Tartini was born in Piran, a town on the peninsula of Istria, in the Republic of Venice (now in Slovenia) to Gianantonio - native of Florence - and Caterina Zangrando, a descendant of one of the oldest aristocratic Piranian families

It appears Tartini's parents intended him to become a Franciscan friar, and in this way he received a basic musical training. He studied law at the University of Padua, where he became very good at fencing. After his father's death in 1710, he married Elisabetta Premazone, a woman his father would have disapproved of because of her lower social class and age difference. Unfortunately, Elisabetta was a favorite of the powerful Cardinal Giorgio Cornaro, who promptly charged Tartini with abduction. Tartini fled Padua to go to the monastery of St. Francis in Assisi, where he could escape prosecution; while there he took up playing the violin.

There is a legend that when Giuseppe Tartini heard Francesco Maria Veracini's playing in 1716, he was so impressed by it and so dissatisfied with his own skill, that he fled to Ancona and locked himself away in a room to practice.

Tartini's skill improved tremendously and in 1721 he was appointed Kapellmeister at Il Santo in Padua, with a contract that allowed him to play for other institutions if he wanted to. In Padua he met and befriended fellow composer and theorist Francesco Antonio Vallotti.

In 1726 Tartini started a violin school which attracted students from all over Europe. Gradually Tartini became more interested in the theory of harmony and acoustics, and from 1750 to the end of his life he published various treatises.

 

Works

Today, Tartini's most famous work is the "Devil's Trill sonata", a solo violin sonata that requires a number of technically demanding double stop trills and is difficult even by modern standards (one myth has it that Tartini had six digits on his left hand, making these trills easier for him to play). According to legend, Tartini was inspired to write the sonata by a dream in which the Devil appeared at the foot of his bed playing the violin.

Almost all of Tartini's works are violin concerti and violin sonatas. Tartini's compositions include some sacred works such as a Miserere, composed between 1739 and 1741 at the request of pope Clement XII,^[3] and a Stabat Mater, composed in 1769.^[4] Tartini's music is problematic to scholars and editors because Tartini never dated his manuscripts, and he also revised works that had been published or even finished years before, making it difficult to determine when a work was written, when it was revised and what the extent of those revisions were. The scholars Minos Dounias and Paul Brainard have attempted to divide Tartini's works into periods based entirely on the stylistic characteristics of the music.

In addition to his work as a composer, Tartini was a music theorist, of a very practical bent. He is credited with the discovery of sum and difference tones, an acoustical phenomenon of particular utility on string instruments (intonation of double-stops can be judged by careful listening to the difference tone, the "terzo suono"). He published his discoveries in a treatise Trattato di musica secondo la vera scienza dell'armonia (Padua, 1754).

Luigi Dallapiccola wrote a piece called Tartiniana based on various themes by Tartini.

His home town, Piran, now has a statue of Tartini in the square, which was the old harbour, originally Roman, named Tartinijev trg. Silted up and obsolete, the port was cleared of debris, filled, and redeveloped. One of the old stone warehouses is now the Hotel Giuseppe Tartini. His birthday is celebrated by a concert in the main town cathedral.

 

Fictional portrayal

Tartini is mentioned in Madame Blavatsky's The Ensouled Violin, a short story included in the collection Nightmare Tales.

Tartini, the great composer and violinist of the XVIIth century, was denounced as one who got his best inspirations from the Evil One, with whom he was, it was said, in regular league. This accusation was, of course, due to the almost magical impression he produced upon his audiences. His inspired performance on the violin secured for him in his native country the title of “Master of Nations.” The Sonate du Diable, also called “Tartini’s Dream”—as every one who has heard it will be ready to testify—is the most weird melody ever heard or invented: hence, the marvellous composition has become the source of endless legends. Nor were they entirely baseless, since it was he, himself; who was shown to have originated them. Tartini confessed to having written it on awakening from a dream, in which he had heard his sonata performed by Satan, for his benefit, and in consequence of a bargain made with his infernal majesty.

 

 

 

 

 Works  of  Tartini

 

12 Violin Concertos, Op.1

Adagio from Concerto in D minor

Allegro (Anh XIII/D116a)

Cello Concerto in A major

Cello Concerto in D major

Concertino

Concerto for Flute and Orchestra in G major

Concerto for Flute and Strings in G major

Concerto for Viola da gamba and Orchestra in D

Concerto grosso n°3 in C major

Concerto grosso n°5 in E minor

Concerto in A Major for viola da gamba, strings and basso continuo

Concerto in A major, D.96

Concerto in A Major, D92

Concerto in A Major, D93

Concerto in D for Trumpet and Strings; 3rd movt

Concerto in D major

Concerto in D minor, D44

Concerto in E major, D51

Concerto in G Major, D74

Concerto in re maggiore ‘S. Antonio'

Concerto pour violon et orchestre in A minor

Concerto pour violon et orchestre in G major

Concerto pour violoncelle et orchestre in D major

Flute Concerto in G major

Fugue In A

Grave ed espressivo (from Cello Concerto in D major)

