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Giuseppe Maria Gioacchino Cambini (Montelupo Fiorentino, 8 april 1746–Netherlands? 1810s? or Paris? 1825?) was an Italian composer and violinist.

Life

Unconfirmed information

Information about his life is scarcely traceable. Louis-Gabriel Michaud,[1] French scholar and François-Joseph Fétis,[2] Belgian musicologist, drafted his biography, and Cambini himself speaks about his past in an article published in Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung in 1804.[3] However, all of these documents are full of errors[4] and, therefore, need to be verified.[5] It is not possible to confirm his personal data (only Fétis indicates his date of birth[2][5]), nor his first studies.[5] It is possible he is connected in some way to father Giovanni Battista Martini,[6][7] and, more possibly to Filippo Manfredi, who was almost certainly his violin teacher.[5][6][8] Fétis wrote about his unfortunate operatic debut in Naples in 1766, after which, during his return to Livorno by the sea, Cambini was kidnapped by pirates, who treated him terribly until his liberation by a Venetian aristocrat.[2] The narration by the Belgian holds much resemblance to a story in the poetic periodical Correspondance littéraire, philosophique et critique,[9] a fact that reduces its reliability.[5][7] In the article found in Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung in 1804, Cambini claims to have played the viola in a string quartet with Luigi Boccherini, Pietro Nardini and his teacher Manfredi for six months in 1767.[10][3] If what he says is true,[11] this quartet would represent the first formation of this emerging genre in Italy, if not in all of Europe.[6][7][12][13] For many years, this information fostered a gigantic legend about the importance of the role of Cambini in defining the string quartet.[5][14][15][16][17] Actually, he was one of the many (even if one of the most prolific) who, in the same period, contributed to the development of the genre.[5][8][18][19]

First years in Paris

The first information that we have that is certain is his arrival in Paris at the beginning of the 1770s, where he remained for 20 years,[6][7][8] and composed oratorios, concert compositions, as well as chamber, symphonic, and theatrical compositions (there are almost 14 operas, of which at least 12 were performed in Paris.[5] In addition, there are some ballets that aroused the admiration of Christoph Willibald Gluck[6][7][20]), and he performed his violin concertos (during the Concert Spirituel and the Concerts des Amateurs, managed by François-Joseph Gossec).[6][7][21] More than 600 compositions were published with his name in the French capital until 1800 (above all by the Venier, Berault and Sieber publishers, see also the section Sources),[5][7] of which more than 80 are symphonies concertante (he wrote more of these than any other French composer of the time, becoming a champion of the genre).[5][6][22]

Polemic with Mozart

His success in composing for the sinfonia concertante genre inspired the rivalry of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who in 1778 accused Cambini of having obstructed the performance of his Sinfonia Concertante for Four Winds KV 297b[23] at the Concert Spirituel, because Cambini was jealous of its perfection.[21][24] The skepticism with regard to Cambini is not observed from any other composer who dealt with him. Conversely, Gluck, in the same years, often recommended him as an upstanding and honest man.[20] Therefore, it is probable that the Salisburg expressed exaggerated feelings toward Cambini.[5]

Alternating Parisian fame

The accusation by Mozart is not especially valid partially because the power of Cambini in Paris did not reach the level that Mozart claimed. In fact, the musical press paid less than gratifying attention to Cambini's vast production.[5][7][8] He was cited relatively few times in the contemporary critiques, and his career as a violinist is less appreciated than other contemporary soloists of the time.[5][8] His greatest successes, as aforementioned, were the sinfonie concertanti and his quartets, which even Mozart praised.[5][8][18] His easy style, attractive and brilliant,[7] open only just enough to innovation,[5] rendered him a sort of protector of the galant Parisian style,[5] and many of his pieces were favorably accepted in London[6] as well as in America[7] (some actively participated in defining the so-called forma sonata[6]), but his theatrical works, operas, were almost always torn to shreds.[5][7] Moreover, from 1785 it was affirmed in France of the more complex Viennese style, to which he tried to awkwardly join,[6] undermining his fame, and damaging his reputation in the press of the German area.[5][8]

