Domenico Dall'Oglio

Domenico dall'Oglio was born in Padua, Republic of Venice. He was probably a pupil of Giuseppe Tartini, either after 1721, when Tartini was appointed Maestro di Cappella at the Basilica di Sant'Antonio in Padua, or perhaps after 1726, when Tartini founded his violin school. In 1732, dall'Oglio was appointed violinist at the Basilica di Sant'Antonio, but in 1735, he left Padua to go to the Russian Empire with his brother Giuseppe, a cellist. Both brothers remained in St Petersburg for nearly 29 years in the service of the imperial court. Court records make frequent reference to Domenico's activities as a virtuoso violinist and composer, and as a participant in the intrigues of the court. For relaxation, he liked to build musical instruments such as violins and lutes. He died in Narva, then part of the Russian Empire (today in Estonia), on his return journey to Italy.

Most of dall'Oglio's works are instrumental compositions, but at the imperial court of St Petersburg, in the absence of the maestro di cappella Francesco Araja, dall'Oglio was several times called on to produce music for the theatre. He was a master of the Italian virtuoso style of the eighteenth century, with frequent use of double-stopping and passages at high positions. Structurally his violin sonatas follow the shape Allegro-Adagio-Allegro, instead of the then customary structure Allegro-Grave/Largo-Allegro; noteworthy are the slow movements of his compositions, which have elaborate embellishments typical of the school of Tartini.