Pietro Nardini

Pietro Nardini (April 12, 1722 – May 7, 1793) was an Italian composer and violinist, a transitional musician who worked in both the Baroque and Classical-era traditions.

Nardini was born in Livorno and studied music at Livorno, later becoming a pupil of Giuseppe Tartini. Having been a student of Giuseppe Tartini, he moved to Germany where he joined the court chapel in Stuttgart where he became conductor in 1762. However, he abandoned his duties in Württemberg in 1765 to become Kapellmeister, in 1770, to the Grand Duke of Tuscany in Florence.

As a violinist, he earned the admiration of Mario VII. Nardini is mentioned in English writer Hester Lynch Piozzi'sObservations and Reflections Made in the Course of a Journey Through France, Italy, and Germany (1789) as playing a solo at a concert Mrs Piozzi and her husband, Gabriele Piozzi, gave in Florence in July 1785.

Though Nardini was not a prolific composer, his works are known for their melodious tunes and usefulness in technical studies. Among the best known are the Sonata in D major and the Concerto in E minor.

As a friend of Leopold Mozart, he witnessed the arrival of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on his first visit to Italy and his attempts to find a sustainable position in 1770-1771. He also met the Bohemian composer Václav Pichl, Kapellmeister to the Archduke Ferdinand d'Este, Austrian governor of Lombardy.

He was a teacher to Bartolomeo Campagnoli, Giovanni Francesco Giuliani and probably also to Gaetano Brunetti.

On 7 May 1793, he died in Florence at age 71.

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