IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0100 KCLCA Vento
Held at: King's College London College Archives
Title: VENTO, Mattia (1735-1776)
Date(s): [18th century]
Level of description: Collection (fonds)
Extent: 1 volume
Name of creator(s): Not known.
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Mattia Vento was born in Naples, 1735; studied at the Conservatorio di S Maria di Loreto, Naples; first operatic successes in Italy; Le deluse accortezze (1756) and La finta semplice (1759) produced at Rome; L'egiziana in Venice and Milan, 1763; went to England, 1763; active there as a composer and harpsichord teacher until his death; for the London opera, first produced the pasticcio Leucippo e Zenocrita, repeated in a command performance for the wedding of Princess Augusta (sister of George III), 1764; in succeeding seasons produced Demofoonte, 1765; Sofonisba, 1766; La conquista del Messico, 1767; also contributions to pasticcios; his aria Caro amor was successfully inserted in London performances of Piccinni's La buona figliuola, 1766; after a lapse of some years, produced Artaserse for the Harmonical Meeting, Soho Square, 1771; listed as a director at the King's Theatre, producing comic and serious operas (Il bacio, La vestale and further pasticcios), 1775-1776; also served as conductor at public concerts including those at the Pantheon; listed among the major composers in London by a visitor from Germany, 1776; criticisms included simplicity and a lack of novelty, but individual songs from the operas and the published sets were widely performed and reprinted in anthologies; other work included 11 collections of keyboard sonatas, most with subordinate violin accompaniments, criticised for their sameness, but which were retained in publishers' catalogues for half a century; the 65 sonatas date from 1764-1776; Vento brought to London from Naples the latest operatic style but changes in the sonatas suggest that he also responded to the contemporary pre-Classical synthesis of German, Italian and English elements; died in London, 1776. His oeuvre included the following instrumental works: 6 Sonatas (London, 1764); 6 Sonatas (London, c1764); 6 Sonatas (London, 1765); A Third (-Tenth) Book (Sett) of 6 Sonatas (London, 1766-76); 6 Overtures in 8 Parts (London, c1774); A Last Sett of 5 Sonatas (London, 1777).
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Sheet music book containing 'Sonata by Signor Vento', presumably Mattia Vento, written in manuscript for voice and accompaniment by an unknown writer; also containing a printed page of musical terms, a manuscript poem and a sketch of a country house. Undated [18th century].
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English, Latin, Italian
System of arrangement:
Conditions governing access:
Open, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Director of Archive Services, King's College London.
Physical characteristics:
Finding aids:
Collection level description available in reading room at King's College London Archives.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Transferred to King's College London Archives from the Marsden collection at King's College Library, to which it was formerly attributed.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Archivist's note: Compiled by Rachel Kemsley as part of the RSLP AIM25 project. Sources: brief description in King's College London Manuscripts and Private Papers: A Select Guide (1982); The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians (2nd edition).
Date(s) of descriptions: Jan 2001