Giovanni Battista Pescetti

Giovanni Battista Pescetti (c. 170420 March 1766) was an organist, harpsichordist, and composer known primarily for his operas and keyboard sonatas. Musicologist and University of California, Santa Barbara professor John E. Gillespie wrote that Pescetti “stylistically stands as a bridge between Alberti and Domenico Scarlatti”. Life Born in Venice, Pescetti was the son of organ builder Giacinto Pescetti. His mother, Giulia Pescetti (née Pollarolo), was the daughter of opera composer and organist Carlo Francesco Pollarolo and the sister of composer and organist Antonio Pollarolo. He developed a friendship with Baldassare Galuppi, a fellow pupil of Lotti’s, with whom he collaborated in creating and revising operas. In 1739 he published a set of ten keyboard sonatas entitled Sonate per gravicembalo in London. This work included arrangements of the overture and arias in his opera La conquista del velo d’oro. References Further reading *Degrada, Francesco. 1966. “Le sonate per cembalo e per organo di Giovanni Battista Pescetti”. Chigiana (new series) 3:89–108. * *Taylor, Carole M. 1987. “From Losses to Lawsuit: Patronage of the Italian Opera in London by Lord Middlesex, 1739–45”. Music &