LOCATELLI, PIETRO

born Sept. 3, 1695, Bergamo, Rep. of Venice died March 30, 1764, Amsterdam Italian violinist and composer, one of the first great violinists who practiced virtuosity for virtuosity's sake, thereby extending the technical vocabulary of the violin. Locatelli was a pupil of the violinist-composer Arcangelo Corelli. He toured widely and in about 1721 settled in Amsterdam, where he gave regular public concerts. His playing was particularly admired for its double stops (playing two strings at once), and he frequently used special tunings for special effects. Some of the bravura passages in his studies and caprices, which anticipate those of Paganini in their concentration on technical feats, slight the musical content for the technical effect. His sonatas and concerti reveal him to have been a serious musician capable of elegant and expressive melody.