Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
(1710 - 1736)Italian composer, violinist, and organist. Studied violin and composition at Naples 1725. Principally talented as composer of comic operas, the first of which, Salustia, was a failure in Naples in 1732.
In 1733 he composed Il prigioner superbo, now forgotten except its 2 act intermezzo La serva padrona, which has remained popular. Other operas, recently revived, include Lo frate 'nnamorato (1732), Adriano in Siria (1734), and Il flaminio (1735).
His Stabat Mater (1736) for male soprano, male alto, and orchestra is still performed. After his early death from tuberculosis, many works were and still are falsely ascribed to him, such as the comic opera Il maestro di musica, concertos, and songs. Stravinksy in Pulcinella 'recomposed' material by Pergolesi, but even there some of the attributions are false.
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