Veracini was famous in his day as a violinist and composer. He held a post in Dresden, where much of his surviving music was written. As a virtuoso he was widely regarded, and Tartini once locked himself away to practice after hearing him.

Throughout his career, Veracini suffered a less-than-sparkling reputation due to his eccentricity — some even said he was mad, and indeed he did once leap out of a second story window in a state of dispair. That did nothing to improve his image when it became common to depict all violin virtuosos as half-mad, disheveled fiddlers who contorted themselves in bizzare ways while playing.

His musical style is similar both to Vivaldi and Telemann, though his music couldn’t be easily mistaken for either of theirs. There is a CD available of five of his six ouverture-suites, which are all very impressive.

(Source-New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, liner notes, and my own opinions)

(contribution by Keith Knop <KNOKE@rhodes.edu>)