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Domenico DragonettiRodney SlatfordPublished online: 28 Jan 2009.

To cite this article: Rodney Slatford (1970) Domenico Dragonetti,Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association, 97:1, 21-28, DOI:10.1093/jrma/97.1.21

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Domenico Dragonetti

RODNEY SLATFORD

A SHORT PAPER can give but a glimpse at the life of a pro-fessional musician who worked in London for over half acentury. Baptised Domenico Carlo Maria, Dragonetti wasborn in the poor parish of St. Gervasio and St. Protasio (calledSt. Trovaso), Venice. As with most details of his early life,there are conflicting reports as to his date of birth. VincentNovello gives 10 April 1763,1 but Caffi, the musical historianand friend of Dragonetti, gives 7 April.s Other dates that arevariously given include 17553 (a date which also appears onone of Dragonetti's bows, now in the author's possession),'1762 or 1764'/ and 1771.5

Of his mother, Caterina Calegari, nothing is known, but hisfather, Pietro, was probably a barber. Some sources say heplayed the kettle drums, others that he played the doublebass and guitar. The Dictionary of National Biography is romanticenough to suggest that he may have been a gondolier, whileThe Musical Magazine was more specific about his bass playing,and said he 'excelled in accompanying a band at balls'.6

Whatever his occupation, the money he earnt was little, andas a result Domenico had no education other than that whichfamily life and the local priests could provide.

His early musical tuition seems to have stemmed from hisown curiosity. Novello recounts how he 'was accustomedsurreptitiously to purloin his father's guitar, and in a remotequarter of the house to practise upon the instrument'.7 Healso learnt the violin, picking up some knowledge of thisfrom a shoemaker friend, Sciarmadori [Schiamadori ?].Applying these basic principles to the double bass, he con-tinued to practise secretly in the house. One day he surprised

1 British Museum, Add. MS 17838, f. 437.* F. Caffi, Storia delta Musica Sacra, Venice, 1855, ii. 73-91.• Grove's Dictionary, 1st edn., London, 1879-89.* The Times, 18 April 1846.6 F. J , Fitis, Biographie universelle des musiciens, 1st edn., Brussels, 1835-44.• 'Sketches of the Lives of Celebrated Musicians. No. I V , The Musical

Magazine, i (1835), 55.' 'Orchestral Sketches', The Musical World, i (1836), xi. Novello's

authorship is revealed in The Illustrated London News of 25 April 1846,where the article, originally unsigned, was used for Dragonetti's obituary.

21

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22 DOMENICO DRAGONETTI

everybody by accompanying his father's violinist friendDoretti in public. This he did so well that Doretti persuadedPietro to allow his son (then aged twelve) 'to accompanyhim at the various concerts he attended in Venice'.8 Hewas given eleven lessons by a Venetian, Michele Berini, whothen declared he could teach him nothing further.

At the age of thirteen he was appointed primo basso at theOpera Buffa in Venice, and at fourteen held the same positionat the Grand Opera Seria. Later he succeeded Berini at theDucal Chapel of St. Mark's, and also played in the opera atVicenza. By this time 'his fame had spread beyond Italy, andhe was offered an engagement at the Imperial Opera in St.Petersburg, upon which the Procurators of St. Mark's im-mediately raised his salary'.9

One of his closest friends in Venice was the violinist NiccoloMestrino, and the two passed many hours experimenting with'scientific and accurate exercises on the violin and doublebass' and also composing ' "capncci" and other short pieces'.10

Probably many of Dragonetti's compositions were writtenat this time. When not playing at the opera or studying, hecould often be seen with Mestrino, serenading passers-bywith violin and guitar. Caffi suggests that the young singerBrigitta Banti was frequently seen singing in the cafes, whereshe was accompanied by Dragonetti on a small portabledouble bass. Sometimes they had a violinist with them who,if not Mestrino, could well have been the young virtuosoGimbattista Cimadoro.

Cimador (to use the name he preferred in England), wasnot only a violinist; he played the piano and the cello, and hecomposed. His operas met with great success both on thestages of Venice and, later, in London. The concerto he wrotefor Dragonetti (to which Dragonetti later added a movementof his own), illustrates well both the humour and the lyricalcantabile that must have made Dragonetti's own performancesso popular.a

In 1794, encouraged by Cimador and Banti, both of whomhad already left Venice, Dragonetti, then aged 31, obtainedleave of absence from St. Mark's. London newspapers on 13October announced that 'rehearsals for the ensuing season [atthe King's theatre] will commence immediately after the 20thinstant, the opening of this theatre being fixed for Saturday

« Ibid.* Grove's Dictionary.

