Johann Georg Pisendel (d. 1755), who had been a player at Dresden since
1712, became one of Vivaldi's pupils, toured through Italy as a virtuoso, and
from 1728 was concertmaster at Dresden, serving as a pioneer of style in
Germany (concertos in MS.).
Francesco Maria Veracini (d. 1750) was from 1714 a pupil and colleague of Vivaldi at St. Mark's, from 1717 chamber-composer at Dresden, after 1722 at Prague, in Italy again, and in 1735-47 at London, where he produced 3 operas and competed for popular favor with Geminiani. He was an able player, with a keen sense of effect, and contributed to the growth of an intense and passionate style, giving a powerful impulse to the great Tartini. His works (from 1716) included sonatas and concertos of considerable difficulty and worth.
Giuseppe Tartini (d. 1770), who shares with Corelli the renown of heading the list of the greatest violinists, was an Istrian, but educated at Padua, whence, because of a secret marriage with Cardinal Cornaro's niece, he fled to the monastery of Assisi. After studying composition for two years, his marriage was forgiven and he returned to Padua, but soon came under Veracini's influence at Venice and retired to Ancona to master the violin. In 1714 he discovered the acoustical phenomenon of 'combination-tones' and began to apply it practically. From 1721 he was violinist and director at S. Antonio in Padua, remaining till his death a half-century later, except for two years (1723-5) at Prague. In 1728 he established a famous violin-school, training many great players. His style united the finish of Corelli with greater vigor, passion and daring, and he excelled in double-stopping, trills and other special devices of effect. His practical works (from 1734) included at least 100 sonatas and as many concertos, though incompletely published. Many of these are still classics; the most celebrated is the sonata Il trillo del Diavolo. His L'arte dell' arco is a set of 50 variations on a gavotte of Corelli's. He was also a significant student of musical acoustics (see sec. 139). His theory of bowing was an advance on previous usage, and to facilitate it he coöperated in improvements in the structure of bows (see sec. 149).
Francesco Geminiani (d. 1762), born at Lucca, was a pupil at Rome of Corelli. From 1707 he was employed at Lucca, and from 1710 toured Italy as a virtuoso, going in 1714 to London, where, except for a sojourn at Paris (1748-55), he lived for almost 50 years, at first being slightly associated with Handel. His ardent and eccentric temperament interfered with his success as an orchestral leader. In later life he rarely played in public, devoting himself to teaching and some foolish business ventures. His works (from 1716), in the usual forms, were many and ambitious, but not equal to Tartini's. He also wrote one of the earliest violin-methods (1751), embodying Corelli's principles, with several other less important instruction-books.
Pietro Locatelli (d. 1764), a pupil of Corelli (before 1713), from 1725 at Mantua and probably from 1732 at Amsterdam, was one of the earliest of the clever jugglers with the violin in the display of dexterity and peculiar devices of tuning. His works (from 1721), however, setting aside the studies and show-*pieces, contain some strong passages.
Giovanni Battista Somis (d. 1763) studied under both Corelli and Vivaldi and then worked wholly at Turin, founding a noted school of players in that
