Photo: Gaetano Ottani (1736-1808) · CC0 · credits
Tier 3 · vertical & regional
Giovanni Battista Somis
Person · male · Turin · born 1686 · died 1763 · recording since 2014
Italian violinist and composer (1686-1763)
Also known as 乔瓦尼·巴蒂斯塔·索米斯
Timeline
4 events◦ Birth 1† Death 1★ Debut release 1▣ Album 1
1680s
1760s
2010s
· Debut release
Debut release: Violin Sonatas – Op. I
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
Biography
English biography271 words · 1 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1325070239
Biography
Giovanni Battista Somis (December 25, 1686 – August 14, 1763) was an Italian violinist and composer of the Baroque music era.
He studied under Arcangelo Corelli between 1703 and 1706 or 1707. He was later appointed solo violinist to the king at Turin and leader of the royal band, and seems scarcely ever to have left Turin after these appointments.
A trip to Paris in 1731 to play at the Concert Spirituel produced a report in the April 1733 Le Mercure praising his playing.
He published eight opus numbers in all:
Opus 1 - 12 sonatas for violin and figured bass (1717 Amsterdam, published by J. Roger)
Opus 2 - 12 sonatas for violin and figured bass (1723 Turin)
Opus 3 - 12 sonatas for violin and figured bass (1725 Turin)
Opus 4 - 12 sonatas for violin and figured bass (1726 Paris)
Opus 5 - 6 trio sonatas for two violins and figured bass (1733 Paris, published by Boisvin)
Opus 6 - 12 sonatas for violin and figured bass (1734 Paris)
Opus 7 - "Ideali trattimenti da camera" for two violins, two flutes or violes (1750 Paris)
Opus 8 - 6 trio sonatas
A set of twelve sonatas for cello and figured bass was published by LeClerc of Paris around 1740, as well.
He formed a style more brilliant and more emotional, and caused a decided step forward in the art of violin playing. He was the teacher of Jean-Marie Leclair, Felice Giardini, Louis-Gabriel Guillemain, and Chabran, as well as Gaetano Pugnani, and he forms a connecting link between the classical schools of Italy and France. He died in Turin.
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 16 | 74.5th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 1 | 73.9th |
| Studio albums | 1 | 76th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 4 | 75.9th |
| Recording span (years) | -251 | 2.4th |
| Genres | 0 | 0th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (1 release groups · 1 studio albums)
Albums · 1
2014 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 36 tracks · 1:13:23
1Sonata no. 6 [D major]: I. Adagio1:322Sonata no. 6 [D major]: II. Allegro2:313Sonata no. 6 [D major]: III. Allegro1:284Sonata no. 9 [G minor]: I. Adagio1:375Sonata no. 9 [G minor]: II. Allegro2:196Sonata no. 9 [G minor]: III. Allegro2:557Sonata no. 5 [B-flat major]: I. Adagio1:138Sonata no. 5 [B-flat major]: II. Allegro2:499Sonata no. 5 [B-flat major]: III. Allegro2:1110Sonata no. 7 [E-flat major]: I. Adagio2:3111Sonata no. 7 [E-flat major]: II. Allegro1:1912Sonata no. 7 [E-flat major]: III. Presto1:1613Sonata no. 10 [C major]: I. Adagio2:1014Sonata no. 10 [C major]: II. Allegro2:1215Sonata no. 10 [C major]: III. Allegro2:4316Sonata no. 2 [E minor]: I. Adagio1:4717Sonata no. 2 [E minor]: II. Allegro2:0518Sonata no. 2 [E minor]: III. Allegro2:3219Sonata no. 1 [G minor]: I. Adagio1:3620Sonata no. 1 [G minor]: II. Allegro2:0521Sonata no. 1 [G minor]: III. Allegro2:3822Sonata no. 12 [E major]: I. Adagio1:2923Sonata no. 12 [E major]: II. Allegro2:0924Sonata no. 12 [E major]: III. Allegro1:5025Sonata no. 8 [A major]: I. Adagio1:2226Sonata no. 8 [A major]: II. Allegro2:2327Sonata no. 8 [A major]: III. Allegro1:4128Sonata no. 4 [D minor]: I. Adagio2:1529Sonata no. 4 [D minor]: II. Allegro2:1430Sonata no. 4 [D minor]: III. Allegro1:3331Sonata no. 3 [A minor]: I. Adagio2:0532Sonata no. 3 [A minor]: II. Allegro2:2333Sonata no. 3 [A minor]: III. Allegro2:1434Sonata no. 11 [F major]: I. Adagio1:0635Sonata no. 11 [F major]: II. Allegro2:0136Sonata no. 11 [F major]: III. Allegro3:09
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Giovanni Battista Somis head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 16 | 74.5th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 1 | 73.9th |
| Studio albums | 1 | 76th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 4 | 75.9th |
| Recording span (years) | -251 | 2.4th |
| Genres | 0 | 0th |
Awards & honours
Where this record comes from
portrait—Wikimedia Commons · CC0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giovanni_Battista_Somis.pngaliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/672cf360-4e13-4912-a3d0-52046ab1edfediscography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/672cf360-4e13-4912-a3d0-52046ab1edfecore—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q960222seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Battista_Somisbiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Battista_Somis
Why this artist is in the database
- List of composers by name
Tier rule: curated genre/region list
Image: Gaetano Ottani (1736-1808) · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Wikidata: Q960222 · MusicBrainz: 672cf360-4e13-4912-a3d0-52046ab1edfe