Tartini

Tartini, GIUSEPPE, a celebrated Italian musician and composer, born at Pirano in Istria in 1692. At Padua he studied in the first instance for the church, and subsequently for the law, but gave up both for music and fencing. Having secretly married the niece of the Archbishop of Padua, he had to take refuge in a monastery at Assisi, where he became a proficient on the violin. In 1721 he was allowed to rejoin his wife, and return to Padua, where he was appointed solo violinist in the chapel of San Antonio—a highly honoured position, which, along with the fees from his pupils, secured him a fair income. He died in 1770, and a statue in his honour was erected in Padua. Tartini 'was one of the greatest violinists of all time, an eminent composer, and a scientific writer on musical physics.' His best-known work is the famous sonata, Il Trillo del Diavolo. He was the author of A Treatise on Music, and was the discoverer of the so-called grave harmonics, or third or combination sounds in sounding double stops.