10 The Musical Magazine, loc. cit.

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DOMENICO DRAGONETTI 23

the 22nd of next month'. On 15 October a more detailedannouncement added:

All the performers coming from abroad, were, by consent amongthemselves to meet at Verona the 20th of last month, in order to pro-ceed on the journey together; . . . Dragonetti... took his journey from[Venice] . . . on the 16th of September, in company with youngBartolozzi, for London, being also engaged for the opera; he is soextraordinary a performer, that in Italy his salary was always equalto that of the first singer's.11

His first appointment in London, however, yielded some-what less than that to which he had been accustomed. As'double bass at the harpsichord' he was paid '£250 and bene-fit'.12 Where he lived at first is not certain. A receipt for oneguinea's duty for hair powder dated 6 April 1796 shows thatby then he was lodging at 'No. 207 Piccadilly, St. James's,(Westminster)'.13 He was certainly among friends, as con-temporary concert programmes reveal. Some of the Venetianoperas were repeated in London with virtually the entireItalian cast. Singers, composers, designers and instrumentalistsflocked to the capital from all parts of Europe and workedamongst the English; Band, Viotti, Cramer, Bianchi, Martini,Dussek, Braham and Lindley are but a few of the names thatappear most frequently.

Viotti (who also retailed 'wine and other liquors' in TheStrand) led the 'Opera Band', and with him Dragonettiplayed violin duos—taking the second fiddle part on hisdouble bass. Martini arranged a trio by Handel for violin,cello and double bass which Cramer, Lindley and 'II Drago'(as he became known) repeated at numerous 'Ancient Con-certs' to the delight of the London audiences. His partnershipwith Robert Lindley was one that lasted for over 50 years andthe pair eventually became such an institution that no musicfestival was considered complete without them.

In 1798 Dragonetti went to Vienna where he 'renewed theacquaintance he had made with Haydn in London',1* andwas 'much delighted with the score of the "Creation", justcompleted'.16 It is not difficult to imagine him conversingwith Haydn in a mixture of Venetian, English, French andGerman, and probably enthusing over one of the composer'sconcertos for double bass (now tragically lost). Caffi suggests11 British Museum, Th. Cts. 42.18 E. Waters, 'A Statement of Matters relative to the King's Theatre',

The Quarterly Musical Magazine and Review, i (1818), 250." British Museum, Add. MS 17838, f. 413.14 Dictionary of National Biography.15 Grove's Dictionary.

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2 4 DOMENICO DRAGONETTI

that he returned to Venice on this occasion, and that the Pro-curators renewed his leave of absence from St. Mark's; butthe following year he was again playing in London.

For the next twelve years there are few records from whichto piece together our story. From letters16 we discover thatDragonetti was a keen player of whist, and a good correspon-dent—better than his travelling companion Cimador, whoseems hardly ever to have written letters. In 1808 he was againin Vienna, and this time he met Beethoven. Dragonetti usedto tell how, after he had played one of Beethoven's cellosonatas, the composer jumped up from the piano and em-braced him. Here also he met the contrapuntist and theoristSimon Sechter, whilst staying in the palace of Prince Star-hemberg. Sechter scored some of Dragonetti's music for him,17

and it is said that the two corresponded until Dragonetti'sdeath.

Not until 1814 do we see him appearing once again in thebig music festivals (Chester in September and Birmingham inOctober). But whether he was out of the country or not is byno means certain. From 1821 he was living at Pagliano'sSabloniere Hotel in Leicester Square. Many visiting musiciansstayed there on their way through the metropolis, and thehotel seems to have served as a gallery for works of art newlyarrived from Italy. Dragonetti's interests were wide, and fromseveral lists of paintings and correspondence relating to them,we can see that he may well have supplemented his musicalincome by trading a little in the newest paintings of the day.Indeed, his many connections would have made this easy forhim. The Musical World stated plainly enough 'He dines withLords, and he gives dinners to Lords'. He was immenselypopular at 'musical evenings', and the following invitation,though typical of many, reveals that he also played the viola:

21 Manchester St.My Dear friend March 24th.

We dine punctually at Six o'clock to-morrow. Mrs. Andersononly intends playmg a Trio, or two with Lindley, therefore do nottrouble yourself to send your Double Bass—If Mrs. Anderson plays aQuintett perhaps I may ask you to take a Tenor, if quite agreable toyou, & in that case I have a very fine Inst. at my House.

Believe me, my dear friend everYours faithfully, G. F. Anderson18

" British Museum, Add. MS 17838.17 Notably British Museum, Add. MS 17828."British Museum, Add. MS 17838, ff. 21-22. Mrs. Lucy Anderson

(1789-1878) was an eminent pianist who appeared frequently at Phil-harmonic Society concerts, and piano teacher to Queen Victoria andthe royal family. Her husband George was a professional violinist.

