Francesco Maria Veracini
Francesco Maria Veracini was born February 1, 1690, in Florence, Italy. His grandfather and uncle were both musicians and his uncle, an accomplished violinist himself, became Francesco's first teacher. He grew to become one of the most impressive and famous violinists in his time. He moved to Venice in 1711 and performed both in orchestras and as a soloist. In 1714, he traveled to London and performed there. In 1716, he moved to Dresden and composed a few violin sonatas, which he dedicated to Prince Friedrich August. He married Chiara Tesi back in his hometown in 1719 and continued to compose, returning to Dresden and dedicating another set of violin sonatas to the prince.
In 1722, he suffered injuries to his leg or foot from a fall or jump from a third-story window. The accounts of what transpired are conflicting, with some saying it was a suicide attempt brought on by either anger or lunacy, others saying it was a murder attempt, and yet others saying the jump was because of a hot-tempered argument. In any case, the injury left him with a limp for the rest of his life. He returned to Florence and worked at the church, composing mostly choral music at the time.
He returned to London in 1733, performing many concerts. He composed an opera Adriano in Siria in 1735 for the Opera of the Nobility, becoming Handel's competition in London's operatic community. La Clemenza di Tito followed in 1737 with Partenio in 1738 and Roselinda (based on Shakespeare's As You Like It) and the oratorio L'errore di Salomone both staged in 1744.
In 1745 he survived a shipwreck in which he lost two of his violins and returned to Florence where he would remain for the rest of his life. He continued to compose, periodically perform, and conduct. His works included church choral music, violin sonatas, operas, an oratorio, violin concerti, sonatas for recorder and basso continuo, and orchestral suites, which he called overtures. His music was strongly influenced by Vivaldi, Tartini, Corelli, and Handel. Veracini died October 31, 1768.
This information for this biography was found on the following websites, which I accessed on July 26, 2016: wikipedia.org, violinstudent.com, and allmusic.com.
In 1722, he suffered injuries to his leg or foot from a fall or jump from a third-story window. The accounts of what transpired are conflicting, with some saying it was a suicide attempt brought on by either anger or lunacy, others saying it was a murder attempt, and yet others saying the jump was because of a hot-tempered argument. In any case, the injury left him with a limp for the rest of his life. He returned to Florence and worked at the church, composing mostly choral music at the time.
He returned to London in 1733, performing many concerts. He composed an opera Adriano in Siria in 1735 for the Opera of the Nobility, becoming Handel's competition in London's operatic community. La Clemenza di Tito followed in 1737 with Partenio in 1738 and Roselinda (based on Shakespeare's As You Like It) and the oratorio L'errore di Salomone both staged in 1744.
In 1745 he survived a shipwreck in which he lost two of his violins and returned to Florence where he would remain for the rest of his life. He continued to compose, periodically perform, and conduct. His works included church choral music, violin sonatas, operas, an oratorio, violin concerti, sonatas for recorder and basso continuo, and orchestral suites, which he called overtures. His music was strongly influenced by Vivaldi, Tartini, Corelli, and Handel. Veracini died October 31, 1768.
This information for this biography was found on the following websites, which I accessed on July 26, 2016: wikipedia.org, violinstudent.com, and allmusic.com.
Violin Sonata Op.2, No.8
Venus Tsai, violin pianist not identified |
Gigue
The performers are not identified, though the video was uploaded under the name "thebananaband." |
Gigue
Kate Conway, violin
Kate Conway, violin