Giuseppe Felice Tosi was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 and organist

Organist

An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...

, and the father of Pier Francesco Tosi

Pier Francesco Tosi

Pier Francesco Tosi was a castrato singer, composer, and writer on music. His Opinoni de' cantori antichi e moderni... was the first full-length treatise on singing and provides a unique glimpse into the technical and social aspects of Baroque vocal music.-Life and career:Pier Francesco Tosi was...

, also a successful composer.

Tosi was born and died at Bologna

Bologna

Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...

. He started out as a singer and only started composing in his late fifties. He was among the paid musicians in San Petronio, Bologna

Bologna

Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...

, from 1636 to 1641, which possibly means that he received his musical education there. He was a founding member of the Bolognese Accademia Filarmonica in 1666 and was elected its conductor in 1679. His first musical work was the opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 Il Celindo which, although composed in 1674, premiered in 1677. He composed a Dixit Dominus for the annual celebration of the academy in San Giovanni in Monte on 4 July 1675. From 1680 to 1683 he was maestro di cappella of the Accademia della Morte, Ferrara

Ferrara

Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...

, and in 1682–3 of Ferrara Cathedral

Ferrara Cathedral

Ferrara Cathedral is a basilica in Ferrara, Northern Italy, the largest religious edifice in the city...

 as well. In 1686 he served temporarily as maestro di cappella of San Giovanni in Monte, Bologna. From 7 July 1692 until early December 1693 he was second organist at San Petronio. In addition to several operas, Tosi composed sacred music in typical late 17th-century Bolognese style.

Sources

• Thomas Walker/Marc Vanscheeuwijck. The New Grove Dictionary of Opera
  New Grove Dictionary of Opera
  The New Grove Dictionary of Opera is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes....
  
  , edited by Stanley Sadie (1992). ISBN 0-333-73432-7 and ISBN 1-56159-228-5