Andrea Luchesi

Andrea Luca Luchesi(also spelledLucchesi;23 May 1741 – 21 March 1801) was anItalian composer.He knewMozartandBeethoven.

Biography

Andrea Luchesi was born atMotta di Livenza,nearTrevisothe eleventh child of Pietro Luchese and Caterina Gottardi. The rather wealthy family descended from groups of noble families who had moved fromLuccato Venice in the 14th century (hence the name Luchese; from 1764/65 Andrea began to use the name Luchesi, which we can find written by his contemporaries also as Lucchesi, Lughesi, Luckesi, Lucchezzy, etc.). He grew up in his native town, receiving musical and general education from his elder brother Matteo, a priest, public tutor andorganist.

By 1757he moved toVenice.The protection of the nobleman Jseppo Morosini enabled him to study with eminent musicians:Gioacchino Cocchi,PadrePaolucci,Giuseppe Saratelli,Domenico Gallo,Ferdinando Bertoniand (the best-known of them)Baldassare Galuppi.His career in Venice developed quickly: examiner of the organists commission in 1761, then organist at San Salvatore (1764), composer of works for "organorcembalo",instrumental,sacredand theatre music. He composed for official celebrations, the last (1771) being the solemn funeral of the Duke of Montealegre,Spanishambassadorto Venice. As a famousvirtuosohe was invited to play organ in and outside Venice, e.g. was in charge of inaugurating the new organ of thebasilicaofSaint AnthonyinPadua.

In the spring of 1765 hisoperaL'isola della fortunawas performed at the Hoftheater inVienna.

While on tour in Italy in 1771,LeopoldandWolfgang Mozartmet Andrea Luchesi and received one of hisconcertosfor cembalo (Wolfgang was still playing the concerto in 1777, while Leopold andNannerloften used the concerto for teaching and practising purposes).

At the end of 1771, Luchesi traveled toBonnon a three-year contract, invited by thePrince ElectorArchbishop of CologneMaximilian Friedrich von Königsegg-Rothenfels, who wished to raise the quality level of hiscourtorchestra. After the death of the previous Kapellmeister (Ludwig van Beethoven senior, i.e. the grandfather of Beethoven), Andrea Luchesi was nominated official courtKapellmeisterin 1774.

He acquired theprincipality's citizenship and in 1775 married Anthonetta Josepha d'Anthoin, daughter of Maximilian Friederich's senior counselor. With the exception of a visit to Venice in 1783-84, he lived in Bonn until his death in 1801, although his role as Kapellmeister ended in 1794, when theFrenchinvasion troops suppressed the court.

The youngBeethovenwas at the court chapel from 1781 to 1792 as assistant organist, cembalo andviolaplayer. Although Beethoven's musical and compositional training was probably influenced by Luchesi's presence, we have no evidence of any formal pupil/teacher relationship between the two.When the court organistChristian Gottlob Neefetemporarily replaced the Kapellmeister asconductorand teacher during his 1783-84 absence, Luchesi assigned the organ service to the very young Beethoven. There is also no evidence of Luchesi's having taught other young Bonn musicians who went on to international renown:Antonin Reicha,BernhardandAndreas Romberg,andFerdinand Ries.

He had one daughter, who lived in Bonn till her death, and four sons. According to Neefe the first two sons (Maximilian Friederich, born 11 December 1775, and M. Jakob Ferdinand, born 18 December 1777) were gifted musicians. Luchesi died on 21 March 1801 at the age of 59 inBonn.

