Sabbatini, Luigi Antonio

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Sabbatini, Luigi Antonio

Sabbatini, Luigi Antonio , Italian music theorist and composer; b. Albano Laziale, near Rome, Oct. 24, 1732; d. Padua, Jan. 29, 1809. He studied in Padua and with Padre Martini in Bologna, where he also entered the St. Francis monastery. He was maestro di cappella at the basilica of S. Barnaba in Marino (1767–72). In 1772 he was appointed to the Franciscan basilica of the 12 Holy Apostles in Rome, and in 1786 he took over the duties of maestro di cappella at the Antonius Basilica, succeeding Agostino Ricci, who was in turn the successor of Vallotti. He composed a number of sacred vocal works but his significance rests upon his work as a music theorist. Among his publications were Notizie sopra la vita e le opere del rev. P.F.A. Vallotti (Padua, 1780), Elementi teorici della musica colla pratica dei medesimi, in duetti e terzetti a canone accompagnati dai basso (Rome, 1789–90), La vera idea delle musicali numeriche segnature diretta al giovane studioso dell’armonia (Venice, 1799), and Trattato sopra le fughe musicali di L.A. Sabbatini corredato da copiosi saggi del suo antecessore F.A. Vallotti (Venice, 1802).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire