Lodovico Giustini
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Lodovico Giustini (12 December 1685 – 7 February 1743) was an Italian composer and keyboard player of the late
Life
Giustini was born in
In 1725, on his father's death, Giustini became organist at the Congregazione dello Spirito Santo, and acquired a reputation there as a composer of sacred music: mostly
Works and influence
Giustini's main fame rests on his work 12 Sonate da cimbalo di piano e forte detto volgarmente di martelletti, Op.1, published in
These pieces, which are sonate da chiesa, with alternating fast and slow sections (four or five movements per sonata), predate all other music specifically written for the piano by about 30 years. Giustini used all the expressive capabilities of the instrument, such as wide dynamic contrast: expressive possibilities which were not available on other keyboard instruments of the time. Harmonically the pieces are transitional between late Baroque and early Classical period practice, and include innovations such as augmented sixth chords and modulations to remote keys.
James Parakilas points out that it is quite surprising that these works should have been published at all. At the time of composition, there existed only a very small number of pianos, owned mainly by royalty. He conjectures that publication of the work was meant as an honor to Giustini; it "represents a gesture of magnificent presentation to a royal musician, rather than an act of commercial promotion."
While many performances of his large-scale sacred works are documented, all of that music is lost, with the exception of fragments such as scattered arias. Giustini's fame rests on his publication of his set of piano pieces, although they seem to have attracted little interest at the time.
References and further reading
- Edward Higginbottom, "Lodovico Giustini", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. ISBN 1-56159-174-2
- Jean Grundy Fanelli: "Lodovico Giustini", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed November 14, 2005), (subscription access) (Note: the articles in the two editions of Grove are by different authors, and each contains unique material)
- James Parakilas, Piano Roles: 300 Years of Life with the Piano. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-300-08055-7.
- Lodovico Giustini, The 12 Sonatas for piano, ed. Dominique Ferran, 3 vol. Paris-San Diego, Drake Mabry Publishing, 2003.
- Freeman, Daniel E. "Lodovico Giustini and the Emergence of the Keyboard Sonata in Italy." Anuario musical 58 (2003):111-30.