Francesco Geminiani the Violinist

Francesco Geminiani (1687-1762) was born in Italy (Lucca, Tuscany) and he is a well-known violinist known as "il furibundo" ("the mad man" as his friends used to call him because of his violin virtuosity), as well as composer and music theorist. His father was his first violin teacher and since childhood he had an obvious inclination toward this instrument fact that proved to be true for the rest of his days. He had the chance to study violin with famous teachers like Carlo Ambrogio Lonati and master Corelli.

After studying, he was still in his twenties when he played violin within the town orchestra for three years and then he became the leader of the Opera Orchestra.

He went to England in 1714 where his brilliant virtuosity soon paid off and took him in high positions as much as to play for the king himself accompanied by the well-known Handel. This atmosphere of aristocratic support and appreciation for art was the environment Geminiani was now enjoying in London. Due to his concerts he soon became an important figure of violin mastering but more than merely concerts, he also published his compositions and music theory treatises. This is when he actually publishes the first violin manual which is his first and most important, its name is "The Art of Playing the Violin" (1731)". His manual described the techniques and principles of violin playing such as scales, bowing and fingering. As teaching method, Geminiani basically gave birth to the traditional violin study method implying that a child must be at the age of five when he starts learning music because he encourages individual study, meaning that the student has to work alone to achieve the required skills with the stress placed on note reading.

In addition to this manual, Geminiani wrote "Rules for Playing in a True Taste" back in 1748, a treatise that was improved later and renamed as "A Treatise of Good Taste in the Art of Musick, a Guida harmonica with supplement". He also published "The Art of Accompaniment" (1754) and "The Art of Playing the Guitar or Cittra" (1760). These are his main works, treatises containing his violin teaching and theory writings.

In 1733 due to financial difficulties caused by some debts, Geminiani had to leave London for Dublin and since he moved there he inaugurated a concert room in Dublin and he became well-known in his new home town as a proficient musician in no time. However, he did not spend much time in Dublin and returned to London making this flourishing city his permanent residence. He did not totally forget Dublin because he returned for a few visits after his move to England's capital.

Geminiani also published Concertos: Op.2,(1732) and respectively Op. 3 (1733), Op.7 (1746), and The Enchanted Forest. Known for his virtuosity and expressiveness (advising the use of vibrato "as often as possible"), Geminiani has put that genius trademark in all of his work but especially in Op 1 and Op. 4, which are a real challenge for violinists. However his most famous work at the time was the Op.3 "Concerti Grossi" and regarding that, Burney, one of his critics commented that these Op.3 concertos "established his character, and placed him at the head of all the masters then living, in this species of composition".

His concertos and treatises brought him fame and recognition his works being reprinted to a great extent as well as translated in several languages.

A gifted man, with imagination and courage of improvisation Geminiani demonstrated once more what perseverance and right training can accomplish. His destiny was shaped ever since childhood and he did not give up what he was naturally endowed with, fact that proved to be very fruitful for the rest of his life. He was so virtuous in his directing that the orchestra complained about his sudden changes of rhythm saying that they couldn't really keep up with Geminiani at this point.

In a nutshell, he is a great example of an enthusiastic personality who knew what his strengths were and as a musician he left a great legacy for the generations to come, a fulfilled destiny from the musical point of view.