Francesco Azopardi

Francesco Azopardi [Azzopardi]
(b Rabat, 5 May 1748; d Rabat, 6 Feb 1809). Maltese composer, organist and theorist.

After early studies with Michel'Angelo Vella, he entered the Conservatorio di S Onofrio a Capuana on 15 Oct 1763 as a convittore to study under Carlo Contumacci and the German Joseph Doll. He left in 1767 but stayed on as maestro di cappella in Naples and continued to study with Niccolò Piccinni, who is said to have esteemed him greatly. In summer 1774, following an advantageous offer from Mdina Cathedral, he returned permanently to Malta as Cathedral organist with the right to succeed the then maestro di cappella, Benigno Zerafa. His growing interest in pedagogy resulted in Il musico prattico on the art of the counterpoint, published in the form of French translations and introduced as a textbook in Paris by A.-E.-M. Grétry: Cherubini based the 19th chapter of his treatise Cours de contrepoint (1835) on its analysis of imitation. His students included the composers P.P. Bugeja, Nicolò Isouard and Giuseppe Burlon (1772–1856). Zerafa's failing health led to Azopardi's appointment in 1785 as substitute maestro, with an increased salary; he inherited the full title in March 1804.