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DOMENICO DRAGONETTI 25

It must have been for one of these 'musical evenings' thatDragonetti intended the only original work of his publishedin his lifetime, the song 'Oh! yes, our love, and all its hours'. 19>b

Besides the song, the only other work printed before hisdeath was his arrangement of 'Mozart's Grand Waltz', towhich were added 'two celebrated Pollaccas by Jaeger &Himmel'.20 His best known work is the Concerto in G major(first published by Alphonse Leduc, Paris, 1925), but ironic-ally this is now believed to be by Edouard Nanny, its originaleditor, who was professor at the Paris Conservatoire." Many,but by no means all, of the Dragonetti manuscripts werepresented to the British Museum by Vincent Novello. Theywere, in his own words,

. . . bequeathed to me by my most highly-esteemed and beloved friend,Signor Dragonetti, with whom I had the rare good fortune anddelightful gratification of being familiarly acquainted and treated as afavourite and confidential friend for upwards of forty years.22

Novello knew that the manuscripts were badly in need ofbeing sorted and catalogued, and it is thanks to his copiousnotes and rough indices that they are in any sort of order at all.Unfortunately during the three years between Dragonetti'sdeath and Vincent's retirement to Italy in 1849, he was toobusy to complete the task. Nobody bothered further. It mustsuffice here to say that the author is compiling a completethematic catalogue, and that so far well over 600 incipitshave been indexed. These include at least eight concertos andover forty other works with solo double bass, string quartets,'capricios' for piano and violin, duets and songs.

His own manuscripts, however, formed but a small part ofhis extensive library which contained upwards of 200 volumesof operas, symphonies, sonatas and concertos. These he col-lected both by private purchase and at public auctions. Littlewonder then, that in 1822 Sir George Smart, who claimed notto have heard a finer player anywhere in Europe, offered hima post at the newly founded Royal Academy of Music. This

19 Oh!yes, our love, and all its hours, / the POETRY by Joseph Macgregor / theMusic COMPOSED and arranged with / Symphonies & Accompaniments forthe Piano Forte by / D. DRAGONETTI / EDINBURGH [e. 1835] Printed& Sold by Alexander Robertson at / the Music Salon, No. 39 Princes Street.Price 1/6 (British Museum, Add. MS 17829, f. 69).

20 N. Corn, Edinburgh [c. 1820]." Philip H. Albright, Original Solo Concertos for the Double Bass, Rochester,

U.S.A., 1969, p. 35.22 British Museum, Add. MS 17726, f. 1.

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he declined, if we are to believe Fetis, for financial reasons."None the less he did accept private pupils. The Duke of

Leinster was one, and a certain Geoffrey Shortbow was an-other. Shortbow sent the following report to Cheltenham,his home town, along with his monthly commentary of the'musical and theatrical doings' in London during the season.

I called on Dragonetti at his hotel in Leicester Square: I was usheredby a waiter into the front room on the second floor, where a scene metmy eye which I never witnessed before: the room looked more like abroker's shop than anything else; for there were half a dozen basses,several violins, violoncellos, harps, guitars, &c. &c, with innumerablecuriosities, antique furniture, pictures, prints, and, above all, somedozens of dolls dressed in costumes of various countries, which had amost whimsical effect. In the midst of this heterogeneous assemblage,sat II Drago, as he is called, in his morning gown, and wearing avelvet cap. I told him the object of my visit as well as my bewilderedintellects would permit me, and he told me his terms, but in such abroken sort of English that I could scarcely understand him. . . .I take lessons three times a week, and am happy to say that I pleasemy master, who invariably treats me to a glass of the finest Madeirawine I ever tasted.24

Another friend in Cheltenham was the composer JohnBarnett. He married Robert Lindley's daughter Eliza, andDragonetti became the godfather of one of the sons, who wasin turn christened Domenico. Thanks to the travelling he did,Dragonetti managed to visit friends outside London fre-quently, as his itineraries reveal. The following extract shedsmuch light on the typical musician's life before the internalcombustion engine had driven away the horse and coach.

Mese di Otlobre16

' 718

•92 0

2 1

2 2

2324252627

LichfieldShrewsburyStourbridgeBirminghamCheltenham et GloucesterBathin viaggio perPlymouthExeterTauntonBristol e CliftonOxford "

23 'Mr. Fetis's Fourth Letter', The Harmomcon, vii (1829), 219.M Geoffrey Shortbow, or the Country Amateur in London; giving an account of the

Musical Movements in the Metropolis during the Season of 1839 [reproducedfrom The Cheltenham Looker On}, p . 3.

15 British Museum, Add. MS 17838, ff. 431-2.

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DOMENICO DRAGONETTI 27

Although the year of this particular itinerary is not known,the author has so far listed over 600 engagements in a chrono-logical reconstruction of Dragonetti's life. This kind of diarycan never be complete, but by listing a few events here itbecomes easy to appreciate the extraordinarily long span ofmusical history that Dragonetti's life embraces. The informa-tion has been collected from newspapers, periodicals, lettersand diaries from all over the country.

