ROSSINI, GIOACCHINO. - Musician, born in Pesaro on 29 February 1792, died in Passy (Paris) on 13 November 1868. He studied in Bologna and Lugo; having returned to Bologna, he attended the courses of Fr. Mattei at the Musical Lyceum.
Having obtained his diploma in 1810, he faced the Venetian public with La Cambiale di matrimonio, followed by as many as 39 operas, each an equally glorious stage in the history of opera buffa. The Venetian-Milanese period of Rossini’s production extended from 1813 to 1815; then began the Neapolitan-Roman period, lasting until 1823, when R. travelled abroad: Vienna received him with great enthusiasm, as did Paris, after a brief stay in London, and entrusted him with the direction of the « Théâtre italien » (1824). Having returned to Bologna in 1836, he went to Florence and, from May 1855, retired to Paris. The sacred works he composed are not few, but, as was natural in his style, they come closer to theatrical music than to church music. He composed a Stabat Mater for 4 voices, choruses, and orchestra in 1831-41, an Ave Maria for 4 voices, and 3 masses: one for male voices (Bologna 1808), one « solemn » (Naples 1819), and finally the Petite Messe solennelle, for 4 soloists and choruses with orchestral accompaniment, 2 pianos (Paris 1863-64), to which he added, on the final page, the famous farewell in the form of a humble and humorous prayer: « Good God, here it is finished, this poor little Mass. Is it really sacred music that I have just made, or merely damnably good music? I was born for
are respectively by Canon Guglielmo Baldesani of Turin and by a certain Alpio of Carmagnola.
Arnaldo M. Lanz