Anna Bon (1738 – after 1769) was an Italian composer and performer. Her parents were both involved in music and traveled internationally; her father was Girolamo Bon, a Bolognese librettist and scenographer, and her mother was the singer Rosa Ruvinetti Bon.
Anna Bon | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. August 11, 1738[1] |
| Died | after 1769 |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Education | Ospedale della Pietà |
| Era | Classical |
Life edit
Anna was baptized on August 11, 1738 in Bologna as "Anna Ioanna Lucia, filia Hieronymus Boni et Rosa Ruinetti"[sic], some time after her parents had come back from a tour that included performances at Anna of Russia's court in Saint Petersburg.[1] On March 8, 1743, at the age of four, she was admitted to the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice as a student; that she had a surname indicates that she was not a foundling as were most of the Pietà wards, but a tuition-paying pupil (figlia de spesi). She studied with the maestra di viola, Candida della Pietà (who herself had been admitted into the coro in 1707).[2]
By 1756, Anna had rejoined her parents in Bayreuth where they were in the service of Margrave Friedrich of Brandenburg Kulmbach; she held the new post of 'chamber music virtuosa' at the court, and dedicated her six op. 1 flute sonatas, published in Nürnberg in 1756, to Friedrich.[2] From the frontispiece we learn that she composed them at the age of sixteen.[citation needed]
In 1762, the family moved to the Esterházy court at Eisenstadt, where Anna remained until at least 1765. She dedicated the published set of six harpsichord sonatas, op. 2 (1757), to Ernestina Augusta Sophia, Princess of Saxe-Weimar, and the set of six divertimenti (trio sonatas), op. 3 (1759), to Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria.[3]
By 1767, Anna was living in Hildburghausen, Thuringia, with her husband, a singer named Mongeri.[4]
Works list edit
Six Chamber Sonatas, for transverse flute with violoncello or harpsichord, op. 1 (VI sonate da camera: per il flauto traversiere, violoncello o cembalo: opera prima), in C, F, B, D, G Mi, G Ma (Nürnberg: Balthasar Schmidts Witwe, 1756). Facsimile reprints: (1) Firenze: Studio per Edizioni Scelte, 1988; (2) New York: Performers' Facsimiles, 1998. New editions: (1) Fayetteville AR: ClarNan Editions, 1989; (2) Kassel: Furore, 2007; (3) Sonata op. 1 no. 6, edited by Elisabeth Weinzierl, in Flute Music by Female Composers (Mainz, New York: Schott, 2008).
Six Sonatas for Harpsichord, op. 2 (Sei sonate per il cembalo, opera seconda), in G Mi, B-flat, F, C, B Mi, C (Nürnberg: Balthasar Schmidts Witwe, 1757). Facsimile edition, New York: Performers‘ Facsimiles, 1998. New editions (1) edited with introduction by Barbara Garvey Jackson, Fayetteville, AR: ClarNan Editions, 1989; (2) edited by Barbara Harbach, Pullman WA: Vivace Press, 1995; (3) edited by Jane Schatkin Hettrick, Bryn Mawr: Hildegard Publishing, 1997.
Six Divertimenti, for two flutes and basso continuo, op. 3, in G, D, D Mi, G, C, A (Nürnberg: Balthasar Schmidts Witwe, 1759). New edition, edited by Sally Fortino, Bryn Mawr PA: Hildegard Publishing, 1993.
Aria, "Astra coeli," for soprano, 2 violins, viola, and basso continuo. New edition, edited by Elke Martha Umbach and Robert Schenke, Kassel: Furore, 2006.
Offertory, "Ardete amore," for soprano, 2 altos, bass, 2 oboes, 2 horns, 2 violins, viola, and basso continuo.
Motet, "Eia in preces et veloces," for alto, 2 violins, viola, and basso continuo.
Opera, now lost, composed during her stay at the court of Prince Esterhazy in Eisenstadt.