1815 3 November. The third evening concert at the first EdinburghFestival included 'SOLO 9th . . . CORELLI. Mr. Yaniewicz[violin] and Mr. Dragonetti'.

1820 19 June. The Philharmonic Society concert included'NONOTTO by SPOHR . . . Leader Mr. Spohr1.

1824 2 I Ju 'y- Sir George Smart wrote in his journal '. . . I dined inthe City at Mr. Salomons' to meet Rossini, who made himselfmost agreeable. He had been paid by Salomons fifty pounds tocompose a duet to be played by Salomons and Dragonetti . . .'The duet, written the night before, was probably played afterdinner.2"

1825 2 I March. At the first London performance of Beethoven'sChoral Symphony, Dragonetti remarked that had he seen thescore before naming his fee, he would have asked double.

1831 26 May. At his second morning concert at the Great ConcertRooms of the King's Theatre, programmes announced 'Mr.Hummel will perform the original Grand Quintetlo in E|? minoraccompanied by Messrs. Mori, Moralt, Lindleyand Dragonetti'.7 August. Dined with Paganim.

1834 4 November. A Miscellaneous Gentleman's Concert in Man-chester included 'QUARTETTO . . . Messrs. Nagel, Hermann,Lindley and Dragonet t i . . . BEETHOVEN' (one is left wonder-ing who played which part, and on what instrument).

1839 25 February. Played 'for the first time of public performancein London . . . Second Prelude and Pedal Fugue in E minor . . .S. Bach. For Pianoforte & Double Bass'.

1840 1 o June. Mr. Blagrove's concert at Hanover Square included'Septuor (four movts.) . . . Beethoven . . . which created sogreat an effect. . . performed by 36 instruments, viz. 12 Violins,8 Tenors, 6 Violoncellos, 4 Double Basses, 2 Clarinets, 2 Horns,2 Bassoons'. Mr. Litolff played two movements of Hummel's'Septuor'.

1841 14 June. Played Hummel's Septet with Liszt.1845 16 April. Played the violone at an 'Ancient Concert'. Other

instruments played were the 'Violino Francese, viol da gamba,viol d'amore, viol da braccio, theorbo, . . . cittarra, harp andorgan'.

26 Sir David Salomons (1797—1873), an amateur cellist, later became afounder member of the London and Westminster Bank, and in 1855 waselected Lord Mayor of London. The autograph score of the Duettoremained unpublished and in the possession of the Salomons familyuntil early in 1968. The original parts are in Dragonetti's hand and arein the key of D, from which it can be deduced that he did not use a soloscordatura on this occasion.

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In 1845 he made his final trip abroad, to play in the Beet-hoven festival at Bonn, but this must have been exhaustingfor a man aged 82. The following spring he died, on 16 April'at his apartments, No. 4, Leicester Square, about half past 5o'clock in the evening'27 while friends were playing quartetsby his bed. The Cheltenham Morning Chronicle reported that 'hislast illness was confirmed dropsy', and two prescriptions dated5 and 13 March 1846 indicate that this could have been so.The pills prescribed in the first ('two tonight and one everyalternate night') were powerful purgatives, and to the secondsome juniper had been added to promote the action of thekidneys. Some cough mixture was also prescribed, and arestorative similar to sal volatile or smelling salts.28

He never married, although he was very fond of children.'De vomens' as he used to say 'have got nails, at de point ofdear fingers'. It is fitting to end by quoting part of a speechhe made when proposing a toast at a dinner given by theMelodists' Club, goaded on by timely bravos from the Dukeof Cambridge.29

Gentlemen, me sorry no ladies; very fine de English donne ('Bravo'Bravo!'); ma, I tank you ten tousand time! I trink all de helths. I nospeak fine, mats—my vife, de contra-basso, he take all de speak, andshe speak Got shave the Queen 'besser als' noting! . . .c

I am most grateful to Dr. Edward Larkin for his kind assistance with themedical information in this paper.

The following musical illustrations were heard during the course of thelecture, performed by Elaine Hooker (soprano), Clifford Lee (piano),Christopher van Kampen (cello) and the author (double bass).a Cimador's Concerto for Double Bass (British Museum, Add. MS 17834),

ed. R. Slatford, London, 1969.b Dragonetti's song 'Oh! yes, our love, and all its hours'.c Rossini's Duetto for Cello and Double Bass, ed. R. Slatford, London, 1969.

87 British Museum, Add. MS 17824, f. 1. From 1836 he had also been livingat No. 9 Panton Street.

"British Museum, Add. MS 17838, ff. 77-78.•* 'Bacchus and Apollo', Record of the Musical Union, iii (1845), 19.

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