Giornovichi (real name, Jarnowick), Giovanni Mane

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Giornovichi (real name, Jarnowick), Giovanni Mane

Giornovichi (real name, Jarnowick), Giovanni Mane, Italian violinist and composer; b. Raguso or Palermo, c. 1735; d. St. Petersburg, Nov. 23, 1804. He may have been a pupil of Antonio Lolli in Palermo. He gave successful concerts in Europe, and on the strength of his reputation, he was engaged as court musician to Catherine II (1783-86). He was in Russia again from 1789 to 1791, and then appeared in London (1791-96), Hamburg, and Berlin. He returned to Russia in 1803, and was a member of the Court Orch. in St. Petersburg until his death. In his old age he devoted himself to playing billiards for money. Among his works are 25 violin concertos (17 extant), 3 string quartets, and Fantasia e Rondo for Piano. He was probably the first to introduce the “romance” into the violin concerto as a slow movement, and he helped to set the rondo as the finale.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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