Composer
Anna Bon di Venezia (ca. 1738-1780); ITA
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Anna Bon di Venezia is the accepted form of the name of a female Italian composer known in the eighteenth century as Anna Bon. Born between 1738 and 1740 in either Russia or Venice, Bon was child to a couple who both worked in opera productions; her mother as a singer and her father as a librettist and set designer. Bon entered the Ospedale Della Pietà in Venice as student at the tender age of four, arriving in the wake of Antonio Vivaldi's prominence there. She studied at the Ospedale through the end of 1754, though left periodically to tour with her parents as a musical wunderkind. In 1755, Bon and her parents accepted a position within the Bayreuth-based court of Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia, a royal who was an accomplished musician. At this point, Bon's first published works appeared in Nuremburg: the Six Chamber Sonatas for flute and continuo, Op. 1 (1756), and Six Sonatas for harpsichord, Op. 2 (1757). With the princess' death in 1758, the Bons realized they were no longer needed in Bayreuth and gradually returned to touring; Bon's final published set appeared in Nuremberg the following year, the Six Divertimenti (Trio Sonatas) for two flutes and continuo, Op. 3 (1759). In 1762, the Bons were employed in the court of Prince Nicolaus of Esterházy in Eisenstadt, Anna Bon's mother took part in operas written by Nicolaus' chief court composer, Haydn. Anna Bon may have left the Esterházy court in 1765; by 1767, Bon had married to an Italian singer and settled down in Hildburghausen; nothing more is known of her whereabouts afterward.
Outside of the 18 works contained in Anna Bon's three published editions, only a single insert aria, to an opera yet unidentified, "Astra coeli," is known. Despite the tiny dimensions of Bon's catalog, the work itself is potent—its maturity, sophistication, and originality run in direct contradiction to the fact that nearly all of Bon's surviving music had to be composed before she turned 20. Anna Bon was a significant and substantive transitional figure from the Baroque to Classical era, comparable to Johann Schobert. Although Bon is often shown as having died in 1767, when she married, and there are references to her "short life," there is no known record of her actual death. Bon simply disappears from the historical record, so after her marriage, she is in a sense "dead" to posterity. The form of her name Anna Bon di Venezia is what Bon called herself on the title pages of her publications, assuming that there was another famous Anna Bon at the time from elsewhere. The extended designation has become regarded as her name in modern times, though one could argue that such formality is unnecessary.
© Uncle Dave Lewis , Rovi
Outside of the 18 works contained in Anna Bon's three published editions, only a single insert aria, to an opera yet unidentified, "Astra coeli," is known. Despite the tiny dimensions of Bon's catalog, the work itself is potent—its maturity, sophistication, and originality run in direct contradiction to the fact that nearly all of Bon's surviving music had to be composed before she turned 20. Anna Bon was a significant and substantive transitional figure from the Baroque to Classical era, comparable to Johann Schobert. Although Bon is often shown as having died in 1767, when she married, and there are references to her "short life," there is no known record of her actual death. Bon simply disappears from the historical record, so after her marriage, she is in a sense "dead" to posterity. The form of her name Anna Bon di Venezia is what Bon called herself on the title pages of her publications, assuming that there was another famous Anna Bon at the time from elsewhere. The extended designation has become regarded as her name in modern times, though one could argue that such formality is unnecessary.
© Uncle Dave Lewis , Rovi
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© 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. All Music Guide is a registered trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.
Click on a category to view the list of works-
Chamber Works
15 tracks
- Trio for 2 flutes & basso continuo in D-, Op.3, No.3
3 tracks
- Trio for 2 flutes & basso continuo in G, Op.3, No.1
3 tracks
- Sonata for flute & keyboard No.4 in D, Op.1, No.4
3 tracks
- Sonata for flute & keyboard No.5 in G-, Op.1, No.5
3 tracks
- Trio for 2 flutes & basso continuo in D, Op.3, No.2
3 tracks
- Trio for 2 flutes & basso continuo in D-, Op.3, No.3
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Piano Works
6 tracks
- Harpsichord Sonata in B-, Op.2, No.5
3 tracks
- Harpsichord Sonata in G-, Op.2, No.1
3 tracks
- Harpsichord Sonata in B-, Op.2, No.5
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Below are works by A.Bon di Venezia that every music lover should explore:
