Monza, Sinfonia in D Major (“La tempesta di mare”)

In 1770, the 14-year-old Mozart was in Milan studying the music of some of Italy’s most important composers. Primary among them was Giovanni Battista Sammartini, but another prominent Milanese composer was Carlo Monza (c. 1735-1801). (This 18th-century Monza is not to be confused with another Carlo Monza who died in 1736). Much of Mozart’s music and that of his Austrian contemporaries was written in the Italian style.

Italian violinist Fabio Biondi, who leads this performance, became a champion of Monza’s music when he discovered manuscripts of Monza’s six string quartets while researching this era of Milanese composers. He recorded the quartets recently on the Naïve Classiques label. He also founded and leads the ensemble Europa Galante, which specializes in Baroque music played on period instruments.

Writing about Monza, Biondi said, “The general public knows the most famous composers, but I believe it is always important to play those who remain in the shadows but contributed just as much to the wealth of the history of music and the construction of new forms.”

Monza became organist at the ducal court in Milan when Sammartini was promoted to maestro di cappella and, on Sammartini’s death in 1775, succeeded him in that post as well. In 1787 he assumed the post of maestro at Milan Cathedral and turned from writing primarily opera to composing sacred music. The Milan Cathedral has some 228 of Monza’s works in its library.