After he fled the Dresden Uprising in May 1849, friends helped Wagner to settle in Zurich. He conducted the local orchestra and wrote copious essays about himself and the future of music and drama. Wagner returned to composition in 1853 with his Ring des Nibelungen, but set it aside in 1857 in favour of Tristan und Isolde, inspired by Mathilde Wesendonck, whose husband Otto had provided him with a new home next to their own. But private passion became public knowledge in 1858, forcing Wagner to abandon both Zurich and his marriage. By 1865 he was in Munich, funded by King Ludwig II. But Wagner meddled too much in the affairs of others and had to flee again. He found a new home in Tribschen outside Lucerne, where Cosima von Bülow joined him in 1868. They remained there until April 1872, when they moved to Bayreuth.

The initial impetus for my research came from a desire to find ways to perform music from the second half of the eighteenth century that were both historically appropriate and able to bring the music back to life. I was keen to comprehend an artistic practice that goes far beyond the notes, and which is so often praised in contemporary sources. The extant music of the eighteenth century has, in many cases, come down to us in sketches, so we have to be able to speak the musical language of its day if we are to do it justice in performance. Partimenti provide the necessary tools to learn the rules of harmony and counterpoint as well as the arts of accompaniment, improvisation, ornamentation, and variation. The curricula of the day taught all these skills, which were an integral aspect of achieving what was considered bon goût in musical performance.

Given the state of the existing sources and our abilities to interpret them, the forty-one recently discovered partimenti by Paisiello—published here for the very first time—assume great significance. They have survived in two manuscripts in the form of two- and three-part disposizioni (i.e., multi-part counterpoint exercises on a given bass), and are found alongside disposizioni based on thirty-one additional partimenti, published by Paisiello in his Regole (1782). The name “Taleyrand” [sic], written on the title page of one of the two manuscript collections, helped identify Paisiello as the author of the bass parts for these disposizioni, as he taught members of that family and obviously used these pieces for teaching purposes. These disposizioni show that partimenti were used to prepare students for counterpoint instruction and as a basis for actual counterpoint exercises. Appendices 1 and 2 feature a catalog of incipits of all extant partimenti by Paisiello and a concordance of the two main sources. Together, these two appendices offer a complete overview of the partimento oeuvre of Paisiello.

Above all, the present book intends to provide a new impetus to the performance practice of partimenti, encouraging the reader to find what is hidden in the notes and hopefully engage in further study himself.

Realizations by Nicoleta Paraschivescu

Partimento in D minor Gj2319

Partimento in E minor Gj2321

Partimento in E-flat major Gj2328

Partimento in D major Gj2331

Partimento fugue in D major Gj2330

The Conservatories in Naples

The first conservatories in Naples are mentioned as early as the sixteenth century. Founded by prosperous citizens, they served to educate destitute children—often street children or orphans of whom it was decided that they should learn a craft to support themselves in later life. Initially, the conservatories offered training in different artisanal professions, but later they were restricted to music education only. These institutions were the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto, the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio a Porta Capuana, the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo and the Conservatorio Santa Maria della Pietà dei Turchini.

The pupils studied for roughly ten years and had to play at various feast days, events at court, processions, and opera performances. These paid engagements enabled the budding musicians to apply in practice what they had been learning and make important contacts, while the income helped finance their studies. The pupils also had the opportunity to compose operas and to have them performed at their conservatory.

The Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo closed in 1743, and in 1797 the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto also closed, with its few remaining pupils being transferred to Sant’Onofrio. When Joseph Bonaparte ascended to the throne in Naples in 1806, only the conservatories Sant’Onofrio and Santa Maria della Pietà dei Turchini remained. As a result of reforms to the local education system, these were merged in 1807 to form the Real Collegio di Musica di San Sebastiano. Giovanni Paisiello, Fedele Fenaroli, and Giacomo Tritto were appointed to head the new institution.

Partimenti, Solfeggio, and Counterpoint in the Curriculum of the Conservatories

Teaching plans and contracts give us insight into the curricula and organization of the conservatories. The school regulations of the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto from the year 1684 include a brief section on the duties of the primo maestro that also provides information about the subjects he taught:

Preliminary remarks

Below are presented four disposizioni à 2 (F-Pn Rés. Vmb. ms. 10/1) and two disposizioni à 3 (F-Pn Rés. Vmb. ms. 10/2) on partimento Gj2319 from the Regole (1782) by Giovanni Paisiello.

These examples from Paisiello’s broader circle (see chapters 2 and 4) are probably exercises by a pupil who was still busy learning his craft. We accordingly find parallel fifths and octaves along with awkward sequences of fifths and octaves (in the two-part disposizioni). Nevertheless, some of these realizations are done quite skillfully and display an endeavor to provide varied contrapuntal solutions to one and the same partimento bass.

“Preludio” and “Rondò” in B-flat major by Giovanni Paisiello, Both in the Original Version and in a Suggested Variation by This Author

Historical Realizations of Partimenti by Francesco Durante from The Vessella Manuscript and The Gallipoli Manuscript

The Structure of Paisiello’s Regole (1782)

Paisiello wrote his Regole (1782) in the context of his work at the Russian court; nevertheless, the collection is firmly anchored in the tradition of the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio in Naples. Regole (1782) is a guide to partimento playing—an art that combines rule-based instructions, illustrative examples, and practical exercises in the form of figured and unfigured basses.

A glance at the structure of the Regole (1782) shows that it is similar to the partimento compendium by Paisiello’s teacher Francesco Durante. Therefore, it can be instructive to compare the Regole (1782) with Durante’s own “Regole per l’Accompagnamento” and with related compendia by Fedele Fenaroli (Partimenti ossia Basso Numerato), Giacomo Insanguine (“Regole con moti di Basso”), Giovanni Furno (“Metodo facile, e breve”), and Giuseppe Dol (“Regole per accompag[nare] il Basso”).

Paisiello’s Regole (1782) begins with an introductory section that makes roughly a third of the book. Here Paisiello uses fourteen partimenti that are propaedeutic in nature—eleven with figures and three without—to illustrate general rules. Next follow thirty-one figured partimenti without any explanatory text, though he often states where imitations are to be played (“imitazioni”). Paisiello generally forgoes any diminuiti section with specific performance instructions. His Regole (1782) is also largely devoid of fugues, contrary to Durante’s or Fenaroli’s partimento compendia.

The first eleven partimenti (Gj2301 to Gj2311) illustrate the rules explained in the text. Most are correspondingly brief and extensively figured. They introduce the reader to playing a full texture and attach importance to correct voice-leading and constructing an attractive upper part.

Gj2312 to Gj2314, by contrast, are the only partimenti in the whole book that are completely unfigured. They are proof that the teaching practice of Naples employs unfigured partimenti to determine whether a student was able to apply the rules, the sequential patterns, and harmonic connections he had just learned. According to Sanguinetti, one of the principal goals of the Neapolitan masters was to enable their students to play unfigured basses.

The degree of difficulty intensifies considerably after the section with the rules and the unfigured partimenti. Starting with Gj2315, the figures often do not just describe elementary compositional procedures but also suggest imitations or specific melodic lines.

Partimenti—Disposizioni—Solfeggi

The sources containing partimenti ascribed to Giovanni Paisiello are few. Only five copies of the first edition of the Regole (1782) are known to exist worldwide. Three additional manuscripts with partimenti ascribed to Paisiello have been passed down to us, one of which is an autograph published in a facsimile in 2008. Together, this autograph and the published Regole (1782) include a total of forty-six partimenti.

Two unique manuscripts contain two- and three-part disposizioni based on partimenti by Paisiello. The Concordance in appendix 2 shows that thirty-one partimenti from the printed Regole (1782) are found in these manuscripts. An additional forty-one partimenti in the manuscripts, not included in the Regole (1782), are most likely authored by Paisiello. For more details, see pages 80–82.

Among the solfeggi found in the sole surviving solfeggio manuscript in Paisiello’s name, only a small number may be his.

The Regole (1782)

The primary focus of the present book is the printed Regole (1782). Its full title is: Regole per bene accompagnare il Partimento, o sia il Basso Fondamentale sopra il Cembalo Del Signor Maestro Giovanni Paisiello. Composte per Sua Altezza Imperiale La Gran Duchessa di tutte le Russie (see fig. 2). The following table offers a description of the individual sources. The first three entries are taken from Robinson’s thematic catalog of Paisiello’s works; Robinson does not include the two Russian sources listed.

The copy in the library of St. Petersburg was unknown until 2014. According to Maxim Serebrennikov, this was the personal copy of Maria Feodorovna. Two pages from this volume that have manuscript additions are given in fac-simile and discussed in detail in chapter 4.

Manuscripts of Partimenti

The following manuscript sources with partimenti by Paisiello are extant today:

The first manuscript, “Regole per bene accompagnare il partimento” (I-Nc 18.3.3/18), is without doubt an autograph by Paisiello. The print of 1782 is largely consistent with the autograph, leading us to assume that the former was based on the latter. For the most part, the autograph and the print diverge mainly in wording. However, the last partimento of this autograph is absent from the print, whereas the last seven particularly beautiful partimenti in the print are absent from the autograph.