Grave in D minor; Francesco

L'arte del Arco: Theme and 14 variations

Pastorale for violin in scordatura

PASTORALE IN A MAJOR

Senti lo Mare

Sinfonia pastorale in D major

Solitario bosco ombroso

Sonata a Quattro in A major

Sonata a Quattro in D major

Sonata for violin & continuo in A major, B. A15

Sonata for violin & continuo in B flat major, B. B3

Sonata for violin & continuo in G major, B. G17

Sonata for violin & continuo in G minor, B. g10

Sonata for violin & continuo in G minor, B. g11

Sonata II in D minor

Sonata in A major, Op.1 No.13 ‘Pastorale’

Sonata in A minor

SONATA IN C MINOR Op. 1 No. 8

Sonata in E minor, Op. 1, No. 5: Largo

SONATA IN F MAJOR Op. 1 No. 12

SONATA IN F MAJOR Op. 1 No. 2

SONATA IN G MINOR Op. 1 No. 10 'Didone abbandonata'

Sonata in G minor Op. 2 No. 1

Sonata IX in A major

Sonata No. 7

Sonata XII in G Major

Sonata XIX in D Major

Sonata XV in G Major

Sonata XVII in D Major

Sonata XXIV in D major

Sonate XIII in B minor

Stabat Mater

Symphony in A Major

Trio Sonata in E flat major, Op. 8, No. 6

Variations on a Theme of Corelli

Violin Concerto in A Major D 102

Violin Concerto in A Major D 103

Violin Concerto in A Major D 107

Violin Concerto in A Major D94

Violin Concerto in A Major D95

Violin Concerto in A Major, D 90

Violin Concerto in A Major, D109.

Violin Concerto in A major, D110

Violin Concerto in A minor D 112

Violin Concerto in A minor D115

Violin Concerto in B flat D123

Violin Concerto in B flat major, D116

Violin Concerto in B flat Op. 1 No. 12

Violin Concerto in B minor, D.125

Violin Concerto in Bb major, D117

Violin Concerto in C major

Violin Concerto in C Major D7

Violin Concerto in C major, D12

Violin Concerto in C major, D13.

Violin Concerto in C major, D2

Violin Concerto in C Major, D4

Violin Concerto in D D15

Violin Concerto in D Major D 21

Violin Concerto in D Major D 31

Violin Concerto in D Major D 33

Violin Concerto in D Major D 34

Violin Concerto in D Major D19

Violin Concerto in D Major D20

Violin Concerto in D Major D22

Violin Concerto in D major Op. 1 No. 4

Violin Concerto in D major, D 16

Violin Concerto in D major, D.28

Violin Concerto in D major, D17

Violin Concerto in D major, D42.

Violin Concerto in D minor

Violin Concerto in D minor, D45

Violin Concerto in E Major, D 47

Violin Concerto in E major, D 48 "Rondinella vaga e bella"

Violin Concerto in E major, D.50

Violin Concerto in E major, D54

Violin Concerto in E minor, D 57

Violin Concerto in E minor, D56

Violin Concerto in F Major D 65

Violin Concerto in F Major D 68

Violin Concerto in F major Op. 1 No. 5

Violin Concerto in F Major, D63

Violin Concerto in F major, D67

Violin Concerto in F major, D70

Violin Concerto in G D78

Violin Concerto in G D80

Violin Concerto in G major

Violin Concerto in G Major D 72

Violin Concerto in G Major D83

Violin Concerto in G major, D 76

Violin Concerto in G Major, D75

Violin Concerto in G minor

Violin Concerto in G minor D 86

Violin Concerto in G minor Op. 1 No. 1

Violin Concerto, D101

Violin Concerto, D105

Violin Concerto, D106

Violin Concerto, D113

Violin Concerto, D122

Violin Concerto, D14

Violin Concerto, D23

Violin Concerto, D24

Violin Concerto, D26

Violin Concerto, D39

Violin Concerto, D40

Violin Concerto, D41

Violin Concerto, D49

Violin Concerto, D5

Violin Concerto, D64

Violin Concerto, D70a

Violin Concerto, D77

Violin Concerto, D79

Violin Concerto, D84

Violin Concerto, D87

Violin Concerto, D9

Violin Concerto, D97

Violin Concerto, D99

Violin Concertos in D major, E minor, B minor

Violin Concertos, Nos. 1-6 Op. 2 (complete)

VIOLIN SONATA IN A MAJOR, B.A.4

Violin Sonata in A major, Op. 1 No. 1

VIOLIN SONATA IN B FLAT MAJOR, B.B.1

VIOLIN SONATA IN B FLAT MAJOR, B.B.5 (op 5 No. 6)

Violin Sonata in C Major from Op. 1

Violin Sonata in C major, Op. 2 No. 6

VIOLIN SONATA IN D MAJOR, B.D.19

Violin Sonata in E Major from 12 Sonatas Op. 2

Violin Sonata in F major, Op. 1 No. 12

Violin Sonata in G major, Op. 1 No. 10

Violin Sonata in G minor 'Devil's Trill' (Il trillo del Diavolo)

 

 

 

 

 

Trattato di Musica (1754, music theory)
Dissertazione dei Principi dell'Armonia Musicale (1767, music theory)
Trattato delle Appoggiatur (1771, music theory)
Traité des Agréments de la Musique (1771, music theory) 

 

 

                                    

 

      "Regole per ben suonare il violino"  

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Source: http://www.amazon.co.uk/278-3169271-7722831