San Francisco Bach Choir: Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti

Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was born in Bergamo, the fifth of six children of Andrea and Domenica (Nava) Donizetti. The family lived in extremely modest circumstances: the highest station Andrea Donizetti achieved was that of custodian and usher at Bergamo’s pawnshop, the Monte de’ Pegni. Although Gaetano’s elder brother Giuseppe was a military bandsman and eventually became chief of music for the Ottom an armies, musical achievement was neither expected nor encouraged in the Donizetti family. While Donizetti is definitely most well-known for his series of magnificent “bel canto” operas, he spent his early years composing a good amount of chamber music. The young Donizetti had left Padre Mattei’s school in Bologna, and was studying with his great teacher Simon Mayr, a native of Bavaria who was maestro di cappella at t he cathedral of S Maria Maggiore in Bergamo. Mayr tremendously influenced Donizetti in several ways. In fact, Donizetti’s lesser-known sacred works seem to follow explicitly the philosophies of Mayr regarding the need for a “purification” of sacred music.

For nearly a decade after the early death of Bellini in 1835, Donizetti was the leading composer of Italian opera. He had his first success with Zoraida di Granata in 1822. There followed a series of nearly sixty more operas and removal to Paris, where Rossini had been induced to settle to his profit. His final illness confined him to a hospital in France for some 17 months, before his return to Bergamo, where he died in 1848. Do nizetti was not exclusively a composer of opera, but wrote music of all kinds, songs, chamber music, piano music and a quantity of music for the church. Like every Italian composer of his day, Donizetti had written quantities of liturgical music as part of his musical training. He also composed songs and duets with piano accompaniment to texts ranging from Metastasio to Romani and professional versifiers of the time such as Guaita and Tarantini. His instrumental works, apart from his 19 string quartets, have received much less recognition.

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Composers

Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (1797-1848)

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Instrumental Works Performed by SFBC



		Repertoire Composers Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (1797-1848) Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was born in Bergamo, the fifth of six children of Andrea and Domenica (Nava) Donizetti. The family lived in extremely modest circumstances: the highest station Andrea Donizetti achieved was that of custodian and usher at Bergamo’s pawnshop, the Monte de’ Pegni. Although Gaetano’s elder brother Giuseppe was a military bandsman and eventually became chief of music for the Ottom an armies, musical achievement was neither expected nor encouraged in the Donizetti family. While Donizetti is definitely most well-known for his series of magnificent “bel canto” operas, he spent his early years composing a good amount of chamber music. The young Donizetti had left Padre Mattei’s school in Bologna, and was studying with his great teacher Simon Mayr, a native of Bavaria who was maestro di cappella at t he cathedral of S Maria Maggiore in Bergamo. Mayr tremendously influenced Donizetti in several ways. In fact, Donizetti’s lesser-known sacred works seem to follow explicitly the philosophies of Mayr regarding the need for a “purification” of sacred music. For nearly a decade after the early death of Bellini in 1835, Donizetti was the leading composer of Italian opera. He had his first success with Zoraida di Granata in 1822. There followed a series of nearly sixty more operas and removal to Paris, where Rossini had been induced to settle to his profit. His final illness confined him to a hospital in France for some 17 months, before his return to Bergamo, where he died in 1848. Do nizetti was not exclusively a composer of opera, but wrote music of all kinds, songs, chamber music, piano music and a quantity of music for the church. Like every Italian composer of his day, Donizetti had written quantities of liturgical music as part of his musical training. He also composed songs and duets with piano accompaniment to texts ranging from Metastasio to Romani and professional versifiers of the time such as Guaita and Tarantini. His instrumental works, apart from his 19 string quartets, have received much less recognition. Links For more information about the life and music of Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti, check out these other websites: New Grove Music Encyclopedia - Donizetti, Gaetano An extensive description of Donizetti’s life and work Donizetti, Gaetano (1797-1848) Includes a listed of recommended recordings of Donizetti’s operatic works. Instrumental Works Performed by SFBC Introduzione Allegro in C for Strings