(b Turin, 27 Nov 1731; d there, 15 July 1798). Italian violinist and composer. A pupil of G. B. Somis, he played in the Teatro Regio orchestra, Turin, from the age of ten and had an international reputation by the 1760s. After conducting at the King's Theatre, London, 1767-9, he became first violinist of the King's Music in Turin in 1770 and director of music in 1776. Meanwhile he had several operas staged in Italy and abroad, and in 1780-82 made a concert tour with his pupil Viotti. He was one of the foremost violinists of the 18th century, especially famous for his powerful playing, and probably contributed to the development of the modern bow. Besides stage works, he composed 20 sonatas for violin and continue, c 40 trio sonatas, other chamber music and symphonies, often in four movements, influenced by Mannheim and Vienna models. The Praeludium and Allegro ascribed to him are by Kreisler.
One of the leading violinists of the second half of the eighteenth century, Gaetano Pugnani adopted a style of playing that strongly influenced the development of the violin and bow in their modern forms. His own compositions are less distinctive than his performances seem to have been, but he formed the vital link between Corelli and Viotti in the Italian string tradition.
Pugnani studied with Corelli pupil G.B. Somis, and at age ten began playing unofficially in the second violin section of Turin's Teatro Regio orchestra. A royal grant helped him spend 1749-1750 studying with Francesco Ciampi in Rome, after which he returned to his little job in Turin. During the 1750s he began attracting international notice as a soloist, performing his own music to lavish praise in Paris in 1754 and having some of his music published there. Back in Turin he had risen to principal of the second violin section in 1763, but greater prominence awaited him abroad. He spent 1767-1769 in London, hob-nobbing with J.C. Bach, conducting at the King's Theatre, and supervising (in 1769) the production of his first opera, Nanetta e Lubino. In 1770 he was back in Turin, now with the more distinguished post of first violinist to the king, which involved, among other things, leading the Teatro Regio orchestra. Six years later he became the city's general director of instrumental music, and in 1786 added supervision of military bands to his duties. Meanwhile, he continued to tour, and promoted the career of his young student Viotti.
From 1784 Pugnani began writing rather prolifically for the stage, and while his spectacular and exotic operas were received politely, they were judged inferior to his instrumental music, which employed the Italian equivalent of the Mannheim style. His symphonies adopted the modern Haydn/Mozart fashion of falling into four movements, the third of which was a minuet. Otherwise, he held to mid-century traditions as a composer, the violin concerto imitating Tartini and the chamber music seemingly unwilling to give up a continuo section.
His true innovation came as a performer. He was a powerful player who used much greater pressure on his bow than had been standard before; for this reason he adopted thicker strings on the instrument, and used a straighter, longer bow that surely influenced developments promulgated by the French Tourte bowmaking family. ~ James Reel, All Music Guide
Gaetano Pugnani (27 November 1731– 15 July 1798, full name: Giulio Gaetano Gerolamo Pugnani) was born in Turin. He trained on the violin under Giovanni Battista Somis and Giuseppe Tartini. In 1752, Pugnani became the first violinist of the Royal Chapel in Turin. Then he went on a large tour that granted him great fame for his extraordinary skill on the violin. In 1754, he was very well-received at the Concert Spiritual in Paris, but in 1768 he had an even more successful musical encounter in London, directing the King's Theatre from 1767 to 1769.
In 1770, Pugnani returned home to Turin and became the director of the Royal Chapel. His fame as a composer began to grow, but it would never equal his fame as a violinist. During this time, he also taught the violin. His most famous pupil was Giovanni Battista Viotti; from 1780 to 1782 they performed in Switzerland, Dresden, Warsaw and St. Petersburg. Pugnani died in Turin.
Fritz Kreisler borrowed Pugnani's name in order to publish some of his pieces (such as Praeludium and Allegro and Tempo di Minuetto), but in 1935 Kreisler revealed that these works were actually his own.
References
Russell, Tom; Churgin, B.; Moore, D. (June 1985). Johnson, J.. ed. Antonio Brioschi 1725-50/Fortunato Chelleri 1690-1757/Antonio Sacchini 1730-86/Gaetano Pugnani 1731-1798 (Series A, Volume 3 ed.). Taylor & Francis. ISBN0-8240-3858-4.
