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Francesco Geminiani

Francesco Geminiani (1687 - September 17, 1762), Italian violinist, was born at Lucca.

He received lessons in music from Alessandro Scarlatti, and studied the violin under Lunati (Gobbo) and afterwards under Corelli. He played in the opera orchastra at Naples In 1714 he arrived in London, where he was taken under the special protection of Willliam Capell, 3rd Earl of Essex, and made a living by teaching and writing music.

In 1715 he played his violin concertos with Handel at the English court. After visiting Paris and residing there for some time, he returned to England in 1755. In 1761 he went to Dublin, where a servant robbed him of a musical manuscript on which he had bestowed much time and labour. His vexation at this loss is said to have hastened his death.

He appears to have been a first-rate violinist. His Italian fellow pupils reportedly called him Il Furibondo, the Madman, because of his rhythms. He is best known for two sets of concerti grossi, his Opus 3 and Opus 7, (there are 42 in all) which introduce the viola as a member of the concertino group of soloists, making them essentially concerti for string quartet. These works are deeply contrapuntal compared to the galant work that was fashionable at the time of their composition. Geminiani also reworked a group of trio sonatas from his teacher Corelli into concerti grossi.

His Art of Playing the Violin published in London, 1751, was the first published violin method. but his Guida harmonica is an inferior production. He published a number of solos for the violin, three sets of violin concertos, twelve violin trios, The Art of Accompaniment on the Harpsichord, Organ, etc. 91754), Lessons for the Harpsichord Art of Playing the guitar (1760) and some other works.

This entry incorporates corrected and expanded material originally from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.