Works

• L’isola della fortuna,opera buffawithlibrettoby Giovanni Bertati, performed at the Hoftheater, Vienna, in 1765; also in Venice (1765) and at the Royal Theater in Lisbon (1767).
• Ademira,opera seria,for the Ascension Day in Venice (1784), to honour the visit of king Gustavus III of Sweden
• Other operas:Il marito geloso(1766),Le donne sempre donne(1767),Il giocatore amoroso(1769),Il matrimonio per astuzia(1771),Il Natal di Giove,L’inganno scoperto ovvero il conte Caramella(1773, with libretto fromCarlo Goldoni),L’amore e la misericordia guadagnano il gioco(1794).
• OratorioSacer trialogus(1768)
• Stabat Mater(about 1770)
• Requiem(1771) in F, for the state funeral of the duke of Montealegre in San Geremia's.
• Variousmassesandsacred works,including: Mass for San Lorenzo in Venice, Mass for the "Festa della concezione di Maria" in Verona,Te Deumfor the Incurabili conservatory in Venice
• Passione di N.S. Gesù Cristo (1776), on a text fromMetastasio(recorded cd by Tactus)
• Many organ works, including:
  • 12 sonatas known as Donelli Collection (completed by 1764), now at theNaplesConservatory
  • 6 sonatine and 8 divertimenti, now at theLibrary of Congress,Washington, D.C.
  • 2 sonates pour l’orgue in the 'Menus plaisirs du Roi', Paris
• Celebration music for the feast of San Rocco in Venice (1769)
• Serenatafor the duke ofBrunswick(1764)
• Cantatafor the duke ofWürttemberg(1767)
• 2Symphonies(by 1768)
• 6Sonatas'per il cembalo con l’accompagnamento di unviolino' Op.1 (Bonn, 1772)
• Sonata in fa ‘per il cimbalo’ (1771-73?), now at theUniversity of Münster
• 3 Symphonies op. 2 (Bonn,1773) - lost
• Concertofor harpsichord (Bonn,1773) – four more concertos/trios are lost
• Cantata for the election toBishopof Archiduke Max Franz (1785 – attributed to Luchesi in the Bonn Stadtarchiv)
• Sonate facile for cembalo and violin (Leipzig,1796)

References

• Aroma, Amedeo (1997)Settecento organistico Trevigianoed. Ateneo di Treviso.
• Aroma, Amedeo (2000)Civiltà Organistica Trevigiana fra Settecento e Ottocento,Treviso.
• de La Borde, J.B. (1780)Essai sur la musique ancienne et moderne,Paris, Tome III page 199.
• Della Croce, Luigi (1999) (Italian translation of the paperDer junge Beethoven und "sein" Kapellmeister Andrea Luchesiat the 1999 Beethoven congress at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin), Rassegna Musicale Italiana, anno IV No.15 July/September, pages 13–16.
• Henseler, T. A. (1937)Andrea Luchesi, der letzte Bonner Hofkapellmeister zur Zeit des jungen Beethovens,Bonner Geschichtsblätter, Bonn, pp. 225–364 [G]
• New Grove= article "Andrea Lucchesi", by Claudia Valder-Knechtges, in the online edition of the NewGrove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
• Torrefranca, Fausto (1930)Le origini italiane del romanticismo musicale,Torino, pages 557-558 [I]
• Valder-Knechtges, Claudia (1983)Die Kirchenmusik Andrea Luchesis (1741-1801): Studien zu Leben und Werk des letzten kurkölnischen Hofkapellmeisters(Berlin) [G], with first catalogue of Luchesi's sacred works.
• Valder-Knechtges, Claudia (1984)Die weltliche Werke A. Luchesis,Bonner Geschichtsblätter, xxxvi.
• Valder-Knechtges, Claudia (1989)Andrea Luchesi: Verzeichnis der Instrumentalwerke, Mitteilungen der Arbeitsgemeinschaft für rheinische Musikgeschichte,lxxvi (1989) [G]
• Valder-Knechtges, Claudia (1989)Ein Jahrhundert der Musik in Bonn, Bonn als kurkölnische Haupt- und Residenzstadt: 1597-1794,Geschichte der Stadt Bonn, iii (Bonn, 1989), pages 471-515 [G]
• Valder-Knechtges, Claudia (1990)Andrea Luchesi: ein Italiener im Umkreis des jungen Beethoven,Bonner Geschichtsblätter, xl (1990), pages 29–56 [G]

External links

• Free scores by Andrea Luchesiat theInternational Music Score Library Project(IMSLP)