Francesco Geminiani 1687-1762

He was born at Lucca, Tuscany. At age 20 he played in his towns orchestra for three years. he then moved to Naples in 1711 to take up the position of leader of the Opera Orchestra. In 1714 he went to England and was agreat success. He played in the Royal court for George 1. He was established as the leading master of violin. His first published composition being " The Art of Playing the Violin" in 1731. His own Concertos, Op 2 and 3 appeared in 1732 and 1733. He also published Op. 7 in 1746, and The Enchanted Forest which was presented in Paris at the Tuilerie palace in 1754. Geminiani also produced Rules for Playing in a True Taste (1748), revised a year later as A Treattise of Good Taste in the Art of Musick in (c.1754), The Art of Accompaniment (c.1754) and The Art of Playing the Guitar or Cittra (Edinburgh 1760).

Alessandro Scarlatti  1660-1725

He was Sicilian born. He trained in rome. He married in 1678.  Later that year he was appointed Maestro di Cappella of San Giacomo degli Incurabili, his first large scale oratorio operatic where performed when he was only 19 years old.  In 1684 at 24 years old  he moved to Naples and became Maestro di Cappella at the vice regal court of Naples. For the next two decades over half the new operas in Naples where by Scarlatti. He produced  at least ten serenatas, nine oratorios and sixty five cantatas for Naples. One work he did was  Drammi per Musica (1694), and La caduta de' Decemviri (1697). In 1695 his operas and Musicals incorporated three movement symphony, which soon became standard for all Italian operas. By 1700 the War of the Spanish Succession was beginning and made his position insecure. In 1702 he left for Florence but failed so he moved back to Rome at the end of 1703. In 1706 he was elected to the Accademia dell'Arcadia. Scarlatti also composed and directed two five act tragedies for the 1707 Venetian Carnival. Upon his return to Rome he was made Maestro di Cappella at S. Maria Maggiore, but the pay was so low that he had to move back to Naples in 1709. During the next decade he produced 11 operas employing greater instrumental resources of which ll Tigrane (1715) was his Neapolitan master piece. His commedia in musica,I triofo dell'onore (1718) was also very successful. He returned to Rome in 1718 to oversee his operas: Telemaco at the Teatro Capranica, In 1719 Marco Attilio Regolo, and finally in 1721 La Griselda his last opera. He produced Messa di S Cecilia for soloists, chorus and strings, which was performed in October 1720. He ventured  he into orchestral writing and wrote   twelve Sinfonie di concerto grosso. Alessandro's last years were spent in Naples, teaching composing cantatas which ultimately numbered over 600, mostly for soprano and continuo. A serenata and a set of Sonatas for Flute and Strings, probably composed for Quantz, who visited him in late 1724 or early 1725. Alessandro died on October 24, 1725.

