Girolamo Abos

Girolamo Abos (also spelled Avos, Avossa, d’Avossa) was a Maltese-born composer, organist and music teacher of the 18th century, active primarily within the Neapolitan musical tradition. Born in Valletta, Malta and baptized Geronimo Abos, he was the son of Gian Tommaso Abos, whose father was a Frenchman from Castellane, and Rosa Farrugia. He moved to Naples in youth and studied at the famous Neapolitan conservatories under maestros such as Leonardo Leo, Francesco Durante and Francesco Feo. He composed both operas and church music, with his operatic debut in 1742 with the opera-buffa Le due zingare simili. Over his career he produced a substantial number of operas (buffa and seria), many of which were staged in major Italian cities such as Naples, Rome, Venice, Turin and Florence, and even for a time in London where he served as maestro al cembalo at the Italian Theatre from 1756.

From 1758 he worked as a teacher at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini in Naples, where Giovanni Paisiello is reported to have been among his pupils. After this period he composed significant amounts of sacred music, including seven masses and several litanies, expanding his already notable contribution to the Neapolitan sacred tradition. His opera Tito Manlio, premiered in Naples in 1751, became particularly successful among his fourteen stage works. Abos died in Naples in May 1760.

Many of his sacred works, oratorios, and the opera Pelopida have been edited by the Australian musicologist and conductor Richard Divall and made freely available, contributing to renewed scholarly and performance interest in his output. His liturgical and operatic manuscripts are also accessible through modern editions and international score libraries, ensuring the preservation and continued study of his music.

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