Sammartini: Il Pianto Degli Angeli Della Pace / Symphony In E Flat Major

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Cat No: 8557432

Release Date: 10 January 2004

Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 747313243228

Genres: Classical

Composer/Series: SAMMARTINI

Description
Giovanni Battista Sammartini (c.1700/01-1775):Il pianto degli Angeli della Pace Symphony J-C 26Giovanni Battista Sammartini, son of the Frenchoboist Alexis Saint-Martin, was most probably born inMilan on 1700 or 1701; his death certificate, dated1775, gives his age as 74. Little is known about hischildhood, but in 1774 he is already documented asbeing a maestro di cappella, and we know that he wasactive as a performer on the oboe and organ, winningadmiration for the individuality of his touch on thelatter instrument.Over the course of a long life, Sammartini had abusy, not to say frenzied, musical career as, amongother things, maestro di cappella and organist ofassorted confraternities, the moving spirit behind theorchestra of the Royal Ducal Theatre in Milan (whichwas to be replaced, after its destruction, by La Scala), amuch admired conductor both of \academies (concertsheld outdoors or in the homes of the aristocracy) and ofreligious music, a composer of operas and cantatas, aprolific writer of symphonies, maestro di cappella atthe ducal court, co-founder of the Accademia Filarmonica(an orchestra made up of skilled non-professionals),and a respected teacher who was on the faculty ofvarious colleges attended by local nobility. Today,Sammartini is remembered primarily as the father ofthe symphony. This description is amply justified bythe attention he dedicated to the genre, which he wasamong the first to treat as one of real importance.Sammartini's fame and success were abundantlytestified to by his contemporaries, sometimes in oddways. Their judgements could be contradictory, tendingto reveal a certain alarm in the face of his exuberantpersonality and musical unorthodoxy. Haydn denigratedhim as a mere scribbler, while Leopold Mozart, in hisletters, spoke of him with the respect due to anauthority, without, however, expressing an opinion ofhis music. The writers Laurence Sterne and CharlesBurney, both of whom attended performances whereSammartini conducted his own works, were muchstruck with his personality and charisma. They cannothave been alone in this, given that the twenty-year-oldGluck was sent to Milan by his patron Prince Lobkowitzfor the express purpose of advanced study withSammartini, with whom he remained from 1737 to 1741.The long career of Sammartini covers a span goingfrom the maturity of Vivaldi and J.S. Bach to theemergence of Haydn and the young Mozart. Thus hiscompositions, especially the earlier ones, reveal ideastypical of a time of transition between the aesthetics ofthe late Baroque and those of the full-blown Classicalstyle; and we find, along the way, the most diverseadmixtures of elements. Nowadays, he deserves to beconsidered the most important Milanese musician ofthe eighteenth century, and a key figure in the broadermusical world of the period.As we have noted, Sammartini had a brilliantcareer as a maestro di cappella. During the last decadeof his life, in fact, he worked, both in that capacity or asorganist, for a
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