Sammartini, Giuseppe (EN)

Sammartini, St-Martin, San Martini, San Martino, Giuseppe, Gioseffo, Francesco Gaspare Melchiore Baldassare, *6 January 1695 (1693?) Milan, †between 17 and 24(?) November 1750 London, Italian oboist, flutist and composer, son of French oboist Alexis St-Martin (*ca. 1660). He learned to play the oboe and the flute from his father, with whom he was a member of the instrumental ensemble in Novara from 1711. From 1717, he played with his brother Giovanni Battista in Milan at the Church of S. Celso, and from 1720 in the orchestra of the Regio Ducal Teatro. He is thought to have worked in Brussels from 1727, and subsequently in London, where he settled permanently in 1728 (1729?). He was a member of the orchestras at, amongst others, the King’s Theatre and the Little Theatre; between 1732 and 1744, he also performed on several occasions at Hickford’s Room and as part of the Swan Concerts and Castle Concerts. From 1736 until the end of his life, he served as Kapellmeister, composer and music teacher at the court of Frederick, Prince of Wales. He gained fame as a teacher; his pupils included, amongst others, the outstanding English oboist Th. Vincent.

Giuseppe Sammartini was an outstanding oboist, renowned throughout almost all of Europe; he was regarded as the finest interpreter of the works of G.F. Handel; he was also a highly regarded composer of chamber music, which was published individually or in collections in Paris, London and Amsterdam, and performed both during his lifetime and (even more frequently) after his death. Giuseppe Sammartini’s concertos and overtures remained part of the repertoire well into the 19th century; his Flute Concerto in F major gained particular renown. His orchestral and chamber works are still in the Baroque style, although some of his later compositions already display features of the galant style, particularly in terms of ornamentation and figuration. In the history of music, Giuseppe Sammartini has most often been placed between A. Corelli and F. Geminiani; influences from Handel are also evident in his work (slow movements and minuets). Giuseppe Sammartini’s work is characterised above all by technical excellence; the composer employed a variety of formal structures, including the arch form and the developed three-movement form (e.g. in his solo sonatas). In some concertos, particularly in the fast movements in even time signatures, elements of sonata form appear. Giuseppe Sammartini skilfully employed concertante technique, as well as counterpoint and ornamentation in the galant style.

Literature: N. Jenkins, B. Churgin Thematic Catalogue of the Works of Giovanni Battista Sammartini. Orchestral and Vocal Music, Cambridge (Massachusetts) 1976; G. de Saint-Foix La chronologie de l’oeuvre instrumentale de Jean Baptiste Sammartini, “Sammelbände der Internationalen Musikgesellschaft” XV, 1913/14; L. de La Laurencie Inventaire critique du Fonds Blancheton de la Bibliothèque du Conservatoire de Paris, 2 vols., Paris 1930–31; G. Barblan Sammartini e la scuola sinfonica milanese, in: Musicisti lombardi ed emiliani, ed. A. Damerini i G. Roncaglia, «Accademia Musicale Chigiana» XV, Siena 1958; G. Barblan Boccheriniana, “La rassegna musicale” XXIX, 1959; C. Sartori Sammartini post mortem, in Festschrift for H. Albrecht, ed. W. Brennecke and H. Haase, Kassel 1962; B. Churgin New Facts in Sammartini Biography. The Authentic Print of the String Trios op. 7, “Journal of the American Musicological Society” XX, 1967; M. Donà Notizie sulla famiglia Sammartini, “Nuova Rivista Musicale Italiana” VIII, 1974; E.B. Lance The London Sammartini, “The Music Review” XXXVIII, 1977; S. Burakowska Giuseppe Sammartini’s Concerto, opus 8 and E.B. Lance The London Sammartini, “The Music Review” XXXVIII, 1977; R. McGowan Italian Baroque Solo Sonatas for the Recorder and the Flute, Detroit 1978; B. Churgin Alterations in Gluck’s Borrowings from Sammartini, “Studi musicali” IX, 1980; G. Houle The Oboe Sonatas of Giuseppe Sammartini, “The Journal of Musicology” III, 1984; D.E. Freeman The Earliest Italian Keyboard Concertos, “The Journal of Musicology” IV, 1985–86; B. Churgin The Recapitulation in Sonata-Form Movements of Sammartini and Early Haydn Symphonies, in: J. Haydn, Vienna 1982 international congress proceedings, ed. E. Badura-Skoda, Munich 1986; D. Prefumo Nuovi documenti sui fratelli Sammartini, “Nuova Rivista Musicale Italiana” XX, 1986; J. LaRue A Catalogue of 18th-Century Symphonies, vol. 1: Thematic Identifier, Bloomington 1988; B. Churgin Did Sammartini Influence Mozart’s Earliest String Quartets?, “Mozart-Jahrbuch”, 1991; Sammartini e il suo tempo. Fonti manoscritte e stampate della musica a Milano nel Settecento, ed. M. Brusa and A. Rossi, supplement to “Fonti Musicali Italiane” I, 1996.