PERGOLESE, GIOVANNI BAT TISTA (c.1710-36). An eminent composer of the Neapolitan school. Evidence regarding the date and place of his birth is conflicting: probably the correct account is that of the :Marchese di Vii larosa, his biographer, who states that he was born at .Jeri, near Ancona. In 1717 he was ad mitted into the dei l'overi di Ges0 Cristo at Naples, where he studied the violin under Domenico di Matteis, and composi tion under Gaetano Greco and Durante. Under the conviction that melody and taste were sacri ficed to learning by most of the masters of his time, he abandoned the style of Searlatti and Greco for that of Vinci and Hasse. His first great work was the oratorio of Son auglichno d'Aquitania, composed in 1731. Two years later appeared his opera La .serea padrona, which gained him universal fame. and which has re mained one of the finest examples of its genre; strangely enough, it was practically his only stage success. In the same year he composed Il prigioniero superb° and II fruit innamorato: in 1734, .Idriano in Siria in 1735. II Flamini() and L'Olimpiade. In 1734 he received the appointment
of maestro di eapella of the Church of Loretto. In consequence of delicate health, induced, it is supposed, by irregular habits, he removed to Pozzuoli, where lie composed the cantata of Orfrr, and his pathetic Stabert .]/refer. Besides the ahove-mentioned works, Pergolese composed a number of pieces for the Church, which were better appreciated during his lifetime than were his secular compositions: also a violin concerto. and thirty trios for violin, violoncello, and harp sichord. His works are all characterized by sweetness and freedom of style. His orchestra tion was particularly simple, confined chiefly to the strings. reafforced occasionally by the horns and trumpets. An undoubted reason for the contemporary failure of much of his operatic music was his innovation in style, wherein he abandoned the old contrapuntal accompaniments. and supported his melodies and voices with har monically written accompaniments. He died of consumption at Pozzuoli.