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Giovanni Battista Sammartini (c. 1700 – 15 January 1775) was an Italiancomposer, violinist,organist, choirmaster and teacher. He countedGluck among his students, and was highly regarded by younger composers includingJohann Christian Bach. It has also been noted that many stylizations inJoseph Haydn's compositions are similar to those of Sammartini, although Haydn denied any such influence.[2] Sammartini is especially associated with the formation of theconcert symphony through both the shift from a brief opera-overture style and the introduction of a new seriousness and use of thematic development that prefigureHaydn andMozart. Some of his works are described asgalant, a style associated withEnlightenment ideals, while "the prevailing impression left by Sammartini's work... [is that] he contributed greatly to the development of aClassical style that achieved its moment of greatest clarity precisely when his long, active life was approaching its end".[1]
He is sometimes confused with his elder brother,Giuseppe, a composer with a similarly prolific output though not equal renown or influence who ended up in the service ofFrederick, Prince of Wales.
Giovanni Battista Sammartini was born to French emigrant and oboist Alexis Saint-Martin and Girolama de Federici inMilan, in what was Habsburg-ruledLombardy during most of his lifetime and isItaly today.
He was the seventh of eight children, receiving musical instruction from his father and writing his first music in 1725: a set of vocal works now lost. He acquired the prestigious positions ofmaestro di cappella atSant'Ambrogio and to the Congregazione del Santissimo Entierro in 1728, and held the former until his death.[3] Sammartini quickly became famous as a church composer and obtained fame abroad. Over the years he joined many churches for work (eight or more by his death[4]) and wrote music to be performed at state occasions and in the houses of the nobility. Although he never strayed far from Milan, he came into contact with such notable composers asJ.C. Bach,Mozart,Boccherini, and Gluck, the last of whom was his student from 1737 to 1741.
Sammartini's death in 1775 was unexpected. Although he was highly regarded in his time, his music was soon forgotten, and it was not rediscovered until 1913, by researchers Fausto Torrefranca,Georges de Saint-Foix and Gaetano Cesari. Curiously most of his surviving works have been recovered from editions publishedoutside Milan.
Sammartini is mostly praised for his innovations in the development of the symphony, perhaps more so than the schools of thought inMannheim andVienna.[5] His approach to symphonic composition was unique in that it drew influence from thetrio sonata andconcerto forms, in contrast to other composers during the time that modeled symphonies after theItalian overture. His symphonies were driven by rhythm and a clearer form, especially earlysonata androunded binary forms. His works never ceased to be inventive, and sometimes anticipated the direction of classical music such as theSturm und Drang style.[6] Czech composerJosef Mysliveček considered Sammartini to be "the father of Haydn's style," a popular sentiment that considerably enhanced Sammartini's reputation after his death.[7]
Sammartini was a prolific composer, and his compositions include 4operas, about 70symphonies, tenconcertos, and a substantial body of chamber music. As of 2004, approximately 450 known works by Sammartini have been recovered, although a fair amount of his music has been lost, especially sacred and dramatic works.[5] Some of it may have also been lost due to publication under other names, especially that of his brother, Giuseppe.[8] His earliest music was for liturgical use.
Sammartini's works are referred to, in publications or recordings, either by theopus number they received in his lifetime, or by the J-C numbers they receive in the [Newell] Jenkins-[Bathia] Churgin catalog referred to below. Newell Jenkins edited some of Sammartini's works, including aMagnificat, for the first time (he was also an editor of works byVivaldi,Paisiello and Boccherini, among others).
Sammartini's music is generally divided into three stylistic periods: the early period (1724–1739), which reflects a mixture ofBaroque and Preclassical forms, the middle period (1740–1758), which suggests Preclassical form, and the late period (1759–1774), that displaysClassical influences.[3] Sammartini's middle period is regarded as his most significant and pioneering, during which his compositions in thegalant style of music foreshadow the Classical era to come.
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