Francesco Paolo Supriani Explained

Francesco Paolo Supriani
Birth Date:	11 July 1678
Birth Place:	Conversano
Death Date:	28 August 1753
Death Place:	Naples
Citizenship:	Italian
Occupation:	cellist, composer
Notable Works:	12 Toccatas for Cello^[1]

Francesco Paolo Tomaso Supriani (Conversano, 11 July 1678 – Naples, 28 August 1753) was an Italian cellist and composer of the Neapolitan school.

Biography

He was a student of Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini^[2] from 1693, where he became a cello virtuoso.

He was the author of a manuscript didactic collection^[3] of toccatas for the instrument, with an explanatory introduction, entitled: Principij da imparare à suonare il violoncello e con 12 Toccate à solo, found and published by the musicologist and cellist Luigi Silva (1903–1961). A copy of the manuscript is kept in the Biblioteca Conservatorio San Pietro a Majella, Naples. In this work Supriani already uses the fifth position, as well as the bass and tenor clefs. As a virtuoso cellist, he helped the cello to emerge from its traditional rank of continuo and reach the elevated status of a solo instrument.

Supriani is considered one of the teachers of Francesco Alborea, commonly known as "Franciscello".

Compositions

Principij da imparare à suonare il violoncello e con 12 Toccate à solo (1720)

12 Toccatas for cello solo:

• Toccata prima in G major
• Toccata seconda in A minor
• Toccata terza in B flat major
• Toccata quarta in C major
• Toccata quinta
• Toccata sesta
• Toccata settima
• Toccata ottava in G minor
• Toccata nona in A major
• Toccata decima in D minor
• Toccata undicesima in A minor
• Toccata dodicesima in F minor

Discography

• La voce del violoncello opere per violoncello dei principali compositori violoncellisti italiani - (2012, Passacaille Records)
• Boccherini's Dreams : Toccate I, IV, X e XI – Mime Yamahiro Brinkmann, violoncello (gennaio/febbraio 2021, Arcantus) — con due sonate di Boccherini e brani di Pasquini, Cabezon e Storace.
• Supriani: 12 Toccatas for Cello, Transcribed for Viola by Marco Misciagna - Marco Misciagna, viola (2024, MM - MM03)

Notes and References

1. https://imslp.org/wiki/Principij_da_imparare_%C3%A0_suonare_il_violoncello_e_con_12_Toccate_%C3%A0_solo_(Supriani%2C_Francesco_Paolo)
2. Book: Music in Seventeenth-century Naples: Francesco Provenzale (1624-1704) .
3. Book: 978-0-9719854-9-0 . Guido Olivieri: Performance Practice- Issues and Approaches, Steglein Publishing (Cello Playing and Teaching in Eighteenth-Century Naples: F. P. Supriani’s Principij da imparare a suonare il violoncello).