A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Sarti, Giuseppe

by Gustave Chouquet

SARTI, Giuseppe, born at Faenza, Dec. 1, 1729, a date differing from that given by most of his biographers, but furnished by Sarti's own grandson to the writer, who has taken great pains to verify it. The son of a jeweller who played the violin in the cathedral, he early learned music, and had lessons in composition—from Vallotti according to his own family, from Padre Martini according to his biographers. Whether at Padua or at Bologna (the respective homes of the two masters), he completed his studies at an early age, for we learn from the chapter archives, still preserved in the library of Faenza, that he was organist of the cathedral from 1748 to April 1750. In 1751 he composed his first opera, 'Pompeo in Armenia,' which was enthusiastically received by his fellow townsmen, and followed by several more serious works, and 'Il Re pastore' (Venice, 1753) which had an immense success. So quickly did his fame spread that when he was only 24 the King of Denmark (Frederic V.) invited him to Copenhagen as Capellmeister to the Prince Royal, and director of the Italian opera; and, on the closing of the latter in two years, made him Court-capellmeister. In the summer of 1765 the king determined to reopen the opera, and Sarti went back to Italy after an absence of twelve years to engage singers; but his plans were upset by the deaths first of the king in 1766, and then of his own mother in 1767, so that it was not till 1768 that he returned to Copenhagen. These three years of trouble were not unfruitful, as he composed five operas, of which two, 'I Contratempi' and 'Didone abbandonata,' were given in Venice, where he seems chiefly to have resided.

Overskou's carefully compiled 'History of the Danish ^[1]stage' informs us that Sarti directed the Danish court-theatre from 1770 to May 20, 1775, when he was summarily dismissed. A favourite with Christian VII., and the protégé of Struensee and Queen Caroline Matilda, he was too artless and straightforward to curry favour with the queen dowager and the ambitious Ove Gulberg; so after the catastrophe of 1772 he found his position gradually becoming worse and worse, and when the oligarchical party had secured the upper hand, imprisoning the queen, and reducing the king to a mere cipher, he had, with other court favourites, to endure much ill treatment, and was finally banished. During this second stay at Copenhagen he married Camilla Pasi, by whom he had two daughters.

Returning to Italy in the summer of 1775 he went first to Venice, became at once director of the Ospedaletto Conservatorio, and administered it with great success for four years. In 1779 the post of maestro di capella of the cathedral of Milan fell vacant through the death of Fioroni, and Sarti was pronounced successful at a competition held before the Conservatorio of Naples. This victory over Paisiello and other eminent musicians, greatly increased his reputation, and procured him many distinguished pupils, Cherubini among the number, who indeed was not only his pupil, but for some years his assistant.^[2] In 1784 he received an invitation from Russia too advantageous to be refused, but the nine years spent in Milan were the most brilliant of his whole career, and the most prolific, including as they do his most successful operas, 'Le Gelosie ^[3]villane' and 'Farnace' (Venice, 1776); 'Achille in Sciro' (Florence, Oct. 1779); 'Giulio Sabino' (Venice 1781), and 'Le Nozze di Dorina' (ib. 1782). To complete the list, at least ten more operas and several cantatas on a large scale should be added, works for the cathedral choir, including several masses, a Miserere à 4, and some important motets.

On his way to St. Petersburg, Sarti made some stay at Vienna, where Joseph II. received him graciously, and granted him the proceeds of a performance of 'I Litiganti,' which had long maintained its place at the Burgtheater. and had helped to fill its coffers, as the monarch politely told the composer. He there made the acquaintance of Mozart, then in the very prime of life, who speaks of him as an 'honest, good man,' and who not only played to him a good deal, but adopted an air from his 'Due litiganti' as the theme of a set of Variations (Köchel, 460), and as a subject in the Second Finale of 'Don Juan.' His pleasure in Mozart's playing did not, however, place him on Mozart's level; and when the famous six quartets were published, Sarti was one of the loudest to complain of their 'barbarisms.' His examination remains mostly in MS., but some extracts are given in the A. M. Z. for 1832 (p. 373), including 19 mortal errors in 36 bars, and showing how difficult it is even for a very clever composer to apprehend the ideas of one greater than himself.

