detailed instructions on articulation, trills and other ornaments, shifting between positions, and other aspects of left- and right-hand violin technique. The instructions in this treatise are famously opposed to those expressed by Leopold Mozart in his Treatise on the Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing (1756) on several issues, including on bow hold, use of vibrato, and the so-called "rule of the down-bow", which states that the first beat of every bar must be played with a down-stroke.

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 2,236 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 also 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 or Cittra (1760) and some other works.

Criticism

Geminiani's compositions are noted for their imagination, expression, and warmth, but also for their lack of discipline and for under-development. Charles Burney took Geminiani to task for irregular melodic structure. Hawkins, on the other hand, was of the opinion that Geminiani's approach represented an important advance in composition. "That we are at this time in a state of emancipation from the bondage of laws imposed without authority, is owing to a new investigation of the principles of harmony, and the studies of a class of musicians, of whom Geminiani seems to have been the chief.... It is observable upon the works of Geminiani, that his modulations are not only original, but that his harmonies consist of such combinations as were never introduced into music till his time. The rules of transition from one key to another, which are laid down by those who have written on the composition of music, he not only disregarded, but objected to as an unnecessary restraint on the powers of invention. He has been frequently heard to say, that the cadences in the fifth, the third, and the sixth of the key which occur in the works of Corelli, were rendered too familiar to the ear by the frequent repetition of them. And it seems to have been the study of his life, by a liberal use of the semitonic intervals, to increase the number of harmonic combinations; and into melody to introduce a greater variety than it was otherwise capable of." (Hawkins, A General History of the Science and Practice of Music Vol. 5, T. Payne & Sons, London, 1776, p. 389 et seq.).

References

Francesco Geminiani Wikipedia