Antonio Lotti (1667-1740); ITA

Antonio Lotti (1667–1740) was an Italian composer, organist, and teacher associated for most of his career with St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice. Probably born in Venice, though some sources give Hanover, he studied with Giovanni Legrenzi and entered the musical establishment of St. Mark’s as a singer before becoming an organist. His reputation as an opera composer led to an extended stay in Dresden from 1717 to 1719, where several of his stage works were produced for the Saxon court. Returning to Venice, he continued his career at St. Mark’s and in 1736 became maestro di cappella.

Lotti composed operas, cantatas, masses, motets, madrigals, and instrumental music, combining the contrapuntal inheritance of the Venetian church tradition with the expressive harmonic language of the late Baroque. His sacred music has proved especially durable, and the eight-part Crucifixus is widely admired for its chromatic intensity and finely controlled dissonance. His output also includes the opera Teofane and numerous masses and psalm settings. As a teacher, Lotti influenced a younger generation that included figures such as Domenico Alberti, and his music forms an important link between the grand Venetian tradition of the seventeenth century and the emerging eighteenth-century style.

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Read biography at allmusic.com.