“The Father of Haydn’s Style”
Portrait of Giovanni Battista Sammartini
In 2025, we commemorate the 250th anniversary of the passing of the highly influential Italian composer Giovanni Battista Sammartini (1700-1775). Sammartini was one of the foremost composers of the 18th century and a key figure in the development of the Classical style. One of the first composers to write symphonies for concert performance, he greatly influenced later masters like Haydn and Mozart. Highly respected during his life, with roughly 450 works to his name, Sammartini’s music was quickly forgotten after his death and only revived during the mid-20th century.
Giovanni Sammartini: Symphony No. 6 in F Major
Background
Portrait of Giovanni Battista Sammartini by Riccardi
Sammartini was the seventh of eight children of Alexis Saint-Martin, a French oboist and Girolama de Federici. He was born in Milan, in what was Habsburg-ruled Lombardy, and his earliest musical instruction probably came from his father. His older brother Giuseppe, with whom he is often confused, composed concertos and sonatas and gained fame in London as “the greatest oboist the world had ever known.”
Sammartini was an exceptional organist, praised by Charles Burney for his “masterly and pleasing way of touching that instrument.” As a church musician, Sammartini was listed as maestro di cappella at 11 Milanese churches, and his first compositions were cantatas for the Fridays in Lent and an aria for an oratorio. By 1726 Sammartini was called “very famous,” and he took a leading role in the city’s life.
Giovanni Sammartini: Della Passione die Gesu Cristo (On Jesus Christ’s Passion) (Silvia Mapelli, soprano; Miroslava Yordanova, mezzo-soprano; Giorgio Tiboni, tenor; Filippo Ravizza, harpsichord; Symphonica Ensemble; Daniele Ferrari, cond.)
Milan
Pompeo Batoni: Luigi Boccherini playing the violoncello, ca 1767 (National Gallery of Victoria)
As Bathia Churgin writes, “As the leading composer of the city, Sammartini participated in numerous important religious and state occasions in the main churches and the royal ducal theatre. His music was also heard in private concerts of the nobility and the colleges of the city.” Milan was under Austrian rule for most of his life, and it provided a rich musical environment, including “many active composers, good string players, a progressive operatic repertory, and a hearty appetite for symphonic music.”
Sammartini did not venture beyond the city of Milan, but he came in contact with major musical figures. That included Christoph Willibald Gluck, who appeared to have been his student between 1737 and 1741. In addition, Luigi Boccherini played in an orchestra under Sammartini’s direction, and Jommelli co-wrote two cantatas with him in 1753. We also know that he met Mozart, who visited Milan in 1770 and 1771.
Johann Christian Bach
Sammartini was probably also in contact with J. C. Bach, who lived in Milan from 1754-1762, and he surely met Tommaso Traetta. Other visitors to Milan included Wagenseil, Holzbauer, and Cannachich. As Churgin writes, “The artistic stimulation and influence provided by such encounters cannot be overestimated.” Within such a delicious mix of concentrated musical creativity, Sammartini was a pioneering figure whose career spanned significant stylistic shifts in 18th-century European music.
Giovanni Sammartini: Sonata No. 5 in B-flat Major (Oinos Baroque Trio)
Early Symphonies
Giovanni Battista Sammartini’s Symphony in F Major music score
Sammartini is particularly noted for his contributions to the development of the symphony, with his earliest examples dating from the 1730s. His early symphonies might have evolved from opera overtures called “Sinfonia,” but it has also been suggested that they derive from the northern Italian concerto style of Vivaldi and the trio sonata.
In the event, the 18 early symphonies, dating from roughly 1724 to 1739, typically followed a three-movement structure (fast-slow-fast), and were written for small orchestras. Movements predominantly follow binary forms, with allegros in sonata form and slower movements or minuets in simpler binary designs. Sonata form movements feature clear themes, key areas, and developments, and both multi-thematic forms and monothematic treatments are present. Apparently, he transferred the lyrical slow movement from concertos, and he composed finales in a playful buffo style.