Domenico Scarlatti 1685-1757

Was born in Naples. At age 16 he became a musician at the chapel royaltwo years later he moved to Rome with his father to become the pupil of the most eminent musicians in Italy. He served five years as the maestro di cappella at the Cappella Giulia in the Vatican. He composed at least one oratorio(1709) and more than a dozen operas for his fathers Neapolitan theatre (1703-04), the Roman Palazzo Zuccari (1710-14), and Teatro Capranica (1715,1718). His Applause genetliaco was performed at the Portuguese Embassy in 1714 and his Contese delle stagioni at the Lisbon royal chapel in 1720. Thomas Roseingrave published the first edition of Scarlatti's Essercizi per gravicembalo (1738-9). Attracted by the unknown Scarlatti went to Lisbon from London (1720-28). As a harpsichordist at the royal court he was entrusted to the music education of the princesses. The death of his father called him to to Napels in 1725. He did not remain long, the Portuguese princess invited him to the Spanish court. Scarlatti accepted and in 1733 after a period in Seville went to Madrid where he lived till his death.  In 1728 he returned to Rome where he married his first wife and had five children, she died in 1739 and by 1742 he was married again to a spanish woman, and with her had four more children. In 1738, sponsored by King John V of Portugal, he passed secret trials to become a Knight of the Order of Santiago. He died in Madrid on July 23, 1757.He was born in Naples. At the age of 16 he became a musician at the chapel royal. Two years later moved to Rome with his father and studied under the eminent musians in Italy. Domenico became famous for a harpsichordist. He served for five years (1714-19) as maestro di cappella at the Cappella Giulia in the Vatican. He composed at least one oratorio (1709) and more than a dozen operas for his father's Neapolitan theatre, S Bartolomeo (1703-04), The Roman Palazzo Zuccari (1710-14), and Teatro Capranica (1715, 1718). His Applause genetliaco was performed at the Portuguese Embassy in 1714 and his Conteso delle stagioni at the Lisbon royal chapel in 1720. Thomas Rose ingrave published the first edition of Scarlatti's Essercizi per graviceembalo (1738-9). Scarlatti left Rome to go to London where his opera only met with moderate success. From London he went to Lisbon (1720-28). As a harpsichordist at the royal court he started the education of the princesses. In 1725 he returned to Naples for his fathers death. He did not stay long because the Portuguese princess, who married Ferdinand VI, invited him to the Spanish court. He accepted and after a period in Seville (from 1729-33) he than went to Madrid, where he stayed till his death. Scarlatti immersed himself in the folk tunes and dance rhythms of Spain. He composed more than 500 harpsichord sonatas, unique in their total originality, and the use of the accacciatura, the 'simultaneous mordent', the 'vamp' (usually at the beginning of the second half of a sonata). The "folk" element is constantly present throughout these works. Scarllatti also composed at least 17 separate sinfonias and a harpsichord

Giovanni Battista Bononcini  1670-1747

He was born in Modena, Italy. Giovanni trained as a cellist in Bologna, where he published two collections of trios (1685) and three of sinfonie (1685-7). He was a member of the Accademia Filarmonica, a musician at San Petronio ( for which he composed two Lenten oratorios 1687-8) and finally maestro di cappella at San Giovanni in Monte until 1689. His four double choir Masses, published in 1688 as op. 7 where composed there. From Bologna he went to Milan where he did a commisssion for the Duke of Modena, and than to Rome where he played in Cardinal Pamphili's orchestra. While in Rome Bononcini collaborated with the poet Silvio Stampiglia on six serenatas, an oratorio and five operas. The last II trionfo d Camilla was the high light of the 1696-7 Naples Carnival. This opera was given 64 performances in London at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane between 1706 and 1709. In 1698 he was recruited to the court of Leopold I in Veinna. In 1711 he went to Rome. He remained till 1719 when he was invited to London by the Earl of Burlington to become a composer for the Royal Academy of Music under Handel's direction. His opera Astarto opened the second season at the King's Theatre in the Haymarket late in 1720 it outshined Handel's own operas. The following year he cont Inributed the second act to Muzio Scevola. L'odio a l'amore followed a month later. In 1723 he spent the summer in Paris, where he was offered a position by the regent's mistress, and spent the following summer. Bononcini returned to London taking the position as director of the private concerts of the Duchess of Marlborough. He was there till 1731. In 1727 his opera Astianatte was presented at the Haymarket. He visited France in 1731 and then moved to Paris in1733 where his music was performed at the Concert Spirituel. In 1735 he went to Lisbon and by the middle of the year he went to Vienna where he died a decade later. His last known work was Te Deum which was commissioned by the empress in 1741.

Tomaso Albinoni 1671-1751

He was born in Venice. His first opera was Zenobia, regina de Palmireni, which was produced in Venice in 1694, coinciding with his first collection of instrumental music, the 12 Sonate a tre, op 1. He married an opera singer, Margherita Raimondi in 1721. He composed as many as 81 operas. There where several that were performed in northern Europe from the 1720s onwards. In1722 he traveled to munich at the invite of the Elector of Bavaria to supervise performances of  I veri amici and II trionfo d'amore as part of the wedding celebrations for the Prince Elector and the daughter of the late Emperor Joseph I. Most of his work has been lost because they where not published during his lifetime. Nine collections of instrumental work was published. There where 99 sonatas, 59 consertos and 9 sinfonias. Albinoni was credited with being the first Italian to compose oboe concertos. Besides the manuscript of instrumental works in 1735 little is known of Albinoni and his work due to the World War II with the bombing of Dresden and the Dresden State library. Albinoni died in 1751, in the city he was born in.