He had nearly made arrangements to study composition under Haydn, when a Polish princess offered to take him to Italy; and he availed himself of her protection in order to hear the best violinists of the period, such as Nardini, Pugnani and others, as well as the best singers. After 3 years in Italy he went to Paris, and appeared at the Concerts Spirituels and Olympiens. Madame de Genlis procured him a pension from the Duc d'0rléans as a musician on the establishment of Mademoiselle d'0rléans, but on the reduction of the expenses of the Duke's court in 1790 he left Paris. In 1792 he came to London, and made his débût in February at Salomon's Concerts. He also appeared at Rauzzini's Bath concerts, visited Ireland several times, and for many years conducted the subscription concerts at Liverpool and Manchester. In 1800 he married Miss Breeze, a Liverpool lady. He was one of the 30 members who originally formed the London Philharmonic Society, and was one of the leaders of the orchestra in its first season. In 1815 he settled in Edinburgh, took leave of the public at a farewell concert in 1829, and died in that city in 1848.
His style was pure, warm, and full of feeling, with that great execution in octaves which La Motte first introduced into England. Besides this, he was an excellent conductor. Parke in his Musical Memoirs, and G. F. Graham in his account of the Edinburgh Musical Festival in 1815, speak of the elegant and finished execution of his Concertos. Some of these were published in Paris; but he considered his best work to be a set of 3 Trios for 2 Violins and Bass, published in London. [App. p. 685 "An andante of Mozart's for violin and orchestra, dated April 1, 1785 (K. 470), is believed by Jahn (iii. 297) to have been written for Janiewicz."]
[ V. de P. ]
JANITSCHAREN, i.e. Janissaries. A term used by the Germans for what they also call Turkish music—the triangle, cymbals, and big drum (see Nos. 3 and 7 of the Finale of the Choral Symphony). The Janissaries were abolished in 1825. Their band is said to have contained 2 large and 3 small oboes and 1 piccolo flute, all of very shrill character; 1 large and 2 small kettle-drums, 1 big and 3 small long drums, 3 cymbals, and 2 triangles.
[ G. ]
JANNACONI or JANACCONI, Giuseppe, born, probably in Rome, 1741, learnt music and singing from Rinaldini, G. Carpani and Pisari, under whom, and through the special study of Palestrina, he perfected himself in the methods and traditions of the Roman school. In 1811, on the retirement of Zingarelli, he became Maestro di Capella at S. Peter's, a post which he held during the rest of his life. He died from the effects of an apoplectic stroke, March 16, 1816, and was buried in the church of S. Simone e Giuda. A Requiem by his scholar Basili was sung for him on the 23rd. Baini was his pupil from 1802, and the friendship thus begun lasted till the day of his death. Baini closed his eyes, and all that we know of Janacconi is from his affectionate remembrance as embodied in his great work on Palestrina.—It is strange that one who is said to have been so highly esteemed at home should be so little known abroad. His name does not appear in the Catalogue of the Sacred Harmonic Society, or the Euing Library, Glasgow, and the only published piece of music by him which the writer has been able to find is a motet in the 2nd part of Mr. Hullah's Part Music, 'The voice of joy and health,' adapted from a 'Lætamini in Domino,' the autograph of which, with that of a Kyrie for 2 choirs, formed part of the excellent Library founded by Mr. Hullah for the use of his classes at St. Martin's Hall. This motet may not be more original than the words to which it is set, but it is full of spirit, and vocal to the last degree. Janacconi was a voluminous writer; especially was he noted for his works for 2, 3 and 4 choirs. The catalogue of the Landsberg Library at Rome does not exhibit his name, but Santini's collection of MSS. contained a mass and 4 other pieces, for 4 voices; 14 masses, varying from 8 to 2 voices, some with instruments; 42 psalms, and a quantity of motets and other pieces for service, some with accompaniment, some without, and for various numbers of voices. A MS. volume of 6 masses and a psalm forms No. 1811 in the Fétis library at Brussels; the other pieces named at the foot of Fétis's article in the Biographie seem to have disappeared.
[ G. ]
JANNEQUIN, Clement, composer of the 16th century, by tradition a Frenchman, and one of the most distinguished followers, if not actually a pupil, of Josquin Després. There is no musician of the time of whose life we know less. No mention is made of his holding any court appointment or of his being connected with any church. We may perhaps guess that, like many other artists, he went in early life to Rome, and was attached to the Papal Chapel; for some of his MS. masses are said to be still preserved there, while they are unknown elsewhere. But he must soon have abandoned writing for the church, for among his published works two masses, 'L'aveugle Dieu' and 'La Bataille,' and a single motet 'Congregati sunt,' seem almost nothing by the side of more than 200 secular compositions. Later in life, it is true, he writes again with sacred words, but in a far different style, setting to music 82 psalms of David, and 'The Proverbs of Solomon' (selon la verité Hébraique), leading us to conjecture that he may have become, like Goudimel, a convert to the reformed church, as Fétis thinks, or that he had never been a Christian at all, but was of Jewish origin and had only written a few masses as the inevitable trials of his contrapuntal skill. But apart from these vague speculations, it is certain that Jannequin trod a very different path from his contemporaries. Practically confining himself to secular music, he exhibited great originality in the choice and treatment of his subjects. He was the follower of Gombert in the art of writing descriptive music, and made it his speciality. Among his works of this class are 'La Bataille,' written to commemorate and describe the battle of Marignan, fought between the French and Swiss in 1515, to which composition Burney has directed particular attention in his History, and which he