The Revolution

In 1788, he became manager of the Théâtre Beaujolais, and he worked there during the revolutionary turmoil until 1791.[6] His endurance permitted continuity of a high-quality operatic offering even in the years of the Republic.[7][25] During the time of the Terror, beginning in 1791, he directed the Théâtre Louvois, which due to the economic crisis caused by the war was forced to close in 1794.[6][25] The crisis affected many, as well as the estate of Cambini, and it constrained him to find very different work opportunities. Beginning in 1794, he accepted a salary from the chemist and entrepreneur Armand Séguin, for whom he gave private concerts and composed more than 100 quartets.[5][7] He composed revolutionary and patriotic anthems for the newborn Republic.[26] He taught violin, voice and composition privately.[7] In addition, he transcribed opera arias of other authors for any buyer.[6] He accepted editorial commissions (in 1795, the editor Gavreaux asked him to attend to the reprinting of methods for violin by Francesco Geminiani,[27][7] and in 1799 Nademann and Lobry hired him to edit one for flute).[28][5][6][8]

Oblivion

At the beginning of the 1800s, Cambini signed contracts with periodicals and magazines, including the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung[29] and Tablettes de Polymne, which published his articles until 1811.[5][6][7][30] From that moment, Cambini disappears without leaving any trace in any documents.[5][6][7] Michaud affirms that he died in Holland in 1818,[1] information that satisfies scholars and has a certain amount of credibility,[7][18] while Fétis recounts his painful and tragic admission to a mental hospital in Bicêtre, where he was found dead in 1825.[2]

Sources

More than 600 works by Cambini are diffused throughout the world. More than 300 are printed editions, 250 are in manuscript copies, and about 100 are proven autographs.[31] We have received only his instrumental music. In fact, only the music of Le Tuteur avare, written in collaboration with Pasquale Anfossi in 1787 (today preserved at the Bibliothèque Municipale de Lille)[32] remains of his operas. For many years, there was a symphony that was considered to be his, but in reality it is by Joseph Martin Kraus for Boyer publishers. From 1784 to 1786, the publisher released the work of the then unknown Kraus under the name of the more famous Cambini in order to sell more copies, causing the misunderstanding of attribution, which was not resolved until 1989.[33]

Autographs

All 100 known autographs are in the United States of America, at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.[31] and at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.[34]

Manuscripts

The largest collection of manuscripts of Cambini's compositions are found in Prague, in the music history department of the National Czech Museum of Music.[31] Following, in order of the number of preserved copies are: the Benediktinerstift der Bibliothek und Musikarchiv die Seitenstetten in Austria (the majority however are without a date)),[31] the Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello di Venezia (Torrefranca and Correr Collection),[31][35][36] and the Biblioteca di Archeologia e Storia dell'Arte di Palazzo Venezia in Rome (Vessella Collection).[31][37] Smaller Italian collections[38] are in the Pasini Collections at the Conservatorio Luca Marenzio in Brescia,[31][39] at the Conservatorio Cherubini of Florence,[40] at the Conservatorio Paganini di Genoa,[35] at the Biblioteca Estense di Mantova,[35] at Casa Verdi in Milan,[41] at the Conservatorio San Pietro a Majella in Naples, and at the Biblioteca Casanatese di Roma (Marefoschi Collection and more).[35][42] The Musical Documentation Center of Tuscany preserve three manuscripts of single parts of other chamber music compositions in the Venturi Music Collection in Montecatini Terme.[43] Cities around the world that preserve at least five manuscripts are: Basel (Universitätsbibliothek), Cheb (Státní okresní archiv), Keszthely (Helikon Kastélymúzeum Könyvtára), Leutkirch im Allgäu (Fürstlich Waldburg-Zeilsches Archiv), Lille (Bibliothèque Municipale), Lund (Universitetsbiblioteket), New Haven (Music Library at Yale University), Prague (Biblioteca Nazionale Ceca), Steinfurt (Fürst zu Bentheimsche Musikaliensammlung Burgsteinfurt Collection, managed by Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität within the Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek di Münster), Stockholm (Musik- och teaterbiblioteket) and Västerås (Stadsbibliotek).[31]

