music.wikisort.org - Composer

Gabriele Leone (born Naples c. 1735 – 1790) was an Italian musician and composer who lived in Paris during the middle and later part of the 18th century.[1] A virtuoso on the violin and mandolin, he wrote an early mandolin method, Analytical method for mastering the violin or the mandolin in 1768 and composed for both instruments.[1][2] He was an early teacher of the duo method, an advanced technique which would reappear in the 20th century, taught by Giuseppe Pettine in the United States.[3]

In the 1700s, the mandolin spread across Europe for the first time, through performances by masters of the instrument.[3] Leone was one of those early masters who spread the mandolin in Europe, giving concerts and teaching.[3] He spent time in London (1762–1763) as director of the London Opera before returning to Paris where he performed at the Concert Spirituel from 1760 to 1766.[3][4] One of his students was Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, the father of King Louis Philippe I (the last French king).[3][4]

Works

He referred to himself on the covers of his works as M^r Leone de Naple (Monsieur Leone of Naples).[1]

His mandolin method was meant to help students of the violin switch to the mandolin, "from bow to feather" without the need for a teacher, using sheet music marked with "conventional signs" to guide learners.[5] Feathers were used as plectrums in that era, as they had been when playing the mandore. The method contained 26 dancing tunes, 6 minuets, 2 duos, a sonata and some airs.[1]

Books

• 1768, Paris, Méthode raisonnée pour passer du Violon à la Mandoline (Analytical method for mastering the violin or the mandolin)[1]

Music

• 1767, Paris, 6 Sonates pour mandoline et basse continue, Livre 1 opus 1 (6 Sonatas for mandolin and basso continuo, Book 1 opus 1)[1]
• 1770, Paris and Lyon, Six sonates de mandoline et basse marquées des signes suivant la nouvelle méthode opus 2 (Six sonatas of mandolin and bass marked with signs according to the new method opus 2)[1]
• 1772, Paris, [6] Duo pour deux violons qui peuvent se jouer sur la mandoline et sur le par-dessus [de viole] (6 Duets for two violins that can be played on the mandolin and descant [viol])[1]

Recordings

• 2015 Leone: Six sonates pour la mandoline et basse, Livre I, played by Maria Lucia Barros, Florentino Calvo, Ana Yepes[6]

References

External links

• 6 Violin or Mandolin Duets sheet music
• Analytical method for mastering the violin or the mandolin in French
• Discussion of English transcription of Leone's method.

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