Giovanni Battista Fontana

Who was Giovanni Battista Fontana?

Giovanni Battista Fontana was an Italian [Baroque] composer and violinist.

He was born in Brescia, and worked there and in Rome and Padova. He died in Padova during a plague.

Nearly all information preserved about him comes from the preface of his posthumously published 18 sonatas. They are among the earliest sonatas of this form, consisting of 6 sonatas for solo violin/cornetto with continuo and 12 sonatas for one to three violins and continuo, the latter group often including a demanding concertante part for bassoon or cello. An "atto di morte" dated 7 September 1630 for a “Zan Batta Fontana” aged 50, is the only one among the Paduan death registers of 1625–30 for a person bearing that name.