Previous posts for January 4ths are here: Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (2020), Giovanni Battista Pergolesi; Josef Suk (2021), Johann Friedrich Agricola (2022), Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (2023), and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (2024)
++++++++++++++++++
Giovanni Battista Draghi [known as Pergolesi] (4 January 1710 – 16 or 17 March 1736) was a short-lived composer remembered for operas and sacred works.
Is It or Isn’t It
In life, Pergolesi's fame was almost exclusively limited to the Neapolitan and Roman musical milieu. But soon, “all Italy manifested a keen desire to hear and possess his works” (Charles Burney). Because of this extraordinary posthumous fame, the practice of publishing under his name, for the purpose of speculation, any score having the musical style of the Neapolitan school spread in Europe during the 18th century and 19th century. Thus, more than three hundred works have been attributed to him, of which only about thirty have been recognized by modern critics as true Pergolesi's compositions. Among the spurious works are such well-known pieces as “Se tu m'ami” and “Tre giorni son che Nina”. – heavily adapted from Wikipedia
After Pergolesi died,
Rome and Naples mourned and cried,
But soon the works of Pergolesi
Became a fad, and every phrase he
Ever wrote was in demand,
And then, with not a lot on hand,
It only took a little while
‘Til music vaguely in his style
Was sold as his, by attribution,
(An enterprising resolution!).
But after all that eager plundering
It leaves performers blankly wondering
How they should treat these concert staples
No longer by the man from Naples.
If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing. [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.]
No comments:
Post a Comment