Petronio Franceschini

1651 - 1681

Happy New year everyone. And it would only be fitting to start it off with something of a fanfare. So here we go:

Born in Bologna, Petronio’s life was cut short at the tender age of 30. He had by that time already composed 4 operas, several pieces of church music and a number of innovative trumpet pieces.

And this is one of the more innovative, combing organ and trumpets. It is not a promising sounding combination but Petronio rather brilliantly pulls it off.

Bologna was renowned for producing fine trumpet music in the 17th century but Petronio was an all rounder. He became principle cellist at the Cathedral and was one of the founding members of the Accademia Filarmonica in his home city.

He died in Venice in 1681. Although the exact cause of his death is unknown, a major outbreak of the plague started in the city in 1680 and lasted 17 months carrying off some 80,000 souls and it is likely that Petronio was one of them.