Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 4.djvu/76

60 TARTINI,, famous violin-player and composer, was born at Pirano, a town in Istria, April 12, 1692. His father, a Florentine by birth and an elected Nobile of Parenzo, intended him for the Church, and sent him to the school of the Oratorians in his native town. Later on he attended an ecclesiastical school at Capo d'Istria, and there received his first instruction in music. Being entirely averse to the Church career, he went, at eighteen, to Padua, and matriculated as a student of law. But law was not more to his taste than theology. Led by his highly impulsive temperament he even set aside his musical studies in favour of the then fashionable art of fencing. In this he soon became so great an adept as to propose seriously to adopt it as a profession at Naples or Paris. Fortunately for music Tartini's passionate character involved him in a serious difficulty and caused him to exchange the sword for the fiddlestick and the pen. He fell in love with a niece of the Archbishop of Padua, Cardinal Cornaro, and was secretly married to her. The immediate consequences of this hasty step were disastrous. His parents withdrew all further support, and the Cardinal was so incensed by what he considered an insult to his family, that Tartini had to fly from Padua. He first went to Rome, but not considering himself safe there, took refuge in a monastery at Assisi, of which a relative of his was an inmate. Here he remained for two years, and in the solitude of monastic life resumed his musical studies, and at last discovered his true vocation. The organist of the monastery, Padre Boemo, was an excellent musician,and being delighted to find so talented a scholar, spared no time and trouble in teaching him counterpoint and composition. As a violinist he appears to have been his own teacher. His progress however must have been very rapid, as we know that his performances at the services of the monastery chapel soon became a well-known attraction to the neighbourhood. The development of his musical genius was not however the only fruit of these two years: he underwent a remarkable change of character. Influenced by the peaceful religious life around him, he seems entirely to have lost his quarrelsome temper, and acquired that modesty of manner and serenity of mind with which he has been credited by all who knew him later in life. His residence at Assisi came to a sudden end by a curious accident. One day, at the service, a gust of wind blew aside the curtain behind which Tartini was playing a solo. A Paduan, who happened to be present, instantly recognised his strongly-marked features, and brought the news of his whereabouts to his native town. Meanwhile the Archbishop's pride had softened, and Tartini was allowed to rejoin his wife. He went with her to Venice, where he met Veracini, and was so much struck with the great Florentine violinist, as at once to recognise the necessity for fresh studies, in order to modify his own style and correct the errors into which he, being almost entirely self-taught, had very naturally fallen. For this purpose he went to Ancona, leaving even his wife behind, and remained for some time in complete retirement. In 1721 he appears to have returned to Padua, and was appointed solo violinist in the chapel of San Antonio, the choir and orchestra of which enjoyed a high musical reputation. That his reputation must have been already well established is proved not only by this appointment, but more especially by the fact that in 1723 he received and accepted an invitation to perform at the great festivities given for the coronation of Charles VI at Prague. On this occasion he met with Count Kinsky, a rich and enthusiastic amateur, who kept an excellent private band, and prevailed on Tartini to accept the post of conductor. This he retained for three years and then returned to his old position at Padua. From this time he appears never again to have left his beloved Padua for any length of time, where he held an highly honoured position, with an income sufficient for his modest requirements. An invitation to visit England, under most brilliant conditions (£3000), which he received from Lord Middlesex, he is reported to have declined by stating 'that, although not rich, he had sufficient, and did not wish for more.' His salary at San Antonio's was 400 ducats, to which must be added the fees from his numerous pupils and the produce of his compositions. Burney, who visited Padua a few months after his death, gives a few interesting details. But when he writes, 'He married a wife of the Xantippe sort, and his patience upon the most trying occasions was always truly Socratic,' we need not attach too much weight to such a statement. Great artists are frequently but indifferent managers, and, in their honest endeavours to restore the balance, their wives have often most undeservedly gained unpleasant reputations. Burney continues, 'He had no other children than his scholars, of whom his care was constantly paternal. Nardini, his first and favourite pupil, came from Leghorn to see him in his sickness and attend him in his last moments with true filial affection and tenderness. During the latter part of his life he played but little, except at the church of S. Antony of Padua, to which he devoted himself so early as the year 1722, where his attendance was only required on great festivals, but so strong was his zeal for the service of his patron-saint, that he seldom let a week pass without regaling him to the utmost of his palsied nerves.' He died Feb. 16, 1770, was buried in the church of S. Catherine, a solemn requiem being held in the chapel of S. Antonio. At a later period his statue was erected in the Prato della Valle, a public walk at Padua, where it may still be seen among the statues of the most eminent men connected with that famous university.

Tartini's fame rests on threefold ground. He was one of the greatest violinists of all time, an eminent composer, and a scientific writer on musical physics. To gain an idea of his style of playing we must turn to the testimony of his contemporaries. They all agree in crediting him with those qualities which make a great player: a fine tone, unlimited command of fingerboard