Catherine II. received him with even greater marks of favour than Joseph, which he repaid by composing several important works for her own choir, and by bringing the Italian opera into a state of efficiency it had never attained before. Among his sacred compositions of this period may be mentioned an oratorio for two choirs, full orchestra, and band of Russian horns; a Te Deum for the taking of Otchakow by Potemkin; and a Requiem in honour of Louis XVI. It was in the Te Deum that Sarti employed fireworks and the discharge of cannon to heighten the martial effect of the music. Among his operas produced at St. Petersburg were 'Armida' (1786), which had an immense success, and was sung to perfection by the celebrated Todi—and 'Olega,' the libretto of which was by the Empress herself. In this opera Sarti endeavoured to imitate the music of the ancient Greeks, and made use of some of their modes. A skilled mathematician and physicist, he was fond of explaining to the Empress his theories of acoustics, which he illustrated by many ingenious experiments. He invented a machine for counting the vibrations of sounds, and fixed 436 vibrations^[4] for the A, as the normal pitch for his orchestra. For this invention he was elected an honorary member of the Academy of Science in St. Petersburg. Many other honours were conferred upon him, including those of councillor of the University, chief maître de chapelle to the court, and nobility of the 1st class. Todi's intrigues caused him temporary inconvenience, but he consoled himself for a short period of disgrace by going to a village in the Ukraine, given him by Prince Potemkin, and founding there a school of singing which turned out some remarkable singers. In 1793 the Empress restored him completely to favour, and placed him at the head of a Conservatoire planned after the model of those in Italy. After her death and that of her son Paul I., Sarti determined to revisit his native land, and in the spring of 1802 left Russia, where he had lived for 18 years without a break. At Berlin he formed an intimacy with the Court-capellmeister, Noel Mussini (born at Bergamo, 1765, died at Florence, 1837), who fell in love with his daughter Giuliana, and became his son-in-law.^[5] Immediately after the marriage the kind and gentle Sarti, who was as absent as La Fontaine, fell seriously ill of gout, and died July 28, 1802, aged 73. He was buried in the Catholic church of St. Edwige, where his ashes still remain.

From some unexplained cause very few of Sarti's compositions have been engraved. His Te Deum was printed with Russian words at St. Petersburg, and Breitkopf & Härtel have published two of his sacred pieces, one in 8, the other in 6 real parts. A French translation of the 'Nozze di Dorina'—apparently the only opera of his that has been engraved—appeared in Paris, but Ricordi of Milan has copies of 'Armida e Rinaldo'; 'I finti Eredi'; 'Le Gelosie villane'; 'Nitteti,' and 'Vologeso.' These scores, as well as those of 'Adriano in Sciro,' 'Alessandro,' 'Gli Amanti consolati,' 'Castore e Polluce,' 'I Contratempi,' 'Didone abbandonata,' 'Erifile,' 'Fra due Litiganti,' 'Giulio Sabino,' 'Idalide,' 'Ifigenia,' 'Il Medonte,' 'Il Militare bizzarro,' 'Mitridate,' 'Le Nozze di Dorina,' and 'Scipione,' and also of nearly all his sacred works, are in the library of the Paris Conservatoire, from which circumstance the writer is able to pronounce upon his style. The part-writing is eminently vocal, and the most difficult combinations are mastered with ease, but the scientific element is never unduly forced into notice, owing to Sarti's gift of fresh and spontaneous melody. Most of his operas contain numbers well constructed with a view to stage effect, and full of expression and charm; indeed so much of his music might still be heard with pleasure that it seems strange that no great artist has attempted to revive it.

His masses alone retain their hold on public favour, and one was performed on Easter Day 1880 in Milan Cathedral, which still has all the MSS.

Sarti left six sonatas for the Clavier solo (London, 1762). An Allegro from these is included in Pauer's 'Alte Meister.' Cherubini quotes a 'Cum Sancto' à 8 of his in his 'Theory of Counterpoint'; and Fétis a Kyrie from the same mass in his treatise. Breitkopf has published a Fugue for 8 voices, a Hymn and a Miserere, and the overture to 'Ciro riconosciuto.' A Rondo for mezzo soprano will be found in Gevaert's 'Gloires d'Italie,' and a Cavatina from 'Giulio Sabino' in the 'Gemme d'Antichita.'

The Mussini family possess a fine oil painting of the composer, taken in 1786 by Tonci, an Italian painter settled in St. Petersburg. 'Le Chevalier Sarti,' a novel by P. Scudo, appeared first in the 'Revue des Deux Mondes,' and has since been published separately (Paris, Hachette, 1857).

[ G. C. ]

1. Thomas Overskou, 'Den danske Skueplads in dens Historic,' 8vo. Copenhagen. 1854–.
2. See Cherubini's preface to the Catalogue of his works.
3. Mozart, in 1791, wrote a final chorus for this, of which, however, nothing has survived but the 5 bars in his autograph catalogue. (See Köchel, 615.)
4. The 'diapason normale' of France at this moment fixes 435 Vibrations for the same note.
5. The articles on Sarti and Mussini in Fétis are full of errors and omissions. We have corrected the most glaring mistakes from family papers kindly furnished by the distinguished painter L. Muscini, director of the Museo at Siena, and grandson of the composer.