Giovanni Sammartini: Symphony for Strings in C Major
Middle Symphonies
While Sammartini’s early symphonies show a mixture of Baroque and Classical styles, the 37 middle symphonies, composed roughly between 1740 and 1758, are scored in the early Classical style. The orchestration is expanded to feature horns or trumpets, and the movements are much extended. Nearly all movements, including the minuets and andantes are written in sonata form, with texture, dynamics, and “mood contrasts intensified.”
First movements often have a motoric feel, with short, repetitive themes. Repetition and contrast replace longer expansions, while brief development and motivic recapitulations add depth. The slow movements, according to scholars, “are considered some of Sammartini’s best works—lyrical, rich in texture, harmonically complex, and expressing a range from delicate charm to profound melancholy.” Lively minuets are contrasted by lyrical trios, and finales summarise the entire symphony.
Giovanni Sammartini: Overture in G minor (Milan Classical Chamber Orchestra; Roberto Gini, cond.)
Late Symphonies
The 12 late symphonies, dating from between 1759 and 1774, feature independent oboe parts, an occasional pair of violas, and often separate cello and bass lines. All works are in major keys, with only four slow movements turning to the minor. The movements are longer and more varied, with a more intense lyricism and more complex harmony.
There is frequent dialogue among all the instruments and far greater use of imitation, especially in the slow movements. According to scholars, “the language in these works often have a Mozartian flavour.” And that includes a bright and transparent sound and rhythmic effects of great vitality. “A frequent elision of themes and sections produce a strong continuity that is the essence of his style.”
Giovanni Sammartini: Symphony in D Major, J-C 11 (Arcadian Academy; Allesandra Rossi Lurig, cond.)
Stylistic Summary
Symphonic development, non-withstanding, certain basic characteristics are seen in Sammartini’s works throughout all periods. This includes an intense rhythmic drive and continuity of structure, “a remarkably varied treatment of sonata form, in which the recapitulation usually contains many changes in the order of ideas and their presentation, and
an unusual sensitivity to textural arrangements and contrasts, favouring non-imitative counterpoint with contrasting motifs in the two violin parts.”
Giovanni Sammartini: Flute Concerto in G Major (Jean-Pierre Rampal, flute; I Solisti Veneti; Claudio Scimone, cond.)
Final Years
Between April and September 1773, Sammartini composed six string quintets, his last known dated works. His unexpected death in January 1775 is evident from plans for 24 performances in Milanese churches that were scheduled for that year. Sammartini died on 15 January 1775 and was buried the same evening in the church of San Alessandro. A memorial service, attended by musicians from various churches, was held on 17 January, acknowledging his reputation as an esteemed and renowned master. His death certificate notes, “he was a most excellent master and celebrated by a most brilliant renown.”
Giovanni Sammartini: String Quintet No. 2 in G Major (Aglaia Ensemble)
Reputation and Legacy
Sammartini’s music was more popular outside Italy, with works published in Paris, London, and performed in cities like Amsterdam and Vienna. His music was admired by influential composers such as Gluck, J.C. Bach, and Boccherini. His symphonies were performed widely, including in Prague and Vienna, and preserved in major collections. To be sure,
the symphony’s popularity spread across Europe, evolving as a major musical form.
Sammartini’s symphonic legacy straddles the transition from the Baroque to the Classical period. His contributions to the development of symphonic structure, orchestration, and expressiveness were vital in shaping the future of orchestral music. Though not as widely known as later symphonic masters, Sammartini’s works remain an important part of the early Classical repertoire and continue to be studied for their role in the birth of the symphonic tradition. While Joseph Haydn initially denied any influence from Sammartini, similarities in rhythm, structure, and humour suggest a “marked affinity between their styles.”
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Giovanni Sammartini: Symphony in A Major (Virtuosi Italiani)
