Pietro Antonio Locatelli

Pietro Antonio Locatelli is one of the most famous baroque composers for the violin and basso continuo repertoire. He was born on the 3th of september 1695 in Bergamo (Italy). There are not many facts known about his childhood. He studied and played the violin and was known for his virtuosity, he has been called 'Vater des Modernen Violinvirtuosentum' by W.J. Wasielieski. Next to that there are certain sources who claim that Locatelli was the first to employ the higher positions on all strings of the violin (other sources claim that Vivaldi was the first). In 1711, when Locatelli was 16 years old, he moved for his studies with Antonio Montanari and Giuseppe Valentini to Rome. It is possible that Locatelli studied as well with Arcangelo Corelli who can be seen as one of the founding fathers of the baroque sonata for violin and Basso Continuo.

During his life, Locatelli travelled a lot through Europe. In 1729 he settled in Amsterdam where he worked mainly on editing his own and other composers work, such as Corelli, Tartini, Vivaldi, Geminiani, Handel and Scarlatti. Next to that, it is known that Locatelli taught the violin to amateurs and sold violin strings in his house on the 'Prinsengracht', one of the best locations in Amsterdam. He was loved among the rich and known for his virtuosity on the violin.

Among the works of Locatelli were concertos, capriccios, sonatas and chamber music. They have the typical Italian Baroque style.