Composers

Francesco Durante

Voice
String ensemble
Mixed chorus
Soprano
Alto
Harpsichord
Orchestra
Tenor
Bass
Violin
Religious music
Concerto
Psalms
Mass
Duet
Toccata
Sonata
Magnificat
Vesper
Motet
by alphabet
Danza fanciulla gentileMass in C minor2 Harpsichord ToccatasMagnificat in B-flat majorMisericordias DominiToccate inedite per cembaloPartita in D majorLaudate pueri in C majorConcerto in A major 'La Pazzia'KyrieMissa di requiemMagnificat in A minorMissa pastoralis in D major6 Harpsichord SonatasMiserere mei, DeusLitaniæ LauretanæLitanies a 4 in G minorAhi che sarà di me12 DuetsConcerto No.2 in G minorDixit Dominus a 8 in D majorConfitebor in D majorConcerto No.1 in F minorS. Antonio di PadovaCessent corda lamenta formare18 DuetsVergin tutto amorLaudate pueri a 8 in G majorConcerto No.4 in E minor2 Magnificat in E-flat major, D-B Mus.ms.5372/2Concerto No.3 in E-flat majorConcerto No.5 in A majorIncipit oratio Jeremiae prophetaeMisericordias Domini in G minorLitany in F minorConcerto No.6 in A majorKeyboard Sonata Fragment in C minorArieHarpsichord Concerto in B-flat majorRegole per l'accompagnamentoToccata in A minor
Wikipedia
Francesco Durante (31 March 1684 – 30 September 1755) was a Neapolitan composer.
He was born at Frattamaggiore, in the Kingdom of Naples, and at an early age he entered the Conservatorio dei poveri di Gesù Cristo, in Naples, where he received lessons from Gaetano Greco. Later he became a pupil of Alessandro Scarlatti at the Conservatorio di Sant'Onofrio. He is also supposed to have studied under Bernardo Pasquini and Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni in Rome, but there is no documentary evidence. He is said to have succeeded Scarlatti in 1725 at Sant' Onofrio, and to have remained there until 1742, when he succeeded Porpora as head of the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto, also in Naples. This post he held for thirteen years, till his death in Naples. He was married three times.
His fame as a teacher was considerable, and Niccolò Jommelli, Giovanni Paisiello, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Niccolò Piccinni and Leonardo Vinci were amongst his pupils. As a teacher, he insisted on the unreasoning observance of rules, differing thus from Scarlatti, who treated all his pupils as individuals.
A complete collection of Durante's works, consisting almost exclusively of sacred music, was presented by Gaspare Selvaggi, a Neapolitan art collector and music theorist, to the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. A catalogue may be found in Fétis's Biographie universelle. The imperial library of Vienna also preserves a valuable collection of Durante's manuscripts. Two requiems, several masses (one of which, a most original work, is the Pastoral Mass for four voices) and the Lamentations of the prophet Jeremiah are amongst his most important settings. His Magnificat achieved popularity partly because of its misattribution to Pergolesi.
The fact that Durante never composed for the stage brought him an exaggerated reputation as a composer of sacred music. Considered one of the best church composers of his style and period, he seems to have founded the sentimental school of Italian church music. Nevertheless, Hasse protested against Durante's being described as the greatest harmonist of Italy, a title which he ascribed to Alessandro Scarlatti.