Discography (Partial) edit
Chamber Sonatas op. 1. (1) Sabine Dreier, flute; Irene Hegen, square piano. Recorded in September 1992 at St John Church, Bayreuth. Georgsmarienhütte: Classic Produktion Osnabrück, 1992. CPO 999 181-2. (2) Christiane Meininger, flute; Traud Kloft, harpsichord. Bayer, 1994. (3) Claudio Ferrarini, flute; Andrea Corsi, bassoon; Francesco Tasini, harpsichord. Munich: Mondo Musica, 1996. Notes include a portrait of the composer, artist's name not given. (4) Sonata d Op.1/2 Stefano Bet, traverso; Edward Smith, clavicembalo. Recorded in June 1996 at Venezia, Chiesa dell'Ospedaletto. Skira SK00272, 1996. (5) Christiane Meininger, flute; Fine Zimmermann, harpsichord. “Hofkomponistinnen in Europa. Vol. 3.” Cybele, 1999. (6) Sonata D Op.1/4 Stefano Bet, traverso; Francesco Cera, clavicembalo. Recorded in February 1998 at Lugano Teatro RTSI. Tactus 700002, 1998.
Chamber Sonatas op. 1 nos. 4 & 5; Sonatas for Harpsichord op. 2 nos. 1 & 5; Divertimenti op. 3 nos. 1-3. Elke Martha Umbach, Susanne Wendler, flute; Johannez Platz, violin; Heike Johanna Lindner, violoncello; Jan Grüter, theorbo; Ilka Wagner, bassoon; Anke Dennert, harpsichord. “Sonatas from the Court at Bayreuth.” Korschenbroich, Germany: Aeolus, 2003.
Sonatas for Harpsichord op. 2. Barbara Harbach, harpsichord. Newton CT: MSR Classics, 2008.
Sonata for Harpsichord op. 2, no. 6: Allegro. Fine Zimmermann, harpsichord. “Hofkomponistinnen in Europe, Vol. 2.” Internationale Komponistinnen-Bibliothek Unna, 1998.
Six Divertimenti op. 3. Performed on period instruments. Sabine Dreier and Peter Spohr, transverse flutes; Rhoda Patrick, bassoon; Tatjana Geiger, harpsichord; Thorsten Bleich, archlute. EMEC E-023, 1997.
Divertimento op. 3, no. 3, arr. for flute, violin, cello, harpsichord. “Hofkomponistinnen in Europe, Vol. 1.” Internationale Komponistinnen-Bibliothek Unna, 1988.
Divertimento op. 3 no. 6. "Wilhelmine von Bayreuth." Elisabeth Weinzierl and Edmund Wächter, transverse flutes; Eva Schieferstein, harpsichord; Philipp von Morgen, cello. Thorofon 2565, 2010.
Chamber Sonatas op. 1 nos. 4, 5 & 6; Sonata for Harpsichord op. 2 no. 6; Divertimento op. 3 no. 4; Aria "Astra coeli"; Offertory "Ardete amore"; Motet "Eia preces et veloces." Julianne Baird, soprano; Ensemble "La Donna Musicale." "Anna Bon: La virtuoza di Venezia" 10104, 2010.
References edit
- Jane Schatkin Hettrick, "Anna Bon," Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed September 19, 2006), grovemusic.com Archived 2008-05-16 at the Wayback Machine (subscription access).
- Margaret Doody, Tropic of Venice. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007.
- Sylvia Glickman, Martha Furman Schleifer. From Convent to Concert Hall: A Guide to Women Composers. Greenwood Press, 2003.
Notes edit
- ^ a b Michaela Krucsay, Zwischen Aufklärung und barocker Prachtentfaltung. Anna Bon di Venezia und ihre Familie von „Operisten“., Bis-Verlag Universitätsverlag Oldenburg, 2015, ISBN 978-3-8142-2320-9, Page 55.
- ^ a b Jane L. Berdes, "Anna Bon," Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers (New York: Norton, 1995).
- ^ More extensive biography is found in Barbara Garvey Jackson’s introduction to her edition of the op. 2 sonatas (Fayetteville, AR: ClarNan Editions, 1989).
- ^ Hettrick, Anna Bon," New Grove Dictionary Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., 2001.
Further reading edit
- Abromeit, Kathleen. "A Profile of Anna Bon, 18th Century Venetian Composer". Honors Project, Lawrence University, 1985.
External links edit
- Free scores by Anna Bon at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)