Giovanni Bononcini (1670 – 1747) was an Italian
Baroque composer, cellist, singer and teacher, one of a
family of string players and composers. He was born in
Modena, Italy, the oldest of three sons. His father,
Giovanni Maria Bononcini (1642–1678), was a violinist
and a composer, and his younger brother, Antonio Maria
Bononcini, was also a composer. An orphan from the age
of 8, Giovanni Battista studied in the music school of
Giovanni Paolo Colonna at San Petronio Basilica in
Bologna (perha...(+)
Giovanni Bononcini (1670 – 1747) was an Italian
Baroque composer, cellist, singer and teacher, one of a
family of string players and composers. He was born in
Modena, Italy, the oldest of three sons. His father,
Giovanni Maria Bononcini (1642–1678), was a violinist
and a composer, and his younger brother, Antonio Maria
Bononcini, was also a composer. An orphan from the age
of 8, Giovanni Battista studied in the music school of
Giovanni Paolo Colonna at San Petronio Basilica in
Bologna (perhaps in 1680 or 1681).
In 1685, at the age of 15, he published three
collections of instrumental works (in two of which he
gave his age as 13). On 30 May 1686, he was accepted as
a member of the prestigious Accademia Filarmonica di
Bologna. His services were already much in demand: he
worked at San Petronio as a string player and singer,
published further collections of instrumental pieces,
and produced two oratorios for performance in Bologna
and Modena. From 1687 to 1691 he served as maestro di
cappella at the church of San Giovanni in Monte in
Bologna, for which he composed a set of masses) for
double choir which were published in 1688 as his op.7.
In 1690 he composed a further oratorio for Modena. He
also spent some time in Milan in 1689 and 1690. In 1691
he dedicated a set of vocal duets (op. 8) to Emperor
Leopold I and played in the orchestra of the Cardinal
Legate of Bologna, Benedetto Pamphili.
In the same year, he moved to Rome, where he entered
the service of Filippo II Colonna, a powerful patron of
the arts, for whom Bononcini, along with Colonna's
librettist, Silvio Stampiglia, produced six serenatas,
an oratorio and at three (possibly five) operas between
1692 and 1696, including the highly successful Xerse
(1694). Another successful opera, Il trionfo di Camilla
was produced in Naples (in 1696 or 1697) following the
appointment of Colonna's brother-in-law, Luigi della
Cerda, as Spain's local viceroy. Between 1695 and 1696,
Bononcini was made a member of two of Rome's most
exclusive artistic circles, the musical Accademia
Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and the literary Accademia
degli Arcadi (in which he was one of seven musicians
proposed as founding members of a "chorus", or
performance arm). Around this time, the eclectic
musician and poet Giuseppe Valentini wrote a sonnet in
praise of Bononcini's teaching abilities.
His earliest works for the cello are two Sinfonie
included in a manuscript in Montecassino. His other
works include a number of operas, masses, and a funeral
anthem for the Duke of Marlborough. One of his operas,
Xerse, parodied material in an earlier setting of that
opera by Francesco Cavalli. This included the aria
"Ombra mai fu". Bononcini's Xerse was in turn later
adapted by Handel with a third (and best known) version
of "Ombra mai fu". His song Vado ben spesso cangiando
loco was used by Franz Liszt in his suite for piano
Années de pèlerinage: Deuxième année: Italie.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Bononcini).
Although originally written for Strings, Trumpets &
Continuo, I created this arrangement of the Sinfonia I
(Opus 3) from 12 Sinfonie for Winds (Flute, Oboe,
English Horn & Bassoon) & Strings (2 Violins, Viola &
Cello).
SHEET MUSIC