Giacomelli, Geminiano

views updated

Giacomelli, Geminiano

Giacomelli, Geminiano, Italian composer; b. Piacenza, c. 1692; d. Loreto, Jan. 25, 1740. He studied with Capelli at Parma, and wrote his first opera, Ipermestra, in 1724. It was the first of 19 operas he wrote for Venice, Parma, Naples, and other Italian towns, the most popular being Cesare in Egitto (Milan, 1735). He was maestro di cappella at the court of Parma and the Chiesa della Steccata from 1719 to 1727, returning to both posts from 1732 to 1737. He was maestro di cappella for the church of S. Giovanni in Piacenza from 1727 to 1732, and also held a similar post at the Santa Casa in Loreto from 1738. His many church compositions include an oratorio, La conversione di Santa Margherita, and a setting of Psalm VIII for 2 Tenors and Bass.

Bibliography

C. Anguisola, G. G. e Sebastiano Nasolini, musicisti piacentini (Piacenza, 1935).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire