Giuseppe Antonio Paganelli

Giuseppe Antonio Paganelli (also Gioseffo Antonio in some sources) was born in Padua in 1710 and died at an unknown date and place, probably in Madrid around 1763. Little is known of his youth, though his membership of the Accademia dei Geniali, which performed his oratorio Il figliuol prodigo and two cantatas in 1731-1732, suggests a well-to-do family and a refined education. A contemporary described him as a "virtuoso dilettante di Padova". That he studied with Tartini remains a report yet to be confirmed.

His operatic career began in Venice in 1732 with La caduta di Leone, imperator d'Oriente, and five further operas of his were staged there, the last of them La forza del sangue in 1743. Paganelli travelled extensively. In 1733 he worked as harpsichordist in the opera company of Antonio Maria Peruzzi in Augsburg, where he distinguished himself as a virtuoso at musical gatherings. In 1735 he visited Prague for the premiere of La pastorella regnante and, around 1736, he was in Rheinsberg and Brunswick, the city where he produced several operas over the following three years. Title pages of Parisian editions presented him as composer of Italian operas for the Duke of Brunswick, but no documentary evidence of such an appointment has been found. In 1737 he was director of chamber music to the Margravine Wilhelmine of Bayreuth, a post he gave up at the end of 1738. After that, his trail becomes hazy, although he apparently maintained ties with several German courts, among them that of Baden-Durlach.

In time, his publications multiplied, and his works for chamber ensembles and keyboard earned him lasting popularity. In the mid-1750s he was described as chamber music director to the King of Spain, an unconfirmed claim which, together with his turn towards keyboard music, has led to the suggestion that he may have succeeded Domenico Scarlatti in Madrid. His legacy rests chiefly on his sonatas, trios and duets, which are galant and melodious in style, akin to the language of opera. His keyboard sonatas, agile though not especially advanced, illustrate the Italian galant style well.