Charles-Antoine Campion

Charles-Antoine Campion, italianized as Carlo Antonio Campioni (16 November 1720 – 12 April 1788[1]) was a French-Italian composer who was born in Lorraine, France.

He was fortunate to be friends with some aristocrats, and succeeded in having his opera (Venere placata, libretto by Marco Coltellini) performed for the celebration in Livorno (at the Avvalorati Academy) of the royal wedding of Joseph II and Princess Isabella of Parma in 1760.

[5] On 14 February 1763, the Grand Duke, with no regard to the normal selection procedures, nominated Campion Master of the Court Chapel, which combined that of the Cathedral and the Baptistry.

[5][6][7] The employment of Campion followed the idea and desire to rebuild the court's musical activities in Florence, which was intended to be reestablished by the Lorraines after the decline during the Reggenza period:[9] an intention that became intensified with the new Grand Duke Peter Leopold.

[2] The Walsh editions were diffused worldwide and were highly appreciated by Thomas Jefferson, who became a great collector of Campion's compositions for violin, of which he even kept a thematic catalogue.

[16] He composed many instrumental pieces for harpsichord and strings, which were mentioned previously as being extremely successful abroad for demonstrating an excessive chromatic style, surely influenced by his teacher Tartini.

[16][18] Many of his sacred compositions originate from celebrations and the court: for example, the Requiem for the death of Francis I of Lorrain (1766, the autograph is in Berlin, see Source section); the Te Deum, written for the birth of the heir to the throne Francis II (1768), which required almost 200 performers;[2][3][16] and the Requiem for the Florentine celebration of the death of Maria Theresa (1781), today in Vienna (see Sources).