Tommasso Giordani

A composer, b. at Naples in 1738; d. at Dublin, Ireland, February 1806. The family came to London in 1752, and settled in Dublin in 1764. Tommaso was one of the leading musicians in the Irish capital from 1764 to 1781, when he returned to London; after two years, he came back to Dublin, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was concerned in an opera-house and in a music-shop, neither of which was financially successful. Among his compositions are a number of operas, an oratorio “Isaac” (1767), and a vast quantity of overtures, sonatas, concertos, quartets, songs, etc. He was organist of the pro-cathedral from 1784 to 1798, and conducted a Te Deum of his own at the celebration upon the recovery of King George III, 30 April, 1789. Among his pupils were Lady Morgan, Tom Cooke, and others, and it was at one of his Rotunda concerts that John Field, the inventor of the nocturne, made his debut (4 April 1792). His last opera, “The Cottage, Festival”, was produced at the Theatre Royal, Dublin, 28 Nov., 1796. His song “Caro mio ben” is still occasionally heard.