Sarti, GIUSEPPE

Sarti, GIUSEPPE, musical composer, was born at Faenza on 1st December 1729, and held the office of organist to the cathedral of Faenza from 1748 to 1750. The success of two operas—Pompeo in Armenia (1751) and Il Re Pastore (1753)—brought him a royal invitation to Copenhagen in 1753; and there he remained until 1775. After his return to Italy he was successively director of the conservatory at Venice (till 1779) and maestro di cappella of Milan cathedral; in this last post Cherubini was his pupil and assistant. During this period he composed some of his most successful operas, Le Gelosie Villane (1775), Giulio Sabino (1781), Le Nozze di Dorina (1782), and others. In 1784 Catharine II. invited him to St Petersburg. On his way he made the acquaintance of Mozart at Vienna. His most notable productions whilst in Russia were the opera Armida (1786) and a Te Deum in celebration of the taking of Otchakoff, in which real fireworks and cannon were discharged to heighten the realism. Sarti died at Berlin, on his way home to Italy, on 28th July 1802. He composed, in addition to operatic music, several masses, sonatas, and other pieces.