Composer · 1697 - 1780
Francesco Antonio Vallotti
Biography
Francesco Antonio Vallotti
(b Vercelli, Piedmont, 11 June 1697; d Padua, 10 Jan 1780). Italian composer and theorist.
He was enabled by Padre Beccaria, superior of the Franciscan monastery of S Eusebi (the cathedral of Vercelli), to study with G.A. Bissone, maestro di cappella at the cathedral. His scores dated 1710 and 1712 demonstrate a thorough schooling in composition. An interest in theology and philosophy led him to further studies; at the age of 18 he visited Chambéry to join the Franciscan order, and he then spent a year in Crest (Dauphiné) where he took vows on 16 December 1716. By special dispensation, on account of his youth, from the Bishop of Saluzzo, Vallotti was ordained priest on 7 July 1720, after a period of study in Cuneo under the philosopher Castellani the elder. In 1721 Castellani sponsored him in a public debate possibly in Milan where he went to study with the theologian D.F. Donati; Donati moved to Padua and Vallotti followed him, arriving on 6 November 1721.