The Partimenti of Giovanni Paisiello: Towards Their Understanding in Context. This doctoral thesis focuses on Paisiello's partimenti and how to approach their realization and performance. To that... Show moreThe Partimenti of Giovanni Paisiello: Towards Their Understanding in Context. This doctoral thesis focuses on Paisiello's partimenti and how to approach their realization and performance. To that end I completed an in-depth profile of his pedagogical activities and expanded the already well-known sources—the Regole published in St. Petersburg (1782)—with newly discovered partimenti by Paisiello. Crucial for this study were connections between Paisiello's partimenti and not only his own compositions but also those of his teacher Francesco Durante and his other contemporaries. This broader perspective required taking into account the genre-specific contexts in which Paisiello’s partimenti reside. The inclusion of larger musical forms and complex progressions as compositional models significantly expands the spectrum of possibilities in the realization of his partimenti. A central idea emerging from this study is that partimenti provide a key to the musical language of the time and offer vast possibilities for realization and ornamentation. Show less
The thesis presents a new perspective on Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger (ca.1580-1651), who is nowadays only famous for his works for theorbo and lute, his remarkable output of vocal music of all... Show moreThe thesis presents a new perspective on Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger (ca.1580-1651), who is nowadays only famous for his works for theorbo and lute, his remarkable output of vocal music of all genres being still mostly neglected from musicologists and performers. The thesis aims to change the perception of the composer via three different angles: A reconstruction of his life and career with a substantial amount of new biographical information builds one pillar of the book, whereas in the second part his vocal works are approached and contextualized as prototypes of radical „stile novo“ in Roman characteristic. The last third is dedicated to questions about basso continuo and Roman performance practice in Kapsperger’s lifetime, dealing also with the composers’ own material on continuo as fount of inspiration for continuo players of all instruments.*************Important notice from the author:Further research after finishing the PhD has unearthed important new archival material. Some of my hypotheses have been strongly confirmed, but some chapters of the biographical part of this thesis are not valid any more. Please find an updated version of Kapsperger’s biography here:https://www.lim.it/en/essay/5964-giovanni-girolamo-kapsperger-9788855430470.htmlVienna, the 14th of November 2020Anne Marie Dragosits Show less
