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Scan 287
Grove's dictionary of music and musicians;, 1907
21 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 252. See the scan on archive.org.
1appointed Inspector of Instruction at the Conservatoire de Musique, but he resigned in 1802, being aware that he could not adequately perform the duties of the office from his own insufficient training. In 1813 he succeeded Grétry at the Institut; but it was not till 1816 that he received the Legion of Honour. He died Jan. 14, 1817, aged eighty-eight, his last years being soothed by constant testimonies of sympathy and respect.
3As an artist Monsigny's greatest gift was melody. His desultory training accounts for the poverty of his instrumentation, and for the absence of that ease, plasticity, and rapidity of treatment which are the most charming attributes of genius. He was not prolific; and either from fatigue, or from a dread of an encounter with Grétry, he ceased to compose immediately after his greatest triumph; his exquisite sensibility and his instinct for dramatic truth have, however, secured him a place among original and creative musicians. G. C.
5MONTAGNANA, ANTONIO, a celebrated basso, who appeared in England in the autumn of 1731. He made his début on the London boards in 'Poro' (revived); and in January 1732 he created the bass rôle in 'Ezio,' Handel having written specially for him the famous song 'Nasce al bosco,' which was clearly intended to exhibit the peculiar powers of the singer. This opera was followed by 'Sosarme,' in which Montagnana had again an air 'Fra l'ombre e l'orrori,' in which the depth, power, and mellow quality of his voice, and his rare accuracy of intonation in hitting distant and difficult intervals, were displayed to full advantage. In the same year he sang in Handel's 'Acis,' a revival of 'Alessandro,' 'Flavio,' 'Coriolano,' and in 'Esther.' In 1733 Montagnana took part in 'Deborah,' 'Tolomeo,' 'Ottone,' 'Orlando,' and 'Athaliah' (at Oxford). In 'Orlando' he had another very difficult song composed expressly for him, 'Sorge infausta,' which has remained a trial of compass and execution since his day for the most accomplished bassi.
7In the following year, however, Montagnana seceded, with Senesino and Cuzzoni, to the Theatre in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, under the direction of Porpora; and here he appeared in 'Onorio' by that master, and other pieces. In 1735 and 1736 he was still with Porpora, singing in his 'Polifemo,' and the 'Adriano' of Veracini. In January 1738 he returned to his allegiance to Handel, singing in 'Faramondo,' then first produced, 'La Conquista del Vello d'Oro,' and 'Serse.' After this we hear no more of Montagnana. J. M.
9MONTAGNANA, DOMENICO, 1700-40, a great violin-maker whose name is not as renowned as others of his class, owing to the misleading labels bearing the names of 'Guarnerius,' 'Bergonzi,' etc., which have been dishonestly inserted in his instruments from time to time to enhance their market value. He was an apprentice of Antonius Stradivarius, and ranks with Carlo Bergonzi as one of the master's best pupils. He first established a workshop of his own in Cremona, but later he settled in Venice, where his superior knowledge of qualities, materials, thicknesses, and varnish—gained in the workshops of Cremona—brought him into prominence. His instruments show the influence of Stradivarius's teaching, but bear little resemblance to the Stradivarius form. The outline is less graceful, the upper and lower curves flatter. The sound-holes somewhat resemble the 'Guarnerius' type, and the scroll is much larger and bolder than that of Stradivari. The extreme richness and velvety softness of his varnish rivals that of his master, and has excited the admiration of connoisseurs throughout Europe. Montagnana made violas and magnificent violoncellos besides violins, but not being a prolific maker, his instruments are scarce and valuable. It is as a violoncello maker that the best tribute has been paid to him by Charles Reade, who called him 'the mighty Venetian' in his letters to the Pall Mall Gazette in 1872. Hart's The Violin (London, 1875). A. Vidal's Les Instruments d'Archet (Paris, 1876). Charles Reade's A Lost Art Revived, reproduced from the Pall Mall Gazette by George Muntz (Gloucester, 1873). Les Luthiers Italien au XVII. et XVIII. siècles (Jules Gallay, Paris, 1869). E. H-A.
11MONTANARI, FRANCESCO, a distinguished violinist born in Padua during the latter part of the 17th century. He was a pupil of Corelli, and established himself in Rome, where he became a member of the orchestra of St. Peter's in 1700, and, according to Dr. Burney, died in 1730 of a broken heart when Hini came to Rome and proved himself to be the finest performer of the period. He composed twelve sonatas for violin which are published by a Boulogne firm. (A. M. Clarke's Fiddlers Ancient and Modern; Fetis, Biog. des Mus.) E. H-A.
13MONTE, PHILIPPE or FILIPPO DE, and sometimes PHILIPPE DE MONS, born probably in 1521 or 1522,1 traditionally at Mons, but according to Dlabacz at Mechlin.2 As to his history we gain little by consulting old authorities, as Boissart,3 Bullart,4 Freher,5 Sweertius,6 etc., and are told as much by the title-pages of Philippe's own publications. Bullart, however, gives a portrait of the composer, after Sadeler, which is well worth seeing, and much superior to the smaller copies of it in Boissart and Hawkins.
151 Sadeler's portrait, the single authority for this date, gives Philippe's age as seventy-two in 1594.
162 Allgem. histor. Künstler Lex. für Böhmen. 4to. (Frag. 1815). Dlabacz founds his statement on a list of the imperial chapel dated 1682. For a full discussion of the subject see Fétis's Biographie, under 'Philippe de Mons.'
173 Boissardus, Icones Vitror. Illustr. pars 3, p. 23 (1693).
184 Bullart, Académie des Sciences, etc., vol. ii. bk. 4, p. 290 (Bruxelles, 1682).
195 Freher, Theatrum vir. clarorum (Nuremberg, 1689).
206 Sweertius, Athenae Belgicae, p. 645 (Antwerp, 1698)
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