Andante & Rondo

Antonio Capuzzi (August 1, 1755 - March 28, 1818) was an Italian violinist and composer who studied violin with Nazari and composition with Bertoni. In 1805 he moved to Bergamo, where he was professor of violin at the Instituto Musicale and leader of the orchestra at Teatro Riccardi. He was highly regarded there both as a teacher and a performer. Although popular in his day, most of his music is now forgotten; his most commonly performed piece today is the Concerto for Double Bass.

All of Capuzzi’s known compositions were written during his Venetian years. It was in Venice that Capuzzi became close friends with Domenico Dragonetti, Beethoven‘s virtuoso bassist. It isspeculated that Capuzzi wrote his Concerto for Double Bass for Dragonetti. Gerald Oswald has made a fine arrangement of the second (Andante) and third (Rondo) movements of the concerto to feature either euphonium or tuba with concert band. The solo part is also available in an edition with piano accompaniment.