GALLUPPI, BALDASARRE, known as IL BURANELLO. — Musician, b. in Burano on 18 Oct. 1706, d. in Venice on 3 Jan. 1785. A pupil of Lotti, he was one of the most prolific and celebrated opera composers of his time.
In Venice he was maestro di cappella at St. Mark’s and later (1762) a teacher at the Conservatory of the Incurabili; in Russia (1765), as maestro di cappella to the court of Catherine II, he received triumphal honours and was the first to compose for the Russian liturgy. From 1768, after his return to Venice, he chiefly composed church music, while from 1782 he had already written as many as 110 stage works. In a noble “concertato” style he wrote 20 oratorios, the cantata Il trionfo di Tobia (Venice 1783 for the arrival of Pius VI); masses, litanies, hymns, sequences (among them the famous “Vittime paschali” for four voices, still performed recently in St. Mark’s), as well as arias, symphonies, concertos and chamber music.
He distinguished himself by his melodic, airy and lively style, which earned him the title of “father of opera buffa.”