Giovanni Battista Viotti

"Viotti" redirects here. For other people, seeViotti (surname).

Giovanni Battista Viotti(12 May 1755 – 3 March 1824) was an Italian violinist whose virtuosity was famed and whose work as a composer featured a prominent violin and an appealing lyrical tunefulness. He was also a director of French and Italian opera companies in Paris and London. He personally knewJoseph HaydnandLudwig van Beethoven.

Giovanni Battista Viotti
Born	(1755-05-12)12 May 1755 Fontanetto Po,Piemonte,Kingdom of Sardinia
Died	3 March 1824(1824-03-03)(aged 68) London, England
Occupations	Violinist Composer

Biography

Viotti was born atFontanetto Poin theKingdom of Sardinia(today in theprovince of Vercelli,Piedmont,Italy). For his musical talent, he was taken into the household of principe Alfonso dal Pozzo della Cisterna inTurin,where he received a musical education that prepared him to be a pupil ofGaetano Pugnani.He served at the Savoia court in Turin, 1773–80, then toured as a soloist, at first with Pugnani, before going to Paris alone, where he made his début at theConcert Spirituel,17 March 1782.He was an instant sensation and served for a time atVersaillesbefore founding a new opera house, theThéâtre de Monsieurin 1788, under the patronage ofLouis-Stanislas-Xavier, comte de Provence,the king's brother, whose court title was Monsieur.There he mounted operas of his friendLuigi Cherubini,among lesser lights. When theFrench Revolutiontook a radical turn and, though his opera house was renamed the Théâtre Feydeau, former royal connections became a dangerous liability, he moved in 1792 to London, making his début atJohann Peter Salomon's Hanover Square Concert, 7 February 1793. In London he went from success to success, as a featured violinist for Salomon's concert series, 1793–1794; as musical director of the new Opera Concerts in 1795; as a star in the benefit concerts forHaydn,1794 and 1795; as acting manager of Italian opera at theKing's Theatre,1794–1795; and as leader and director of the orchestra, 1797. He was invited to perform in the houses of the Londonbon ton,including for the Prince of Wales.

Then, with Britain at war with Revolutionary France, he was ordered to leave the country, under suspicion ofJacobinsympathies. Period papers hint at an intrigue in the favour of Viotti's rival,Wilhelm Cramer,who had led the Opera House orchestra before Viotti took over. TheMorning PostandGazetteerin its issue of Friday, 9 March 1798, reported that "the Duke of L... and the Earl of C... have been particularly active in entreating his Majesty to order Viotti out of the kingdom". This may refer toFrancis Osborne, 5th Duke of Leeds,and toPhilip Stanhope, 5th Earl of Chesterfield.Pierre Rode,Viotti's favourite pupil, was expelled from England, too, and may have left the country some days previous to Viotti who awaited the outcome of his case, after several gentlemen and evenPrincess Elizabethspoke in his favour. But finally, Viotti left England with a packet ship on 8 March 1798. He lived on the estate of a rich English merchant, John Smith, inSchenefeld(Pinneberg) near Hamburg from ca. March 1798 to ca. July 1799. Between March and May 1798 he gave private lessons to the 13-year-old virtuosoFriedrich Wilhelm Pixis.After that, according to two papers issued in February 1800, he seems to have lived incognito on the estate of his English friends, William andMargaret Chinnery,at Gillwell House, where he lived officially from 1801; according to another paper he was still in Schenefeld in April 1800. He gave up giving concerts to run a wine business, but used to play in private concerts. In July 1811, he became a naturalised British citizen, after his friend, the Duke of Cambridge, a younger brother of the Prince of Wales, had interceded on his behalf. In 1813, he was one of the founders of thePhilharmonic Society of London.Viotti didn't perform as a soloist anymore but as orchestra leader and chamber musician. After his wine business failed, he returned to Paris to work as director of theAcadémie Royale de Musique,from 1819 to 1821. He returned to London in November 1823 together with Margaret Chinnery and died in her presence on 3 March 1824.

Music

In spite of his few direct pupils, Viotti was a very influential violinist. The teacher of bothPierre RodeandPierre Baillotand an important influence onRodolphe Kreutzer,all of whom became notable teachers themselves, he is considered the founding father of the 19th-century French violin school. He also taughtPaul AldayandAugust Duranowski,who was an influence onNiccolò Paganini.

