Embraced by Music of Love: in Memoriam of J. B. Viotti
Abstract
The article explores the biography of Giovanni Battista Viotti—the outstanding violinist of the turn of the 18th-19th centuries whose work and life have received little attention in Russia. Valuable archival documents discovered by foreign scholars in recent decades shed light on Viotti’s creative life. Of considerable interest is the formation of his performing career, associated with the years Viotti spent in Turin under the patronage of Prince della Cisterna. The article provides curious facts about the concert tour undertaken with the teacher G. Pugnani around Russia and the largest European cities that was crowned by Viotti's brilliant debut in Paris.
Until now, little has been known about Viotti's life and work in London, where he spent half of his life after his flee from the French capital. While in London, Viotti composed the concerts for violin and orchestra No. 20 D-major, No. 22 a-minor, and No. 23 G-major. Today, these well-known concerts form the basis of educational repertoires. At the end of the 20th century, the Australian scientist D. Yim discovered Viotti's correspondence with the famous English aristocratic family of Chinnery. The discovery was a sensation. The finding reveals a lot about Viotti’s life and work in London and provides a better understanding of the deep emotional experiences hidden behind his beautiful creations.
Keywords: Viotti, Pugnani, Turin, Paris, London, Salomon, Baillot, Chinnery, French violin art, violin concerto
For citation: Podmazova P. B. Embraced by Music of Love: in Memoriam of J. B. Viotti [Electronic source]. In: Sovremennye problemy muzykoznaniya / Contemporary Musicology, 2020, no. 4, pp. 3–54. (In Russ.) DOI: 10.56620/2587-9731-2020-4-003-054
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.56620/2587-9731-2020-4-003-054
Copyright (c) 2020 Polina B. Podmazova
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