Concertos for Oboe op. 7: Nos. 5, 12, 6, 8, 11, 9, 3, 2

Abstract

Tomaso albioni, eldest son of a wealthy paper merchant, was born in Venice in 1671. At an early age he became proficient as a singer and, more notably, as a violinist, soon turning his hand to composition. Until his father’s death in 1709, however, he was able to cultivate music more for pleasure than for profit, referring to himself as “dilettante” – a term which in 18th-century Italy was totally devoid of unfavourable connotations. Under the terms of his father’s will he was relieved of the duty (as eldest son) so take charge of the family business, a task that devolved on his younger brothers. Henceforth, he was to be a full-time musician, who, according to one repot, at one time ran a successful academy of singing. He resided in Venice all his life, though visits to Florence (1722) are recorded. After a long period of inactivity he died in 1751 (the oft-quoted date of 1750 in incorrect). In this youth Albinoni flirted unsuccessfully with the composition of church music. He first came to public notice as a composer when, in 1694, his first opera, Zenobia, Regina de’palmireni, was produced in Venice and his first collection of instrumental music (suonate a tre, op1) appered.