Viotti owned a violin fabricated byAntonio Stradivariin 1709 that would eventually become known as theViotti Stradivarius.He is also thought to have commissioned the construction of at least one replica of this violin. TheViotti ex-Bruce,renamed in honour of its previous owner, was purchased by theRoyal Academy of Musicin September 2005. Funding was provided byHM Governmentin lieu ofInheritance Tax,and by theNational Art Collections Fund,theNational Heritage Memorial Fundand many private donors. The instrument was to be displayed in the York Gate Collections, the academy's free museum and research centre. TheViotti ex-Bruceis to be heard as well as seen: the instrument is to be played sparingly, under very controlled circumstances, at research events and occasional performances elsewhere.

Viotti's most notable compositions are his 29violin concertos,which were an influence onLudwig van Beethoven.One in particular, No. 22 in A minor (1792), is still very frequently performed, especially by advanced student players. The other concertos are of similar quality but lesser known. Other notable concertos include: No. 23 in G major (1792). During the 1990-2000 decade,Guido Rimondafound three more concertos. However, these discoveries – that can be regarded as concertos No. 30, 31 and 32 - are incomplete, since only two movements were found for each concerto. Most likely they are the unpublished concertos mentioned by Viotti himself in his will left in favour of Mrs. Chinnery who cared for him in London, in the last years of his life.

In 2005, violinistFranco Mezzenareleased a complete set on theDynamiclabel. Since 2012Guido Rimondastarted releasing Viotti's 32 concertos forDecca Universal Group label.This project will be completed by the end of 2023. In the meantime, in 2021, Guido Rimonda started the first publishing of Viotti's complete scores of violin concertos forEdizioni Curci Milan.

Viotti's music generally features the violin prominently. Most of hisstring quartetslargely ignore the balanced texture pioneered byHaydn,giving a "solo" role to the first violin and as such may be consideredQuatuors brillants.However, hisTre Quartetti Concertanti,G.112, 113 and 114 (afterRemo Giazottowho catalogued Viotti's works), composed in 1815 and published in Paris in 1817, are true concertante works offering extensive solos for each instrument and not just the first violin. Viotti often wrote chamber music for more traditional combinations such as two violins and cello. The Opp. 18 and 19 are perhaps the best known of these and are still in print today. He also wrotesonatas,songs,and other works.

The Italian violinistGuido Rimondahas pointed out in 2013that the incipit of his "Tema e variazioni in Do maggiore" has a very strong resemblance to the French hymnLa Marseillaise.This incipit was first thought to have been published before La Marseillaise, but it appeared to be a misconception as Viotti published several variations of "La Marseillaise" in 1795and wrote as a note "I have never composed the quartets below" (Je n'ai jamais composé les quatuors ci dessous).

Cultural references

Viotti is commemorated annually in theViotti International Music Competitionnear his birthplace inVercelli,Italy.In the same city takes place also theViotti Festival- International Music Festival - an event that is part of the circuit "Piemonte dal Vivo" Italy.

Bibliography

• Arthur Pougin,Viotti et l’école moderne de Violon,Paris, Schott, 1888.Viotti et l'ecole moderne de violon
• Marc Pincherle,La Méthode de violon de J. B. Viotti,in Feuillets d'histoire du violon, Paris, Legouix, 1927, pp. 172–181
• Remo Giazotto,Giovan Battista Viotti,Milan, Curci, 1956
• Boris Schwarz,Viotti — eine Neubewertung seiner Werke,in V. Schwarz (editor),Violinspiel und Violinmusik in Geschichte und Gegenwart,Vienna, Universal Edition, 1975, pp. 41–46
• Warwick Lister,Amico: the life of Giovanni Battista Viotti,New York, Oxford University Press, 2009
• Philippe Borer,The chromatic scale in the compositions of Viotti and Paganini, a turning point in violin playing and writing for strings,inNicolò Paganini Diabolus in Musica,ed. by A. Barizza and F. Morabito, Turnhout, 2010, pp. 91–120
• Mariateresa Dellaborra (editor),Giovanni Battista Viotti «professione musicista», sguardo sull’opera, lo stile, le fonti, Roma,Società Editrice di Musicologia, 2017

External links

• Free scores by Giovanni Battista Viottiat theInternational Music Score Library Project(IMSLP)
• Sound-bites of String Quartet in B Flat Major, G.113 & String Quartet in G Major, G.114
• video:Duetto per due violini Uto Ughie Guido Rimonda
• video:Meditazione in Preghiera per violino e orchestra Guido Rimonda, Orchestra Camerata Ducale
• Sito ufficiale del Viotti Festival di Vercelli
• Alessandro Di Profio, 2003.La Révolution des Bouffons: L’opéra italien au Théâtre de Monsieur 1789–1792(Paris:CNRS Éditions)
• Royal College of Music: Viotti Mss collectionArchived2007-03-15 at theWayback MachineIncludes a manuscript autobiography written in 1798, on which some of the statements in this article are based.
• Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911)."Viotti, Giovanni Battista".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 108.