Scan 311
Grove's dictionary of music and musicians ed. by J. A. Fuller Maitland, 1910
20 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 278. See the scan on archive.org.
1the birthday of Charles VI. at the Teatro S. Bartolomeo in 1723, in which the principal parts were sung by Nicolo Grimaldi and Maria Benti-Bulgarelli, generally known as La Romanina. His connection with the Teatro Fiorentini terminated after 1722, and the new Teatro della Pace (afterwards the scene of so many of Logroscino's triumphs) was inaugurated on May 15, 1724, with his comic opera 'La mogliera fedele.' He seems, however, to have devoted himself for the rest of his life mainly to opera seria, and the few comic operas which appeared later at the Teatro Nuovo (the special theatre of Leo's comic muse) were in most cases revivals of earlier works. On the death of A. Scarlatti in 1725, he became Pro-vice-maestro of the royal chapel, the post becoming vacant by the promotion of Mancini and Sarro; this appointment he held until his death. Florimo states that he was Maestro, but this was not possible, as Mancini, who succeeded Scarlatti, did not die until 1738 or 1739. In 1728 (according to Florimo) Vinci entered the Congregation of the Rosary in the monastery of S. Caterina a Formiello, but apparently this did not prevent his continuing to write for the stage. The date of his death has been erroneously given by Fétis and others as 1734 or 1732, and it has been supposed that he was poisoned by a relative of a Roman lady with whom he had a liaison. But F. Piovano demonstrated clearly in the Sammelbände of the Int. Mus. Ges. (viii. 70), that he must have been dead before June 1731, and definite information is given by the curious inscription on a caricature of him by Ghezzi in the Vatican Library, reproduced in the Riv. Mus. Ital. for 1904, fasc. 2. From this we learn that he died at Naples on Sunday, May 28, 1730. Ghezzi, whose comments on his sitters are as brutal as his portraits, says nothing whatever about either poison or a love-affair; 'he died of colic pains so suddenly that he could not even make his confession, and if the sister of Cardinal Ruffo had not given some assistance he could not even have been buried, not even three paoli being found on him, since he was a man who would have gambled his eyes away.' (Correct by this the statement in vol. ii. p. 677a that Leo succeeded him in 1732.)
3Burney rightly praises Vinci for his strong sense of dramatic expression. Of the immediate followers of Scarlatti he is certainly the most vigorous, and his short career as a composer is long enough to give a very clear view of the gradual development of the aria-form from the type of Scarlatti as shown in 'Silla Dittatore' (1723) to that generally associated with the name of Pergolesi, but found in Vinci ('Astianatte' 1725 and 'Artaserse' 1730) before the other had been heard of as a composer. There can be little doubt that this extension of the aria-form owed its first inception to Farinelli. The great singer was equally celebrated for his agility and for his sustaining power; and in almost all the airs composed for him by Vinci, as well as in the few that he sang in Scarlatti's later operas, we may note that the desire to display these two qualities has gradually led to a sharper differentiation of two contrasting subjects, treated in the conventional binary form. The form A1 B2 A2 B1 || contrasting section || Da Capo may be traced in Scarlatti's earlier chamber cantatas; but it is not until the time of Vinci that the subjects A and B are made to contrast almost as strongly as they would in a sonata of Mozart. The well-known air 'Vo solcando un mar crudele' is a good example. This extension of the aria-form by Farinelli and Vinci is important on account of its powerful influence on the forms of the concerto and the symphony. (A complete discussion of this question will be found in Mr. D. F. Tovey's pamphlet The Classical Concerto.) In addition to the works of Vinci, mentioned in Eitner's Quellen-Lexikon, there are several of his operas at Münster (Santini's Library) and at Montecassino.
5E. J. D.
7VINER, WILLIAM LETTON (or LITTON), a composer, chiefly of hymn tunes and sacred music, born at Bath, May 14, 1790. He was a pupil of Charles Wesley, and in 1820 became organist of St. Michael's, Bath, after having, even in early life, made considerable progress both as a composer and as performer on the organ. He left Bath for Cornwall, and on Dec. 2, 1835, was appointed organist at St. Mary's Chapelry, Penzance. In 1859 he emigrated to America, and died at Westfield, Massachusetts, July 24, 1867. He wrote an overture for 'Rob Roy' while at Bath, but though constantly performed at the theatre there, it does not appear to have been published. Other secular pieces are of his composition, but he is best known by his collections of hymn and psalm tunes. These are, 'One Hundred Psalm and Hymn Tunes in score,' 1838; 'A Useful Selection from the most approved Psalms,' 1846, and 'The Chanter's Companion,' 1857, etc.
9F. K.
11VINER (Christian name not known), a violinist and composer for that instrument in considerable favour in Ireland during the early part of the 18th century. About 1730-35, Walsh published a set of solos for violin and bass by him. He was the arranger of a piece in 'Aria di Camera' (c. 1727), and is mentioned in very high terms in a poem by Pilkington, The Progress of Musick in Ireland, Dublin, 1730. The following is an extract from a lengthy panegyric on Viner in the poem mentioned:—
13The Muses now from Albion's Isle retreat,
14And here, with kind indulgence, fix their seat;
15Then Viner rose, with all their warmth inspired,
16A Bard caress'd by all, by all admir'd.
18While round in crowds the fair creation stand
19The polish'd Viol trembling in his hand,
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