Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the Abate Metastasio
In which are Incorporated, Translations of his Principal Letters

Volume 1 of this 1796 biography covers the poet and librettist's life from his early childhood to 1751.

Charles Burney (Author), Pietro Metastasio (Author)

9781108014526, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 31 October 2010

460 pages
21.6 x 14 x 2.6 cm, 0.58 kg

This three-volume biography, first published in 1796, recounts the colourful life of the popular Italian poet and librettist Pietro Trapassi (1698–1782), better known by his pseudonym Metastasio. Charles Burney (1726–1814), a British composer and the author of a celebrated four-volume History of Music published between 1776 and 1789, interweaves his own accounts of the poet's life with Metastasio's original letters translated into English. Metastasio's posthumously published correspondence with his friends and patrons provides the essential thread to understanding his complex life and affairs. The son of a shopkeeper, Metastasio was adopted as a young boy by the director of the Arcadian Academy, Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, who was charmed by the child's extraordinary talent for improvising poetry. Volume 1 covers Metastasio's life from his early childhood until 1751, including his musical debut in Rome after his tutor's death, and the beginning of his career in Vienna.

Section I. Birth - Naples - Rome
Section II. Arrival at Vienna
Section III. Extracts of letters to his brother
Section IV. Productions in 1733 - Correspondence with Bettinelli
Section V. Consequences of the demise of the Emperor Charles VI, and the subsequent war
Section VI. Correspondence with Farinelli
Section VII. Further correspondence with Farinelli
Section VIII. Connecting period
Section IX. Further correspondence with Farinelli.

Subject Areas: Baroque music [c 1600 to c 1750 AVGC3]