Giuseppe Tartini - Lettere e documenti / Pisma in dokumenti / Letters and Documents - Volume / Knjiga / Volume I

85 INTRODUCTION environment of the Antonine chapel 97 date back to 1734, 98 though according to Martini himself they began in 1722. 99 2.2 Questions of music theory Tartini discovered the acoustic phenomenon of the “ terzo suono ” (third sound or combination tone) in 1714, 100 while working in Ancona with the orchestra of the Teatro della Fenice, 101 but the Trattato di musica secondo la vera scienza dell'armo- nia , 102 the theoretical work largely based on this discovery, was not published until 1754. In accounts of Tartini’s life the development of his interest in music theory is usually considered to coincide with the final stage of his concert career, that following his arm injury of 1740. However, while it is true that the efforts to define his theories became more intense around 1750, when the desire to have his treatise printed be- came clear in his mind, it is also plain that from the very moment of the discovery of the “third sound” he had started to work out the series of implications on which he based his harmonic system. 103 The pair of letters from the 1730s 104 confirm that the theoretical debate between the two had been ongoing for some time and that questions of music theory already occupied a significant place in Tartini’s thoughts. He always gave great importance to this discovery, which he described as one desired by a “superior force” 105 that bound him with a religious sense of duty, of almost prophetic value, to the endeavour of disclosing it. In the letter dated 31 March 1731, 106 as well as providing the first information on Tartini’s activities as a composer, 107 also mentioned are the names of Antonio Maria 97 Leading the musical chapel of S. Antonio in the years before 1730 were, in succession, F. Callegari (1703-1727), G. Rinaldi (1727-1730) and F. A. Vallotti (1730-1780). 98 I-Bc, S5449. Padre Vallotti replies to Martini about his solution to the Animuccia canon. The letter is transcribed in Parisini, 1888: pp. 65-66. On this subject, see also Busi, 1891: p. 436. 99 In the speech that was to serve as a preface to Vallotti’s works, Martini dates the beginning of their friendship back to 1722. See Busi, 1891: p. 343. 100 The account of the discovery is given in Tartini, 1974: pp. 36-37. 101 Petrobelli, 1968: pp. 55-56. 102 Tartini, 1754. 103 The “third sound” (or combination tone) always had a pivotal importance in Tartini’s theory and practice. He himself asserted that from 1728, the year in which he founded his violin school, he used the third sound as a guide for tuning. See Giuseppe Tartini, op. cit. , 1767, p. 36. 104 Letters 5-6. 105 He himself defines it as such in the Scienza platonica fondata nel cerchio (1977: p. 81). 106 Letter 6. 107 “[...] I have been and am currently busy writing in order to put into print twelve solo sonatas, [...]”