Giuseppe Santarelli

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Giuseppe Santarelli (1710–1790) was an Italian castrato singer, composer, choir conductor, voice teacher, and Roman Catholic priest. He was knighted in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Born in Forlì, he joined the Augustinian order as a boy and was ordained a priest. The exact details of his musical training are unknown, but he was clearly skilled in composition, theory, and singing. He performed on the Venice opera stage in the 1740s and joined the Sistine Chapel Choir in Rome in 1749, eventually becoming its conductor in 1770. He also served for many years as the cantor at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. In 1761 he published a work about organizing the Sistine Chapel Choir. As a teacher, his notable students included Muzio Clementi and Venanzio Rauzzini. His compositions were mainly choral works. In 1770 he met the English music historian Charles Burney; Santarelli impressed him and helped Burney access the Papal Music Archive, which aided Burney’s later writings on music. He died in Rome.