Francesco Durante facts for kids
Francesco Durante (born March 31, 1684 – died September 30, 1755) was a famous Neapolitan composer. He wrote a lot of beautiful music, mostly for churches.
Life and Music
Francesco Durante was born in a town called Frattamaggiore, which was part of the Kingdom of Naples (now Italy). When he was young, he went to a special music school in Naples called the Conservatorio dei poveri di Gesù Cristo. There, he learned music from a teacher named Gaetano Greco.
Later, he became a student of another famous composer, Alessandro Scarlatti, at the Conservatorio di Sant'Onofrio. Some people think he also studied in Rome with Bernardo Pasquini and Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni, but we don't have clear proof of this.
In 1725, Francesco Durante took over from Scarlatti at Sant' Onofrio. He stayed there until 1742. Then, he became the leader of another important music school in Naples, the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto. He led this school for 13 years until he passed away in Naples. He was married three times during his life.
A Great Teacher
Durante was known as a very important music teacher. Many famous composers learned from him, including Niccolò Jommelli, Giovanni Paisiello, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Niccolò Piccinni, and Leonardo Vinci.
He believed that students should follow music rules very strictly. This was different from Scarlatti, who let his students be more creative and individual.
His Music
Francesco Durante mostly wrote sacred music, which is music for church services. He didn't write music for the stage, like operas. This made him very famous for his church music.
Some of his most important works include two Requiems (music for funerals), several Masses (music for church services), and the Lamentations of the prophet Jeremiah. One of his Masses, called the Pastoral Mass, is very special. His Magnificat (a type of church song) became very popular, partly because people sometimes thought it was written by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi.
Many people thought Durante was one of the best church composers of his time. He helped start a new style of Italian church music that was more emotional. However, another composer named Johann Adolph Hasse thought that Alessandro Scarlatti was a better composer than Durante.
A large collection of Durante's music is kept in the National Library in Paris, France. The imperial library in Vienna, Austria, also has many of his handwritten music pieces.
Images for kids
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Durante's name is on the Opéra Garnier in Paris, perhaps because of his famous students.
See also
In Spanish: Francesco Durante para niños