Printed editions

The Conservatoire de Paris and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France are the institutions that preserve the majority of the printed editions during Cambini's life,[31] followed by[44] the British Library of London, the Rossijskaja Gosudarstvennaja Biblioteka of Moscow, the Fürst zu Bentheimsche Musikaliensammlung Burgsteinfurt of Steinfurt, the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde of Vienna, the Biblioteca Nacional of Spain, the Kongelige Bibliotek of Copenhagen, the Biblioteca Estense of Modena,[31] and the Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria of Turin (in the Foà and Giordano collection).[45]

Compositions

Operas

Doubted attribution

Sacred music

Anthems and revolutionary songs

Instrumental music

Trois quintetti concertans (Three Wind Quintets), c.1802, by Giuseppe Cambini; performed by the Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet, 1970
No. 1 in B♭ major
I. Allegro maestoso
II. Larghetto cantabile
III. Rondo Allegretto grazioso
Problems playing these files? See media help.
No. 2 in D minor
I. Allegro espressivo
II. Larghetto sostenuto ma con moto
III. Presto ma non tanto
No. 3 in F major
I. Allegro maestoso
II. Larghetto sostenuto
III. Rondo Allegro con brio

Articles

Recordings

Around 1936,[46] the Quartet of Rome (Francesco Montelli and Oscar Zuccarini, violins; Aldo Perini, viola; Luigi Silva, violoncello), recorded Quartetto in Re maggiore by Cambini adapted by Fausto Torrefranca. The 78 rpm disc of the first publication are preserved at the Istituto centrale per i beni sonori e audiovisivi di Roma, and are digitalized on Internet Culturale.

References

  1. ^ a b Louis-Gabriel Michaud, Biographie Universelle ancienne et moderne, second edition, vol. 6, Paris, Desplaces, 1854, pp. 457-458, digitalization available in Internet Archive.
  2. ^ a b c d François-Joseph Fétis, Biographie universelle des musiciens et bibliographie générale de la musique, second edition, vol. 2, Paris, Didot, 1861, pp. 162-164, digitalized on Google Books.
  3. ^ a b Giuseppe Cambini [Cambiui in Paris], Ausführung der Instrumentalquartetten, in «Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung», VI/47 (22 august 1804), Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel, 1804, columns 781-783 (dgitalization of this article are available on Internet Archive and Google Books).
  4. ^ The article was also considered to be of dubious attribution, cfr. Marcello De Angelis, Introduction to Claudio Paradiso (ed.), Il cavalier Ferdinando Giorgetti musicista romantico a Firenze, Roma, Società Editrice di Musicologia, 2015, p. 10.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Chappell White, Jean Gribenski, Amzie D. Parcell, Cambini, Giuseppe Maria (Gioacchino), in The New Grove of Music and Musicians. Second Edition, edited by Stanley Sadie, executive editor John Tyrrell, vol. 4: Borowski to Canobbio, London, Macmillan, 2001-2002, pp. 858-861.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Guido Salvetti, Cambini, Giuseppe Maria Gioacchino, in Dizionario enciclopedico della musica e dei musicisti, edited by Alberto Basso, serie II: Le biografie, vol. 2: BUS-FOX, Torino, UTET, 1985, pp. 80-81.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Raoul Meloncelli, Cambini, Giuseppe Maria (Giovanni Giuseppe, Giangiuseppe), in Dizionario biografico degli italiani, vol. 17, Roma, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 1974, available on-line in Italian on Treccani.it.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Jean Gribenski, Cambini, Giuseppe Maria (Gioacchino), in Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Musik begründet von Friedrich Blume, edited by Ludwig Finscher, serie I: Personenteil, vol. 4: Cam-Cou, Kassel-Basel-London-New York-Praha, Bärenreiter/Stuttgart-Weimar, Metzler, 2000, columns 9-17.
  9. ^ A magazine about poetry, published from 1747 to 1793, under the direction of Friedrich Melchior Grimm.
  10. ^ In the article, Cambini affirmed only to have played «for six fortunate month during my youth», without providing any other chronological references: 1767 is the date given as the likely date by some documentation. For example, the indication of the presence of Cambini in Lucca for the Festa di Santa Croce in the years just preceding, discussed in Gabriella Biagi-Ravenni, Manfredi, Filippo, in Dizionario biografico degli italiani, vol. 68, Roma, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2007, available in Italian on Treccani.it
  11. ^ As already mentioned in a note, all of the article is for many considered false content, cfr. Marcello De Angelis, Introduction to Claudio Paradiso (ed.), Il cavalier Ferdinando Giorgetti musicista romantico a Firenze, Roma, Società Editrice di Musicologia, 2015, p. 10; and, above all, the doubts expressed in Daniel Heartz, Music in European Capitals: The Galant Style (1720-1780), New York, Norton, 2003.
  12. ^ Guido Salvetti, Nardini, Pietro, in Dizionario enciclopedico universale delle musica e dei musicisti, diretto da Alberto Basso, serie II: Le biografie, vol. 4: ME-PIA, Torino, UTET, 1988, p. 326.
  13. ^ Gabriella Biagi-Ravenni, Manfredi, Filippo, in Dizionario enciclopedico universale delle musica e dei musicisti, diretto da Alberto Basso, serie II: Le biografie, vol. 5: JE-MA, Torino, UTET, 1986, p. 608.
  14. ^ Gino Roncaglia, Di Giovanni Giuseppe Cambini. Quartettista Padre, in «La rassegna musicale», VI/5 (september 1933), Torino, Fedetto, 1933, pp. 267-274.
  15. ^ Gino Roncaglia, Giovanni Giuseppe Cambini quartettista, in Adelmo Damerini e Gino Roncaglia (ed.), Musiche italiane rare e vive da Giovanni Gabrieli a Giuseppe Verdi. Per la XIX settimana musicale, 22-30 luglio 1962, Siena, Ticci, 1962, pp. 183-194.
  16. ^ Fausto Torrefranca, Avviamento allo studio del quartetto italiano, in «L'approdo musicale», 23 (1966), out of series number of the magazine, all about Torrefranca, edited by Alfredo Bonaccorsi, Roma, ERI, 1966, pp. 15-181.
  17. ^ Cesare Fertonani, Gli ultimi quartetti di Giuseppe Maria Cambini, in Francesco Degrada e Ludwig Finscher (ed.), Luigi Boccherini e la musica strumentale dei maestri italiani in Europa tra Sette e Ottocento, Atti del convegno internazionale di studi, Siena, 29-31 luglio 1993, in «Chigiana», new series XLIII/23 (1993), Firenze, Olschki, 1993, pp. 247-279.
  18. ^ a b c Dieter Lutz Trimpert, Die Quatuors concertants von Giuseppe Cambini, Tutzing (Baviera), Schneider, 1967.
  19. ^ Daniel Heartz, Music in European Capitals: The Galant Style (1720-1780), New York, Norton, 2003.
  20. ^ a b Jacques-Gabriel Prod'homme (ed.), Lettres de Gluck et à propos de Gluck (1776-1787), in «Zeitschrift der Internationale Musikgesellschaft», 13 (1911-12), Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel, 1912, p. 257.
  21. ^ a b Constant Pierre, Histoire du «Concert Spirituel» 1725-1790, Paris, Heugel, 1975.
  22. ^ Barry S. Brook, The «Symphonie Concertante»: An Interim Report, in «The Musical Quartertly», XLVII/4 (october 1961), New York, Oxford University Press, 1961, pp. 493-516.
  23. ^ The autograph of the work of Mozart results as lost precisely as a consequence of this incident, see further notes.
  24. ^ Martin Staehelin, Ist die sogenannte Mozartsche Bläserkonzertante KV 297b/Anh. I,9 echt?, Berlin-Boston, De Gruyter, 2013, pp. 3-6. See also Robert Levin, Mozarts Bläserkonzertante KV Ahn. 9/297B und ihre Rekonstruktionen im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, in «Mozart-Jahrbuch des Zentralinstitutes für Mozartforschung der Internationalen Stiftung Mozarteum Salzburg» (1984/1985), Kassel (ecc.), Bärenreiter, 1986, pp. 187-207; and ID., Who Wrote the Mozart Four-Wind Concertante?, Stuyvesant (NY), Pendragon, 1988.
  25. ^ a b Michel Noiray, Les créations d’opéra à Paris de 1790 à 1794, in Jean-Rémy Julien e Jean-Claude Klein (ed.), Orphée phrygien. Les Musiques de la Révolution, Paris, Editions du May, 1989, pp. 193-203.
  26. ^ Constant Pierre, Les hymnes et chansons de la Révolution. Aperçu général et catalogue, Paris, Imprimerie Nationale, 1904, digitalized on Gallica.
  27. ^ Francesco Geminiani, The Art of Playing the Violin, London, a cura dell'autore, 1751.
  28. ^ Gianni Lazzari, Il flauto traverso. Storia, tecnica, acustica, with Il flauto del Novecento by Emilio Galante, Torino, EDT, 2003, pp. 109, 125, 127-128, 131.
  29. ^ Other than the article cited many time about his past and the quartet, he also wrote another about the differences between German, French, and Italian musical style: Giuseppe Cambini [C. de Paris], Über den Charakter, den die italienischen und deutschen Musik haben, und die französische haben sollte, in «Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung», VII/10 (5 december 1804), Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel, 1804-1805, pp. 149-155, digitalized on Internet Archive.
  30. ^ Guglielmo Barblan, Giovanni Maria Cambini e i suoi scritti sulla musica, in Memorie e contributi alla musica dal medioevo all’età moderna offerti a Federico Ghisi nel settantesimo compleanno (1901-1071), Bologna, Antiquae Musicae Italicae Studiosi, 1971, pp. 295-310.
  31. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Search "Giuseppe Cambini"". RISM.
  32. ^ Page of the only remained theatrical opera of Cambini. RISM.
  33. ^ Joseph Martin Kraus, Symphony in F major (VB 145) (AE253), edited by Bertil von Boer, Wien, Artaria, 1999. An extract of the preface is available on-line on the Artaria site.
  34. ^ Cambini's Autograph in New York. RISM.
  35. ^ a b c d "Search "Cambini"". URFM. (Italian site)
  36. ^ "Cambini's manuscripts in Conservatorio di Venezia". SBN.it. Archived from the original on 2016-12-03.
  37. ^ "Cambini's manuscripts in Palazzo Venezia". SBN.it. Archived from the original on 2016-12-03.
  38. ^ We list the institutions that possess at least 5 manuscripts.
  39. ^ "Cambini's works in Brescia". SBN.it. Archived from the original on 2016-12-03.
  40. ^ "Item page". SBN.it.
  41. ^ "Cambini's works in Casa Verdi, Milan". SBN.it. Archived from the original on 2016-12-03.
  42. ^ "Cambini's manuscripts". SBN.it. Archived from the original on 2016-12-03.
  43. ^ "Cambini's work in Venturi Collection". REDOP. (Italian site)
  44. ^ We list the institutions that possess at least 20 printed editions
  45. ^ "Digitalization of Cambini's work in Turin". Internet Culturale. Archived from the original on 2016-09-13. Retrieved 2017-06-01.
  46. ^ It is impossible to know the recording date because it is not indicated in any edition of the recording. 1936 is the date of the first publication, cfr. page of the 78 rpm disc of the first edition on Internet Culturale

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