Giovanni Carlo Maria Clari

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Giovanni Carlo Maria Clari (?1677-?1754), Italian musical composer, kapellmeister (chapel-master) at Pistoia, was born at Pisa about the year 1677. He gained his initial grounding in musical education from his father, a violinist originally from Rome who was employed in the service of the chapel of the Cavalieri di S. Stefano in Pisa.

Clari was the most celebrated pupil of Colonna, kapellmeister of S. Petronio, at Bologna. He became maestro di cappella at Pistoia about 1712, at Bologna in 1720, and at Pisa in 1736. He is supposed to have died about 1754.

The works by which Clari distinguished himself pre-eminently are his vocal duets and trios, with a basso continue, published between 1740 and 1747. These compositions, which combine graceful melody with contrapuntal learning, were much admired by Cherubini. They appear to have been admired by Handel also, since he did not hesitate to make appropriations from them. Clan composed one opera, Ii Savio delirante, produced at Bologna in 1695, and a large quantity of church music, several specimens of which were printed in Novellos Fitzwilliam Music.

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.