ABSTRACT
A chronological investigation of Francesco Bartolomeo Conti’s operas and oratorios reveals how difficult it is to generalize about his style of composition, for he tends to be a coordinator of styles. Through an assimilation of French, German, and Italian ideas and techniques, he creates his own musico-dramatic style, one that is as diverse as it is effective. A closer analysis, however, shows that the diversity resulted from Conti’s continued attempts to develop certain musical ideas through experimentation. The variety of textures and colours found in the instrumental accompaniments for Conti’s vocal compositions is for the most part lacking in his overtures. The recapitulation is approximately half the length of the exposition because Conti has eliminated the extended bridge passage that had separated the main and second themes in the exposition. Hugo Botstiber emphasis on the Pallade overture succeeded in distorting another aspect of Conti’s overtures.
