DURANTE, FRANCESCO (1684-17 5 5 ), Italian composer, was born at Frattamaggiore, in the kingdom of Naples, on March 15, 1684. At an early age he entered the Conservatorio dei poveri di Gesu Cristo, at Naples, where he received lessons from Gaetano Greco; later he became a pupil of Alessandro Scarlatti at the Con servatorio di Sant' Onofrio. He is also supposed to have studied under Pasquini and Pitoni in Rome, but no documentary proof of this statement can be given. He is said to have succeeded Scar latti in 1725 at Sant' Onofrio, and to have remained there until 1742, when he succeeded Porpora as head of the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto, also at Naples. This post he held for 13 years, till his death on Aug. 13, 1755, at Naples. His fame as a teacher was all but unrivalled, and Jommelli, Paesiello, Pergolesi, Piccini and Vinci were amongst his pupils. A complete collection of Durante's works, consisting all but exclusively of sacred composi tions, was presented by Selvaggi, a Neapolitan lover of art, to the Paris library. The imperial library of Vienna also preserves a valu able collection of Durante's manuscripts. Two requiems, several masses (one of which, a most original work, is the Pastoral Mass for four voices) and the Lamentations of the prophet Jeremiah are amongst his most important settings.