Magnificat
Francesco Durante
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Browse piano sheets by Francesco Durante on Zen Virtual Piano. Francesco Durante was born in Frattamaggiore, near Naples, on March 31, 1684, to Gaetano and Orsola Capasso. His father was a humble wool carder who also served as sacristan of the local parish of S. Sosio, where the boy and his brothers probably had their first rudimentary schooling. After the father's death on March 18, 1699, an uncle, the composer and organist don Angelo Durante, took charge of him and shaped his musical training decisively; he studied composition with the uncle and violin with don G. Francone. A rudimentary first schooling in the parish and an uncle whose influence on his training was decisive may suggest that his musical formation was shaped largely by his uncle's guidance. In October 1728 the administrators of the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo in Naples named him first master in place of Gaetano Greco, which musicologie.org says attests that he already had a solid reputation. He stayed there until September 1738, resigning for reasons the Treccani biography says are not known, and F. Feo succeeded him a month later. An unexplained resignation in 1738 and a call to S. Onofrio in 1745 may suggest that leaving the Poveri di Gesù Cristo did not end his standing as a respected master. When L. Leo died on October 31, 1744, the post of first master at the conservatory of S. Onofrio fell vacant, and Durante, by then elderly and respected as maestro di cappella of S. Maria di Loreto, was called to succeed him on January 1, 1745, at five ducats a month. An examination was held on April 21, 1745, at the royal palace with nine competitors, including Durante, and the post of first master went to G. Di Majo. The 1745 call to S. Onofrio, followed by an examination open to nine competitors, may suggest that being called to a post did not settle who would hold it. Following the example of A. Scarlatti, he was the first composer in Naples to write whole cycles of masses in the old a cappella style, among them the four-voice Missa in Palestrina in D minor of 1739 and the Missa In te Domine speravi. His Magnificat became popular partly because it was misattributed to Pergolesi. He taught by demanding unquestioning observance of rules, a method set against that of Scarlatti, who treated each pupil as an individual; the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica calls his fame as a teacher all but unrivalled and names Jommelli, Paesiello, Pergolesi, Piccini and Vinci among his pupils. A teacher who insisted on observance of rules and a composer who wrote whole cycles of masses in the old a cappella style may suggest that respect for established forms ran through both his teaching and his writing.
Browse piano sheets by Francesco Durante on Zen Virtual Piano.
Francesco Durante was born in Frattamaggiore, near Naples, on March 31, 1684, to Gaetano and Orsola Capasso. His father was a humble wool carder who also served as sacristan of the local parish of S. Sosio, where the boy and his brothers probably had their first rudimentary schooling. After the father's death on March 18, 1699, an uncle, the composer and organist don Angelo Durante, took charge of him and shaped his musical training decisively; he studied composition with the uncle and violin with don G. Francone. A rudimentary first schooling in the parish and an uncle whose influence on his training was decisive may suggest that his musical formation was shaped largely by his uncle's guidance.
In October 1728 the administrators of the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo in Naples named him first master in place of Gaetano Greco, which musicologie.org says attests that he already had a solid reputation. He stayed there until September 1738, resigning for reasons the Treccani biography says are not known, and F. Feo succeeded him a month later. An unexplained resignation in 1738 and a call to S. Onofrio in 1745 may suggest that leaving the Poveri di Gesù Cristo did not end his standing as a respected master.
When L. Leo died on October 31, 1744, the post of first master at the conservatory of S. Onofrio fell vacant, and Durante, by then elderly and respected as maestro di cappella of S. Maria di Loreto, was called to succeed him on January 1, 1745, at five ducats a month. An examination was held on April 21, 1745, at the royal palace with nine competitors, including Durante, and the post of first master went to G. Di Majo. The 1745 call to S. Onofrio, followed by an examination open to nine competitors, may suggest that being called to a post did not settle who would hold it.
Following the example of A. Scarlatti, he was the first composer in Naples to write whole cycles of masses in the old a cappella style, among them the four-voice Missa in Palestrina in D minor of 1739 and the Missa In te Domine speravi. His Magnificat became popular partly because it was misattributed to Pergolesi. He taught by demanding unquestioning observance of rules, a method set against that of Scarlatti, who treated each pupil as an individual; the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica calls his fame as a teacher all but unrivalled and names Jommelli, Paesiello, Pergolesi, Piccini and Vinci among his pupils. A teacher who insisted on observance of rules and a composer who wrote whole cycles of masses in the old a cappella style may suggest that respect for established forms ran through both his teaching and his writing.
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Francesco Durante
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Francesco Durante was a Neapolitan composer and teacher born in Frattamaggiore in 1684, who wrote sacred works such as a cappella masses and a Magnificat.
He was first master at the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo from 1728 to 1738 and on January 1, 1745, was called to the first master post at the conservatory of S. Onofrio; in April 1745 an examination at the royal palace saw the post of first master go to G. Di Majo.
His Magnificat became popular partly because it was misattributed to Pergolesi.
According to the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica, they included Jommelli, Paesiello, Pergolesi, Piccini and Vinci.