Giuseppe Torelli

Giuseppe Torelli

Giuseppe Torelli (1658-1709), Italian composer and violinist, who influenced the development of the concerto grosso and who was one of the earliest to compose solo concertos. Born in Verona, he was trained and worked mainly in Bologna except for brief periods in Ansbach, Germany (as music director to the Brandenburg court), and in Vienna. His opus 8 (pub. posthumously, 1709) is considered one of the great achievements of baroque music; it contains six concerti grossi and six solo concertos, the first solo concertos to be published.