Page:Pratt - The history of music (1907).djvu/403

 In Italy there were a few special students of Palestrina who were worthy perpetuators of his style. Pasquale Pisari (d. 1778), from 1752 a bass singer in the Papal Chapel, was a fertile writer of noble masses and motets, some for 8-16 voices, including a cycle of motets for the whole year, written for Lisbon. His friend, Giuseppe Jannaconi (d. 1816), 16 years younger, ultimately succeeded Zingarelli as choirmaster at St. Peter's (1811). He made a superb collection of Palestrina's works (transmitted to his pupil Baini), and left a prodigious amount of fine a cappella works, including over 30 masses and many motets, some polychoric, with extraordinary canons, etc. Other Roman composers were Giovanni Battista Casali (d. 1792), from 1759 choirmaster at St. John Lateran; and Zingarelli (d. 1837), the popular opera-writer (see sec. 151), from 1792 choirmaster at Milan, from 1802 at Loreto, from 1804 at St. Peter's and from 1813 at Naples, who, though not a consistent cultivator of the pure style, wrote prolifically for the church, including a cycle of masses for every day in the year, in some of which he showed his versatility by adopting the old a cappella methods.

To the many opera-writers already named (sec. 151), such as Traetta, Guglielmi, Tritto, Paisiello and others, the following may be added:—

Ferdinando Giuseppe Bertoni (d. 1813) was from 1752 first organist at St. Mark's, Venice, and after a few years elsewhere (1778-84) returned there as choirmaster, succeeding Galuppi. He wrote many motets (from 1743), several oratorios, as David pœnitens (1775) and Il Giuseppe riconosciuto (1787), a Te Deum (1803), besides over 40 operas (from 1745). Bernardino Ottani (d. 1827), pupil of Martini at Bologna, from 1757 choirmaster there and from 1779 at Turin, mingled the composition of his 12 operas (from 1767) with that of almost 50 masses and other sacred music. Stanislao Mattei (d. 1825), another pupil of Martini at Bologna and in 1770 his successor at S. Francesco, besides becoming a favorite teacher, produced a great quantity of church music of every kind, one oratorio and a work on theory (1788 and later editions). Bernardo Bittoni (d. 1829), from 1773 choirmaster at Rieti and from 1781 at Fabriano, was a remarkable violinist and organist, writing many motets and organ-pieces, with a few masses. Giuseppe Sarti (d. 1802), still another of Martini's pupils, returned to Italy from Denmark in 1775 and was choirmaster at Milan in 1779-84. He composed masses and Misereres, etc., of real contrapuntal excellence. An 8-part fugue is noted as one of the best ever written.

In Austria, chiefly at Vienna, Salzburg and Prague, besides Haydn and Mozart, were the following, several giving special attention to theorgan:—

Joseph Seegr (d. 1782), a Bohemian, pupil of Czernohorsky at Prague, where from about 1750 he was an organist and teacher of wide renown—even likened to Bach himself. Though he wrote much vocal sacred music, he is now chiefly represented by organ-preludes, fugues and toccatas. Franz Brixi (d. 1771), also an organist and choirmaster at Prague, though living less than 40 years, achieved a fine reputation through about 75 masses and other sacred music, with several oratorios and fugues.

Michael Haydn (d. 1806), from 1762 choirmaster at Salzburg, was one of the strongest and most abundant church composers of the age, his works