Francesco Maria Veracini
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Francesco Maria Veracini (February 1, 1690 – October 31, 1768) was an Italian composer and violinist, perhaps best known for his violin sonatas and violin concertos.
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[edit] Life
Born to a musical family in Florence —though his father was a pharmacist— he was taught violin by his uncle Antonio, with whom he often appeared in concert. In Venice in 1711, Veracini wrote a concerto grosso for eight instruments, played at the festivities for the Emperor Charles VI. There is a legend that when Giuseppe Tartini heard Veracini's playing in 1712, he was so impressed by it and so dissatisfied with his own skill, that according to Antonio Vandini he fled to Ancona and locked himself away in a room to practise.
In 1714 Veracini went to London and played instrumental pieces ("symphonies" in contemporary parlance) between acts of operas at the Queen's Theatre. After a season at the court in Dusseldorf and once again in Venice in 1716, he wrote a set of violin sonatas dedicated to Prince Friedrich August (who in 1733 would become Augustus III of Poland and Augustus II Elector of Saxony), who was in Venice recruiting musicians for the Saxon Court in Dresden, on behalf of his father Augustus II the Strong/Augustus I. At the prince's urging, Augustus the Strong employed Veracini to play chamber music at his court, later transferring him to the official Dresden payroll as violinist in August 1717. Veracini was sent to recruit Italian singers for the Dresden opera. In 1721 Veracini wrote another set of violin sonatas dedicated to the Prince. Unfortunately, there was animosity among the musicians of the court. Veracini was involved in 1722 in a staged quarrel with the composer Johann David Heinichen and the singer Senesino, which concluded with Veracini leaping out of a third-story window. He walked with a limp for the rest of his life. Back in his native Florence in 1723, he played music in the church and wrote an oratorio. During this time he earned a bad reputation and the nickname "capo pazzo" ("crazy head").
Back in London in 1733, Veracini appeared in many concerts. There he wrote an opera, Adriano in Siria, considered too long by the music critics. In 1737, he wrote La Clemenza di Tito, on a libretto by Corri based on one by Pietro Metastasio. (The Metastasio libretto was also the basis of the one Mazzola wrote for Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito). In 1738 Veracini wrote his last opera, Rosalinda, based on Shakespeare's play As You Like It, a most unusual choice of material at that time. In that opera Veracini included the well-known ballad tune The Lass of Paties Mill. It was staged in London in 1744, the same year his oratorio L'errore di Salomone was staged, and its lack of success prompted Veracini to leave London.
After surviving a shipwreck in the English Channel, he returned to Florence, where he was appointed maestro di capella of the churches of San Pancrazio and San Gaetano, the latter one at which his uncle had worked, focusing on church music. Though he mostly conducted in his later years, he still sometimes appeared as a violinist. He died in Florence.
[edit] Compositions
In addition to violin sonatas, operas and oratorios, Veracini also wrote violin concertos, sonatas for recorder and basso continuo, and orchestral suites, called Overtures. The six Overtures were performed for Prince Friedrich August in Venice in 1716, as part of Veracini's ultimately successful attempt to secure a position at the Dresden court. They are all either in F major or B-flat major, except for one in G minor. The last one of these, in B-flat major, is remarkable for concluding with an unison minuet. Veracini also wrote a "lively, highly original theory treatise" (Newman 1972, 184), Il trionfo della pratica musicale, and edited other composers' works, adding "improvements" of his own, such as he did in his Dissertazioni with the Opus 5 Violin Sonatas of Arcangelo Corelli.
[edit] Major works
- 12 Sonatas for recorder or violin solo and basso (no opus number, dedicated to Prince Friedrich August, 1716)
- Opus 1, 12 Sonatas for violin solo and basso (dedicated to Prince Friedrich August, 1721)
- Opus 2, 12 Sonate Accademiche for violin solo and basso (1744)
- Dissertazioni del Sigr. Francesco Veracini sopra l'opera quinta del Corelli [Dissertation by Mr. Francesco Veracini on Corelli's Opus 5] (unpublished)
- Opus 3, Il trionfo della pratica musicale, osia Il maestro dell’arte scientifica dal quale imparsi non solo il contrapunto ma (quel che più importa) insegna ancore con nuovo e facile metodo l’ordine vero di comporre in musica (music-theory treatise, 1760)
[edit] References
- David Charlton, "Francesco Maria Veracini' 1996
- Hill, John Walter. 1979. The life and works of Francesco Maria Veracini. Studies in Musicology 3. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press.
- Newman, William S. 1972. The Sonata in the Baroque Era. 3d edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., Inc.
- Torchi, Luigi. 1901. La musica istrumentale in Italia nei secoli XVI, XVII e XVIII, con 272 esempi musicali nel testo. Turin: Fratelli Bocca. Facsimile reprint, Bologna: Forni Editore, 1969.
