MUSIC SATURDAY - G. A. PAGANELLI

“What really counts isn’t whether your instrument is Baroque or modern: It’s your mindset.” - Simon Rattle 

Giuseppe Antonio Paganelli (born March 6, 1710 in Padua, died probably before 1764, possibly in Madrid) was a singer and composer of Italian origin, who worked in various European cities. He was a musical representative of the late Baroque, who composed in the gallant style.

Paganelli came from a wealthy family and received a broad education. It is thought that Giuseppe Tartini was one of his teachers. From 1731/32 he performed with the Accademia dei Dilettanti to the public of his hometown, as the composer of an oratorio and various cantatas. In 1732/33 he composed the two operas, “La Caduta di Leone” and “Tigrane” for the Venetian opera.

From 1733 he worked as a keyboard player for an opera company under Antonio Maria Peruzzi in Augsburg. It is known conclusively that in 1736 he was in in Rheinsberg. During 1737-38 he was appointed as “Chamber Music Master” of the Margravine Wilhelmine of Bayreuth, where his wife Johanna worked as a singer. In the Bayreuth Hofkalendern he is dubbed as “Cammermeister”, and in church records in Erlangen, there is a note that a son of his was baptised, Paganelli referred to as “Cammermusikmeister”.

After 1738 documentary evidence regarding his whereabouts activities is lacking. It is known from secondary sources that Paganelli maintained relations with various German courts without a permanent position, especially in Braunschweig (1737-39), Gotha, Durlach and Munich (1747). However, there were also operas by him staged in Venice (1742/43) and Florence (1746).

From 1756 he is referred to as “Director of Chamber Music of the King of Spain”, and one may assume that he probably lived in Madrid at that time. From the Paris edition of his 30 Duets entitled “Opus the Last”, published by Leloup in 1764, it can be concluded that he had died at that time or shortly before.

Paganelli came from the tradition of Italian Opera Seria. In Germany, he combined Italian, French and German stylistic elements, writing in an elegant, gallant style. His keyboard works remained popular until the beginning of the 19th century. Here is his Opus 1, Six trio sonatas for Baroque Flute (Benedek Csalog), Baroque Violin (Léaszló Paulik), Baroque Cello (Balázs Máté) and Harpsichord (Carmen Leoni).

TRAVEL TUESDAY #126 - FIJI

“To escape and sit quietly on the beach – that’s my idea of paradise.” - Emilia Wickstead 

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.

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Fiji (officially the Republic of Fiji - Fijian: Matanitu Tugalala o Viti) is an island country in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about 1,100 nautical miles (2,000 km) northeast of New Zealand’s North Island. Its closest neighbours are Vanuatu to the west, New Caledonia to the southwest, New Zealand’s Kermadec Islands to the southeast, Tonga to the east, the Samoas and France’s Wallis and Futuna to the northeast, and Tuvalu to the north. Fiji is an archipelago of more than 330 islands (of which 110 are permanently inhabited) and more than 500 islets, amounting to a total land area of about 18,300 square kilometres. The farthest island is Ono-i-Lau. The two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, account for 87% of the total population of 898,760.

The capital, Suva on Viti Levu, serves as Fiji’s principal cruise port. About three-quarters of Fijians live on Viti Levu’s coasts, either in Suva or in smaller urban centres like Nadi (with tourism being the major industry) or Lautoka (sugar cane industry). Viti Levu's interior is sparsely inhabited due to its terrain. Fiji has one of the most developed economies in the Pacific due to an abundance of forest, mineral, and fish resources. Today, the main sources of foreign exchange are its tourist industry and sugar exports. The country’s currency is the Fijian dollar. Fiji’s local government, in the form of city and town councils, is supervised by the Ministry of Local Government and Urban Development.

The majority of Fiji’s islands were formed through volcanic activity starting around 150 million years ago. Today, some geothermal activity still occurs on the islands of Vanua Levu and Taveuni. Fiji has been inhabited since the second millennium BC, and was settled first by Austronesians and later by Melanesians, with some Polynesian influences. Europeans visited Fiji from the 17th century, and, after a brief period as an independent kingdom, the British established the Colony of Fiji in 1874. Fiji was a Crown colony until 1970, when it gained independence as the Dominion of Fiji.

A republic was declared in 1987, following a series of coups d’état. In a coup in 2006, Commodore Frank Bainimarama seized power. When the High Court ruled in 2009 that the military leadership was unlawful, President Ratu Josefa Iloilo, whom the military had retained as the nominal Head of State, formally abrogated the Constitution and reappointed Bainimarama. Later in 2009, Iloilo was replaced as President by Ratu Epeli Nailatikau. After years of delays, a democratic election was held on 17 September 2014. Bainimarama’s FijiFirst party won with 59.2% of the vote, and the election was deemed credible by international observer.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.