Incipits and Sources for the Partimenti of Giovanni Paisiello

In the late eighteenth century, Naples was one of the four largest cities in Europe, surpassed only by London, Paris, and Constantinople. It played a leading role not only in the musical life of Italy but of Europe as a whole. The principal genre of artistic cultivation in Naples remained opera, which was prominent in courtly entertainment, and contributed significantly to the court’s prestige. For skilled composers, singers, and musicians, opera paved the way to fame, financial success, and an attractive tenure in the employ of royalty. Naples had four opera houses and a small theater that was constructed within the royal palace in 1768. The performance venue for opera seria was the Teatro di San Carlo, which opened in 1737 to replace the older Teatro di San Bartolomeo. It enjoyed a unique status at the time due to its size in comparison to other buildings and its proximity to the royal palace. The four opera houses, in which mainly opera buffa was performed, also contributed to the richly varied musical life of Naples: the Teatro dei Fiorentini, the Teatro Nuovo, the Teatro del Fondo, and the Teatro San Ferdinando.

The musical primacy of Naples was further enhanced by four conservatories, public and private performance venues, and by the broad support of ecclesiastical and aristocratic institutions. Their interaction created an environment in which a significant musical culture could flourish.

Many famous opera composers, singers, and musicians completed their training at the conservatories of Naples. One such individual was Giovanni Paisiello (1740–1816), who was among the most important opera composers of the eighteenth century. His dramas were performed throughout Europe, and his style influenced many other composers. He attained distinction as a maestro di cappella (director of music) and composer at the most influential European courts, including those of Napoleon Bonaparte in Paris, Ferdinand IV in Naples, and Joseph II in Vienna.

Giovanni Paisiello

A fair amount is known about the life and work of Giovanni Paisiello. The majority of his music has been preserved, including the bulk of his operas and an important body of chamber and church music, among other works. However, until now, his pedagogic oeuvre and teaching activities have been studied only partially.

Surviving letters by Paisiello and an autobiographical sketch he wrote for the Dictionnaire historique des musiciens by Choron and Fayolle provide an explicit picture of his personality. They reflect not only Paisiello’s major artistic achievements but also his “particular talent for establishing political and cultural contacts.” There was hardly another composer of the eighteenth century who served so many rulers and demonstrated such a heightened ability to adapt and fulfill his employers’ desires. For instance, in one of his letters, Paisiello points out that Italian was not understood at the Russian court and that the empress preferred operas that were not too long.

Paisiello received his initial training not far from the place of his birth, Roccaforzata in Taranto. Beginning in 1754, he studied for nine years at the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio in Naples. In these years, according to his own testimony, he composed several masses, psalm settings, motets, oratorios, and an intermezzo buffo which he might well have staged at the conservatory, as was the educational custom at the time.

The years from 1764 to 1776 brought Paisiello commissions from various Italian opera houses. In 1767 alone, he composed four operas: Le ‘mbroglie de le bajasse, Lucio Papirio dittatore, Il furbo malaccorto, and L’idolo cinese. The performance of the last in the Teatro Nuovo was such a success that King Ferdinand IV of Naples invited the same company to perform it at court—the first-ever opera buffa to be thus honored. In addition, the opera was performed multiple times in the Palace of Caserta in 1768 and 1769.

For the marriage of Ferdinand IV in May 1768 to Maria Carolina, archduchess of Austria, Paisiello wrote his Festa Teatrale in Musica Per solennizare le Felicissime Reali Nozze Delle Loro Sacre Maestà….

[3] With regard to their musical instruction, the pupils were divided into classes that one might describe as follows: the class for musical elements, which included solfeggio; the singing class; the partimenti class; the counterpoint class, and finally, the instrumental classes

[4] for keyboards, strings, and winds. The vocal classes were divided into soprano, alto, tenor, and bass, each with its own class.

There were external teachers, paid by each conservatory, who only communicated with the advanced pupils of each class (these external teachers were almost all former pupils of the conservatory); they were in addition to teachers for writing and Latin.

[3] Les élèves, sous le rapport de l’instruction musicale, étaient divisés par classes, qu’on peut réduire aux suivantes: la classe des éléments, y compris le solfège; celle du chant; celle des partimenti; celle du contrepoint; enfin, les classes des instruments à

[4] touches, à cordes, et à vent. Les voix étaient classées en soprano (dessus), alto (haute-contre), tenore (taille), et basso (basse-taille); et chaque espèce de voix formait une classe à part.

Il y avait des maîtres externes, payés par chaque conservatoire, qui ne communiquaient qu’avec les élèves supérieurs de chaque classe (les maîtres externes provenaient presque tous des élèves supérieurs du Conservatoire), outre les maîtres d’écriture et de langue latine.

When the bell announced the arrival of a teacher, such as the teacher for counterpoint, the advanced pupils of the class gathered at the agreed place with their cartella (this was a thick varnished cloth, with staff lines, on which one could write and wipe away music as he pleased); the teacher would examine each cartella carefully, and correct all of them, one by one, in the presence of all the pupils of the class. The other teachers followed the same procedure with the advanced pupils in their respective classes.