Antonio Maria Bononcini

(1677 - 1726)


Italian composer and cellist. Like his brother Giovanni, he studied in Bologna with Giovanni Paolo Colonna. He played in the orchestra of Cardinal Pamphili (1690-93), and in 1698 composed an allegory, La fama eroica, for Rome. In 1702 he was in Berlin. Later in Vienna he became Kapellmeister for the court of the emperor's brother Charles; there his first true opera, Tigrane, was performed in 1710. Antonio accompanied Giovanni to Italy in 1713, where he spent the rest of his life, mostly in Milan, Naples, and (from 1715) Modena. He became maestro di cappella in Modena in 1721. He composed some twenty-four stage works (Griselda, 1718; Merope, 1721); forty cantatas, most for solo voice and continuo; sacred vocal works (a Mass in G minor and a Salve regina).

VE: The Sonata | XIIC: From the 'Galant' to the 'Biedermayer'