Sances, Giovanni Felice
Sances, Giovanni Felice
Sances, Giovanni Felice , Italian singer, teacher, and composer; b. Rome, c. 1600; d. Vienna (buried), Nov. 12, 1679. After serving several patrons, he was called to Vienna as a singer in the court chapel in 1636; in 1649 he was named asst. Kapellmeister, and subsequently was Kapellmeister (1669–76). He played a significant role in the cultivation of Italian dramatic music at the Viennese court. He composed the operas Ermiona (Padua, April 11, 1636), I trionfi d’Amore (Prague, July 2, 1648), La Roselmina fatta canara (Vienna, Feb. 1662), Mercurio esploratore (Vienna, Feb. 21, 1662), Apollo deluso (Vienna, June 9, 1669), and Aristomene Messenio (Vienna, Dec. 22, 1670). Other works include 6 sepolchri (1669–70), about 600 sacred works, and various secular vocal chamber pieces.
Bibliography
P. Webhofer, G.F. S. (ca. 1600–1679): Biographischbibliographische Untersuchung und Studie über sein Motettenwerk (Innsbruck, 1965).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire