(b Venice, c1710; d Rome, 1740). Italian composer. Although an amateur musician (he latterly served in the household of Marquis Molinari in Rome), he achieved fame as a performer and had several operas staged in Venice. He is remembered for his harpsichord sonatas, of which 14 survive complete, each in two movements and in an attractive galant idiom featuring the arpeggiated left-hand figuration, ‘Alberti bass’, that is named after him.

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